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Quest Helper Changes

AuthorMessage
Administrator
We made some recent changes to the Quest Helper arrow that seemed to hinder more than help, so we've made some more changes and we want your feedback.

1. If you are using Quest Arrow to track a main storyline quest and accept another main storyline quest - the Quest Arrow should switch to the newly accepted quest

2. If you are using Quest Arrow to track a main storyline quest and accept a side quest - the Quest Arrow should not switch to the newly accepted side quest

3. If you are using Quest Arrow to track a side quest and accept a main storyline quest - Quest Arrow will switch to point in the direction of the main storyline quest

4. If you are using Quest Arrow to track a side quest and accept another side quest - Quest Arrow will switch to point in the direction of the newly accepted side quest
This should solve the issue of the Quest Helper not recognizing that you picked up a new quest.

Please test this vigorously and let us know if it is not working as expected on a particular quest.


community@wizard101.com
Archon
Oct 24, 2010
4952
No offense, but can you just put it back the way it was? There was no reason to change this and it's obvious from the comments here that it does not make sense to change something that worked before and is now just annoying and confusing people.

Survivor
Oct 19, 2010
3
RavenLady777, I agree with you. I also don't wish to be offensive to anyone but I learned many years ago, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is a case of exactly that, in my opinion. The new rules are far too confusing of when it changes to a new quest and when it doesn't. Can't you just set it to stay on the same quest and it is up to the player to change to a new quest, when they wish to? I realize that there are some very young players who would need assistance with changing from one quest to another, but most of us can figure it out. I, for one, regularly have to go to Quest Helper and change it back to where I was in order to continue with what I was working on. This is quite frustrating when I suddenly am told to go to a different world or different area of the world I am in when I am fine where I was.

thanks for an awesome game. I love this and most people my age (56) agree!

Adherent
Mar 18, 2009
2737
RavenLady777 wrote:
No offense, but can you just put it back the way it was? There was no reason to change this and it's obvious from the comments here that it does not make sense to change something that worked before and is now just annoying and confusing people.


It wasn't great before, hence the need to change the quest helper. Many wizards have complained numerous times about losing their main quests. While maybe this fix isn't the best idea, it is better than the old way. The old way changed every quest to whatever quest you just accepted. With the new way, if you are doing side quests there is no change from the old way. The change, is that wizards will be required to acknowledge they are on a main quest now and will have to knowingly change their quest from the main quest.

So there was a need to change it, but debateable on how it should have changed.

All the comments recently on the forums was in relation to the change that actually broke the quest arrow not improve it (since it wasn't even keeping main quests active), unlike the new fix on test realm.

Survivor
Nov 21, 2011
1
RavenLady777 wrote:
No offense, but can you just put it back the way it was? There was no reason to change this and it's obvious from the comments here that it does not make sense to change something that worked before and is now just annoying and confusing people.

I havent had a chance to play the test realm i will soon as it finally re-downloads again it takes too long! but I was having trouble with the quest helper telling me where to go next and it not directing me to the most recent quest I accepted. sometimes it wouldn't count down like it should.

Explorer
Jan 03, 2012
59
Well for me it kept changing to side quests and I had to go through my big book of quests to find the main one so good job

Delver
Feb 28, 2012
232
Maybe you can put in options for the quest arrow? Something like:

1. Most recent
2. Least recent
3. Most pertinent to main story
4. Side quests: a. Closest, b. Furthest, c. Quest helper not allowed (quest arrow disabled, of course!)
5. Eeny meeny miny mo (random choosing)
6. Press "q" pick a quest, because the quest helper is not helping the way we want it to!

Right now it seems to be a combo of 5 and 6

Survivor
Jul 12, 2010
4
personaly I like the changes, though I would make one more. Either a button for "reset to main story", or marking the main line quests with a special mark. I have wizards with as many as five or six pages of quests built up as I pick up everything, but often work on the main, and leave the others behind. it can get confusing as to WHICH of the 30 or 40 quests is the main one I need.

Survivor
Oct 02, 2011
5
I have to say that the quest arrow was very confusing and annoying lately. My daughter almost left zones several times after getting quest updates when the quest arrow defaulted to some random quest. Thanks for trying to fix it.

After playing in test for awhile I found the changes made it work MUCH better than it has worked recently. Following the quest line from the Arena Master in Krokotopia my quest arrow (and the quest marked as active in my book) did some crazy swings while I was talking to him, but after I was done talking to him the arrow ended up staying on that quest line.

For what it's worth, I don't really care very much which quests are 'main' quests. I want to do them all eventually. I admit that getting your active quest 'hijacked' when you pick up a new quest can be a problem. For me it would make sense that if you are actively working a chain of quests, main or not, when you finish one step by talking to an NPC and are offered the next one in the chain, that becomes your 'active' quest for the arrow, main or not. That IS what happened with the Arean Master quest line, but by your description of the way you intend it to work I am not sure that it will always be the case. When you pick up a new quest but had a previously active quest I feel that the previous quest should remain your active quest. You can switch it to the new quest if you want to, otherwise, when working a quest line you should never have to switch.

