20 replies to this topic

[apophys]

It's about time I got serious about quest creation. However, there's a small problem: I'm lazy. :/

To kill two birds with one stone, I'm shoving the work over to you, and I'm calling it a quest! And it isn't even my idea; this kind of quest was previously run by Burns! (he approves, btw)


Quest: Help the extremely lazy snake. Craft a quest.


Rewards:

If your entry is clever, and would be judged by me to be worthy of a wishpoint for its solver(s), you will get a wishpoint.
If your entry is satisfactory, but would be judged by me to be unworthy of a wishpoint for its solver(s), you will get a Tormented Soul. Or, you may forgo the TS and try to improve the entry.
If your entry does not conform to restrictions, is unimaginative, or mimicking a previous entry (yours or not), FAIL. The latter is to prevent free rewards among friends.

All rewards will be given after the entry quest completes its run, either by you or me. This is to facilitate detection of plagiarism, and to ensure that it is actually run.


Specifics:

For a standard quest, your entry must contain the quest, the solution(s), and the method of arriving at the solution(s), every step of the way.
If, however, you get creative with your entry (which I highly encourage), it may not have a "solution". For example some kind of social experiment like Shadowseeker recently did.
In such case, provide the means by which a participant would be chosen for reward.

It does not have to be Metal Bunny-level difficulty. But don't make it too simple.
As an example, I would consider Shadowseeker's recent social experiment as too simple, and I would not award a WP (I would award a TS). Sorry, SS.

Pseudo-legal crap you have to read:
If in your entry you do not expressly state otherwise, I am allowed to administer your entry quest like my own (as it is, or modified), providing credit to you for creating it, and excluding you from its possible winners if I deem necessary.
If I run it, I will PM you, and you recognize that you may not run the same quest.
If I am allowed to run your quest, and you do not receive a PM from me stating that I am running the quest, you may run the quest. However, you must send me a PM telling me you are doing so, so that I will not run a duplicate.
If you run the quest, in case a knowledge of the internals provides an advantage and it is something I can become involved in, you will exclude me from its possible winners.
Consequences of not following these rules are your problem, not mine.


Restrictions:

The quest may not contain spamming (e.g. PL entries), and may not include PM-ing specific predetermined people who give a predetermined answer. Person-to-person interaction otherwise is a good thing and encouraged, as in Rhaegar's introductory quest.
The quest may not require the participant to write an essay. It may require up to a paragraph or two at any given stage.
You may utilize ideas that are not your own, but if you do so, you must provide credit in the entry. You may not plagiarize someone else's quest.
Do not enter quests you have previously run.

Finally, assume that ANYTHING can be done with MD Script (within reason; e.g. no taking people's stuff). Do not restrict yourself just because you personally would not be able to code it.
For you to visualize the extent, I hear that Fyrd can code a clickie to be able to send him email notifications.

If blatant plagiarism is spotted, you will not receive any reward, you will be publicly humiliated, and you may not enter again.
If an entry turns out to be very similar to a quest run in the past, but does not show signs of evident plagiarism, you will not receive reward, but may try again with a different entry.



Send me a PM with your entry (forum or in-game; you can usually find me in-game at the Marble Dale Park, a.k.a. Sparring Grounds).
DO NOT POST ENTRIES IN THE FORUM THREAD, or your entry will be disqualified and hopefully the text will be removed by a moderator.
Include your ingame name if submitting via forum PM.

You may submit entries as many times as you like.



Depending on WP supplies and on how this runs, this may be a permanently open quest.
I'm hoping it fosters creativity in the public and provides a stream of good quests for people to solve.



Get crackin'! 8D

( This quest is made possible by sponsorship from: Jester )


EDIT: Status of current entries:

Miiriam - What?Where?! - ended, permanently playable
Fyrd Argentus - Caucus Quest - in coding

Seemingly abandoned by entrant:
The Warrior - Dimension Crash - fleshing out idea
Cutler - unknown title - code needs Mur's approval

Edited by apophys, 19 May 2011 - 01:42 AM.

[Chewett]

So your "quest" is to pay someone else to make you a quest with a WP?

And that you will "own" all rights for that quest, Effectively "buying" the idea for a WP?

[Burns]

I'd rather view it as creative input to enhance MD being rewarded with WPs, like it's been done before.

