That's hard to answer. I suppose the traits I'm looking for most are premise, author flexibility, and characterization.

It doesn't have to be heady conceptual talk.

Do you like fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi? Lots of little details, less micromanaging? High power? Low power? PCs that talk to each other, or just PCs that focus on doing what they're told? Plot-based? Episode based? Open-ended? How important is the art and in what ways? Should there be furries?

Initially, I wanted to post a fucklong wall of text in here, but then I realized all I'm doing is writing about what I don't like.
So I like fantasy and battles and not furry tits. Yeah.

>>313893
I would posit that a list of what turns you off to a quest is just as relevant to the question asked, namely "what do you want". A list of dislikes would be what you want to not see appear in a quest, and is thus a valid answer too.

Imagine if Planescape Torment was a quest.

>>313894
Very well. Mind that I snipped out most of the parts which have nothing to do with anything, so if something looks disjointed it's because of that.

Sigh. ‘Lo and behold, a long winded rant in which I discuss absolutely nothing at all. Feel free to skip unless you’re sadistic.
First, I want to ramble about logistics.

A major turn-off for me is WHEN people update. Some people think it’s a good idea to post a single update every few hours (or days or weeks)
on European mornings and wait for suggestions thereafter. Allow me to wow everyone by stating that sessions are the best way to update.
For clarity’s sake, by “sessions”, I don’t mean splitting your threads into neat chapters; rather, I mean finding several free hours and using
them to sit on your ass and update as best as you can. I’ve seen it happen in only a couple of quests so far, but I think it’s best to have
set times and dates for your sessions, e.g. Sundays and Thursdays at 11PM GMT at Mike’s house. Bring snacks.

This segues me straight into another topic – time of day. I think it’s pretty obvious, but worth mentioning nonetheless. People have jobs
and/or school to attend to, and even sleep sometimes. Most people do these activities and for most people they happen at predictable times.
This means that there would be less people around while Europeans are at school and Americans are still asleep. Hell, on European noons the internet
slows down to a halt everywhere. Don’t expect getting suggestions when there’s nobody around.
The opposite is problematic as well. There is a certain time of day where it seems everybody is updating. Personally, I try to not participate
in more than one quest at a time – it ruins the little immersion that there is for me, see. Want to know when you won’t get suggestions? It’s when
everybody else already have quests they’re participating in. Don’t have any other time to update? Complain about it on IRC – some people will
participate out of charity. Weird, weird people.

One question that keeps popping up is how long should one wait for suggestions. Honestly, I think it’s about preference. Some people like waiting
for a suggestion which they like, (choo choo) some wait for a consensus to form between suggesters, others just update at random ‘cause that is how
they roll. Regardless of what you believe is the best method, updating should not take too long. There is nothing more frustrating than
waiting for a quester to update not because writing and drawing takes them a lot of time, but because they can’t decide on an action to follow.

Now that that’s out of the way, lets talk art. Personally, I have a huge raging boner for good looking art. I am far more inclined to read a quest
with nice drawings than one that is a little more than scribbles. Don’t even talk to me about text-only quests. However, the most important aspect
of it, I believe, is how a quest’s images read – that is, how clear they are. Time and time again people are forced to ask the quester “what is
that thing over there”, which apart from being annoying, wastes time on unnecessary explaining. Do what you need to achieve readability, be it
crisp and solid lineart, outlining important objects, or whatever else might work. It is quite frustrating to read a quest which consists mostly
of guessing if that one curly-pube scribble is a character or an object or a yet another artistic error.

Lastly, the writing. Before snippage, there was a huge paragraph here about all these little things that bother me about how quests are written
and handled on the go. Re-reading it, I realized I have no idea what I’m talking about and should wait for an experienced writer to state his opinions.
Here’s the short of it anyways:
A lot of quests suffer from no structure. There’s nothing wrong with freeform RP, but that takes an experienced person to do correctly, I think.
Almost all of these quests are basically “you stand in an open field with no objectives. Now what.” I won’t suggest anything if you don’t give me
any initiative to do so.
Another thing is that a lot of quests suffer from no suspense. Some person or another might have once said something along the lines of “without
conflict, there is no interest.” You know, I agree with that guy. If the PC I’m controlling does anything just because /quest/ told him, I’d get
bored fast and move on to participate in another quest. Characters need to have some character, I hear.

I think that’s enough complaining from me.