Thanks again for working on this.

Explorer
May 18, 2010
61
Changing the quest helper in the beginning was not the brightest idea and I would have been happy if they just left it how it was in the beginning. I was getting really paranoid with having to change my quest just to get on the right quest. But now it's all good. It's going to be 2x easier and don't have to remember to change quests, lol. I hope KingsIsle will continue to listen to the community because this is what makes Wizard101 one of the best games. I am proud to be playing a game that the company listens to what everyone has to say and tries to fix it the best they can.

Survivor
Jan 27, 2010
38
I like this....i have previous complained because once you were on a main quest and finished part of it...the quest arrow took you to some random old quest that you did not want to do.

I tested many ways and it worked great
I completed a quest and it went back to the quest i had before.
I started a new quest and then changed to an existing one and it worked
I many times changed from one quest to another ( had multiple quests) and it worked everytime.
I selected a non quest ( like find the stone roses) and it no longer showed an arrow but did show the stone rose quest.


Hero
Aug 18, 2011
776
grahambhg wrote:
Maybe you can put in options for the quest arrow? Something like:

1. Most recent
2. Least recent
3. Most pertinent to main story
4. Side quests: a. Closest, b. Furthest, c. Quest helper not allowed (quest arrow disabled, of course!)
5. Eeny meeny miny mo (random choosing)
6. Press "q" pick a quest, because the quest helper is not helping the way we want it to!

Right now it seems to be a combo of 5 and 6


Spot on!

The old way was not perfect, but ok. The way it has been lately is very bad. I was in WW and my arrow was telling me to go to GH for a side quest I picked up months ago. The way it is now in test seems better than that, but I love these ideas:

1. Most recent
2. Least recent
3. Most pertinent to main story
4. Side quests: a. Closest, b. Furthest, c. Quest helper not allowed (quest arrow disabled, of course!)

It would be nice to be able to pick, and nice to be able to "lock in" the quest we are on, so that we could accept side quests without being thrown off the one we are working on.

Defender
Feb 26, 2012
105
I do agree with the new change and everyone who likes it, i hate having to go through my quest log and find the newly accepted quest, and somtimes i forget that I have to change the quest and it goes to some random quest and then i follow that quest then realize i'm going the wrong way it is annoying, i'm glad there is now a fix to this

Survivor
Sep 02, 2011
1
Could I add a feature request please - something to differentiate between Main Line and Side quests. Perhaps the Quest Helper arrow changes colour when on one or the other? It's frustrating when you're trying to follow the Main quest line, and you don't know if you're on it or not, and halfway through the game you have to start trolling the internet to figure it out! =)

Thank you!

Adherent
Mar 12, 2010
2831
Well, it's not working as expected as far as I can see.

I just tried one character in Wysteria, Pigswick Academy. Was working on a mainline quest from Belladonna ("Teacher, Teacher"). Stopped along the way to talk to Zeke and accepted his side quest ("The Wallflowers").

The quest arrow switched to Zeke's quest, but when I looked in my Quest Log File, the arrow had a circle around the it and a line through it, because quest helper is not allowed on this quest.

It did not stay on Belladonna's quest (mainline quest).

I did send a DxDiag and Wizard Client Log file with this info to support@wizard101.com.

Just a side note: Wysteria is a good place to test the quest arrow. There are "so many" side quests in there. And that brings up another thought: I have been through Wysteria quite a few times, so I kind of know what is "main" quest or "side" quest. But as a "new" player, when you open your Quest Log File you would have no way of knowing which is main or which is side, especially in Wysteria. There has to be some way to distinguish one from the other.


Survivor
Apr 16, 2010
9
I am very happy about this as well!!! :) I have been super annoyed cause of the old update :x But now i should be really happy :-) Because i am in Avalon and every time i finish a quest it pulls up this one side quest from Celestia and then i have to look in my giant quest log and find the main quest! But this should hopefully fix the problem! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Adherent
Jul 03, 2010
2634
kingurz wrote:
RavenLady777 wrote:
No offense, but can you just put it back the way it was? There was no reason to change this and it's obvious from the comments here that it does not make sense to change something that worked before and is now just annoying and confusing people.


It wasn't great before, hence the need to change the quest helper. Many wizards have complained numerous times about losing their main quests. While maybe this fix isn't the best idea, it is better than the old way. The old way changed every quest to whatever quest you just accepted. With the new way, if you are doing side quests there is no change from the old way. The change, is that wizards will be required to acknowledge they are on a main quest now and will have to knowingly change their quest from the main quest.

So there was a need to change it, but debateable on how it should have changed.

All the comments recently on the forums was in relation to the change that actually broke the quest arrow not improve it (since it wasn't even keeping main quests active), unlike the new fix on test realm.


