Elden Ring quests are implemented in a totally different set of systems from the one described in TFA, mostly something called EzState (dialogue trees) and EMS

Elden Ring quests are implemented in a totally different set of systems from the one described in TFA, mostly something called EzState (dialogue trees) and EMS (map events). These are basically very primitive bytecode interpreters with unusual execution models and a small API surface to interact with the game world, so I think you're onto something. I can imagine the designers having a hard time implementing nicer interactions without constantly modifying the engine. According to [1], earlier versions of the EMS editor were built on Microsoft Excel, took 30s to open, and didn't support undo/redo. They rewrote it for Elden Ring, but Dark Souls quest design makes a lot more sense when you realize how hard it was to change anything. [1] https://cedil.cesa.or.jp/cedil_sessions/view/2662 https://cedil.cesa.or.jp/cedil_sessions/view/2662