Insomnia 2009/10/05(Mon)08:05 No. 4098 ID: 1c907d
File 125475510014.png - (6.52KB , 333x333 , dem quests.png )

Section 1: My Likes

* Originality and/or Creativity.
* Colorful and well displayed characters.
* Appealing art and/or writing.
* Structure
* Suspense/Drive
* A progression of knowledge: The character(s) start out knowing much more than the player, but by the time the game finishes, the player knows more than the characters do.
* Interactivity: I don’t enjoy feeling like there isn’t much I can suggest to do. This does not mean I want a free roaming quest with no real backbone, but if I’m stuck in some sort of web, I’d like multiple paths and probably several things I could try to do, or accomplish in an area. Even if the events in a place are not necessarily meant to be completed in chronological order. Many quests that I feel stagnate or need some advice suffer from a lack of content.
* Goals and Plot: As much as I enjoy extended stories, I’d love to see something arc and eventually find a resting point with as much closure as possible. This is a method of storytelling, and without an endgame, or ending at all, there’s no real reason to be putting an effort into the game.
* Puzzles: I adore puzzles, writing puzzles, trying to solve puzzles. These are one of the main things that draw players into the game as they feel an integral part of the game. If one of them does not solve the mystery, then the game is lost, or at least suffers.
* Combat: A hit or a miss. Most fights I have read are very much the artist’s discretion and end up playing out like a cut scene. I really like fighting, but it does need to work into the situation properly. I know myself and Slowpoke is using dice rolls to determine combat situations but I cannot attest to how successful that is.

Section 2: My Dislikes

* “Rapemance”: Although this seems to be a general high point for the average quest player, I’m really not that attracted to a quest revolving around the romance inside of it, or sexual exploits. I got drawn into the Questing scene at the concept of an adventure, whether a traditional dungeon crawler, or a survival horror escape. Romance can be spread thinly across the game (Ruby Quest despite the players’ efforts), or spread so incredibly thin you practically have to read into it to know (Journey).
* Idling: There seems to be a lot of this, with or without player interactivity. Spending an incredibly extended amount of time on one spot trying to respond to every single suggestion and (in some cases) tell them why their suggestion isn’t taken, or is a bad one. It is true that players like being responded to, but not many of them feel insulted as long as the game keeps carrying on. It’s either that, or the Quester allows the players to metaphorically dig a shovel against an impenetrable floor in an attempt to find a Red Herring. If you’re going to railroad, at least let us know so we don’t waste time when we could be making progress in the game.
* Lacking a huge chunk of the Things I Like: Obvious.
* Social Recluse: There are just some attitudes I just cannot stand. The attitude of the Quester can seep into the writing. When the atmosphere is extremely unpleasant to try and wade through so I can try and suggest things for the game, and I am practically slapped in the face for something: I don’t want to play. Are there too many arguments? I probably don’t want to get involved. Running away from your players/hiding? Insulting, being that people are supporting you and you’re dropping them like a hat. Lastly, that I can think of would be the handling of Constructive Criticism. Although downright trolling is uncalled for, some people actually know how to tell you what’s wrong and offer you help. People with no desire to grow bother me. But it all falls down into arrogance in the end.

Section 3: The World
>>313896

Timing: It is rather tedious, because on one hand, you want to pick a time, or host during a time not many games are being played. On the other hand however, there are few times when West and East sides of the Atlantic are simultaneously available to play and the other Questers are likely to be hosting at the time. It’s a really tight rope to walk.

Responding: A difficult process, but I try to weigh, and combine peoples’ suggestions in a way I think will impact the game either awesome, or terrible. Sometimes I am jealous of the ones who play the waiting game as they sometimes have a gigantic list of comments about the situation, but I try to be considerate and pace it quickly being that I run it in sessions (as mentioned).

Artwork and Talent: Both relative, aesthetic, and difficult to display and appease people, let alone most people. I find it’s very important too. I can get into a quest that I find visually alluring than it is to read through an eyesore, but I’ve been a shallow aesthetically magnetized woman for a long time. (Dohoho).

Section 4: Closing

No matter what you do, not everyone will be satisfied.

It’s a good plan to discuss it with a few friends, or people surrounding you to gauge some interest, and/or hear some Constructive Criticism from them so you can make something that is nice enough to form a base audience. Once you have the confidence that there is someone supporting what you have planned you can throw what you have out, and hope other people find an interest.

And ultimately, watch yourself improve. Watch yourself struggling with the schizophrenic advisor that is tgchan. If you’re lucky, or skilled, you can craft a story worth telling, and enjoyed by readers and questers alike.

Intresting characters that have their own personality and won't just do the first thing a quester blurts out. Common sense, self-preservation and moral code you can't bypass easily are a fine start. Having their own intrests, memories and goals are icing on the cake. Makes you care for the character and ensures the questers with short attention span or new ones don't lose sight of the prize.

