Big List Of 100 Fantasy Side Quests

Here is a list of 100 quest ideas. I spent about six hours googling existing lists of side quests and ideas, then I edited, revised, and added some of my own. This is a cross-post from my game development blog, which has almost no SEO happening.

There aren’t many silly quests involving mysterious pink cows, angry chickens, etc. because that isn’t my style. (In fact, some quest lists I found online were kind of bad, which is why I’m posting this.) There also aren’t any quests intentionally copy-pasted from existing video games.

As a fantasy fiction writer, I was advised that ‘side quests’ should connect into the ‘main quest’ (aka storyline) in some way, at least to develop important characters and setting. In an interactive game, the main character is most important. So it’s good to choose side quests that allow the main character to develop and roleplay, i.e. as a druid, as a ranger, as a wizard, etc.

The best ideas here are ‘subversion of tropes,’ so just doing that is a way to find good ideas.

The quests are loosely divided into three tiers. That doesn’t mean Tier Three is bad, maybe less useful to my current project. I consulted Ch@tGPT for 20 generic quest archetypes at the end, and also to pad out Tier Three to reach 100 total quests in this list.

I will be using this list, editing, and adding to it. I hope you also find it useful, better than the existing lists I could find, and certainly better than AI. Good luck, have fun, and happy Game Mastering!

Tier One:

1. A wealthy person, faction, or competing adventuring group wants to hire one group member on a permanent basis, and offers a better deal than the current adventuring party.
2. A wealthy and/or powerful person with a grudge from the past has posted a bounty for the capture or death of one group member.
3. A royal has been assassinated. Find clues and find the mystery for a reward.
4. The group needs to beseech the help of an evil faction in order to achieve greater aims.
5. A gang of female thieves (or equivalent) is extorting money from a male merchant or royal.
6. A very rare reagent or monster organ is needed by a wizard for a particular powerful spell.
7. A bard needs a fabled magical instrument, which was stolen by an evil witch, along with his tongue, or maybe something else.
8. A cowardly fighter wants you to retrieve a powerful sword/item to make him more powerful, makes excuses why he can’t go.
9. A magic mirror or secret portal reveals the dark secrets of the person who uses it, or maybe the person it’s pointed at.
10. A public execution or unjust imprisonment is occurring due to prejudice and hate by otherwise good people.
11. A wizard is possessed by a demon or devil they summoned. They must be captured alive and exorcised.
12. The party, or a member of the party, is framed for something they didn’t do. But why?
13. A son/daughter of a nobleman is in love with a scoundrel or member of a lesser/unliked race.
14. A string of noblemen have turned up missing. A few of them reputedly visited the same brothel. Or this an intentional red herring by the real culprit?
15. A lord/lady of the realm is seeking a new wife/husband, has heard of the exploits and/or lineage of one or more of the group, and sends formal invitation(s) to attend his/her party of candidates.
16. A young girl is accused of an assassination, but it was actually her possessed/demonic doll.
17. Two lovers have become separated due to one being arrested or lost at sea, use divination to help them find each other, with a possibly unforeseen twist when they are found.
18. A sacred shrine or other building is on fire. Use water magic to douse the flames and be a hero, while attracting the ire of a fire elemental, evil entity, or other arsonist.
19. A gnome inventor needs rare components and/or schematics from the goblins, but they are terrified to try to obtain them on their own.
20. An evil lord chooses someone’s beautiful young daughter to be his new wife. The parents want to hire the group to kidnap the daughter, in hopes it will either lure the evil lord out of the castle to be killed, or at least persuade the lord to choose someone else.

Tier Two:

