From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


You know what I haven't played in a while? A game with an escort
mission. You know the sort I mean; you're given an NPC to guard as it
slowly maneuvers through the level, protecting it from enemies because
it has no way to defend itself, and usually has pitifully few
hitpoints. Also, its movement speed is just awful, it never obeys your commands, and enemies seem to make a bee-line for it the moment it
aggros them into action.

Not that I'm complaining. I hated those missions. EVERYBODY hated
those missions. I'm glad their gone.

I'm just sort of surprised that developers abandoned the mechanic.
They're usually not so responsive to gamer preferences. We still have
awful first-person jumping puzzles and bosses with big orange "shoot
me here, I'm vulnerable" splotches, after all. I'd have thought those
would have gone the way of the dodo before escort missions did.

Of course, technically, escort missions aren't completely gone. I
mean, what was "The Last Of Us" but for one twenty hour long escort?
Or "Plague Tale", for that matter. But these days, the escortees tend
to be a lot more robust, and a lot less annoying. Heck, half the time
the enemies don't even see them anymore.

I think the last 'proper' escort mission I played was in "Mechwarrior
5: Mercenaries", when there was a mission where I had to protect a
bunch of easily squishable tanks from an incoming attack. And even
that game was released more than five years ago. (remasters don't
count).

Is it just me? Have escort missions been exorcised from the hobby?
Have we at long last seen the end of those weak and annoying 'protect
the AI' quests that have so long plagued gamers. Or have I just missed
all the newest games that still include the mechanic (maybe I just
erased the experience from my memories).

What was the last game where your game progress was held hostage by
the inane wanderings of a shittily programmed NPC who dropped dead if
so much as a butterfly landed on him?


--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:07:59 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

What was the last game where your game progress was held hostage by
the inane wanderings of a shittily programmed NPC who dropped dead if
so much as a butterfly landed on him?

It was Lord of the Rings Online for me, a few years ago. I had to
escort an NPC to a safe area. I eventually got her there after a few
tries. The problem was not her speed. She would run to her
destination. But if any mob attacked her, she would stop moving
completely and cower right there. I had to quickly kill whatever was
attacking her. That was a problem for me as my character was built for
tanking, not DPS. I remember a similar escort quest in World of
Warcraft.

Maybe you have not seen these annoying escort quests because MMOs may
be the last holdout for them.
--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 3/2/2026 6:27 AM, Mike S. wrote:

On Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:07:59 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote:

What was the last game where your game progress was held hostage by
the inane wanderings of a shittily programmed NPC who dropped dead if
so much as a butterfly landed on him?

It was Lord of the Rings Online for me, a few years ago. I had to
escort an NPC to a safe area. I eventually got her there after a few
tries. The problem was not her speed. She would run to her
destination. But if any mob attacked her, she would stop moving
completely and cower right there. I had to quickly kill whatever was attacking her. That was a problem for me as my character was built for tanking, not DPS. I remember a similar escort quest in World of
Warcraft.

Maybe you have not seen these annoying escort quests because MMOs may
be the last holdout for them.

Skyrim has an infamous "escort mission" where the person you are
escorting ALWAYS charges at the nearest monster once you are within a
certain distance of it.

Whether or not you can see it.

And always the most powerful if there are multiple.

And it is early enough in the game that you should be running _away_
from the dragons.
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 2 Mar 2026 06:58:01 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> said this thing:

On 3/2/2026 6:27 AM, Mike S. wrote:

On Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:07:59 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<[email protected]> wrote:

What was the last game where your game progress was held hostage by
the inane wanderings of a shittily programmed NPC who dropped dead if
so much as a butterfly landed on him?

Maybe you have not seen these annoying escort quests because MMOs may
be the last holdout for them.

Skyrim has an infamous "escort mission" where the person you are
escorting ALWAYS charges at the nearest monster once you are within a >certain distance of it.

Yeah, definitely the mechanic exists in older games (and I think I'd
even count the MMOs mentioned by MikeS in the previous post in that
category). But they seem to be missing in newer titles.

Maybe the problem is that none of us play newer titles anymore? ;-)

And it is early enough in the game that you should be running _away_
from the dragons.

Bah! I always chased after them, usually shouting, 'Gimme your soul!
Gimme your soul!" I always hated when they were flying too high for me
to reach! A lost opportunity for bloodshed! I was not a player for
subtleties ;-)

--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2