Setting can be anything as long as it's not too fantastical so you can't relate to it at all. The world shouldn't be so empty you go tens of posts without meeting anything intresting at all. Open game world is a curse in this sense. While I wouldn't say you need to lay choo-choo rails some fences would be nice. NPC interactions are important and they shouldn't just be part of the backdrop. Having some level of depth in them is preferable but extreme personalities really add flavor if used sparingly.

Pacing is extremely important. Having constant blocks of text conversation or fighting a single enemy for several updates gets old really fast. If you're treading in the same place with nothing important happening you're doing something wrong. It's okay to force movement in such occasions.

I guess that's all common sense that you already know. I just felt like typing that up. Better answer the original question.

Intresting lead charcter with her/his own will with clear goals that they need to achieved and resistance to stupid suggestions. The setting can be anything as long as the PC is somehow special to it. NPC's who are actually important and are intresting enough to not become boring after the first conversation. If the quest has love intrest angles then nobody should drop their clothes or start making out on first sight. It should be milked for it's worth as unrequited love until the PC or NPC does something heroic/selfless to merit it. Said intrest should remain intresting even after.

I dislike puzzle quests intensely and open game worlds have almost all become boring after the initial starting scene. If there is an intresting plot and it's moving at a steady pace I'm posting.

>>313898

Well stated, especially on the "rapemance" bit.

I understand the advantage of sessions over random slow updates, but unfortunately I am rather strapped for time. I will try to update in sessions when I am less busy.

An odd and likely trivial complaint but, I would love to see more quests that didn't actualy have the invariable title ---quest... we have a quest board.

Therefor one assumes that any thread there will be a quest, ergo the need to put the word quest in the title of your quest seems a little... extraneous?

I understand this is rather a convention since the days of Ruby Quest on /tg/ but there it was necessary to differentiate and specify that 'this is a quest, please post suggested actions.'

>>313906

The problem with that is people invariably call it quest anyway. My first quest was called Pitch Dark, but it was called Grue Quest by people instead.

My quest could be called bubble bucket but I just went with BBQ because that's what I expected.

science fiction with action girls in it.

Oh, now I understand what's wrong with my quest. My artwork is not very clear, my characters are not really defined, I don't plan much in advance and there is little to no suspense. Or maybe I should have wrote this in the past tense...
Anyway, do you mind if the artwork is not very clear but there's a very detailed description of what's happening in the comment?

Cohesive plot and willingness to innovate.

>>313906
Just on the front page: Romanticar, Panzermensch, The Protagonist Dies, Ant Quest, Hatch Quest, Sanya Quest, Fursecution, NicQuest, Alien Quest, Whitespace, Cutegal Quest, 5 Project, Gobbo Quest, and Apocalyption. 7 with Quest in their name, 7 without. We are getting better, I think.

Lovable characters and a good story :3

Anonymous 2009/10/06(Tue)00:21 No. 4140 ID: b8d3e4
File 125481370131.jpg - (45.23KB , 640x464 , toaster.jpg )

Above all else, the real stars of a quest are... well, the stars.
As far as I'm concerned, that's step one of quest-making. If you don't have interesting characters, you don't have a quest worth reading. If I don't care about anyone in your quest, I'm not going to care what happens to them and I'm not going to be even remotely involved in their decisions.
If you throw in good characters, everything becomes possible.

With a well-developed and intriguing main character, you can have people clinging to the Quest's every move, wondering what comes next. If you repeatedly have people in your own quest going "wait... who?" then it's a very bad sign.

There are many other qualifications. An interesting setting is important, as is a good premise, a good flow, a good understanding of what you want your quest to be about, and what kind of tone you want it to set. You can mix emotions, but if it's done poorly and becomes schizophrenic then no one will know what to think.
But the biggest, most difficult, and most important hurdle of them all is having a good cast.

With the right cast, even the most mundane adventure becomes something extraordinary.

I like an original setting, good writing, and decent art. Exceptional qualities can of course make up for the quest lacking in other areas.

I'm also fond of mysteries, weird puzzle shit, and a very light sprinkling of action or strategizing.

I like it best when actions are modified a bit to that character's style, so control is more indirect and realistic. This also develops the character more, I've found. It also makes it easier to tell players when they're running after a red herring.

Finally, there should be a general plot for the quest to revolve around. Good quests have focus, even if it's just by making the players head towards one goal at a time. Oh, and maybe once, someday, we could have a depressing quest where the players are allowed to accidentally kill important characters?