1. A powerful chaotic wizard is building a deadly dungeon. They need help procuring deadly monsters or traps, which you realize will brutally murder innocent low-level adventurers.
2. A highly conservative anti-drinking/drugs/sex/race/anything religious group wants you to sabotage and ruin a local business or person, which isn’t doing anything technically law-breaking.
3. A librarian wants a priceless tome returned from the wizard who won’t give it back.
4. Someone wants to hire the group to kidnap a princess, instead of rescuing one.
5. A vigilante group is killing a repressed minority.
6. A creature or group of creatures has moved into a place, using it as a base to maraud countryside.
7. Whole party is captured somehow, must find a way to escape.
8. A bar room brawl, which includes another group of adventurers. To the victors go the spoils, and maybe a map to a nearby hidden lair, dungeon, gold mine, or lost dwarven stronghold.
9. A member of the party somehow earns ownership of a slave. This causes conflict.
10. Mysterious earthquakes in a nearby region, investigate the cause.
11. An ‘evil’ faction turns out to be just misunderstood.
12. A ship or something wrecked, depositing a huge treasure. Race to get it.
13. A dragon is rumored to no longer be guarding its hoard. Race to get it.
14. A group of bandits is making travellers pay a toll.
15. The group is afflicted with a curse of discord, which turns them chaotic or evil.
16. The group is afflicted with a curse that turns them into monsters that are killed on sight.
17. The group defeats thieves who have stolen something that blackmails a local corrupt noble.
18. A noble hires the group to find blackmail material on another noble.
19. Fire destroyed a special village inn or landmark. Lift the spirits of the people by helping them gather the resources to rebuild.
20. An artist is cursed when his paintings keep coming to life, or predicting death. Solve the mystery.

Tier Three:

1. A princess has been kidnapped and held for ransom … one too many times.
2. The group finds a wounded angel that needs help getting home, before being captured by devils.
3. An evil character is in love with someone good, and wants to be better.
4. One of the group turns out to be a doppelganger. Where is your companion?
5. A circus has come to town, with strange creatures, exotic people, and…?
6. A new party member has a secret past that catches up with him/her, and hopes the group will lay their lives on the line to take care of this problem.
7. Group rescues a damsel, but she’s actually an assassin/thief pretending to be innocent.
8. Salesperson-like promises of gold and glory in a nearby kingdom leads to an ambush and/or a trap.
9. Bounty hunting a goodhearted pirate, vegan troll, evil princess, or other character that defies tropes.
10. Two of the group members have somehow changed bodies.
11. A local lord is trying to build a new road. A powerful landowner, a retired adventurer, or a group of elves or druids is strongly opposed, with escalating stakes and violence.
12. A group member has inherited a long-abandoned estate with an odd groundskeeper or housekeeper, secrets.
13. A cult is trying to revive its lost god.
14. Retrieve an old artifact from a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea.
15. A nobleman hires the group to let his son/daughter tag along to see the world.
16. Deliver a ransom to kidnappers.
17. A mysterious egg is found. Is it hatchable?
18. A curse, or cursed object, is found, group must find a way to get rid of it ASAP.
19. Everyone in a town has gone missing, no one knows why.
20. Someone was kidnapped by something. Rescue them.
21. The group finds a gladiator arena, can participate.
22. An evil faction or aggressive warlord is corrupting small towns before expanding to an assault on the capital. He wants something, maybe marriage to the local lord’s daughter.
23. Chanting or singing is heard in nearby ruins or glade.
24. Someone in the group is afflicted with lycanthropy.
25. Undead are attacking a nearby village, controlled by an evil mastermind.
26. A new cult has arrived in the area, and is recruiting members. Are they up to no good? An established faction wants you to ‘find’ evidence they are no good, and either convince them to leave, or kill them.
27. A mad wizard or cleric is selling potions that have terrible side effects, refuses to stop, and is trying to silence those who call him out.
28. Someone wants the group to find a stolen or missing precious, with payment on receipt of the item. Maybe they are counting on the item’s power to help them avoid paying.
29. You are racing another adventuring group to the treasure, but the other group falls into a disaster. Will you let them die? Or will you help them?
30. The plague scenario. Find the cure, or burn the whole place to the ground, risk getting sick to help the sick, or whatever. (If a group member is out, maybe they got sick.)
31. The pop-culture reference quest. Recreate a popular story with abundant references.
32. A farmer is clearing land to plant crops to feed the growing human village. Local nature spirits or elves aren’t pleased. Take a side and/or mediate.
33. The adventuring group has an opportunity to build their own stronghold. The effort requires various side quests.
34. A group member wants to join a religion, holy order, or assassin’s guild, but needs to complete a difficult quest for entry, and could use some help.
35. A group member is in a guild, church, or other organization who needs them to complete a very important quest, and to bring friends.
36. A legendary but eccentric chef went missing. Find out where they went and what happened, and they might reward you with a secret recipe.
37. A group member is a member of a vulnerable minority. As a relatively wealthy and capable member, they are in a unique position to help defend their people against persecution, and find diplomatic solutions.
38. Hostage crisis. Rescue the princess by negotiation and tact, rather than covert assault.
39. Mediator. Prevent a war by negotiating with both sides. Evade an assassination attempt by those who want a war to occur.
40. A highly publicized wedding of peace is arranged between two usually opposed factions. Escort the bride along a treacherous road, along with a precious dowry.

