The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is not a MMORPG, but according to the press and first voices from players, it is an excellent game. Especially the quests stand out.
We have also spent several hours diving into the fantasy world of the witcher Geralt to compare the quests offered there with those of MMORPGs. It may not be a particularly fair comparison, after all, The Witcher 3 is a single-player RPG. Nevertheless, single-player RPGs and MMORPGs have much in common. Especially theme park MMOs also want to tell an exciting story, score points with good content, and create a believable world.
However, MMORPGs have a fundamental problem: The player is not THE hero who saves the world. If you consider it pedantically and perhaps even a little cynically, then the character in an MMO doesn’t really save anything at all, as the darkest dragon always returns through respawning, kidnaps the princess again, and burns down the village once more. MMORPGs have a problem presenting quests that truly have a lasting impact on the game world and make the character a true hero. This is different in single-player RPGs. Here, every decision can have significant consequences. An NPC could die, an entire village could be destroyed – permanently.
Great Narrative Art
However, what The Witcher 3 does exceptionally well and from which MMORPGs can take a large slice, is the storytelling of quests that offer different levels. You start with a regular mission, which, however, develops into something completely different over time. There are twists and surprises in which the NPCs always play an important role. You learn something about these NPCs, get to know them, and then have to decide how the quest should proceed.
A young man is missing on the battlefield, and together with his brother, you search for him. You find him wounded, rescued by a soldier of the opposing army. Do you turn him in now, or do you hide him because he has saved the wounded man’s life? A hunter tells why he fell from grace because he loved a man instead of a woman. These things give the characters and thus the world a depth that is rarely achieved in MMORPGs.
Now one might say that quests in MMORPGs and single-player RPGs must differ because the gameplay styles of both genres are different. MMORPGs emphasize quickly reaping the rewards to improve your hero, while single-player RPGs thrive on stories. But is that really the case? Would it hurt an MMORPG if quests offered more depth, brought surprises and twists?
Many MMORPGs could learn a lot from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in this respect. There is no need for permanent, world-changing decisions to be made, but even quests in MMORPGs can be more exciting and varied.
Of course, games like SWTOR and TESO also show that good and complex quests with exciting stories can be told in online RPGs. However, The Witcher 3 proves that there is still much room for improvement, as it makes many single-player RPGs look outdated.
