How Would You Build Better Side Quests In Games?

[Athennesi]

Blend Witcher ( worldbuilding, characters, stories, moral choices, presentation) and New Vegas( ties to faction system, roleplaying and skills) and you have the best da
mn sidequests in video games.
Those two are the gold standard...older Bioware, Black Isle games and so on, were also great. Gothic I and II had very simple sidequests but did a great job of integrating them into factions, in a meaningful way.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Sounds like you're talking about how to build a better main quest, so that it's more accommodating for side quests.

To answer the question asked, though: multiple outcomes.

There's not much that makes doing sidequests more interesting that being able to resolve matters in 3-5 unique ways. That's why everybody's favourite quest in Oblivion is that murder mansion one in the Dark Brotherhood.

 

[WeepingAngels]

I have thought about making this thread for quite a while and finally decided to stop pussyfooting around it and just do it.

What buggs me about RPGs is what I call "polite villain syndrome". It never matters to these fuckers how evil they're supposed to be, they will always be polite enough to wait for you to finish up whatever side quests you have no matter how many you have or how long they take. They're like fucking Garland in 8 Bit Theater, never moving their evil plot forward unless you specifically ask them to by showing up to every step of it. It drives me nuts because it leaves me feeling compelled to do ALL the side quests before moving onto the next story quest with Dragon Age Inquisition remaining unfinished for this reason. So how would I fix this?

The easiest way would be to just reduce the amount of side quests but I like the thing Persona had going. Basically there is a time limit to do the next story mission or get a game over, insuring that you manage your time wisely to get the most out of the side quests. So I would appreciate something similar to that to keep the plot moving so I don't overplay the game and get bored before finishing the story.

Failing that, tie the side quests into the main plot. Dragon's Dogma is a game I appreciated for this reason on top of having plenty of "I didn't know I could do that" moments. I'm going to have to spoil the main plot point of the game so click the Spoiler Tag below to find out why.

Spoiler

The main villain actually is waiting for you, and the side quests are dealing with the shit that cropped up in the aftermath. It's not just monster killing either. While you certainly do plenty of that, you also deal with cults, corrupt businesses trying to use the disaster to further their own ends, and rescuing particularly daft villagers. It all ties back to the main plot with the dragon because it wants you to be as prepared as possible for the potential confrontation. That's also a big thing about the side quests in Dragon's Dogma, they subvert what you think you know about the dragon, namely for the incarnation of ultimate evil, it seems awfully uninvolved with the bad stuff happening.

So, how would you build better side quests?

It's a toss up, which is worse time limits or QTE's? Probably time limits.

Let's not forget, you are playing a game. You are not Jack Baur and in my opinion adding more realism usually means subtracting fun. Maybe you should think of side quests as happening outside of normal game time.

 

[Akjosch]

I'd make them derived from the situation the world is in. And make that situation itself dynamic and ever-evolving, taking random chance as well as player input into account.

So if the world sim "lands" some human colonists on a nearby shore, the orc count of a nearby castle will have a few quests to scout them out, possibly establish contact one way or another, and depending on how the situation changes will want them driven out, subjugated or will want some kind of mutually beneficial agreement drafted. Whether the player character gets themselves involved, the situation will continue to evolve over the following weeks, months and years. Including new topics, gossip and random encounters being generated.