Quests. Some players hate them, some players love them, but one thing is for certain; you simply cannot get away from them.
Quests have been an important part of RuneScape since it’s very earliest days and beta stages. They allow access to new areas, weapons, armours and various other rewards, along with being an un-repetitive and fun aspect of the game for some, and a frustrating waste of time for others.
New quests and story lines make up for the vast majority of RuneScape’s weekly and monthly updates, and with an entire system devised by Jagex, dedicated to helping players stuck during their questing; it is clear that Jagex also view quests as one of the most important parts of the game.
With the release of RuneScape’s 150th quest, it seems appropriate to look back into the history of questing in RuneScape with other milestone quest releases, as well as into the future; and what it will hold for Gielnors bold and mighty adventurers. . .
It has been confirmed that the first quest to ever be developed by Jagex was Cooks Assistant. This simple ‘adventure’ consists of simply gathering some ingredients for a disgruntled chef. No puzzles, no combat; no anything, really. Yet from these simple beginnings was laid the template for every future quest to ever enter the game, from the Perils of Ice Mountain to While Guthix Sleeps. Completing tasks and offering your help for certain in game characters in exchange for rewards is now the standard for every new RuneScape quest, and is something that looks like it will be with the game right until the bitter end.
Other early quests include Romeo and Juliet, Black Knights Fortress and Prince Ali Rescue, which were all in the game after it left its beta (testing) stages. These short rambles across the game were often rather dull and unrewarding, yet even this early on progress was being made. Combat elements where introduced, more thought out story lines added and players made to solve simple puzzles.
Later quests would continue to evolve in this fashion.
The 50th quest released by Jagex is one which is still considered to be amongst the most challenging in the game, as well as a right of passage for any one wishing to be considered an experienced player.
The Legends Quest allows players to enter the fabled Legends Guild, as well as gaining the ability to equip both the Dragon Square Shield and Legend’s Cape; both of which were; and still are in RuneScape Classic, the best items in their respective slots.
However, the Legends Quest offered very little in the way of innovation, with its difficulty only being owed to its length and the variety of high levelled monsters that you must battle. Still, few would argue over its legendary status.
Not only was this the 50th quest to be released; a landmark in its own right, it was also the final quest to be released in RuneScape Classic. Such later quests would benefit from an entirely new 3D world, game system and much much more.
Fast forward to RuneScape 2, and we have the 100th quest in the form of Recipe for Disaster. The multi layered adventurer through the lands of RuneScape and beyond was a significant leap forward from The Legends Quest and the others that came before it. It differed from the traditional layout of quests, with the main quest and story line being made up of many smaller sub-plots. The idea behind this being that almost any quester may start it, but only the most advanced players could finish.
The 150th quest, released recently, was somewhat of a disappointment to most RuneScape players. Although The Chosen Commander is stilled deemed to be amongst RuneScape’s most enjoyable and rewarding quest by many, some said it simply lacked the excitement of its other landmark companions.
This was however explained, when it was stated that The Chosen Commander was not actually the planned 150th quest, due to some unforeseen difficulties encountered by Jagex.
However, the hype for The Chosen Commander was still built up over several weeks, and upon its entry into the game, the main RuneScape Website was given a makeover in the theme of the new quest; showing that Jagex are much more willing to help promote new quests, and their releases.
But what exactly does the future hold for quests in RuneScape, both for the 200th and for questing general? It is almost certain that the complexity of quests will continue to grow as new features are added to RuneScape, as will the plots and story lines that accompany every new release.
More Grandmaster quests have also been promised by Jagex, however these certainly will not make up for the bulk of quests released, with some speculating that there may only be a few released each year.
And although quests will be increasing in sophistication, it can also be assumed that Jagex will continue to release more simple and lower levelled content for newer players. In Pyre Need is a great example of this. Whilst its style could be compared to even Cooks Assistant, it managed to be sophisticated whilst being simple.
The player was once again given a short run around a limited area to contend with, however this time many new elements where introduced. An epic storyline added, an entire new area to explore and some exciting rewards rather than a tiny amount of XP.
In fact, story lines are something that are of growing importance in quests today. Whilst in the early days, a player could be expected to wander off on some random adventure, and never give it a second thought. Today most quests form the basis of a much larger storyline, many of which also add to the plot of RuneScape itself. It has also been stated by Jagex that story lines will not be held back on to make them more suitable for younger audiences, meaning that we almost certainly will see more in depth and developed plots in the near future.
And what of the rewards? It can only be assumed that these will be improved upon as well. Long gone are the days of where almost every quest offered some small amount of XP and a useless quest point for your efforts. Today, upon completion of a newer quest players may be rewarded with access to new items, equipment, areas and more; making questing a rewarding, if not crucial aspect of the game.
However; it really is impossible to know for sure what Jagex plans to do for the questing in the future. But if the progress made in the past 10 years is anything to go by; the future is looking very bright indeed.
~TommyBurke
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