A new kind of Quest

[Jester]

This Quest is trying to be what a Quest could be, with the entire community working on and enjoying it. It will have a puzzle, role-playing, and most importantly, a story. A story that continues after the first quest is over. A story that changes based on the decisions made by the questees.

 

People Needed:

Organizers: Eara
Writers: Maebius

Coders: samon

Puzzle creators: Vertu?

Explorers: Syrian

Treasure Keepers: Pipstickz?

Misc: Ackshan

 

This will be my final attempt to do something worthwhile in MD, but its not about me. I just happen to be the one to get it started, since nobody else was going to. If it succeeds it could mean reasons for new players to stay with this amazing game instead of seeing empty lands where people battle for no apparent purpose, occasional chatting and nothing more.

 

I think this is all very possible for the people of MD to do AS A COMMUNITY but I'll need your help.

 

If you're willing to assist, mention so in the comments section, what your favorite part of MD is (exploring, questing, combat, research, writing, etc), and what you can contribute. Its possible that you can contribute without even knowing it, hence the question about your favorite part of MD.

 

Please, not for me, but for the Community of MD as a whole, give this a shot.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Jester

[Eara Meraia]

count me in (hope we will start in march when my exams are over :)  )

[Kaya]

I would love to help with coding as well as RP.

[Maebius]

I am interested in the details of this.  Consider me available to help or Quest or sundry.

[Bashaw Steel]

well, you can count on me in story part;)

[Ackshan Bemunah]

research, art...research, art.

 

I really wish there was something I could do.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Ackshan Bemunah

[Syrian]

im in! i mostly like research and exploring, but research tends to take me into combat stuff from time to time as well

 

Sy

[VertuHonagan]

My favorite thing to do is solving puzzles/riddles.

[powle]

i'm in (we allready talked about it a little a few days ago and i've been thinking about this a lot ever since).

[Jester]

Update for the style of the Quest:

 

This is simply a rough draft as of a yet, ideas evolve. If anyone decides to put in enough time and effort into this quest to deserve a reward, I am speaking with Pip as to the feasibility of this.

 

With the help of the writers, I hope to craft a tale that solving the quest would be worth learning and deciding the end result on its own, with no other reward necessary. I'm negotiating with the Treasure Keepers as to what the actual rewards will be, and there will be sponsorships too I hope.

 

First Section: This is the tricky bit, for which I will need dedicated role-players. It will involve acting. Characters who have clearly defined themselves in MD will start behaving differently than usual, and this will be the hints you need to find the second stage. Although this is the first section, it will continue and evolve as the quest does.

 

Second Section: deals with puzzle solving, clickies and choices. The choices you make will determine where you end up at the final stage (but NO choices will exclude you from participating, they will simply decide which options are available to you at the end)

The puzzles will reference things that have happened in MD, the AL, Lore, and the scenes themselves. One question that stuck in my memory was when someone asked "which scene can you see Kelle'tha from outside of GG?" Things of that nature. That is where the explorers come in, for help coming up with interesting questions that involve delving deeper into MagicDuel as a whole. The scene poems will also have a part to play.

 

Final Section: This will be Role-playing based. The people acting differently than their normal selves will come fully into play in this section. The choices that you make will have an effect their characters (or, if they are not willing to do that, then it will at least change mine). If this quest does well I hope to create a second quest that will continue where the first left off.

 

Problems that need working on: Getting everyone together at the same time for the final scene. Perhaps multiple scenes will be possible, in different time zones.

 

 

 

I came up with the idea of this type of quest as a new form of role-playing, playing within MD. This quest will not always be nice. If the stories are written well, and from what I've seen of the writers in MD they will be, they may force you to make tough decisions. Decisions between land and friends, taking a life to save another, tests of your character's mettle.

 

In this way, role-playing would be fully integrated into MagicDuel.

 

Real stories have conflict. I propose we create some ourselves.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Jester

[petty dodds]

As a newbie, I like this.  It encourages me to know that there are always new things at MD.

[Intrigue]

Sounds good :) Not sure where I could help though other than the RP part.