What I like:
* Originality. That said, I know that most quests are in some part a homage to Ruby Quest (it's much easier to count the ones that aren't). But where the quest starts to be different - characters, world, atmosphere, mood, storytelling, etc. - that's where it starts to count. And btw, original gameplay styles (e.g., MSPaintAdventures tries to experiment there) are always interesting.
* Atmosphere. This obviously involves fleshed-out characters (if needed), fleshed-out world (if needed), etc. Note the 'if needed' - some environments center more on the characters, their psychology, their interactions; the others - more on the world itself.
* Sense of humor. It's needed even in the darkest of survival horror stories. It can lighten up the mood a bit, and it makes whatever the atmosphere of the quest is, feel more prominently in contrast. It also helps players relate to the world and characters a bit more.
* Appropriate art skill. Note the 'appropriate'. You don't have to be a Rembrandt, but your skill should be enough for the task you have set. E.g., Reaver can draw pretty well - it helps him visualise the rich fantasy world Mudy Quest is set in. By comparison, Weaver draws much more schematically, but it's well enough for Ruby Quest's world of eerie lab corridors. This laconicity even helps set the mood for RQ *more*, in my opinion.
* Plot. I personally love to have some mystery that keeps compelling me to solve it. But that's me.
* Masterfully chosen percent of railroading. Admit it, most quests use rails. But they're not 100% railroaded, of course - there's just some draft of what needs to be done, what needs to happen. And that's *good*. E.g., when you're in a locked room, and you need to escape, there's a set goal: open door. But how you do it - there's where the player's free will comes to act. But the quest author needs not to overdo the amount of railroading so that it won't interfere with the players' freedom, and not to make it too free, so that the story would be lost or neglected.
* Hot female characters. (optional)

What I don't like:
* Fetishes. Sexual and non-sexual alike. When they're used for humor, it's fine. When they're used completely serious, and used again, and again, and again, it's creepy. Thankfully, it's rare.
* Un-railroaded quests. You know, like "You're an elf. Do something". And the players go like "Show your penis! Become the Emprah! Put shoe on head!" It's not a *quest*, it's a *tamagotchi*.
* Meme overuse and unoriginality. "You're... er... a dorf. In Dorf Fortress. Yeah, and you're fucking gar! And manly! A manly gar dorf! And a marine! A dapper gentleman marine! Yeah, you're Sir Commissar Garry Garbeard Garrington III, a manly gar dorf marine, who's as garringly gar as a garring garrible gar ever garred! For the Emprah, chaps, wot wot! MANDORFGARSUAVEBURNAXEPUNCH!!! ... Oh, and there's Ruby, too".

Disclaimer: Everything above is completely subjective.

I like following quests more than playing in them.
I like the variety of quests, and don't think they should try to appeal to everyone, or the biggest audience. Figure out what you're trying to do, and do it.
I like having a PC with a solid characterization. We should only be able to suggest ideas, and try to convince them, not simply make the decisions.
I like having an overarching goal. It makes the actions in the quest feel like they have meaning, and gives us an idea of what our next course of action should be.
I like having an obvious action to suggest. If I can't think of something simple, I'll probably give up before I get to something inventive.
I like comedy and not taking things seriously. I read quests to have fun, and it's pretty simple for that to be fun.
I like serious quests that have a specific tone. Keeping the mood can lead to a much better read than something that doesn't.
I dislike the board being worked in as an in-canon device. I'm not here to play a role, I'm here to throw ideas at characters and watch how they react. If something like the orb is used, it shouldn't be a collection of souls or anything like that. It should just spew out what we say, if it needs an explanation, then it's hearing stuff from outside the universe (ie, us.)
I dislike posting an idea that's already there. Just because you don't have many suggestions, it doesn't mean that they're the only people reading.
I like art that is simple and clear. I'm not going to spend a lot of time looking at each image, it doesn't need to be very detailed.
I don't care about scheduling. I don't keep regular times (as in, I have no idea when I'll be awake or asleep) so it doesn't really matter to me. You should update as soon as you can, though. If you get viable suggestions, use them.
I don't care about originality. Write whatever you feel you'll enjoy, and can write well, regardless of how cliche it is.
I don't care much about setting, either. The characters are significantly more important than what kind of place they're in.
What's important is your start. People are going to start at the beginning, and if it's boring, they aren't going to follow. Introduce your main character, and their goal.

And finally, don't worry much about this thread. Keeping what other people like in mind is good, but trust in yourself to know what you want to do. You're the one who needs be there for the quest to work, anyone can suggest. No matter what you do, at least someone is probably going to follow it. The important question is "What do you want?"

