Quest items

I've been playing for about a week and really enjoying the game. I love the loot-hunting aspect, which despite major differences in the stat system, seems to be a throwback to Asheron's Call. But another important aspect of loot in AC was the quest item. Quests usually involved some combination of running dungeons, farming rare drop items, and crafting. (Atlan weapon quest is IMO the quintessential AC quest: http://www.thejackcat.com/AC/Hobbies/Quests/Atlan.htm).

Anyway, my question is are quest items part of the game or planned to be part of the game.

Thanks!

There are some quests that have specific quest items of various rarity. Some are as simple as kill this boss/mob and loot 'x'. These items can exist outside of the quest - crafting quests, always available loot drops or require you to have the quest to collect. For instance there's a quest in Serbule Hills that requires you to collect various book pages that you need the quest up for - or you can do a quest for Marna to collect antlers which always drop, but are relatively rare.

I think the more important item progression is favor which requires you to collect items to give to townsfolk which can unlock new quests/favors. This functions similarly to a gathering quest, but allows you to decide if you want to sell/gift/or craft with each item.

Hope this helps!