Maybe PQ’s aren’t so bad afterall…

I decided it was time to push my Shaman from 37 to 40.  This was my first character in Warhammer Online and I leveled him up mostly in RvR from 30-37.  I struggled with him for the majority of his levels because I played him as a healbot.  For most of the game, PQ’s have never given me a feeling of true PvE.  I’ve always felt that they were quick mini-games with little replay value.  They’ve always been silly and small and inconsequential.  I was wrong – at least a little.

A friend of mine (shout out to Danntes) told me about one PQ in particular that he went from 34-40 at very quickly: Reikland CH. 20 Lvl 38 PQ.  I didn’t have much hope for the place but I was truly desperate to get more than 15% exp for a full day’s time investment.  When I got there I saw that a nearly full warband was participating in PQ.  This was a shock because I have never seen this many people PvEing together since the first few weeks of launch.  Usually you’ll wander around and see one or two people at most while questing.  Since it was an open warband, all I had to do was join on someone and I was immediately welcomed to the action.

The EXP was fantastic!  Making 200-500 exp, and sometimes 1000 based on the size of the group, per kill was surreal.  [Note:  I had full rested exp from 37-40 so that helps the exp.]  Winning gold bags, something I usually can’t do, actually happened for me.  Since the rounds take about 6 minutes to complete with a 2 minute or so reset that’s a lot of chances at gold bags.  Set items drop from the bags (I believe it’s the Ruin set) and other decent items drop from the mobs and lesser pq bags.

More important than loot or the amazing exp (exp is still important mind you) is the actually sense of socializing that went on.  Was I really feeling this in Warhammer Online?  People were talking, I was seeing repeat faces as people joined and left over the two days that I was there, and people were overall wanting to create a real multiplayer PvE environment filled with community and collaboration.  This is the very essence of why I play guys.  Finding this in a game is crucial to my lasting appeal.  How ironic that I found it in a PQ.

This has opened my eyes a bit.  I’m still not a huge fan of how PQ’s are designed but I’m no longer opposed entirely to their existence.  I really believe that the source of my enjoyment of the Ch. 20 Reikland Hard PQ was that it had a sense of importance about it.  It’s the key to leveling quickly from 35-40, getting good loot, and socializing.  That same type of importance is not shared by 95% of the PQ’s.  This perceived importance is what Mythic must duplicate in the Land of the Dead PQ’s.  If they can do that then I will welcome the abundance of PQ’s.

My Shaman is about 30 minutes away from hitting level 40.  Back to the PQ for me!

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  • I know we send warbands to do PQ’s when we are close to flipping a zone in Tier 4 which might explain why you saw so many people there in Reikland.

  • I use to hate PQ’s. Solo they are a waste of time as a Warrior Priest. I could do a quest and get comprable gear than the influence reward.

    However now that I’m running with RL friends we have been doing a few PQ’s a night. It’s fun. The IB pulls, the Slayer kills, and the Rune Priest and I (Warrior Priest) heal and loot. Never ending carnage.

  • Glad you found a fun PQ. I’ve been thinking Public Quests got a bad rap even though I had fun with them while I played WAR. I think the idea is sound, just the implementation is off. I’m hoping newer games can improve on the design.

  • There are definitely some fun PQs and some dud PQs. Those that are located where there is a lot of player traffic are often the really fun ones. The ones that are off the beaten track are just that: beat.

    Mythic should have more quests that will lead a lot of players to these PQs or give reasons to go take part. Sort of like the rallying cry for keep defense have some sort of claxon that calls players to certain PQs.

    I play Order and it seems the Dwarf zone PQs are the most beat. Not that they aren’t fun but it just doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of players journeying through. At least in my experience.

  • I always liked the idea of PQs and when I played WAR when it came out they were amazing fun and great for getting that sense of working together with other people and socialising. However, as I started to level up, I found it harder and harder to find decent PQs. Almost everyone I found was empty and couldn’t be completed.

    I think PQs are only as good as the amount of people who do them.

  • it’s a great way to play an mmo casually. And when you’re paired with a guildy or 2, doing a pq while qued up for scenarios (with the ‘join as party’ selected) is a fun way to spend a couple hours in game.

  • Hey Keen. I just got bored and resubbed to WAR. Decided to make a Desto on your server. Is your guild recruiting and/or does it let in nubs?

  • Sometimes it’s worth just putting a shout out on the region chat and keep repeating it, when you want to form a warband for a PQ. There’s a certain point, which is about 3 people, that once people see that many, they think it’s worth coming along to. Before you know it, you have 9/10+ people.

    The easier PQs are a good launching pad to get things rolling.

  • think its not PQs that warhammer got wrong, i think they just put so many in they just got diluted.

    Generally i think they are one of the most ingenious ideas in MMOs ever. People generally gather a round mobs and grind might as well give them a kind of quest out of it.

    Another thing i think Warhammer did wrong with them is the fact they made them replace the old group quests. At first i thought this was a good idea but after playing them you see they are two different beast entirely.

    Group quests for one normally do not stay static in one area like PQs do, which normally just change up spawn. PQs are more of a standardize way of farming then an actually group quests.

  • Order has a couple of PQs just like it in D/G chap 20 at “The Pit” and at H/D chap 22.

    Most of the time though, we don’t bother even finishing the PQs, it’s basically just where we go camp mobs from lvl 32ish to 40. The respawn rates are absurd and a healer and AoE or tank is all you need to mow through them 15 at a time.

  • The only thing wrong with PQ’s are the way Mythic deployed them in the zone. Right outside of each flight hub there should have been 1 PQ for each level range for the zone, and PQ’s should scale in difficulty (with increased xp and loot) based on the party sizes playing them.

    I do like the open party and PQ designs for Warhammer though.

  • From the sound of it I’d say really you were caught up in an EQ1 affect. A very small sized area camped by a group of people and time flies because you’re socializing. The added bonus of extra experience helped draw you in.

    I’d say you were sold on the leveling rate and the socialization – NOT that it’s an “uber cool PQ”.

    Compound these thoughts with the fact that you mentioned no details of the PQ.

  • That’s precisely correct Variz. I think the PQ gets some credit for being able to provide that feeling or effect that I like though.

  • Been looking on Monolith the last few nights at various hours and they have all been empty. Must be something on your server.

  • I think the problem with PQs is that they’re too easy. I don’t mean in terms of time, like only taking a few minutes easy, but the encounters are just way too simple most of the time and they never throw you a curve ball.

  • Variz, that’s not the EQ1 effect. That’s been going on since MUD1.

    Secondly, the PQ system in WAR has always been good. It was a part I immensely enjoyed. Unfortunately, players spend all day doing PQs to get to 40 and then are forced to quit cold turkey because the rewards suck and they’re all outside RvR zones. The tier 4 RvR zones, and their lack of content like PQs, is Mythic’s absolute biggest failure.