Test Pattern 2009/10/21(Wed)01:34 No. 4960 ID: 7eda8b
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Alright. Let me explain how swords work...

In a fight, certain things move faster than other things. Swords and especially daggers can move quite fast indeed, while torsos move relatively slowly. So don't read too far into the particular positioning of a blade as is drawn in an update. While it's a bad idea to hold a blade in an unready posture, it's an even worse idea to take an unready posture as sign that said blades are now harmless.

So, even though Shadran's swords were pointing sideways after deflecting Goshen's polearm, by the time he did something unbelievably stupid like falling down on her, she'd have brought her dagger point upward.

So, if you ever find yourself facing an opponent who is wielding a knife, do not attempt to lay prone on top of them as a means of attack, even if it's not currently pointed directly at you. That is a very bad idea.

>>314760
I love you, Test.

Anonymous 2009/10/21(Wed)10:23 No. 4964 ID: 257b13
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>>314760

>>314764
>>314765
What Is this I don't even...

>>314764
>>314765
I don't think I get this, but I like it anyway.

>>314765
Psst that was a parody image of Satan explaining things to Beardbeard.

Not, um. A macro fursona.

Adept!!MvMGOwL2H3 2009/10/21(Wed)12:14 No. 4973 ID: f4963f
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>>314772
Image related.

Anonymous 2009/10/21(Wed)12:37 No. 4974 ID: 257b13
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>>314772
>>314773

>>314774
GET HER AWAY!

>>314774
Ngh, no... hot... glasses-licking... action... <3

>>314774
So how long until she pounces that sergal and we see clothing go flying?

>>314778
Not to mention the skin, blood, and vital organs.

>>314779
Why do I see Shadran liking John...

Anonymous 2009/10/21(Wed)16:12 No. 4995 ID: 5b76f8
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>>314780
>>Why do I see

>>314774

Violent rape imminent.

>>314774
You may have noticed this, but we have IDs here.

>>314795
...ears... so..short!

>>314823
Puny ears. And we know John's violent tendencies come from being so inadequate. Since we know she'll NEVER had long pretty ears just those tiny itty bitty Elf ears.

Test Pattern 2009/10/22(Thu)09:49 No. 5033 ID: 7eda8b
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Regarding greentext.

Early in the quest, I'd just respond to the actions I picked with something along the lines of:

>>numbers
Goshen does this.

But when the thread gets archived, the backlinks break. So instead I tried quoting what the post says without the backlink. Unfortunately, there's not many clever ways I can word that. Usually, it comes down to

>Walk over and say hello.
Goshen walks over and says hello.

Which is lame. So more recently, I've been simply writing up posts with no backlinks or greentext at all, incorporating the actions and dialogue of one or more suggestions without specifying which.

I'm not sure if this is good enough. I know one appeal of quests is the sense of accomplishment one feels when your suggestion is picked, and not having any indication thereof may take that away. Plus, it could look like railroading.

What do you guys think?

>>314833
The backlink problem has since been fixed. All newly archived threads will have their backlinks changed automatically.

See the archived AntQuest thread for an example.

Greentext is fine too, though in some situations (your example, for instance), it's better just to leave it out.

I'd say that if there's a large consensus, that should be obvious, and there's no need for either backlinks or greentext, unless the action is particularly unusual. If it's just one or a handful of suggestions from a list, I'd probably site them with one or the other, though.

>>314833
I view After Quest as a story written by you, based on the posts of the suggesters. So yeah, it's good the way you're doing it.
I overall care more about the quality of the writing and less about seeing my personal suggestion being used.

>>314795
Goddamn they're getting even smaller!

>>314836
Soon she won't even HAVE ears!

>>314837
Like she listens to us anyway?

>>314840
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestigiality

:awesomeface:

Anonymous 2009/10/23(Fri)09:13 No. 5086 ID: 5b76f8
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>>314823
>>314831
>>314836
>>314837
>>314841

>>314886
Hey, I have more hair than both my cats.
Nice extensions, though. Subtle.

