Bored?

COMMUNITY - UO STANDARD QUESTS

UO Standard Quests

Rewards/Links

Ambitious Solen Queen

250-250 gold, Bag of Sending, some Powder of Translocation
(UO Stratics Info)

Solen Matriarch

250-350 gold, 1-100 Powder of Translocution, Friendship of the Hive
UO Stratics Info

Study of the Solen Hive
(Naturalist Quest)

A rare seed
UO Stratics Info

The Collector
(Collectors Quest)

600-700 gold, A magic item, a section of an Obsidian Statue, 4 monster images
UO Stratics Info

The Witch's Apprentice
(Hag Quest)

2000-2200 gold, 30 of each reagent, a magic item, a treasure map, a cauldron, a Bottle of Magical Moonfire Brew, Grizelda's Extra Strength Hangover Cure (if drunk)
UO Stratics Info

QUESTS - PLAYER-QUESTS

Player-quests are quests created by the Players for other Players.  These quests usually combine play-acting, creativity, story-telling, use of many characters, adaptability to the questors, and a final sense of satisfaction in the end.

Some characteristics of Player-Quests include:

• can be designed for different size groups (a small group of friends, a guild, or for the entire shard).
• can be simple or complex (as simple as a 'reason to go kill the monsters' or as complex as 'over the next three weeks, you will complete seven tests of courage to create a new monument').
• can be announced for start times and locations (good advertising can bring in more quest participants, or "questors").
• can be created for just a certain amount of time (an hour or two).
• can be very flexible if the questors have problems; the quest-creators can adapt and change the quest 'on the fly' and offer hints to speed up conclusion.
• can be executed at ends of guild meetings as a small event, using creativity of the guild members.
• can be played out at random by finding questors at a nearby bank.
• can involve many 'actors' giving people parts to play.
• can have a great deal of 'offline' information on web sites, pages, and/or news articles for research and publicity.
• can offer various types of prizes or rewards to the questors.

Some limitations and pitfalls in Player-Quests include:

• limited to what players can do with character abilities, existing items in the Realm, house features, and number of people involved.
• can not 'spawn' monsters at the spur of the moment.
• can be interfered with by outside players (those not participating in the quest).
• generally can not offer 'unique items' like in Event Manager quests.
• questors may expect more out of the finale of a quest than the quest-creators can give, leading to "that's it? that's what I wasted my time on for 2 hours?"  This generally only happens when people are drawn into the quest at random and do not know the quest is a player-quest, or are not informed of the expected rewards at the end.
• a long, drawn-out quest over many weeks may become hard to finish; much stamina and commitment is needed by the quest-creators to see their long quests through to completion (it is all to easy to get sidetracked in coming weeks).

The primary difference between a player-quest and a player-event is the quest has a storyline, fiction, and acting, i.e., role-playing.  Events usually have very straight-forward instructions to complete a task or competition of some sort.  Both player-quests and events can be fantastic 'additions' to the Realm adding hours of enjoyment.

Some of the most memorable times in the Realm can come from player-quests.  A well designed quest will be remembered for years.

QUESTS - PLAYER-QUESTS - PARTICIPATING

QUESTS - PLAYER QUESTS - CREATING

Player Quest Actions

Description

Notes

Fetch-and-Carry

Questors are told to obtain various items and bring them back.  Can give them a book of items to collect rather than just tell them.

For large groups of questors, can make this a little competition with multiple teams and books of items.  First group back gets to perform a ritual, gets the 'key to a chest' or reward of some kind.

Solve Riddles

Questors are told a riddle and must determine the answer.

The answer can be found in various ways, even with other quest ingredients like "Seek out Advice" or talking to an NPC Oracle/Barkeep.  Questors can also be given riddles that require research in shard libraries.  Once the riddle is solved, the quest -creators can offer more riddles, information, or instructions to other parts of the quest.

Scavenger Hunt

Questors are told to find some item(s) in a dungeon, house, or in the open.  Then bring it back to the quest-creator for a prize or information.

Easily done, but runs a risk of item(s) decaying or not being found.  Always have a back-up plan, keep a spare if the item is a book, and have someone in the party be able to help out if the questors are having trouble.

