Some additional feedback to multiple step quests:
Use a name on the flag that you are sure will be unique, since when using remote flags, if you accidentally use a flag that's already is used for another quest, it will screw up both of them.
Fiz' suggestion of increasing the number of the questflag can be used in two ways:
1. To decrease the reward you get, each time the quest is completed.
2. To put you one step farther in the quest, in your case increasing the trust of the mob.
(The second option is what I generally use myself for multi-step quests. Then, if you want the quest to be repeatable, you need to set another flag for when the quest is completed, and use that to decide the size of reward).
However, this is not quite as easy as it seems at first looks.
The multiple step quest flag can be set in several ways, for instance the way Fiz described or by using the following lines:
If %actor.varexists(quest_done)%
if %actor.quest_done% == 1
set quest_done 2
remote quest_done %actor.id%
endif
endif
The first if_check is used for the mob to recognise that the actor started the quest, while the second shows at what stage in the quest he has reached.
Normally the mob will just pick up what stage the player has reached and allow them to go on from there, meaning that the player has to go through the entire quest in the right order. But sometimes the player screws up the flags by forgetting what he is supposed to do, or even losing the instruction note from the mob. To prevent this, you can make a greet script refresh their memory of what the mob wants, based on the flag. You can even make the mob provide them with new order lists, recipies or whatever they need to deliver multiple items at a time. This is how for instance the Roger Young and Heracles quests are set up.
But you can also use the numbers to have the mob give out random assignments each time the player arrives. I have a couple of scripts on Andrea Orsini, which makes him randomly send the player out on 7 different assignments, provided he's got the flag from the original Bravo quest. A greet script explains which object the mob wants and sets the corresponding number of the andrea flag, and the receive script checks if the object corresponds with the number. After each completed assignment the flag resets to 0. If the player should try to turn in any of the other six objects, he gets kicked out, and has to ask for a new assignment the next time the mob reloads.
What you have to bear in mind with quests are two things:
1. Players don't like one-time quests, and these are also a waste of Builder efforts, so most quest should be repeatable, but with a considerably lesser reward after the first time.
2. Some players will 'pharm' repeatable quests to the extreme, for instance by doing 'token runs' each time they log on, or by collecting scores of trading items and then turning them all in at the same time. (One way to prevent the latter is to have the quest mob purge itself each time a transaction is completed - but of course this is also rather irritating).
A quest is only really hard the first time you do it . Therefore - even with the lesser reward - repeating a quest should never be so easy that they can set up triggers to do it. This is why we use multiple step quests, or have the mob ask for different things each time. You also have to consider how long time it takes the player to fulfil the requirement after the first time, and balance the size of the reward against that. This can be a bit tricky. Too small reward and they won't bother at all, too large and collecting tokens or TP get ridiculously easy.
I generally use a factor of 5-10 myself, so if the initial reward is 1 silver token, they get a bronze the second time and a brass the third. After that you can either stick to 1 brass, if the reward is reasonably time consuming, or go over to TP, decreasing the amount of those a couple of time too, (but never down to zero).
Also keep in mind that overpowered equipment might be a way to lure players into the zone, but it's the worst possible method, since escalating the equipmet stats is detrimental to the mud. Try if possible to think of other kinds of rewards to use - gadgets that are cool and/or usable, but don't affect the fighting power of the player too much.
