Hello fellow gamers.

Having played numerous RPG games and by being a big fan of. The Elder Scrolls series.
One of the questions that spring to my mind is that while playing through Oblivion, I personally missed the Quest Exclamations seen in other RPG′s at times.
Spending time hunting down a NPC was some of the most tidisome activity in game.
Not that I did not like the green point in the compas, but sometimes i just would have wanted a little more something.

So therefor i decided to make this poll to see if others was feeling the same as me.

One of the things i find helpfull in games are Quest Exclamations on the mini map. Pointing me to new or completed quests waiting to be turned in.
With the magnitude of Oblivion in mind, starting out by running to talk to each and any NPC, ( sometimes more than once bechause of forgetfullness.)
In order to collect quests for my further travels / explorations, kind of takes much unnecessary time from my actual game time. Does any of you have the same experience ?.

I hope that you will keep the discussion kleen and constructive.

UltimaGutti

I'd rather not know which NPCs can give me quests beforehand. I find it much more interesting to just talk to people, and then find out that one has something to do for me.

No defenetly not! IT would ruin the gameplay and atmosphere.

The only time a question mark or exclamation mark hovering over a character was interesting to me was when the character pulled it out of the air and beat someone to death with it.

It's mildly tolerable in a game like Diablo or Torchlight, where your brain is optional, but I would loathe such a mechanic in an ES game.

That said, I don't care if it's an option for other people.

Not to be overly negative but I might just throw up if I see a bunch of exclamation marks all over the place.
I like having to find my own way to stuff. (I'd rather have the quest arrow removed as well but one can't have everything.)

Have to disagree, I'm sorry. I liked the fact you had to talk to people in towns. Big part of the immersion factor. Find the right person, persuade them, maybe have to use charm spells or bribery to get quest information is how you should start some quests imho. Closer to reality than knowing in advance who is useful,who is not. If a town is full of obviously irrelevant NPCs, the screen shouts Filler! at me. Nothing wrong with a bit of simple detective work now and again.

Being an intelligent person that can read someones name when I highlight them and being able to tell a Nord from an Argonian I don't need any question exclamation marks on NPC's. If someone tells me I'm looking for an Argonial call "He has no tail" that's all I need to know to know who I'm looking for, I don't need a mark to tell me exactly who the argonian is.

I wouldn't want that personally. It's not too good for immersion. The whole point in the Elder Scrolls (main quest of Oblivion aside) is that they don't shove quests down your throat. Having an exclamation mark would kind of do that, while ruining immersion at the same time. About something toggleable that would show in the mini map.. I don't think that could ruin anyone's game, as long as they don't build the game around that. In Oblivion they built it around the quest compass and I don't think that was a good change (although maybe it was necessary with the radiant A.I.)

As others are saying, I want to talk to people and see what their story is, and then be pleasantly surprised when they have a quest for me.

Sure, why not? Easier to know who to kill on sight.

It would kinda ruin the immersion for me. I like to talk to people, find out stuff about them and discover quests on my own.

Let me guess. You loath the compass and you are being sarcastic. You get me for a moment .

Do you mean like in dragon age where there is an exclamation mark over plot givers?

Thank You for the constructive repplies and thank You all for keeping the discussion clean.
I see the point in not having the exclamation marks howering on top of peoples heads, but to newcommers of Skyrim / Elder Scrolls universe perhaps it could be a helpfull addittion to the games quest interface.
If one where to look aside the fact that most of the users here are veteraned RPG gamers, and if you rolled back time to one of Your first RPG gaming experiences, maby the Quest Exclamations would be helpfull.
If the DEV′s where to built in an option to Activate / Deactivate Quest Exclamations in the very beginning of the game eg. some sort of toturial. would it then still be as bad to have the Exclamations as an option ?.

No thanks.

I'd rather gameplay and characters not be dumbed down to the point where the game literally has to hold your hand through every step.

Edit:





I think in order for newcomers to appreciate a game with the scope of elder scrolls games, they should not be treated as if it were some other kind of game. While I can't say for certain as I haven't seen the new CS, I also don't think such an option is feasible considering the way quests have been designed in the past, especially considering the unpredictable nature of quests which have been rumored to exist in Skyrim.

Yes exactly.

I HATE these things haha. I definitely do not want them in the game. I don't even want a compass to exist, let alone something like that.

so, you where serious ? then no, I don't wan't interrogation marks.

I think those would ruin immersion for me.

The thing is, Bethesda have not just created a series of games, they've created a world. Look at the number or posts just on this forum, and you see how many people have an emotional investment in it. Thamriel is a living breathing part of our imaginations. To have such shortcuts to finish the game, and remember these games are proper open world do anything go anywhere adventures, that do not end in the sense of a Halo or even a Zelda, is denying yourself much of the enjoyment and involvement that TES offers, (OK fallout 3 ended, but they fixed that. ) I appreciate that dungeon diving and completing quests are what many gamers would call the high points, but the towns, the landscapes and the characters inhabiting this world are there to be enjoyed. Don't deny yourself that, and you will have a richer more rewarding experience. ( And anyway you'd miss out on the Khajiiti licking their own butt jokes. )

An absolute immersion killer. None of these, please.

Bad pool. I like the quest markers but not in all games. For some standard MMO or Diablo like they are nice, for a game aiming at more immersion like Skyrim they would be plainly out of place.

This is possibly one of the worst things they could do with regards to questing

I'm not against the exclamations in general - in some games they fit in rather well, but in TES game it will hurt the immersion for me. Everything that takes form the need to explore and make your own way around the world is bad for TES in my opinion.

My response is mixed. While I do think it is helpful, it should not be in a TES game. A big ! or ? over a person would just violate the goal of making TES games feel like a real world. They are good for some games just not this.