[Sephirah Caelum]

I want to participate. My favorite part of MD is the East and the CT! XD

[Jester]

What this quest is going to need:

 

Anyone can do these parts and submit them later, you don't have to fit into a category to play the part.

 

Explorers: Keep an eye out for scenes that have some sort of meaning to you (unfortunately they must be accessible to everyone, although using the pillars is acceptable). In these scenes find some detail that isn't readily apparent at first glance, that would require someone to really look at the scene to notice.

 

Writers: Eventually there will need to be a meeting/forum between everyone interested. I'm not sure when this will happen. For now you could work on developing a character, I'm pretty sure this quest will use "NPCs", or some kind of conflict that may arise between different factions of these NPCs.

 

Puzzle creators: If you have an idea for an interesting puzzle I'm sure it can be incorporated.

 

Dedicated Role-players: Further define your characters. Ponder how they would react in difficult situations, what they care about, what they're willing to sacrifice, etc.

 

This quest has so many pieces involved that even the people working on it can participate, since nobody will know the whole.

 

If anyone has any more ideas, feel free to share them.

 

I also desperately need people willing to help bring this all together. I'm terrible at management.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Jester

[Kaya]

I think it would be good to hold a meeting with everyone interested soon to think up a general idea for what the quest should be about. While there is no need to make any definite decisions right away it would be nice to at least think of a general theme around which to work, otherwise we might risk people wasting time on things that won't fit.

[rikstar]

I remember you talking about this some months ago, I think I offered my help. So if I'm needed, I'm in.

[awiiya]

I can help.  We go way back Jester, good to see you still around.

 

-Awi

[Jester]

Ah yes, another thought occurs. With inner magic basically gone and role-players choosing their powers all willy-nilly (never used that in a sentence before, too funny to pass up, dictionary doesn't even recognize it as a word/phrase, ha!) I will want powers/spells to play a part in this quest. We already have official Inner and Outer Magic, so I shall call these Sideways Magic. I could use ideas. If you wish to help think of ideas, link the powers to the principles and possibly reference spell docs if you can. They MUST fit magicduel. Since Inner Magic can't be used to change the AL like it was said it would, why not make up our own Sideways Magic that can be used to change the story we're creating? Anything overpowered will simply be ignored. Do not create powers for yourself based on your character, we are not at that stage (Role-play powers your character has will likely be unavailable as well, as they would unbalance the Sideways Magic). These would be powers that anyone with the right combination of principles and the cunning to use them would have access to, based on if they earn them during the Quest.

 

Thank you all who have pledged support so far, and to everyone else, what are you waiting for? This Quest's success will rely on you, because it is YOUR Quest. Even if so many people contributed so much to this Quest that nobody in MD was able to participate I would call that a rousing success, and of course new players could partake once enough joined (thus giving another reason for them to stick around, killing two stones with one bird).

 

This seems like just a trial run so far to test the feasibility of the idea (though that could change, as could nearly everything about this Quest).

 

But lets make it F***ING EPIC!

 

 

 

 

And I of course mean epic in the original sense of the word as well, as in an epic saga or poem.

[Summer breeze]

I would love to help Jester, you know that, but right now my health is too poor. I would hate it to make a promise and not be able to live up to it. I am very sorry, but at the moment I am not even certain if I will awake the next morning.

 

Besides, my laptop is very ill too.

[Nimrodel]

If you need any special kind of help, i might be able to provide some. By special meaning stuff that would need help from council. Please take into consideration the word might. Not everything is in my hands.
I can also help in puzzle creating and suggesting a story..

[Jester]

A forum has been created to help manage everything, its simply too much information to put here. Some people have graciously agreed to help me keep everything managed and organized, as I am terrible at that. The point of this Community Quest is to pool the talents of everyone willing in MD to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

 

The forum is still in a beta stage and getting set up, so I will invite people as I am able. The quest hasn't been abandoned, its still going strong.

 

As for support from Council, PAL, or anyone official, I must decline. This project is for the community, by the community, and has to be able to hold its own with no help from administrative powers, or else the point is lost. If, however, you wish to help as a player, and not as an administrator, you're more than welcome!