Also, apo asked me about my experience with that quest, and unfortunately, i have to say that few of the ideas that were handed in were actually run lateron. Therefore, it somewhat missed the point of making more quests available back then.

He's even giving credit to the people who actually created it, it just so happens that few have Wookie-knowledge of code, and some have no access to clickies at all, but decent ideas to use them. I like the idea of rewarding quest creators if their quests are smart.

[apophys]

I offer to run it by default. As I said, the entrant can run it.

The quest being run is a condition for reward. If I did not offer to run entries, newer people would be limited in what they can enter.


Also, Chewy, I did not say I "own" an entry quest. I said I can run it "like my own." I.e. as if I had created it. I meant I wouldn't shove it in a corner and forget about it.

Edited by apophys, 04 February 2011 - 08:10 AM.

[TTLexceeded]

Can this quest be simply for one Mind Power or does it have to be accessible by everybody?

[Shadowseeker]

That my quest was too simple had to do with the participants, not the idea itself <.<

That aside, so you want the idea only, not the specifics as to how the code would work, since you stress that?

[apophys]

@TTL: A quest can be forcibly limited by mindpower, but there should be a good reason if you do so.

Yes, Shadow, the idea, plus accompanying text, at every step. You need to show me what text the participant will see, tell me what he needs to do, and how he does it.

Code workings are not required (I can do that, or I can get help If I get stuck), but it has to be physically possible to code, or else the quest will not be run and reward will not be given. Practically, the code (if any) is the only thing that can be left up to me to do.

Edited by apophys, 04 February 2011 - 11:08 AM.

[cutler121]

apophys, on 04 February 2011 - 11:01 AM, said:

@TTL: A quest can be forcibly limited by mindpower, but there should be a good reason if you do so.

Yes, Shadow, the idea, plus accompanying text, at every step. You need to show me what text the participant will see, tell me what he needs to do, and how he does it.

Code workings are not required (I can do that, or I can get help If I get stuck), but it has to be physically possible to code, or else the quest will not be run and reward will not be given. Practically, the code (if any) is the only thing that can be left up to me to do.

I had a quest idea that would be entirely run within clickies as a two person paired interactive adventure. I actually made the code to implement it but it ended up being so complex that I decided to just simplify it for use as the MD Creature Card Game and the private chat rooms. Unfortunately both of those got killed with the death of the astral plane.

If you want the code and Mur allowed it to be used, I would be happy for you to use it to implement my interactive paired quest adventure idea.

Cutler

PS I had several other simpler ideas for quests that I didn't end up implementing when I still had free time. Feel free to PM me if you would be interested in hearing about one of them.

[apophys]

That would be great, Cutler. PM sent.


And I've gotten an unrelated entry already. Things are looking promising.

[The Great Pashweetie]

I have an idea... quite a stupid idea, but an idea( i have no programming experience, so apophys your on your own for the coding :S)

a group of competitors starts in a place, they run to a place, trying to beat everyone there, go to a clickie and get a count, at first i thought that this would be, everyone runs into a land getting the clickie, but now i think the locations should be un-revealed so that the first person to get to them all isnt just the fastest of them all, but the smartest of them all, after getting all the clickies (must be in a correct order to get the count back at the start, the start is the first count (10 counts in all))you return to start and get the last count, winning! I thought of this idea after winning a previous head contest because it always seemed like we were running around playing hide-and-seek ... and so... this stupid idea was born!
TGP

[cutler121]

The Great Pashweetie, on 05 February 2011 - 02:26 AM, said:

I have an idea... quite a stupid idea, but an idea( i have no programming experience, so apophys your on your own for the coding :S)

a group of competitors starts in a place, they run to a place, trying to beat everyone there, go to a clickie and get a count, at first i thought that this would be, everyone runs into a land getting the clickie, but now i think the locations should be un-revealed so that the first person to get to them all isnt just the fastest of them all, but the smartest of them all, after getting all the clickies (must be in a correct order to get the count back at the start, the start is the first count (10 counts in all))you return to start and get the last count, winning! I thought of this idea after winning a previous head contest because it always seemed like we were running around playing hide-and-seek ... and so... this stupid idea was born!
TGP

Plagiarized ideas aren't necessarily stupid. The clickie race has already been run last year though.

