Quest Journal in Deadfire

[Osvir]

Hi!

Was thinking whilst playing, scrolling through the Quest list (trying to do Quests "on the go" from point A to B and not having to run back and forth between areas too much).

Something I realized quite quick was... I have to scroll up and down and check every entry time and time again to figure out which quest goes where. Just out of curiousity, is Obsidian considering to place Quests under "Area Categories" in Deadfire? Or is it going to be like Pillars 1?

Currently it is:
"Hollowing of Dyrwood"
"White March Part 1"
"White March Part 2"
"Quests"
"Tasks"

And after a short while the objectives and quests pile up under "Quests" and "Tasks", making it quickly get "out of hand" in terms of visibility. "Which quest was over there now again? And what quest was related to that faction now again?" etc. etc.

I have a (probably) bad solution (A), and a (probably) better solution (B).

A) Have only one single list. "WTF!? You just said that was what was cumbersome!". Yes, but allow the Player to write their own categories and drag-n-drop Quests as they see fit. This suggestion is cumbersome in of itself, but it might also give engagement into sorting Quests as well as completing them. Dedicating oneself to the Quests a bit more~ not my favorite suggestion. More or less brainstormed right now.

B) The better of the two suggestion. Make more categories, make Quests related to each faction go under each faction. Treasure quests under its own category. Main quest under its own category etc. etc. Basically, more categories. It'll be slightly more (loosely) "handholding" but the Player will stay a shorter amount in the Quest Journal and more in the gameplay.

I can't say for certain that "A" is bad, it just looks bad. I'd have to try it myself to see if it'd affect my feel for it. I like making lists and sorting stuff. Not sure about others (i.e. that's why it is a bad idea, because I'm probably the only one that might slightly enjoy it xD). Dunno, does anyone else sort their Steam Library after category and in some cases developing studio?

[Wormerine]

Some additional work on quest journal would be welcome.

 

Few remarks first: overall I kind of like, how fiddly the journal is. Quests tend to update once you enter the area, so I didn't miss quests too much. As journal wasn't very clear, I tent to rely on my memory and I followed quest threads, rather than cleaning up areas. Thanks to that It didn't feel like I am just cleaning up objectives, like I do in many other RPGs. That was the benefit of not following a checklist. However, I did miss couple things I wanted to do and had to backtrack.

 

My solution would be - keep the current system but add a "highlight" and search for location functionality. When you go for certain area/areas you could find active quests, by searching said location and highlight them (create new category "highlighted" which would appear on the top of the journal). You might even go a step further and quick tag quests related to the current location through area map.

[injurai]

I personally don't mind the way they have it setup. It would be nice to hide completed quests though.

 

Honestly I don't really want more categories, especially ones that break quests down further by type. I don't need to know I'm about to do a fetch quest. Tasks(One and done)/Quests(chains) seems to work. Maybe they could allow you filter by critical path vs expansion vs side-content. Collapsing the categories already seems to do almost the same thing. Further filters I feel either reveal too much about the quests and I don't think regional filters make much sense when quests cross to many different zones. Plus I like there being a reason to actually read the quests logs.

[Osvir]

This last playthrough I'm going into the Journal several times just to plan my course of action, and of course I pick up several quests on the way. When I enter an area I check "What do I have to do?" and when I leave it "Where am I going?". Some times even between a quest "I'm in this area, okay, I'll go for that one" then finish it "Okay, is there anything else?". This means having to click through every entry in the Journal.

Some personal/Player manual sorting would be helpful (perhaps a "Highlight" Category like Wormerine suggested).

Just want to say that, on the other side of the coin, I would want a blank Quest Journal, one I'd have to write down everything myself (a Notebook UI in conversation to jot down notes or whatnot, would be handy). But Pillars isn't that type of game I reckon (would still be fun with such a mode though, "Journalist Mode" alongside Trial of Iron and Expert Mode perhaps  "You no longer have the help of the Quest Journal. Only Notes available").

Edited June 25, 2017 by Osvir

[injurai]

Journalist mode would easily add hundreds of hours to the game if you did it on your first try. That actually sounds pretty cool.

[dukeisaac]

This last playthrough I'm going into the Journal several times just to plan my course of action, and of course I pick up several quests on the way. When I enter an area I check "What do I have to do?" and when I leave it "Where am I going?". Some times even between a quest "I'm in this area, okay, I'll go for that one" then finish it "Okay, is there anything else?". This means having to click through every entry in the Journal.

 

Some personal/Player manual sorting would be helpful (perhaps a "Highlight" Category like Wormerine suggested).

 

Just want to say that, on the other side of the coin, I would want a blank Quest Journal, one I'd have to write down everything myself (a Notebook UI in conversation to jot down notes or whatnot, would be handy). But Pillars isn't that type of game I reckon (would still be fun with such a mode though, "Journalist Mode" alongside Trial of Iron and Expert Mode perhaps  "You no longer have the help of the Quest Journal. Only Notes available").

+1 for journalist mode. Something I like doing is taking my own notes, especially when I have to remember phrases or puzzles (ie bluffing your way into Woedica's temple, or entering Durgan's Battery). Unfortunately, you don't always have to because the dialogue tree and quest journal often make it too easy. I would welcome a toggable "journalist mode".

[injurai]

The only times I actually take notes, is if I find something that I need to return to. Which is typically just locked chests, or maybe something that requires an high athletics check early in the game.

 

But there is something satisfying about making notes. I always write them in character too, as if I'm making a real journal entry. The automatic in-world dating of each note is a nice touch.

[CornyCarrot]

Journalist mode would easily add hundreds of hours to the game if you did it on your first try. That actually sounds pretty cool.

 

I actually tried doing that in the first game but because of how bare-bones notes are, I just gave up half-way through. IIRC, you can't even move the cursor to correct a typo... and I make LOTS of typos. Infuriating. Some basic notepad functionality would do just fine, really. Also, a few nice fonts so you can have different handwriting for different chars. And a drawing tool while we're at it. For puzzles and stuff. Ok, I'll shut up now.

 

I suppose you could use pen and paper to do that sort of thing, but having an actual in-game journal is so much more immersive.

[Osvir]

Maybe "Detective Mode" would be a better phrasing?