Ch@tGPT-Generated Generic Quest Templates

Here’s a list of good generic quests for an adventure game:

1. Retrieve the Lost Artifact: The player must venture into dangerous dungeons and overcome obstacles to find and recover a powerful artifact.
2. Rescue the Captive: The player must locate and rescue a kidnapped character, navigating through enemy territory and facing off against formidable foes.
3. Solve the Mystery: The player becomes a detective and must investigate a puzzling crime or a series of mysterious events, collecting clues, interviewing suspects, and piecing together the truth.
4. Protect the Village: The player is tasked with defending a vulnerable village from imminent danger, such as an invading army, monsters, or a natural disaster.
5. Explore the Forbidden Land: The player embarks on a perilous journey to explore a forbidden and uncharted territory, facing unknown creatures, solving puzzles, and uncovering ancient secrets.
6. Retrieve the Stolen Treasure: The player must track down and recover a valuable treasure stolen by cunning thieves, leading to a pursuit across various locations and encounters with clever adversaries.
7. Defeat the Evil Overlord: The player’s ultimate goal is to defeat an evil overlord who threatens to plunge the world into darkness, assembling a team, gathering powerful artifacts, and engaging in epic battles.
8. Master the Elements: The player must undergo training and trials to master the powers of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and bring balance to a troubled world.
9. Seek the Legendary Weapon: The player embarks on a quest to locate a legendary weapon with immense power, journeying through treacherous terrains, deciphering ancient riddles, and facing formidable guardians.
10. Uncover the Ancient Civilization: The player explores ancient ruins and forgotten cities, deciphering ancient texts, solving puzzles, and discovering the history and secrets of a long-lost civilization.
11. Aid the Wise Sage: The player is tasked with finding and assisting a wise sage who holds crucial knowledge or a solution to a pressing problem, overcoming obstacles and proving their worth.
12. Lift the Curse: The player must break a curse that plagues a person, a village, or even an entire kingdom, embarking on a quest to find the source of the curse and finding a way to undo its effects.
13. Restore the Sacred Relics: The player sets out on a quest to recover stolen or scattered sacred relics, each with unique powers, and return them to their rightful place, unlocking their potential along the way.
14. Help the Lost Spirit: The player encounters a wandering spirit trapped between worlds and must aid them in finding peace, venturing into ethereal realms and solving ethereal puzzles.
15. Expose the Conspiracy: The player becomes entangled in a web of political intrigue and must uncover a conspiracy threatening the stability of a kingdom, gathering evidence, interrogating suspects, and navigating dangerous political waters.
16. Ascend to Godhood: The player embarks on a journey to ascend to godhood, undertaking divine trials, amassing followers, and making choices that shape their path to divinity.
17. Collect the Elemental Crystals: The player must search for and collect a set of elemental crystals scattered across the world, each imbued with unique powers, to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
18. Protect the Last of a Species: The player is entrusted with the protection and preservation of the last surviving member of a rare and endangered species, shielding them from hunters or poachers.
19. Save the Dying World: The player must find a way to heal a dying world, whether through restoring natural resources, bringing harmony to warring factions, or finding a mythical artifact with the power to rejuvenate the land.
20. Reclaim the Lost Kingdom: The player’s mission is to reclaim a lost kingdom that has fallen into the hands of an oppressive regime or monstrous creatures, rallying allies, and engaging in epic battles to restore peace and justice.

That’s it. If you’re a game master, I hope you find an interesting idea or two in here. Good luck, and happy gaming.

ChatGPT And Game Writing: The Seelie Court

This week I’m back to game developing on Elven Academy after a five-month hiatus. I spent a few days fixing bugs on the live server (because I always leave things in shambles). Now I can dive into the Seelie Court story adventure module.

