Mark Kern, ex-Blizzard developer and current CEO of Red 5 Studio, the team working on FireFall, hit the mmorpg.com this morning with a brand new article on the topic of the death of “!” quests and quest hubs.
Kern being partly responsible for the quest hubs and the design scheme of the “!” mark found in World of Warcraft went over the gradual evolution of grind based games.
From the simple system of kill x monster receive experience found in EverQuest to the well known system in WoW to what we see in Guild Wars 2 using quest areas layered with dynamic events to enrich and diversify the player’s experience in the game world.
This gradual progression while not entirely changing the mold allows for gamers and developers alike to rethink what MMO’s can do and should do.
Check out the full article and leave a comment in the forums letting us know where you think ArenaNet or another company will take this new design.
