[MUD-Dev] Quests [was Resets, repops and quests]

[Matt Chatterley]

[Ling:]
> Ooer, subject line changed. :)

*stir*
 
> [Matt C:] 
> > Another big issue surrouding quests is probably 'trigger mechanisms'. The
> > stereotypical trigger is the list in the guild hall, and suchlike as
> > mentioned above. I plan on having NPCs who will hand out quests to
> > appropriate adventurers (and one or two more who will point them to those
> > NPCs if they haven't done the quest/s), soemthing like the roguelike game
> > 'ADOM' does things (and the player will have a list of quests s/he has
> > undertaken available). Actually being-on-a-quest will be a recorded and
> > acted upon state of being.
> 
> Having a list of quests or being on the list of 'undertaking quest' seems
> artificial.  I take it you're trying for a more natural flow to your mud.
> Player wanders around the mud killing/farming/juggling, stumble upon an
> npc who reckons the player would be just the sort of person who can help.
> If you have a reputation system, once the player gets famous/infamous for
> his deeds, the Earl would send out a messager for him.  Anything is better
> than walking into an office and asking a clerk if he's got a dragon
> slaying quest on the clipboard.

Definitely. Questing to earn favour with someone important is going to be
pretty much the only way to enter the nobility (although advancing in it
is a little more devious - and dangerous). By being listed as undertaking
a quest(s), I was unclear as to what I meant. Basically, if Fred had sent
you to talk to Bubba to get a quest, and you talk to Fred while on the
quest, assuming he's likely to be in the know, he'll tell you to carry on
with what Blubba told you to do, rather than the same old spiel - it'll be
an internal thing to make things a bit smoother.

I do think the players need(?) or would at least like a utility reminding
them of tasks they agreed to undertake, ie:

# quests

=========
You have agreed to undertake the following tasks:
--
Find Bubba's lost gold ring.
Free Princess Weeble from the evil orc tribe.
=========

Or something of the sort. These statements might be much more subtle since
a good quest could easily be a chain of small quests. Ie, you talk to
Fred, who sends you to help his friend Bubba, Bubba tells you he lost a
valuable ring, and sends you to another town to talk to Eddie, the town
sage. Eddie sends you on a few small missions for himself before he'll
trust you, after which he refers you to Jimmy, a young thief, who tells
you that the ring is in the thieves guild treasury. Then you have to
retrieve said object and return it to it's owner. Or something. ;)
 
> > Something else to which I've given little thought is the matter of rewards
> > for quests.
> 
> Titles:  Pose factor

Yup. Titles, messages, and suchlike. I'm thinking of having some sort of
on-the-fly modifiable history/legend/stories/songs stuff going (probably
via a creative soul who takes raw data such as so-and-so did something,
and rewrites it into something appropriate for bards to sing, and such).

> Land:    Your mud has this sort of thing as a feature doesn't it?
> 	 Having said that, land is a limited resource.

Yeah. Land is pretty valuable too. It'd make a nice reward for a difficult
quest for some toff. :)

> Gratitude:  The person/people the player helped could owe some favours.
> 	    The village saved would offer free cups of tea whilst the Earl
> 	    could offer asylum/guard/money.

Another nice one, being able to call in a favour with someone if/when you
need it, or generally having people be nice to you. It'd do your
reputation good too.

> Knowledge/possessions:  The usual.

O' course. :)
 
> I'm aiming for the last three.  It'll all depend on what you want quests
> *for*:

Very much so. I dislike (somewhat) the idea of forcing players to do
quests to advance in some way, although it's not too bad if they can do
appropriate quests - it stinks if my evil orcish slaughterhouse-on-legs
has to go and save some daft slip of a gal from my brethren! He wouldn't
mind *capturing* her though.
 
> Requirement to advance levels, imm/wiz/god.
> To keep the player amused or offer personal development of some sort.

I'll probably go for the angle that 'those who have done a significant
amount of quests will have some advantage over those who haven't', since I
don't really like compulsory quests so much. Depends. :)

> You can guess mine.  Having explained my plans for my mud to someone else,
> he promptly summed it up as:  If you want to read a book, telnet #? 5000.
> Fair enuff really.

Heh. Good luck. ;)

Regards,
	-Matt Chatterley
	http://user.itl.net/~neddy/index.html
"Fishing is complete and utter madness."  -Spike Milligan