Today, let's talk about the Quest Compass.
First, I'm an RPG fan, so this analysis will be mostly RPG-oriented.
Second, when I say "Quest Compass" I'm referring to a very specific UI item:
Its defining trait is that while the first three merely orient you or display your surroundings, the Quest Compass points you towards something. It directs you, tells you where to go.
It's omniscient, guiding you to places, object and people no one knows about. It replaces exploration.
But I'm getting ahead of myself...
The in-game GPS
I think it's safe to say that GTA III (2001) popularized the quest compass as we know it - a circle on the corner of the screen that serves as mini-map, displays nearby landmarks and guides you to your current quest objective:
The concept didn't came out of thin-air. Mini-maps in games date back to the mid 80's, with games like Might & Magic II (1988) and Gates of Dawn (1985):
And even the first GTA (1997) already displayed a little "quest guide" arrow, directing the player towards the off-screen mission objective (the tiny yellow arrow bellow the taxi):
Other early open-world games of the time were also experimenting with the concept. In 1999 alone, we had the long-forgotten Urban Chaos, which had an enemy scanner / quest compass; Driver, with its street guide mini-map and Crazy Taxi, with its giant arrow pointing towards your next objective:
It's also interesting to consider the larger cultural scenario. By the time of GTA III's release, online map services like MapQuest, Yahoo! Maps and Zip2.com, where you could PRINT (or FAX!) a map with directions were booming - in 1999 AOL had bough MapQuest for 1.1 Billion dollars!
Ugh.
Anyway, GTA III came out and defined how we think about mini-maps and guiding players in open-world 3D games. Players could easily drive and take quests without getting lost, and there was much rejoicing.
This is important, because another game from the time was having problems with that...
Where the hell is Caius Cosades?!!
The very first quest in Morrowind (2002) is rather infamous. You're a prisoner (of course) released into service of the Empire, and must now report to your superior - Grand Spymaster Cauis Cosades:
It's pretty clear what you must do - it's the first quest in the game after all. Plus:
You can ask for more detailed information from the quest giver.
A paper with directions is added to your inventory.
Your journal fully explains what you need to do.
You can ask NPCs for directions along the way.
You start with more than enough money to pay for transport to Balmora.
So you take a transport (or walk) to Balmora. The South Wall Cornerclub is right next to you - at the corner of the south wall (duh). Inside you ask for Caius and they tell you that he's in a house just outside the club. Here's the map:
Yet many many players couldn't find him. Like, A LOT of them.
There's a reason for that - Morrowind was the first Elder Scrolls game to be released on consoles. Quests in games like Baldur's Gate or Fallout were more complex than those in console JRPGs. PC players were used to trying to decipher cryptic NPCs, searching endlessly and even drawing maps. It was a cultural shock between an old PC series and the new 00's console audience.
So for their next Elder Scrolls game, Bethesda decided to offer a guiding hand. In Oblivion (2006), one of the often hyped features was a compass, located at the bottom of the screen, that also displayed nearby landmarks and the objectives of your current quest:
Of course, not everyone was pleased with this. While the journal and quest still gave detailed directions, you couldn't turn the quest compass off unless you used a mod.
This is extremely important. Not only Oblivion was the first RPG to use a quest compass (as far as I can tell), but it was a resounding success. It sold almost 10 million units, introducing a massive new audience to RPGs...and "teaching" them to quest by following a quest compass.
Keep this in mind.
A Brief World of Warcraft Retrospective
A decade ago, WoW was MUCH BETTER! a very different game. Leveling up was SLOOOOOOOOOOW.
It was common for people to spend weeks grinding in The Barrens.
This was in part due to extremely low XP rewards and those goddamn "Gather 10 fangs" quest, which had a 0,001% 10% drop chance and would require you to murder like 300 tigers....but also thanks to quests that required you to find something, like this:
The thunderhawk, <name>, is a fierce beast. It is time for you to face them. You must find where it roams, and bring me its wings as proof of your successful hunt.
Yes, it's a "Kill X" quest, like so many bad quests are, but you must find the creature first. It added an element of exploration to it, of testing how familiar you are with your surroundings.
This led to incredibly immersive experiences - when hunting a particularly difficult or hidden objective, I would stop passersbys and ask them for directions. This simple interaction to me is still the fullest realization of an MMO - an RPG where the "NPCs" are actually other humans, which you can stop and chat with, join for a quest, become friends, etc...
It's a dream that dates back to the early 80's, when games like Ultima had NPCs you would awkwardly interact with by typing keywords - "name", "job", "bye". Through the decades there was advancement made in the AI & interactions, but who needs that when you have a fellow human behind every single character running around? All of them unique and interactive!
Of course, MMOs are still like this on the surface. Yet, deep down so many things changed - flying mounts which eliminate "social travel", instanced areas which isolate players, Raid/Dungeon Finders which remove the need for socialization, online wikis which turn any question into "JUST GOOGLE IT!"... it's an automatization of gaming, with convenience as king.
And spear-heading those changes was the Quest Compass.