>>314886
I mean come on Its obvious that John can't get a sergal guy because of PUNY ears so has to go after puny humans. I mean if Joan rejected her then she'd be screwing elves or Communists. Is there a difference between the two with Elves?

>>314890
I'm pretty sure elves are communist.
Elves and smurfs.

Huh, so it looks like Shadran has some sort of split personality thing going on. Thoughts?

>>315606
Nah, we're just seeing the real Shadran now. Ask Test about her eyes being colored sometime.

Goshen is huge. That means he is a huge Sergal. Shadran will slice and cleave. Slice and cleave this Sergal.

Test Pattern 2009/11/08(Sun)22:28 No. 5964 ID: 7eda8b
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As you guys have no doubt noticed, the post rate for After Quest slowed down to an annoying crawl near the end of the last thread. I need to take a break from it.

It's getting hard to put so much time and energy into the drawings, but I'm unwilling to adopt a simpler art style, because somehow I don't think you'd take it as seriously.

>>315764
If you're petering out, you probably should take a break, then. There's no sense in forcing yourself to push forward if it runs you dry. I really adore After Quest, but it would do best from a recovered author who hasn't run themselves into the ground.

The fact that you've gone so far with such a consistently high quality is admirable in itself. You've more than earned a break.

On an unrelated note, I know the point you're trying to get across, but I still love that scribble.

>>315764
If you did a side quest entirely in this style, I would participate gladly.

>>315767
Hmm. I can actually agree with that. :>

YISIQUEST IN GLORIOUS SCRIBBLEVISION.

>>315764
It's funny, but I think few people would've had a problem if it were like that from the get-go. Now that you've established higher-quality art, we can't abide by scribblevision. Except for sidequests.

I think I'd be okay with less detail.
example: (I think I'll just use Ruby Quest):
Generally low detail, detail for certain areas.

Worked decently well.

>>315783

Basically this.

People told me to scale down AQ's quality but after the first few posts in such HQ I thought that would be pointless given how great it looked and how people liked it.

Artstyle is part of the charm. What worked for RubyQuest might not work for Afterquest though.

>>315838
Somewhere between current good art and GLORIOUS SCRIBBLEVISION would probably be fine. I don't speak for anyone but myself, but I much prefer a quest to be running than to be pretty, if there needs to be a choice. Hell, Dorf Quest made it to 65 threads and was epic.

I'd rather keep the art high quality and have a break than shift into a lower style. I think the current art style sets a serious mood. I'd hate to lose that.

>>315848

I'll say that every time my art has improved I've gotten more readers. People say they don't care about low quality art, but I think if you start off with a high standard, you will lose something if you drop down to a lower one.

If you start off with a simple style, it doesn't take anything away, but I think if you start off with a realistic or complex style, it does.

you're probably right...
Maybe we can downgrade to no shading... or just black and white vision? That makes more sense!

so what are the actually time consuming parts about your art?
I could life with black and white if the color is a problem.
Hell I'd probably even still read it with the very simple pictures, but I'm not gonna pretend I'd like it.

Well, shading is a bit time consuming, but not really difficult, like line-work is, where I have to work to get it looking okay. I like shading because it helps with art errors. I don't like the idea of people not understanding what they're looking at.

Anyhow. I think I'll try an interim quest with simpler art, as an experiment.

HELLS YEA!

>>315848
I'd honestly rather discontinue After Quest rather than downgrading the art style. I think a reduction in quality would ruin the mood the art has set.

Anonymous 2009/11/14(Sat)17:57 No. 6190 ID: 6a6a5e
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/r/ Shadran version

Saw the thumbnail and it instantly popped into my mind.

>>315990
I can't really picture her mouth doing that.

As for eyes so full of rage that they become colored on a black and white drawing, well...

Now you know.