Sadly, our official human lore of the Seelie Court is quite lacking. Thanks to Shakespeare, we have Oberon, Titania, Puck, and some fairies, and lots of ‘fan fiction’ let’s say. Gladly, this morning I ran across TAGN’s blog posts about AI generation of fantasy royal courts.

This is exactly what I just happened to need today. So I worked up the members of three elven councils, which function in coordination with the royal family. My first question was:

create a council of three good, honest elf businessmen, each assigned to a different island

I was surprised and pleased that the AI actually gave the islands useful names and designed a character around those islands. The AI also seemed to value gender diversity and take into account elven values of nature and ecology. The result is like a rough, generic block to hone down on. One of the results, for example:

1. Galadriel Swiftbreeze – Island of Innovation: Galadriel Swiftbreeze is a visionary elf entrepreneur tasked with overseeing the Island of Innovation. She possesses a creative and innovative mindset, constantly seeking new opportunities and advancements. Galadriel encourages research, development, and technological progress on the island. She promotes sustainable solutions, green initiatives, and investments in renewable energy. Galadriel’s business ventures focus on pushing boundaries, fostering creativity…

The AI-generated characters sound a lot like modern resumes, or bios on corporate websites. The revised result for the campaign:

1. Councillor Gloirse of House Gaothaigéan – Warbler Isle: Gloirse is a visionary entrepreneur tasked with overseeing Warbler Isle. She possesses a creative and innovative mindset, but is in constant struggle with the Peacock Queen over innovation versus traditional elven values. Gloirse encourages research on how to bridge cultural differences between the great Courts of the Underworld. She wants sustainable, honest solutions to helping Warbler Island prosper, but she has been accused of corruption in the past, and working too favorably towards the aims of the Soul Pirates.

I didn’t get scolded or lectured at all in the answers from ChatGPT, like TAGN. I am curious to try some scurrilous and evil requests. I was again very impressed by the answer to my next request (I probably need to improve my questions):

create a council of three good, diverse elf druids

1. Aria Moonshadow – Guardian of the Forests: (a wordy paragraph about guarding forests and nature)
2. Kael Stormcaller – Warden of the Elements: (a wordy paragraph about four elements and keeping them in harmony, casting elemental magic)
3. Rhiannon Dawnrunner – Shaper of Life: (a wordy paragraph of nature-loving, herbalism, and healing)

The revised result for the campaign:

1. Druid Arii of House Gealach – Guardian of the Forests: Arii is a wise and ancient elf druid who serves as the guardian of the forests. She has dedicated her life to preserving and nurturing the natural world. Aria is known for her profound knowledge of plant life, her ability to commune with animals, and her mastery of healing and herbalism. She brings her wisdom, compassion, and reverence for the natural order to the council, advocating for the protection and sustainable use of the forests.

Lastly I needed a High Council that oversees everything and works directly with the king. My question:

create an elven high council with seven members, with political intrigue and conflict

One of the results:

1. Lady Evangeline Shadowheart – The Enigmatic Sorceress: Lady Evangeline Shadowheart is a powerful sorceress whose magical prowess and mysterious nature have garnered both admiration and suspicion. She is known for her persuasive abilities and has a strong influence over the council’s decisions. Her motivations and true intentions are often shrouded in secrecy, causing division and intrigue among the council members.

The revised result for the campaign:

1. High Moth Evangeline of House Beaubeignet – The Enigmatic Sorceress: Duchess Evangeline, or so she calls herself in reference to her lineage of French royalty, is a powerful elven sorceress whose magic and mystery have garnered both admiration and great suspicion. She is known for her persuasive abilities and has a strong influence over the council’s decisions. Her motivations and true intentions are elitist and conservative. She believes high royalty is the true measure of a society, and therefore she believes in high taxes. She is supported by the Royal Family.

Conclusion:

So. I re-wrote 13 generated characters, firmed up the exact councils, their natures, and their political connections, supporters, and leanings, and filed them into my character reference sheet in Google docs, in an hour or two.

I’d say that’s a success. An elaborate backstory and history for a campaign is necessary, but it’s also an enormous amount of busy work. I’m looking forward to checking out the other options in AI, and I’ll hope this stuff remains free-use for a long time into the future. If AI is a gold mine, the winners right now I’d guess are the sellers of picks and shovels.

