Doing horrible things in the name of a good cause. That's pretty much the schtick of paladins. For every princess saved there was likely someone or something killed. If the cause is just does it make it ok? Put a sword in a paladins hand and name him vengeance. Doing what you think is right is not always right or "good". I always played the paladin on the borders of evil. Don't give me a flaming sword and expect me not to kill with it. Tunare wanted me to do good but mith marr wanted nay expected me to be the hand of justice. Kill first ask forgiveness later and at best pray they find peace and mercy in the afterlife lol.
I think one thing that you could consider inserting into possible future quests like this is a morality/alignment meter at the end of the quest, like the one Shadowknights get when they do their Epic Request. It won't do anything, it'd just tell you how you fared. I definitely would love more open ended quests like these in the future though. I'm not saying it's the best quest or mission ever made, but A Ranger's Tale is one of a kind for sure.
My characters typically start off the alignment of their general race and class. If I'm roleplaying them (as in with other players) rather than just playing through the game then their outlooks can change based on those events. I haven't done that in a while in EQ, so I have to say I stick to the morality of the race/class. Can't say its an afterthought. Playing the role of the character and their choices is a good part of the fun if not half the fun.
Only issue I had with this mission, is on one run, I killed all the aviaks, looting everything, and netted 5 feathers. At that point, the mission became unwinnable.
This is an interesting question. I LOVED games like Knights of the Old Republic and Mass effect. (Light Side, Dark Side, and Paragon,. Renegade choices). Any game with moral choices that have consequence, I love. However, I find that game developers usually don't make decent "Evil" choices. It generally feels more like "Good and Nice vs Juvenile Sorority Girl / Frat Boy". I guess the best example of REAL evil is Darth Vader. He was cold, calculating, but he was a Jedi Knight, so he conducted himself with a code of honor. He captured people, interrogated them... he'd work with bounty hunters and civilians and any deals he made, he'd honour them unless new info or orders prevented him from doing so. He wouldn't rage kill people, but he'd use well placed threats and carry them out to send a message if he was crossed a second time. Now fast forward to the prequel "Revenge of the Sith"... he killed children... force-choked his wife... whined like a child who dropped their ice cream cone... what the heck was George Lucas thinking? That's just.... dumb... I was half expecting him to Hi-Five the emperor... or say "Come at me, bro!" when he fought Mace Windu. So... moral choices in video games (including EQ... sorry) is usually like George Lucas in the 1990s and 2000s... It's like it's written so it's obvious enough for a 6 year old to understand the difference. Obiwan: I have the high ground! Anakin: You never take me seriously! I'm the best Jedi Ever! Here I come! Obiwan *slice* Anakin: I HAAAAATE YOU!... what's that smell? Barbecue? You didn't invite me!!? I HaaAAte you more! Obiwan: You need a bucket of water or a fire extiguisher? Maybe some cold cream? Anakin: I may only be 3 feet tall now and crispier, but I won't accept your pity!
Oh oh oh, I have an idea if you ever have a future mission or quest like this where you choose your own way of going about it. At the end of the quest, the game tallies up how nice or mean you were in a simple Evil ----- Neutral ----- Good slider. At the end, you get a reward based on if you were good, neutral, or evil at the end - and these items share a lore group. Does that mean a "good" player (like a Mithaniel Marr worshiping paladin) might choose an evil reward because it suits their game play better? Probably. It'd be something interesting to consider for the future. Ultimately I'd love to see more missions like these.
NOTE: While not necessary for task completion, you can use Fen Sightwell to silence Vex O`Kurf (say "fire" to him), making the dragon no longer AE. If you do this, however, the dragon won't drop the bonus item for the task.
I really like this quest too and was hoping to do it again but misunderstood the end date of the AV quests; I thought they ended on 8th May!
Its from the 15th anniversary and the calendar shows those should be up till May 11 and as this is only the 4th (may the 4th be with you!) so you can still do it again!
I also was confused with the time difference between Test and Live, so went to do it on Test when it was all over! At my age, I can't necessarily rely on being around for the next Anniversary!!