Seek out Advice

Fellow quest-creator players are situated in different locations.  The questors are told to find a person in a place and talk to them to gather more information, clues, or what to do next. 

Easily combined with Riddles and Fetch-and-Carry (give item, get instructions to find an item).  Good for adding "depth" to a quest, e.g., "Find the pirate in Bucaneers Den, give him 500 gold, drinkg with him, and listen to his tales."

Ressurect the Ghost

At the finale or a way to 'seek out advice', questors can perform a ritual on a ghost, ressurect it, and obtain more information.

The Fetch-and-Carry is good to gather items for a ritual, and then a Riddle is good to determine a word of power for the ritual.

The NPC Oracle (barkeep)

Barkeeps can respond to keywords and give clues or instructions.  Can put barkeeps in various player buildings, some perhaps in remote or dangerous places (adding to the depth of the quest).

A way to "seek out advice" without using another quest-creator player. Can also combine this with solving riddles or using a word of power obtained after accomplishing a portion of the quest.

Combat Achievement

Questors are told to fight a monster, groups of monsters, clear a dungeon, or even fight against other people (PvP).  The quest-creator can set up 'rules' to achieve the objective, e.g., "kill the wyrm, but use no magic whatsoever, and only three can attack the wyrm."

Good for a mix of combat with other quest ingredients.  Adds diversity, difficulty, and team work to accomplish a goal.

Conclusions with individual Rewards

Quest-creators can chose to give out rewards for accomplishing a quest.  Some questors will expect it, like in EM quests.  Rewards can include special items, gold, or other individual items (a cloak created and marked by a special quest character).

Care must be given at the beginning of a quest to state to the questors what they may receive as a 'reward' at the end of the quest.  Some questors will not participate unless they receive some individual reward for their efforts.  There is also risk in not having enough rewards for everyone, drawing criticism from the questors.

Conclusions without individual Rewards

Besides giving out rewards, there are other ways to conclude a quest and give people a sense of satisfaction.  Below are some ideas.

- Build a monument

This can be done by placing an item, e.g., a statue or marked item in a house.

- Build portions of a monument

This is done in multi-phased quests, like over several weekly quest events.  Questors complete the quest and an item is placed in a building where the ultimate monument will be created when all parts are assembled in subsequent quest events.  This runs the risk, though, of the quest creators not seeing the overall quest to conclusion, thus having an incomplete or dangling quest.

- Give out a word of power

Some quest creators give out words of power that can be used in later quests as keywords for NPC Oracles/Barkeeps or other purposes.  This adds some simplicity, even if the future events are not defined or even take place.  This runs the risk of people forgetting the word of power or not having the same questors in the future.

- Give a single special item

The questors may decide who their leader was or who should receive and display an item at the conclusion of a quest.  People with museums are good for displaying such things.  Always offer a book with the item for display to explain what happened in the quest.  Have most of the book drafted before the conclusion, add final specifics, add the date of the quest in the book, and seal it with a red leaf.  Keep a copy of the book for your own future record.

COMMUNITY - ROLEPLAYING

Will be adding information here as we go...

But there is a link to Europa's RPing environment here.

BUILDING CHARACTERS - TRAINING

BUILDING CHARACTERS - HELPING NEW PLAYERS

Helping Methods

Description

Notes

Distribute Guide Books and Runes

Create and drop numerous copies of books with helpful hints and information at Haven Bank and other popular banks.  Also drop Runes to noteworthy places for training, advice, or community involvement.

No need to duplicate too much of the standard "how to train in archery" type topics.  Perhaps focus on things like "where to get help" or advertise guilds and contact information for new players to get help.  Include links to Stratics, player towns and guilds, web sites, etc.  Make the book one that the new player will 'treasure' to have when trying to get started in the Realm.  Be cautious however.  There are some guilds in the Realm who "prey" on new players to cause them grief, so players should use the books wisely.

ITEMS - LOCATIONS FOR HARD-TO-FIND ITEMS

Big Fish

Fish in Deep Waters

Reportedly, a very large fish (over 200 stone) can be caught off the southern tip of Moonglow in the deep water.
Also see The Fishing Council of Britannia for more fishing ideas.