Keep 'em coming folks, this is gold for those of us planning our next quest and re-examining earlier ones for failings.

(Though I will say if only one person posts, but there are six more people reading/thinking it, it helps to know that they are there. We can assume, yeah, but that's just wishful thinking in the end. :3 )

>>313953
I completely agree. Right down to the phrase 'this is gold'.

I've been considering this heavily while planning my new quest, my first actual one. I can't live up to expectations on the artistic end, so it's useful to know what to focus and work on.

Good stuff guys! Keep it coming.

Anonymous 2009/10/06(Tue)15:00 No. 4179 ID: 4553b2
File 125486642389.png - (20.99KB , 600x400 , Stickderps.png )

I'm just going to put it here for posterity, but I've said it a dozen times or so in here as well.

Stick Figures Do Not Work.

Yes, I can understand if your art is not so good, that's fine. But there is a very simple way to draw people besides stick figures. Draw people with box bodies. It gives them body shape, a body type, and the possibility of wearing accessories, with only 2 additional lines! Dorf Quest, Kara Quest, Ruby Quest, fGhost, Panzermensch, Pokemon Quest, all of them use this simple strategy. IT WORKS.

Stick figures all look the same. Box body'd people can be phenomenally varied. Stop drawing stick figures just because you are artistically challenged.

Also for those of you who have trouble drawing quickly, this is another option. It is very very fast to draw box body people.

>>313979
Those stick figures are terrifying.

>>313979
Hah, you could've posted this on my quest discussion page, but the point is well taken. Thanks for the advice. I'll see if I can make the switch before my next update.

>>313979
Before Atkins.

After Atkins.

>>313979
This looks like 'What if Ruby and Beardbeard lived in a poor African country?'

>>314019
I lol'd really hard.

What do I want? I want more time to run my fucking quests. :/

But seriously, though. I like humor. If not humor, I like a cohesive world and characters that can be related to. If not that, an interesting concept. Those are usually what I look for, but I assume there are more factors that even I haven't figured out.

OP here.

Bumping thread for folks who haven't seen it, or people with fresh insight gained in intervening months.

Also, hypothetically, if you had to choose between a quest that updated with a great deal of care and time put into the art, writing, and plot, versus one that updated much faster, which would you pick?

>>316104
It's a tradeoff, but I would follow the first one when it updated. I would also kinda whine about it occasionally.

>>316104
Art doesn't matter as long as there's an idea of what's going on. Story and writing, however... Much more important. I'd prefer time were taken on that so that it doesn't just become "Okai u r a cat, wut do u do?" "HUG NOTE, READ TOM" "Tom haz no werds, lol. Wut now?"

Let's not fixate. I think we'd all agree that tamagachi quests, as >>313943
calls them, aren't really a good plan. But there's still a lot of room for quests that play it fast and loose vs carefully constructed ones.

Also: What genres and settings do you like most?

>>316113
Depends on the feel itself. If it's lighthearted and comical, you can generally be looser on the preparations. If it's more serious in tone, then the right words mean a lot. I tend to view quests as some sort of interactive comic book. Sure it's nice to have freedom, but it's even better to have a gripping narrative, or at least a story that makes you think. Just my one opinion out of many, mind you. Genrewise, anything really works if done right. Mostly a fan of comic(comedic) fantasy myself.

Test Pattern 2010/04/17(Sat)10:16 No. 14199 ID: 0fc814
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Bumping the thread, because there's probably a whole slew of currently active posters who haven't seen it.

What kind of stuff do you enjoy? What kind of new quest would you want, if you could wave a magic wand and have someone make it for you?

Where is the fireworks factory and how do you get there?

Characters with a fleshed-out personality, quirky, maybe colorful, and/or good art, a consistent style of writing/arting, dem asses, something where choices matter and are difficult, and a well thought-out world do the trick.

>dem asses
lol.

i dont do tgchan for porn, but its really fun to play matchmaker. i like sci-fi and misteries of all genres and i dont mind railroading. sometimes a good tale is already there instead of sidequesting your way up.

>>316113
Although, quests like A Flower lets you control a flower and it's pretty good, despite being tamagotchi-like. ((You are growing a flower, you control most of its moves - obviously a flower cannot grow eyeballs immediately and stuff like that.))

>>313898
>>313899
>>313940

+1

I also tend to like quests that have interesting game mechanics that draw the player in to the world.

Take Golem Quest for example, Bob uses "Ham Points" as a method to really draw players in and have them write out their own text. The rewards from this are not huge, but it gives that little extra incentive to become involved.