On that note, I could add that I’ve also discovered the Krita graphics software. After all these years of being a slave to Photoshop, it’s the first platform I’ve seen that seems to do what Photoshop 6 does for my game graphics creation. This is a saver of hassle, time, and also real money when my old Windows 7 + PS6 machine eventually dies.

As far as gaming this spring, I was in FFXIV:ARR for a few months, and I’m still keeping up with Hearthstone for those few months of every year when I really get into it. I’ve played some Saint’s Row. I didn’t buy Redfall, because it was so trashed by critics. We are still waiting for Bloodlines 2. What else? Well, there is GTA 6 in 2025, and Elder Scrolls 6 in 2026? That’s what Google comes up with.

So yeah. And the new Star Wars game doesn’t have a female character option.

Anyway, happy summer vacation, happy gaming, or whatever you are up to. Thanks to TAGN for the AI writeups and getting me on track with that. Looks like I forgot to paint a hanging potted plant on my Seelie Court splash screen (above.) So … I’ll go add that to the endless list of things to do and fix…

2022 Recap: Year Of The Demon

Tonight I earned the max tier “Summon 1000 Demons” achievement with Warlock in Hearthstone. I also reached Platinum ranks for the first time since achievements were released. So I decided to ride this mini-high into writing a quickish 2022 blog post summary, albeit a bit belated.

Can I tie demons into the topic of 2022? Well, Trump declared his 2024 candidacy with a cadre of crackpots still supporting him, with possibly enough influence to critically benefit Russia, take away women’s rights and your retirement benefits, and give the money to their rich, corrupt, environment-destroying, gun-toting donors instead.

So that’s super demonic.

We also had a glut of F2P and microtransactions in 2022. These other orange plagues fatally infected Diablo Immortal last summer, which fizzled after a blast of fanfare that resulted in big name streamers and personalities trying to out-whale each other by farting fantastic money at Blizzard. No one talks about this fucking money hoover anymore.

Of course, crypto and the U.S. stock market tanked in 2022. Maybe 2022 should be the year of the F?

I played the Saint’s Row reboot, and it was a bit disappointing. Deep Silver Volition put together a fun, well-made game to play, but the story and characters don’t grab me. The writers made the decision to make the player an equal member on the team. This was a noble idea, but turned into a problem somehow.

I probably need to play on a bit further, but at the moment I’m stuck. I wanted so badly for this game to be good.

I also spent a month in Wrath of the Lich King Classic, enough to make level 78ish. (?) As with Burning Crusade, I ran out of steam at the end of one month. I’ll probably go back if Blizzard ever has a plan.

I really need a reason to invest time in this game. But since the beginning of Classic, Blizzard has been too greedy (focused only on the bean counters, the profits and revenue expectations, I assume?) to make any written commitment to the long term. They have no commitment to the future, so I can’t commit either. It’s very annoying.

And so, as with Burning Crusade, I am losing time and falling behind. I check the WoW Classic forums and MassivelyOP every now on then looking for news. My Night Elf Druid is patient, but at some point I’m not willing to come back again and again to a Mr. Blizzard who won’t commit.

I assume we will see a Cata Classic. But that means the destruction of Teldrassil and other elven areas, so I am also depressed about it.

Other games? The brutal boss grinds of Elden Ring do not appeal to me, just like with serious raiding in WoW. Nor do the male-only protagonists of God of War or Pentiment. The game Stray needs to be played at some point, but I don’t like the tech focus. The male developers turned this poor cat into a fucking cyborg, because a cat is just too boring otherwise! I don’t like robots, no matter how much they are required for gameplay.

I am currently playing through Diablo 2 Remastered after picking it up on the holiday sale. I soloed Diablo last weekend, but I’m also playing with family.

The best surprises of 2022 were not games at all. They were the Star Wars series Andor and the HBO series White Lotus. I’m a huge Aubrey Plaza fan, and I would love her lotus any day of the week. I’m not a huge TV watcher though. I’ve transitioned this year to Youtube from Twitch for travel blog/video content, which is my main thing.