I do all main and side quests though DragonSprye - personally I don't look forward to the change. I like it better that the arrow follows me along rather then decide which quests I should be doing instead. I do look forward to see how it all works out though since I imagine there are going to be a lot of lost wizards wandering around the Spiral.

Survivor
Jun 17, 2012
2
daddyvance wrote:
Could I add a feature request please - something to differentiate between Main Line and Side quests. Perhaps the Quest Helper arrow changes colour when on one or the other? It's frustrating when you're trying to follow the Main quest line, and you don't know if you're on it or not, and halfway through the game you have to start trolling the internet to figure it out! =)

Thank you!

Actually this is not a bad idea at all. It would be a good way to differentiate main and side quests. I myself do not like doing side quests early on the game and it would be helpful to be able to easily skip them.

Survivor
Mar 17, 2009
3
I don't think the Quest Helper change is working correctly. I was in Avalon and had a Main quest "On One Hand" to talk to Sir Brennan Onehand. I stopped to talk to Sir Gussy Gascoigne. He gave me the quest "Variations of the Field" to do research for a new suit of armor and the Quest pointer changed to that one (i am assuming it is a side quest).

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
RavenLady777 wrote:
No offense, but can you just put it back the way it was? There was no reason to change this and it's obvious from the comments here that it does not make sense to change something that worked before and is now just annoying and confusing people.


Agreed. It is just very annoying now especially when picking up a reagent that just might happen to be under the quest arrow.

I can understand some losing the main story line, but if they are also picking up sides quests, it would just make more sense to run all the quests anyway before moving to the next area.

@Daddyvance. That really is a good Idea. Just fix it so the arrow becomes say; green for main storyline, and back to yellow for sides.

Adherent
Mar 12, 2010
2831
Professor Greyrose wrote:
We made some recent changes to the Quest Helper arrow that seemed to hinder more than help, so we've made some more changes and we want your feedback.

1. If you are using Quest Arrow to track a main storyline quest and accept another main storyline quest - the Quest Arrow should switch to the newly accepted quest

2. If you are using Quest Arrow to track a main storyline quest and accept a side quest - the Quest Arrow should not switch to the newly accepted side quest

Please test this vigorously and let us know if it is not working as expected on a particular quest.


#1 and #2 are not working as expected. I tried it in Wysteria. Was working on a main quest. Purposely stopped and accepted a side quest. It switched to the side quest. Happened three times. I did report them.



There are a lot of side quests in Wysteria. This would be a good place to test it. And I noticed it is "very hard" to distinguish main quests from side quests when I open my Quest Log File, especially in Wysteria where there are so many side quests.

:(


Adherent
Mar 12, 2010
2831
Okay. Just another update: quest arrow still not working as expected.

Was playing again in Wysteria. Working on a main quest from Groundskeeper Verne – “Peg-a-Portal” to talk to Beatrice Wildwind. Accepted a side quest also from Groundskeeper Verne = “Shear Madness” to defeat Wood Goblins and collect shears. The quest arrow switched to the side quest, and it did not stay with the main quest.

I did a "bug report" and sent an e-mail too.


Adherent
Jul 03, 2010
2634
Honeybee313 wrote:
Okay. Just another update: quest arrow still not working as expected.

Was playing again in Wysteria. Working on a main quest from Groundskeeper Verne – “Peg-a-Portal” to talk to Beatrice Wildwind. Accepted a side quest also from Groundskeeper Verne = “Shear Madness” to defeat Wood Goblins and collect shears. The quest arrow switched to the side quest, and it did not stay with the main quest.

I did a "bug report" and sent an e-mail too.



Do you mean it worked the way it did before the update or even worse then that?

Survivor
May 19, 2009
11
I agree we needed something. i am in ZF and after every side quest I did it sent me back to the heart of the Helephant. I had to1 reset it myself in the log.

i did not know this was because of a fix from the the last update. I think most people can figure out what the main quest is. Especially if you do all the quests anyway. I would be happy if it just kept me in the same world I was in.

Qoute:thanks for an awesome game. I love this and most people my age (56) agree! -----I am 63 and this is game is my main hobby

Survivor
Jan 27, 2010
38

but it is broke...when i am on a main story line quest and complete part of it.
I get a quest arrow for another story line quest that i chose not to do at this time. I want to follow the main story line quest and not find myself following the quest arrow to the wrong place.

kotanmj wrote:
RavenLady777, I agree with you. I also don't wish to be offensive to anyone but I learned many years ago, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is a case of exactly that, in my opinion. The new rules are far too confusing of when it changes to a new quest and when it doesn't. Can't you just set it to stay on the same quest and it is up to the player to change to a new quest, when they wish to? I realize that there are some very young players who would need assistance with changing from one quest to another, but most of us can figure it out. I, for one, regularly have to go to Quest Helper and change it back to where I was in order to continue with what I was working on. This is quite frustrating when I suddenly am told to go to a different world or different area of the world I am in when I am fine where I was.

thanks for an awesome game. I love this and most people my age (56) agree!