Quest Markers

It is undeniable that one of the biggest complaints that seasoned RPG fans have for the modern RPG is the excessive use of the “quest marker.” Many say that a large arrow giving you not only the direction your objective is in, but the quickest way there is contradictory to why we play these games. The appeal of RPGs typically stems from having to interact with this world which developers have created, speaking to the inhabitants to try to learn these shortcuts and locations ourselves, rather than having this intrusive psychic ability hoarding the center of our screen. In modern games such as “Skyrim (2011),” the marker can be attributed to helping the player get a plethora of objectives finished in a short span of time, but what happens when a game offers this marker with linearity and a smaller amount of content?

Many game developers have incorporated the marker, knowing that their players will still want a sense of exploration and reward. “Bioshock (2007),” revered as one of the greatest FPS role-playing games, let alone one of the greatest games to exist is still an offender of the quest marker dilemma. In linear games like “DOOM (1993),” the path was somewhat clear which resulted in curious traveling off-path in order to find what secrets and rewards await. Games like Bioshock, offer the marker which allows players to visualize exactly where they shouldn’t be going, making the exploration of the unknown just as linear as the known. Essentially, you are given a trail of breadcrumbs to find your way back to the path rather than having to backtrack on your own.