On a continued personal note, I did a lot of oil painting this year and painted my best paintings so far. I don’t have a good camera to photograph them yet though. I completed a nice little Guide to Dating for my in-game library of my personal game project. I completed at least two major modules as well.

The Year Ahead! Diablo 4, Hogwarts, Etc.

I remain mildly interested in Hogwarts Legacy, because for the first time in franchise history (I believe), you can play a female witch. On the other hand, we had J.K. Rowling go full TERFinator this year. Her personal life and decisions are cryptic. Despite being somewhat LBGTQ myself, I’m not inclined to hold these things against her.

Video previews of Diablo 4, which is coming in first half 2023, show a very MMO-ish look and feel, to me. The pre-order chart is giant wall of text and complications. Redditors compared the preorder sheet to a medical bill, and sure – why not just give me a kidney stone and a hernia trying to deal with your bullshit, Blizzard.

One choice cut of pre-order whale bait doesn’t even give you the game! I’ll have to see the microtransactions vs. reviews, consult with family members, etc. about this one. We’ll see, but let’s say, for the sake of drama, that the bad community relations are weighing heavily.

“Blizzard warns the $100 collector’s box pre-orders will sell out.” Oh, fuck off.

The new Star Wars game, Jedi: Survivor, is again male only, and I don’t really like the guy that much. His personality is boring. Now if they’d given you more choices of Light/Grey/Dark conversation options like I try to do in my game, it might be more interesting.

That’s about all I had on my mind tonight. Bitcoin and Etherium are breaking out of a massive downtrend. I posted a chart on Twitter.

The U.S. stock market remains in a downtrend, however. There is downside crypto risk as long as U.S. tech is at risk, since it’s often lumped in the same basket (speculative tech). It does look like the market could be trying to form a bottom here, but the long term downtrend is still clear, even though crypto has broken out.

Could crypto be a leading indicator for tech?! We will see in the next month or two.

In my personal game project, the player and companions are off to the Seelie Court, which is located on the isle of Avalon. I plan to try harder for a better elven experience, look and feel. I’m frustrated by a lack of quintessential fairy and elf-ness (in clothing, architecture, and the customs and manners of the NPC’s, for example) in my work so far.

As always, I try to maintain the utmost respect for the Fey, but my human mind and body are very fallible. Fallible even, with a capital F. Happy gaming to all, and best wishes for 2023.

Here is an image of the ‘grisaille’ stage of one of my paintings. I paint in oils from hand drawings, using classic techniques, except I am solvent free. A can of cheap solvent is showing, but it’s mainly for accidents and rare stipple brush cleaning. At some point I’ll write up my full working process with tips and tricks. Who knows. Maybe it could be my first Youtube video.

Solasta Multiplayer, Diablo Immortal, E3 2022

As usual, it’s been a while since I posted. Mainly I wanted to call out the Solasta multiplayer patch and the pseudo-E3 events happening this week.

Crypto has crashed massively, but since I got in a bit earlier than most, I’m doing fine. I’ve bought a bit more BTC, ETH, and ALGO, but I am prepared to see a lower low at this point.

I was surprised that the launch of crypto.com and Super Bowl ads marked the top in crypto. I honestly thought those events would raise the low water mark (baseline price support) much higher.

Evidently there were big players ready to sell the news. Russian players may be a factor in liquidation. Companies are also having to sell more and more assets to pay their employees with assets that are worth less. In any case, on with the games.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister

My brother and I have really been enjoying the Solasta multiplayer, which dropped a few weeks ago along with the Lost Valley content update, which also brings a new campaign. The multiplayer is smooth, and discussing tactics with your partner is fun.

We haven’t encountered many bugs, except for a multiplying Tome of Wisdom, which gave my cleric godlike wisdom. The gameplay is great. I agree with the consensus that the plot, characters, and dialogue writing are unfortunately not so great, although there are exceptions.

You can talk your way past plot points instead of having big battles, which is a nice feature. This involves antagonist NPC’s that are reasonable, and not pure evil who attack on sight. This is good writing. This also means you don’t get the magic tome of infinite wisdom though. So.

On the other hand, why are we risking our lives repeatedly and traveling all over the darned kingdom to find a half dozen gems to stick in this random unknown crown? ‘Why not! Go for it!’ agrees the council of supposedly important but forgettable people who I don’t care about.

