R17 Student Quest (Spoilers)

Ok, lets do it this way: (Interestingly enough, this was not the last book i found, I was stuck somewhere else....go figure)

Hint #1

Spoiler

Novia, not Hidden Vale

Hint #2

Spoiler

Perennial Coast

Hint #3

Spoiler

Swamp Biome

Answer:

Spoiler

Outside the Tower of the Shuttered Eye on the Ground (you may have to walk around the building)

 

Just more Feedback...

If that's the bar we're using, we're in a great place. It's not hard to read about what the community found collectively and then repeat that process. So once we have a larger sample size we can just tell people to look at SOTAwiki or point them to the Mad Hermit's website and tell them to stop complaining - just like we would the Tour Guide Quest.

The Tour Guide Quest has been relatively "easy" if you blindly run past all the monsters. I've finished them all at level 5. But I assume that level of "questing" is just for testing, and primarily to get people moving about and continuing to "show up" so that we can test server capacity and the basic mechanics of the game. The tour guide quests aren't fun, they're more like a chore (for me) to make sure I get all the hats.

In comparison, I thought the goal of the Student Book Quest was more than that. I thought it was a full grown quest that was supposed to be enjoyable and serve more of a purpose. I think it DOES serve a purpose, but I don't think it's fun. Would I rather be doing something else with my time? Yes. I don't really even want to goto these places when I KNOW the books are there. That's really my point.

Although I began to feel more connected to the quest when I talked with Gina, I'm still not completing it for any of the students, I'm just completing it so I can get a statue. If there was no statue, I'd ignore it completely because it's not fun and there would be no point (for me). It's not that I'm saying make ME care about it, it's that I'm saying I can't be the only one that will feel this way. So if quests in general are designed in the same way I think we're missing an opportunity to make people care about them and perform them because of something more than just "get me 12 books and I will give you a statue".

See what I mean? This whole quest could literally be one guy saying "get me 12 books and I will give you a statue" and it would functionally be no different than what we currently have. I think quests should be a little more complex than that. Let's raise the bar.

 

could you please share the location of the one i missed? nm, thanks

 

I wish I would have seen this thread yesterday. I think I found the book on Friday but didn't have any chance to play. Even after reading the thread I still didn't realize one book was still missing and I had found it.

Spoiler

I went through the Spectral Mines 3 times because I had a feeling there was one there. I missed the one on the ground in the Bunny Room EVERY time.

 

BTW, if anyone would like to sell me a copy of each book, I'll be happy to gather some resources or gold in exchange for this service. Better yet, depending on your point of view, I could allow you to use my Keep Level Deed (and any house that you'd like) until the next wipe.

EDIT: Keep Deed Sold

 

Agreed! Absolutely loved this quest and now, thankfully, I can actually finish it!

 

CHAOS!

 

Does Gina have any interest in that? And does the completion of the quest make any sense out of why three virtue students are making a chaos statue for you? What the?!

 

Was this just a fetch quest to test mechanics between multiple NPCs, perhaps? Otherwise your point is spot on and I'd like more meaning to them, even if they are side quests. Create that emotional connection so I care about who I'm doing the quests for and their impact on those NPCs or the town or world, etc. and not necessarily the reward (loot) itself, but those are also good

 

I think Pillars of Eternity did a good job of this. Even the smallest quests seemed to have a point to them. I mean, maybe I'm overlooking some of them, but I don't remember there being any fetch quests.

Regarding PoE, the only complaint I have about their quests would be that many of them only have one way to completion. It's like, "what if I don't want to help this person, but instead I'm just find being on the bad guy's side this time because the people giving me this quest are really annoying?" It's like the quest system is too linear. But emotionally I felt like I was performing a valuable service to the people that asked me for help - and often this service seemed to also be in line with what my priorities and goals were.

 

The three students didn't make it for me, Gina did.

 

IIRC it was just something to honor the fact of the all the new book covers that got put in the game. It was simply something fun for us to do, and at the same time get us to go out and explore the game and how it has changed. It was not part of the EP1 Story. I can't find the quote, but it was someplace from a Dev in the past week.

 

Here's what you're probably talking about.

I took this to mean it wasn't a main quest. Not that it wasn't part of EP1.

 

I have not done this quest yet, but will try it later this week or weekend to see if indeed there are any other in-game effects or dialog that gives the quest more meaning.

