Quests are a hallmark of most online games. We have some minor quests in TEC, but they are limited to transport quests in Iridine as a new player, the Tailoring Boards, and Locksmith shops’ jobs. I understand the lack of quests due to the sandbox nature of the game and the fact that it is not a linear progression type game. So a quest system similar to WoW or other MUDs would not really fit the mold well. But I also feel like a quest and reward system might help give players “something to do” when monotony starts to set in. Just look at how well received the “Plank and Nails” turn in quest was received and the only thing people got from that was their name on a board and eventually a statue. So that shows that something like a Quest system would be well received by the community

1. Location – I would like quest givers in each town. It just makes sense that NPCs in each city would have something they need done. A large place like Iridine might have more than 1, maybe a north, south, east, and Steps giver. It would really all depend on things to do in the given area.

2. Types – I think quests should be in 3 major categories: Combat, Non-Combat, Other.

               2a. Combat Quests – These quests should involve combat of some variety. If coding is possible, it could be as easy as “Kill # of ” and report back. This would be reliant on a system in the game to track number of enemies killed. We have the kill roster, so it could be done simply by checking the number for that mob at quest acceptance, and then adding the number to it. Once it hits that number, the quest giver will consider the quest complete. Or “Obtain # of from ” For example, in the newbie tent they might ask you to specifically gather 10 rings from alley thugs and brutes. This may be the easiest way to handle these types of quests.

               2b. Non-Combat Quests – These would most likely follow a similar “Fetch me X of ” or something specific to the non-comb skill. I think the NPC quest giver for these quests should have a pool of quests for each skillset, and when the PC asks for a quest, they check the skills the PC has and pull randomly from those skillset pools that the PC has. So if someone has outdoor, hunting, and locksmithing, they have a chance to get a quest from those 3, but not a skillset they do not have. Or, conversely, have an NPC quest giver for each skillset, so they can ONLY give quests relating to that Skillset. Would make sense to have trainers of skills give quests in those skills, but it doesn’t have to be them.

               2c. Other Quests – These quests could theoretically be done by anyone, regardless of skill levels. They may be “Take this item to ”, “Go to the store and buy me # ”, or even “Lead this NPC to ”. Basically an escort quest where an NPC follows you until you make it to the location they request.

3. Skill Levels – This is a hard one to determine, and I thought about this a lot. And in the vein of RP, I think all possible quests should be available for people to randomly get, pending they actually have the skills to make them happen (see 1B2). I do not think a non-locksmith should get locksmith quests. But a low level toon might get a combat quest to kill something they can’t kill which is in the area, and would need help from other people. This would encourage role-playing and  interaction among the populace. So a newer toon might be a quest to gather “Planks and Nails” from Monlon and need other folks to help them complete the quest.

4. Rewards – Rewards for quests should be linked to the difficulty of the quest.  They could be a monetary reward, an item reward, or an SP reward. The SP reward system could easily be done with a potion the toon drinks that would grant them SP in the skill used to complete the quest. Tears already operate on this type of principle, so it would just be a matter of creating a similar type of item (unaffected by min-gain). The main concern I have, is to have the item that grants the SP linked to the toon who earned it, to avoid the selling/farming of the item. It should only benefit the person who earned the item. Item rewards should fit the quest as well. I think they should be on par with normal items but maybe have a unique adjective or color to make it worthwhile. For instance, a hunting quest to skin X pelts might reward a something like “a single-edged pink knife with a short, slightly curved blade,“ which is the same skinning knife as you can buy in Blackvine but just has a unique color. So mechanically, there is no advantage to using it, but it is just unique in appearance.

5. Frequency and Time– I think quests should either be daily or weekly. You should be able to take one daily quest from each category a day, and one weekly quest from each category a week. This avoids the abuse of toons farming the quests for the rewards, but also allows gives folks a chance to fill their time with pointed action. Daily quests should not take more than about 30-45 minutes at most, and weekly quests should not take more than 2 hours per quest. Basically, if people want to run quests they can, if not, they aren’t really losing out either. As with most TEC, it should be up to the player how they want to spend their time in game, but they should not feel like the quests are REQUIRED, they should not feel as though they are falling behind for not doing them, but they should be rewarded for taking the time to complete the tasks.

6. New Menu – With this system, there should be a new menu added to the game, the @quest menu. This should show you current quests you have undertaken. Who gave it, what the quest is, completion status. Example:

Quest Giver                      Quest                             Status                            Reward                Time
1. Gilven (C)                      Kill 10 rats                        7/10 (Incomplete)            Currency              23h 15m (Daily)
2. Fern   (N)                       Give 5 wolf hides               4/5 (Incomplete)              Item                      15h 47m (Daily)
3. Apula (N)                       Open 50 containers           27/50                              Skill                       1d (Weekly)

C- Combat
N- Non-Combat
O- Other

[A] Abandon Quest
[X] Exit Quest Menu

From here, if you select option [A] it would then ask “Which quest would you like to abandon?” then select the number of the quest to have it deleted from your quest log. This also helps folks keep track of the tasks they need to do.

These are my thoughts on how a quest system could be put into the game world. This would benefit all parties. New players would have something they could do each day while they learn the mechanics, figure out the game world, how their toon fits into it, and feel like they are progressing. For established characters, this provides a some small daily/weekly incentive to play the game and rewards the time they spend doing it with a small bonus. If this is something the community wants, and the SGs/GMs support the idea and work to implement it, I will glad sit down help come up with a lists of quests for each area and skillset to help provide a robust questing experience. I am sure the community would provide feedback as well.