Solasta seems destined to not stand among the best mainly because of writing shortfalls (imho), unless they continue to improve and release these mega-updates. Maybe we could also recommend a Solasta 2.

Lost Ark

The highlight of this spring’s gaming was Lost Ark. The game came out of nowhere for me, and I enjoyed playing up until level 50ish.

At that point, the weight of the over-complicated mobile and cash shop drains and currencies stacked up to become an annoying, unenjoyable environment to play in. I was happy as a Mokoko when I finally got into my ship. Except wait – what’s this?

The health of my ship is constantly draining off while I sail around. Really. The personal stronghold was also really big in this game, and it’s my least favorite form of gameplay. My bags also filled up with so much currency junk that the mess actually caused me to log out and not come back. I got tired of cleaning up my bags.

I could go on a while about the pros and cons of Lost Ark. Suffice it to say that, while early on I recommended Lost Ark to friends, now I wouldn’t.

I pulled the wool over my own eyes looking at the bewildering array of currencies and tokens in this game.

Diablo Immortal

Really, Blizzard? After years of playing Hearthstone, the final straw was the Battle Pass and revamped rewards update in fall of 2020. Diablo Immortal features a multiple tier battle pass, plus a premium subscription service like an MMO.

(To be clear, this is a phone game, but they put it on PC also by popular request.)

Cosmetic and emote rewards are character-locked, which is a typical Blizzard move to make you spend more. And “One-time cash offers will unlock as you progress through the game.” Sounds like an annoying story experience.

There are plenty of positives. It’s a great, fun, multiplayer coop game for PC. They didn’t have to put it on PC in the first place, and originally had no plans to do so.

All classes have both genders. There are no male-only locks. Blizzard is a leader in gender equality and we shouldn’t just take this for granted, even in 2022. Also, there appears to be no premium pay-to-unlock classes up front like in some games. Classes are supposedly well-balanced and equally fun.

For a full ghoulish 40-minute discussion of this dopamine vendor shopping mall, you can watch Bellular’s review, “Blizzard’s New Game Will Completely DESTROY Their Reputation” on Youtube. Or his excellent new video on predatory F2P psychology.

“800% Extra Value.” It’s just absurd. It’s not a real treasure chest overflowing with gold in the image above, but it might be comedy gold. This game is unplayable.

Ironically, a lot of people will eat up these forgettable, disposable cash shop pixels, then go on social media and attack crypto for being a scam, a scheme, nothing but empty air. Hilarious.

E3 2022

I cluelessly googled E3 last week, forgetting about the whole Covid thing, and it’s cancelled, again. But again, the game companies we love are stepping up to have an unofficial promotional period. Uh, I believe that does not include Blizzard or EA.

Microsoft & Bethesda are showing up.

Apparently we’re hoping to see some solid gameplay videos of Starfield. I’m also interested in Redfall. I have to say, after visiting the Redfall website, Bethesda seems to be making an unusually good effort to create well-written, interesting characters out of their four main playable characters. That’s a good sign.

Capping off everything, PC Gamer will have another big showcase stream this year. It will be on Sunday, June 12 at 10am Pacific. It will include less well-known reveals and developer chats, etc. For a full list of events, check out the PC Gamer writeup.

I’m still interested in seeing Saint’s Row and Vampire Bloodlines 2 release soon. That’s it for now, good luck and have fun!

MassivelyOP Becomes Massively Fascist: Why You Should Like, Not Hate Crypto

Ubisoft’s Singapore studio cleared of wrongdoing, Ubisoft exec claims users ‘don’t get’ its Quartz NFTs

Today I commented in support of crypto in an article on MassivelyOP.com. My comment was deleted, and I now seem to be blocked from further participating in the one-sided hate and tomato-slinging.

I commented that the hate for NFT’s and crypto is not logical since blockchain is just another way to implement microtransactions, which are widely accepted.

Sure it’s a bit more complicated, but that’s what it boils down to.

I was dismayed a few years ago when Blizzard implemented the Hearthstone season pass, which made me 100% quit the game. I haven’t played since. Blizzard was pushing the cost of Hearthstone even higher, not lower for an aging game! No one seemed to care. And people today have even more microtransaction fight fatigue.

