Public Quest question...

[MouseOfAslan]

It seems to me from reading the cool Gamespy stuff, that public quests can require a few more than 2 or 3 to complete the end boss(s). From what I've seen in WoW, there are times after the 4-5 years it's been open that there are not enough people to do certain things in certain areas. Could this be a potential problem? ie: not being able to get the 4th and 5th person for a Mauradon instance or to take down a boss needed for a quest that requires 2 or 3 people.

 

[Baddwin]

Sometimes it can be, but PQs tend to be very dynamic. They go in phases, with each one consisting of at least 3 stages. Each stage is also usually on a timer. The early stages are soloable, it's not until the later ones that you find mobs that take more than one PC to down. If you don't finish a stage by the time the clock runs out, then the PQ resets back to the beginning of stage 1.

So if you're running solo and come across a PQ and nobody else is there, at the least you can start killing the mobs for stage 1, and earn influence while you're doing it. Once you fulfill the stage 1 objectives and it moves into stage 2, you may not be able to continue, but as soon as the timer runs out you can start phase 1 again (generally under 10 minutes for the phase to time out and the PQ to reset). You won't get the PQ loot because you didn't finish it, but the influence you earn will count towards earning influence item rewards.

More often if you're doing a PQ alone you'll find that others tend to come along while you're working on it and join in. PQs are great for bringing strangers together. Sometimes you'll just work side by side with the others there and sometimes someone will start sending out group invites, and everyone will end up teaming together to make it a bit easier organizationally. As people choose to move on, they'll drop, but others will generally come along and join in. It's a great dynamic for getting to know people and making use of the great tools that Mythic has created for forming groups and warbands. PQs are very FTW.