Cutler

[Pipstickz]

apophys, on 04 February 2011 - 06:08 AM, said:

Send me a PM with your entry (forum or in-game; you can usually find me in-game at the Marble Dale Park, a.k.a. Sparring Grounds).
DO NOT POST ENTRIES IN THE FORUM THREAD, or your entry will be disqualified and hopefully the text will be removed by a moderator.
Include your ingame name if submitting via forum PM.

Derp

[apophys]

Status of current entries edited into bottom of original post.

And yay, I reached my target audience - one prospective entry is by a new mp3.

Edited by apophys, 05 February 2011 - 03:17 PM.

[Shadowseeker]

Well, I'll say this is a funny thing, but one thing does bother me..

Aside from the code, the questcreator has to supply basically everything, since you demand it all typed out.

Why should the questcreator not just run it himself then?

I don't really see the incentive to write my quest to the end even if I get a WP for it, if its only the separation of the code in who is running it- especially since i'd ask for help if i didn't manage coding myself.

Edit: To clarify, I'm not against this idea, but unlike Burns' quest you actually have basically the whole quest in your hands. In the past only rpc had WP, so I understood it more, however nowadays I'd figure the questcreators would be wanting to get codes and hold the quests themselves (unless they had no access to any for some reason).

And in terms of clickies many people would help in setting it up.

I wouldn't mind getting a WP for a very good quest, but from a creators point of view, wouldn't it be more enjoyable if they held it themselves?

Edited by Shadowseeker, 06 February 2011 - 12:02 AM.

[Asterdai]

to be honest i have a few quest ideas, silly little things, and could would like to create poems/riddles if someone needed, if anyone including you Apophys would like any text written or a poem/riddle created for any reason i could try to help

i get myself involved in too much stuff and get weighed down though, lots of promises of doing something and never going through with it! im sure a lot of people are the same here, too easy to get distracted

in a way this is no different to "buying info on principles" with a WP, it all depends if you get some nice ideas in.
i value this one however as it gives the option for people to run something even if they dont have the time. I know you say you will buy all rights to the idea but i think it would be nice for you to work with the creators, together if needed, as some merely may not have time!

*imagines a Super Uber quest by Fyrd, cutler and the warrior combined and her mouth drops*

[apophys]

As I have already said twice, Shadow, the entrant can run it himself.

Aster, I do NOT buy quest ideas! Read more carefully.

Edited by apophys, 06 February 2011 - 01:48 PM.

[apophys]

After a 3-month wait, the first QCQ quest is complete, and will begin its run on Saturday, for the length of a few days. Afterward, it will remain open permanently as an example quest with which newbs can get better acquainted with the realm. Any comments on the quest should be posted in this thread.

To begin, click the 2nd link on the MDP signpost (starting Saturday). Anyone may play the quest, but only a newb can be rewarded.


Now I'll get to work on the second quest...

Edited by apophys, 10 May 2011 - 10:48 PM.

[duxie]

i wonder what is newb and how that newb could get into LR nowadays

oh... and that one with the bridge and tall place - i don't see any bridge in correct answers loc, though that might be the same reason i don't see any tents in the first task too
i mean, these tasks might be a little bit misleading, at least for some players

Edited by duxie, 14 May 2011 - 01:56 PM.

[apophys]

For the purpose of this first quest, "newb" is defined as mp3 or mp4 with less than 1 active year. I.e. not necessarily a true newb, but rather someone already acquainted with the game, so it's mostly geared toward advanced mp3s / early mp4s.
Closer to newb than to fossil. I don't think there's a specific term for it.

I checked out the locations indicated by the quest creator, and everything checked out for me personally. The bridge referred to isn't very large, but it's there. (I haven't done Ch. 2 at all yet, so I still have tents. )

Edited by apophys, 16 May 2011 - 04:04 AM.

[Passant the Weak]

apophys, on 16 May 2011 - 04:02 AM, said:

For the purpose of this first quest, "newb" is defined as mp3 or mp4 with less than 1 active year. I.e. not necessarily a true newb, but rather someone already acquainted with the game, so it's mostly geared toward advanced mp3s / early mp4s.
Closer to newb than to fossil. I don't think there's a specific term for it.

I checked out the locations indicated by the quest creator, and everything checked out for me personally. The bridge referred to isn't very large, but it's there. (I haven't done Ch. 2 at all yet, so I still have tents. )

Loreroot is no more accessible to MP3, with the creature vs MP limitations (correct me if I'm wrong), so if LR is indeed needed for that quest, you might want to make it MP4+.