MACRO: Areas and Quests

[erwin]

Hi all,

I've been inactive for a long time (and I'm really not sure if I'll be back for long - currently doing Masters at University). That being said, as an explorer/quester, here are suggestions on how to get (more) players questing and getting new players to potentially explore areas.

Problems

1) Players who do not take notes forget what is needed to complete the quest and may have to run through mobprogs etc again.
2) Players may focus on a zone for exping, rather than exploring, and getting to know and feel the tiny details.


Tasks:

1) Quest Journal (Molly's idea here: http://4dimensions.org/forum/index.php/topic,682.msg5049.html#msg5049)
2) Maps for zones + teasers

Doing the work:

Quest Journal: One "Questcard" per zone should do the trick. Players who have completed (all) quests in the particular zone can help script this I think. My idea would expand the "journal" though. The 'longer' the text in the journal the better - particularly if it tries to give atmosphere to the zone. The "information" you get will always be there once you unlock it - so you'll be able to see the story from start to finish.

Example (Golf Course - but dependent on flags):

Eg, hold journal, say 68. Following will appear.

Goofy Golfers
The golf course is a great place for people fresh out of the newbie arena. There are many small quests throughout the course. People are always losing things when they go out on the golf course. You could probably make a small fortune in returning lost objects. And who knows what you'll find out there that is just too good to return. After all, possession is 9/10 of the law.

You have 2 unfinished quests and 1 finished quest in this zone. (Dependent on how many quests there are in zones)

Quest 1 (If you have talked to Dave)
Feeling like a game of golf, I wandered over to the cart barn to see if I can rent a buggy for my game. Adventurers need some time to rest after all! Unfortunately, there are no carts available to be rented. Dave the maintenance worker tells me that he is busy repairing the carts, but if I can find his maintenance wrench, he might be able to loan me a cart. I guess I better keep hunting.

(Once you find the wrench)
That idiot android caddy! He/she was supposed to pick up balls, not hurl them at others! I had to immediately fling myself down to the grass when I saw that spherical object zooming towards my head. To make matters worse, I landed heavily on a maintenance wrench. I wonder if it belongs to Dave?

(Once you return the wrench)
Alas, Dave is still repairing the carts and is unable to rent one to me. Perhaps I shall walk on the golf course instead and admire the scenery - I hear that the lilies are blooming! (this also gives a hint to the good items in the area!)


You may repeat this quest again.



Quest 2 (Once you talk to Betty)
After drinking too much at the 19th hole, I stumbled into the ladies restroom and entered an occupied stall. (Thank heavens I wasn't kicked out!) I met a lady called Betty who lost her grandmother's earring, and being in an intoxicated state, I volunteered to help her. I hope I don't regret this in the morning!

(Once you find her earring)
These android caddies are getting on my nerves! One of them swung a golf club at my head, and nearly succeeded in braining my cranium. I dodged and after a brief scuffle, managed to putt one over him and sock him in the eye. After which, the caddy picked up the golf balls and fled, before leaving behind one earring. I swear, that caddy sure has a lot of balls!

(Once you return the earring)
I'm quite touched by Betty's present of a thumb ring, as it looks more valuable than her earring. I wonder if I can ask her out on a date the next time I see her?


You may repeat this quest again.


There is one more quest you have not unlocked.


Maps for zone:

See attached. Was thinking: Easy zone - full maps, hard zone - brief sketch of map. Hidden areas need not be on the map (eg, Kenneth's Museum isn't on this map).

Teasers could be a one liner: eg. It has been said that one who stops and takes time to admire nature will beimbued with charisma. (Branch / Lily +5 CHA in zone)


I would be happy to create a new character, run through some zones (re-doing them!) and giving a brief map, and if I've done all the Quests in the zone, perhaps writing the scripts as well.

[Molly]

Nice to see you back, Erwin.
I hope you'll stick around, if only just to join our Recall Squatters whenever you feel the urge to take a pause from the studies. 

I wish I'd thought of basing the journal on zones first, that would have limited the entries in it, since we have more Questcards than we have zones. It would perhaps have been more intuitive for the players to ask the journal for a zone than to ask for a Questcard.

There are some drawbacks to the idea though: 
1. Not all zones have a quest.
2. Some zones are extremely Quest heavy, while others have only ine.
3. And many Quests run over several zones, some are even inter-dimensional,

Anyhow, since I'm already well on the way creating the Quest-card based Journal, I still think that I'd rather finish that one.
I'll try to flesh it out a bit more than I first thought, along the line of your ideas. However, I don't think it should be too detailed, too much spam could make it less user friendly.

What I am concentrating on now, is for the Journal to determine what stage of a certain Quest that the player has reached, and what would be the next step to continue that particular Quest.
Also there will be a way for the player himself to reset a Quest, which will remove all flags, and allow him to start from the beginning again.

Maybe I can add the zones info to the journal, after I finish the Questcard script.
For instance mentioning a zone name could produce a list of all the Questcards attached to that zone.

I'm hoping to lauch a working alpha test of the journal in a week or so.

[Kvetch]

Also there will be a way for the player himself to reset a Quest, which will remove all flags, and allow him to start from the beginning again.

My only concern with this part of it is the ability to remove the flag so you can do any quest for the original award just by removing the flag.  I'm assuming there's a safeguard for that.

[Molly]

My only concern with this part of it is the ability to remove the flag so you can do any quest for the original award just by removing the flag.  I'm assuming there's a safeguard for that.

Of course there is.
If the Quest has an endflag for finishing it, that flag always remains.
It's just the ones for the different parts in multistep Quests that are removed, so that the player has to start all over from the beginning again.