But now – since Ubisoft is exploring the boogie men of ‘crypto’ and ‘NFTs’ in their microtransaction programs, people are suddenly going batshit crazy!

The MOP article first heaps abuse on Ubisoft, framing the company in the worst light as a sordid reminder to the reader, before reaching a simple punchline. Nicolas Pouard, a VP at Ubisoft’s innovations lab, says (to summarize) he believes that gamers are clueless and a bit deluded about crypto.

(He is sugar-coating that the public is hysterical and ignorant.)

Puard is right, but this mob of Puritanical villagers are certain they know more than a gaming executive with a team of expert researchers. They agree with Hillary Clinton (who chimed in last year-ish) that crypto is a thing of the devil that needs to be stopped.

The public has been misled by negative press that has come as a consequence of both profit-seeking opportunists and scam artists, as well as fearmongering public figures, who have more nefarious agendas than legitimate crypto supporters such as Jack Dorsey and Anthony Scaramucci.

Guys and gamers. Blockchains are just software platforms. Software. This software runs “digitally distributed, decentralized, public ledgers that exist across a network.”

These ledgers track unique tokens, and can do quite a lot of things quickly, securely, and most importantly without reliance on the overlords that currently control our computerized ecosystems, such as Microsoft, Google, Visa, big banks, hedge funds, government entities, etc.

Your ownership of a token represents a stake in the network. Instead of Microsoft extracting all the fees for using their proprietary ecosystems, you get a share of the power and profits instead, in exchange for your collaboration and participation.

It is probably less misleading to call a crypto a “token” rather than a “currency”. I’m not sure which is more accurate since I’m far from a blockchain scholar, but it seems most clear to think of secure, fast distributed ledgers.

Maybe a lot of misperception comes from people trying to think of crypto in the same terms as fiat currencies. Blockchains can do a lot of things on their distributed, secure ledgers, but that isn’t the point of this blog post.

The important point is that it’s logical to think that blockchains could be useful to facilitate transactions in video game ecosystems. That’s a foundational premise of the Metaverse. I’m skeptical about making the Metaverse work, but I’m certain about the usefulness of blockchain.

When the internet was invented, did we see lots of memes making jokes about the useless pseudo-religion of the internet, warning people about the potential for ‘internet scams’? I’m sure there were plenty of scams.

It also seems logical that big banks, governments, and very powerful people would want to stop crypto by claiming it’s a scam and a fraud. Some of these naysayers are telling you it’s a scam, while at the same time investing in crypto secretly, like Jamie Dimon at Chase Bank. Many other companies, like Visa, are preparing to make the transition to a crypto economy so they won’t be left behind.

“Oh, no! You can’t fool us” cries a horde of gamers. “Cryptos are an even worse scam than microtransactions!” Unfortunately, crypto haters are falling right into the trap of being persuaded to hate what’s good for them.

Look at the Chinese government, which banned all cryptos just last year, but the PRC is looking to introduce an official government cryptocurrency. Russia may soon be taking the same steps.

Note that these are the world’s largest authoritarian governments. They don’t want crypto because it empowers the people and removes them from full control. They want full control.

The U.S. government has been extremely late and lazy to police the ‘cryptoverse’. Now they can hold up the chaos and fallout of the scams and hype disasters (aided by their own inaction), as proof that we need serious regulation.

Of course, the government will be there to protect us and to create a safe, secure, and legal government crypto. Wait. If crypto is so bad, why is it OK if governments and government banks are running it?

This is not the world you want, but it seems to the world we are heading towards. In my metaphor above of superstitious villagers vs. crypto, this is like letting the church scare you into positioning itself as your only safe and legal gatekeeper to all that is holy. Because demons.

Before my post on MassivelyOP was deleted, someone pushed back. They said it was inaccurate to say gamers had accepted microtransactions. They had ‘swallowed’ them (my words), but not accepted them. This is a very good point. It’s likely that gamers need targets to express their rage (i.e. Bobby Kotick). The negative perception of blockchain and NFT’s offered a good target.

I might not be 100% informed on some of these issues, and there may be a few inaccuracies. But believe me I share the suppressed rage at video games turning into a blood-sucking shopping mall. I’m just saying it’s wrong and ignorant to shoot the messenger in this case.