Nahkh!7BHo7QtR6I 2009/11/15(Sun)02:58 No. 6206 ID: 426169
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>>315990
Something like this?

>>316006
The eyes look like silly grandma glasses, so no.
Nice effort though.

>>316010
Ah yes, I forgot the momentary foray into Trippyvision™.

>>316010
I still say the bare ass was the focus of that dream. GoshenxShadran OTP and all that jazz.

Anonymous 2009/11/16(Mon)22:54 No. 6272 ID: 7eda8b
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>>315768
>YISIQUEST IN GLORIOUS SCRIBBLEVISION.
Like this?

>>316072
That is so adorable!

I love you. <3 <3

>>316072
Yes. Very much yes.

Test Pattern, why did you have to stop? This quest captured my heart, and it won't let it go.

Not bumpan for fear of mod rape.

>Test Pattern, why did you have to stop?
I wanted to do Tozol Quest.

And, well... I was worried about fucking up a good thing. So I put it on hold so I can't mess it up.

Y'know with you updating at crazy hours of the night, a one update a day schedule would work perfectly. People from every timezone would be able to respond to each post. People that only had one free hour a day would be able to follow each post. People wouldn't have to worry about being here at the right time to catch the quest. It would give more time to consider each post. The number of different posters would increase. It would reduce demand on the author. Consistency in update schedule would help.

Damn, why didn't I think of this sooner?

>>319189
And the quest would grind down to a halt. Hell, I don't read once-a-time quests only because doing anything takes weeks, if not months. It might be nice to read those later when they're archived, but that's a surefire way to make me, personally, lose all interest in it while it's running.

>>319190

You know that for a long while AfterQuest updated a post a day, right?

Since all the threads have been archived, I'm posting this here.

Goshen> "Shadran, you're a monster. You've become everything that you are trying to destroy. Turning a blade on yourself would do more for this world than killing any number of people ever could."

So, is After quest like ever coming back?

>>325531
Don't hold your breath :V

Was just wondering, friend told me the guy said it was to much work and didn't want to do it anymore.

>>325571
Your friend is somewhat confused. Pattern (the author) explains why he stopped making it in this very thread. It's just a few posts up.

The same guy is currently doing Tozol Quest. You might want to check it out. It's quite alright.

Tozol quest is okay....I hope he goes back to After quest though

>>326030
>I hope he goes back to After quest though
Agreed, AfterQuest is awesome. Left it on a bit of a cliffhanger too...

>>319127
I know the feeling, man. But I will say I find After Quest, even with its cliffhanger ending, to be quite good.

So is this shit ever going to be continued or not?

I don't know what to tell you. I keep meaning to do it, but it's been a long, long time. Somewhere along the way I think I just forgot how to do a quest update with any kind of brevity.

I would like to see the quest continued, but the slower I get, the more daunting it seems. (Which makes me even slower)

>>56660

How about starting a short or very short quest on purpose then?

Just so you get back into it and get a feel for it again.

>>56660
>I would like to see the quest continued, but the slower I get, the more daunting it seems.

Hey, you know what doesn't matter if you fuck up the updates for?

Legitimate Quest.

>>56676
Hate to say it but last time this happened we got Tozol Quest, which, if anything, is not short.

>>56678

Then just give after quest another go.

A few updates on it wont hurt the story either way.

I sure hope Goshen and Aphek are ok......

*waves several dollars around*

Would this help motivate you, Test?

>>56704
"Hey, will you update After Quest?"
"No."
"How about if... George Washington asked you to update After Quest?"
"...are you trying to bribe me with one dollar?"
"A quarter, actually."

After Quest doesn't need much updating anyway. It's one thread tops. Either she swims in the main character's blood and it's game over, or she has a change of heart "And then they fucked." The mystery was how a Talyxian could be pushed to be so brutal and cruel, and well it was solved. The mystery was why good loving unmurderous sergals were disappearing, and that got solved too. What else do you want, another embarassing bathhouse scene?

