So right now with the new scrolling message buffer, conversations are... bad. They just look really weird, and it's easy to miss them. So when you go and "C"hat with the druid, for example, nothing seemingly happens, you have to look at the message buffer to realize he gave you a quest.

My solution would be for conversations to open a new "window", much like achievements do, or various tutorial hints. You could hit "ok" at the bottom once you've finished reading/interacting to signify that you're done with the conversation. This would help for interactive conversations (like with the dwarf elder or the master thief) as well as non-interactive (like with Guth'Alak), and keep players from frustration. :)