It was one of my complaints to Lum about the Ravensmoor quest. Why should I do that one? It was fun, involves other NPCs (when that's fixed anyways...), involved multiple cool locations to explore, was dangerous, and most critically was story-based. Yet, it had zero effect on the world. Sure, there was some post-quest dialog from NPCs saying "thanks for killing the Lich", but what it lacked was any other effect. If the undead were rising on the Vale and stopping trade routes, I would expect prices to be higher due to lack of goods...of which there weren't any higher prices and there weren't any lack of goods. Upon quest completion, I'd expect more inventory on vendors and more kinds of items that may have been missing due to stopped trade routes, and I'd expect those prices to be lower in some way due to higher supply now. Those quest mechanics are what I'd expect for a multi-part, multi-NPC quest like Ravensmoor. The only thing I can see is a few updated dialog entries thanking me. I'm hoping its simply because they haven't finished all the quest mechanics (affecting vendor inventory and pricing, in this example).

Yes, my sentiments exactly. I've read reviews on other sites that expresses the same thing. While some quests had minor differences in how you complete them, ultimately they all resulted in the same game state. So it didn't matter if you took Path A or Path B, as they both arrived at Path C. Presumably, SotA has multiple paths...perhaps? But if we take Ravensmoor for example...what if I didn't want to rescue Norman or even better, he was killed in the rescue? Can the quest still continue but with a slightly different outcome? Can the quest still continue at all? As it is, you are forced down a specific path and must rescue him. But they've shown they can have quests with different outcomes and can affect trade with them (Myra/Myron, Myra/Morgan).

 

I don't think I've completed any quests other than the tour guide ones. That's probably in part because....

- I despise leveling for the sake of leveling. So I'm rarely high enough level to complete anything on my own. Because the game is in an incomplete state, it's also hard (for me) to get a group of people together and roleplay half completed quests that may or may not work. (I know we're testing, but the point is that it's really not fun to level so you can test incomplete quests) I'd be happy to test all the quests if someone put my character at level 100 or I could just be invincible (that would be ideal).
- I dislike the combat system. There's little challenge, it's all about DPS and build. Which makes leveling that much more boring, and questing that much more of a grind.

I haven't stepped one foot into the Necropolis yet. Too much of a grind for me.

Going back to the PoE example, I leveled as a part of the journey, it was rarely a requirement to continue on to the next challenge. I like puzzles, I like using my head.

 

Fair enough, I remembered reading it, didn't remember who wrote it. Re-reading, I have to agree with you. Part of Ep 1, just not main story.

However I wouldn't be surprised if two of the students are moved to their respective towns (Aerie and Resolute) once they are ready. I think that might sort of at least keep the reasoning for each search within the city of virtue it represents.

 

Aartemis, could you (or others) please give some detail as to what was "great" and "fun" about this quest? Because I don't see it and although I doubt it will change my mind any about how I personally feel about the quest, it might be good to show the devs where the gap is.

Like what exactly was the enjoyable part(s) of the quest for the people that liked it?

 

Certainly, I enjoy exploring. I also enjoy Searching and Finding.

I enjoy many other aspects of the game as well, but I simply love small details. The thing I found interesting about the quest was that it really was *NOT* a fetch quest. To me, a fetch quest is when an NPC says go over THERE and get me THAT, With the defining word being THERE. I'm told where to go and all I have to do is follow through the motions.

Students of Virtue was a Collection quest. You are rewarded for exploring, searching and paying attention to fine details. You have no idea where they are, just that an NPC wants them. Also it's not any old book...that would be easy. It's a SET Collection.

I think the main difference may be also that I didn't care *when* i solved it. I simply went from area to area in the game seeing what had changed and while I was there, I looked for a book of virtue. So I was not frustrated when I went somewhere and there was not a book.

EDIT: This was something I also enjoyed doing in EQ2, Set Collections for a House Decoration type reward. Again, the thing is, I might have stumbled across 4-5 books before ever meeting the Students. The books were there no mater if I took the quest or not - when I finally found out that someone wanted them, it was kind of cool I already had a few. They not only decorate and add flavor to the world - they are also a part of it's NPC Life.

 

You are teh best. Love it.

 

I should say this though....

In a game where Virtue is being tracked... Was I penalized for STEALING a book from someones house? I am being rewarded at the end, but nobody OFFERED me their copy of the book so I had to CHOOSE to steal it in many zones.

So, where does the Virtue lie, in completing the quest to complete the collection for the students by essentially stealing the books from across Novia? Is it not stealing if I've been asked to collect them? What if I didn't know I was collecting them yet but still took them??

I'm not sure anyone would miss or care about the book left in a graveyard but what about the ones in somebody's office, or bedroom?

If anything I think this is where the interesting nature of the quest could lie, am I willing to break the rules of virtue to assist those in need that are trying to find the answers in a world where most virtues are forgotten??

I have no idea if it tracks this or not, but if it does, it's a moral dilemma and HOW you get the books may be just as important to you as the fact that you did.