In contrast with After Quest, Penji hasn't even gotten to the surface yet. Tozol Quest has a huge amount of development left. Plus it's original not a fan comic in the Vilous universe putting test pattern's waifu's personality into an unfitting species.

>>56719
The only development Tozol Quest seems to have left at this point is how long it will take Penji to die. I can't imagine how she would survive, let alone escape, after having her spine severed, so any "development" that might have occurred would seem to be off the table now.

Goshen, on the other hand, actually seemed to have a chance of surviving the encounter he was in when the quest was put into deep freeze, mostly by virtue of still being able to work his limbs.

>>56721
uhh, mitzi drags penji and a ton of anti-supress to the spess shark, and fill it up. it then uses LAZERS to break open the roof and carries mitzi and penji away in it's mouth. penji focuses on figuring out codes and shit and when a spess shark shows up in tozol territory saying codes that tozols would die rather then give up from torture, they will see it's totes legit.

And then they all get ice-cream, presumably.

>>56722
See, now you've somehow made it sound even less plausible than it already was.

>>56719

Once the business with the talyxian is over, there's still the question of what becomes of goshen's personal dustback. Pretty sure most people would want to know what becomes of him.

Also, wasn't there some mention of a possible alliance brewing against sergals back where goshen killed the two humans after dream-rain talked to him? Might be remembering wrong on this one.

>>56735
Nah, there was some kind of big plot in the background. The stash Goshen burned was Shadran's payoff IIRC.
>>/questarch/527199 or thereabouts.

>>56737

Yeah, that's what I meant.

>>56721

Yeah, because a severed spine is the worst injury she's had before. The biggest quest-ender at this point is being incapacitated by the humans, who would then not finish the job but hook her up right next to what's his face until she went catatonic too.

Then Marcus comes and has a huge guilt trip over how he done goofed toying with the lives of other prisoners. Then he nurses Penji to health by spooning her mashed circuit boards, and she's memory wiped again, and then the Diplomats arrive.

That's not even taking into consideration any allies Marcus could have gained during this time by doing what he should have done in the first place and ratted out the evil experimenters to the insanely powerful civilizations they were trying to experiment on in secret.

So even if Penji gets totaled, captured, and rendered comatose, that still leaves a ton of open ends just begging for another chapter. After Quest, in comparison, has only the great mystery of why Goshen, a northern sergal, went nutso and savagely killed a bunch of people.

>>56762
Look, you're only a little more plausible than >>56722 up there. Still a situation where the quest's continuation is contingent on Test bailing us out with another character (or several). (Personally I would have just not have Penji get shot in the spine to begin with, since it's rather hard to move forward in a way that matches the quest's overall feel and Test can't really call backsies on it now like he did with the displacer rocket. But I'm not running the quest!)

Also, as the posts above you mention, it's not as though After Quest doesn't have any plot beyond the immediate situation.

>>56782
>Test can't really call backsies on it now like he did with the displacer rocket

...it had poor setup, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an ability planned well in advance.

Personally, I'm still waiting for some impossible-to-mess-up Legitimate Quest.

I dunno. You guys seem a little pessimistic to me.

Penji can repair her spine, sure, if gets out of there. Problem is just getting there. If we could just get the dang missiles fired and down the hole, that would be it. We just need a little luck in a desperate, risky evac- not an outright Deus ex Machina rescue.

Our big problem, I think, was we fought to pretty much the brink, and then expected our escape route to be ready. And then Mitzi was all "Durr, the hole's barely started, I need more time!". Only then we had no more time. And got shot in the neck.

I think this is an after quest thread, not a test pattern general quests thread.

That said, continue after quest.

Please :3c

>>56817
Yes please! ^.V.^

>That feel when you start reading this quest off the wiki only to see it is discontinued

Feel real bad man

>>66454
Dude, it was dead! DEAD! Let it die!

The quest hasn't been updated in 3 years. Until such a day comes that this quest lives again, this thread will rest right along with it.