 

P.S.Nimzy, I would like to contact you, but I believe you have blocked me because I was a d*** to you when I was having a bad day. Which is unfortunate, because it meant I never was able to apologize. I would greatly appreciate your help with creating puzzles and story lines, if you would deign to contact me.

 

P.P.S. This forum that has been created will pertain only to this quest. It is not meant to replace any part of this forum. We need control of who can access what information, so that people working on one section of the quest can still participate in the others. And there will be many sections, oh yes.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Jester

[Chewett]

A forum has been created to help manage everything, its simply too much information to put here. Some people have graciously agreed to help me keep everything managed and organized, as I am terrible at that. The point of this Community Quest is to pool the talents of everyone willing in MD to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

 

The forum is still in a beta stage and getting set up, so I will invite people as I am able. The quest hasn't been abandoned, its still going strong.

 

As for support from Council, PAL, or anyone official, I must decline. This project is for the community, by the community, and has to be able to hold its own with no help from administrative powers, or else the point is lost. If, however, you wish to help as a player, and not as an administrator, you're more than welcome!

 

P.S.Nimzy, I would like to contact you, but I believe you have blocked me because I was a d*** to you when I was having a bad day. Which is unfortunate, because it meant I never was able to apologize. I would greatly appreciate your help with creating puzzles and story lines, if you would deign to contact me.

 

P.P.S. This forum that has been created will pertain only to this quest. It is not meant to replace any part of this forum. We need control of who can access what information, so that people working on one section of the quest can still participate in the others. And there will be many sections, oh yes.

 

If you are going on hosting things off MD official sites you will need to remind users that anything there does not contribute to MD until its actually brought into MD. Similarly any abuse on those websites are entirely external to MD and therefore we will NOT be able to offer help for this.

[Jester]

 

If you are going on hosting things off MD official sites you will need to remind users that anything there does not contribute to MD until its actually brought into MD. Similarly any abuse on those websites are entirely external to MD and therefore we will NOT be able to offer help for this.

 

Of course. We will moderate any abuse ourselves, and although I do not anticipate any I could be mistaken. We have the ability to ban people, with a one strike policy. Nothing on the forum will be officially MD until it is brought into the game. This will all be easily visible on the main page, and we'll only allow people to join the forum if they use their MD name (of course if they were to do some form of abuse using their MD name, it wouldn't carry over into MD, except possibly banning them from participating in the quest). I assume that is okay, since its the Communities Quest, and if they don't want to be part of it, they don't have to be.

 

 

Just to reiterate: THIS QUEST FORUM IS NOT PART OF MD. IT HAS NO RELATION TO MD EXCEPT IN THAT IT WILL BE USED TO PLAN AN EVENT FOR MD. NOTHING SAID IN THE FORUM WILL BE PART OF MD UNLESS IT IS BROUGHT INTO MD AS PART OF THE QUEST.

 

 

Oh, and also, its not even an MD forum. Its a Community Quest Collective Forum. There will be no mention of MD except as pertaining to the Quest.

 

Chewett, I'll even give you access to the forum so you can glance over it and make sure it conforms to the rules (but you can't have admin access, neener neener neener). I understand outside forums are frowned upon, perhaps even intimidatingly scowled upon, but I could think of no other option.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Jester

[Maebius]

I support this idea, and forums (depending on where hosted) are much easier for me to keep track of, since my work firewalls MD and my internet time "at home" is quite limited lately due to other obligations and projects.

[Jester]

I support this idea, and forums (depending on where hosted) are much easier for me to keep track of, since my work firewalls MD and my internet time "at home" is quite limited lately due to other obligations and projects.

 

Excellent! I'll begin my master plan to move MD outside of MD and the forum immediately! Mwuahahahahahahahahahahaha!

 

[If you don't want to read the whole thing, skip down to the section with the brackets around it]

 

Well, I believe its time for an update as to the Community Quest (please do not refer to it as Jester's Quest, I'm only playing a very small role, its the Community that's going to make it happen, therefore its the Community Quest).

 

The current plan (its very fluid, and liable to change as certain things become concrete and exclude other things, which opens up the possibilities for new things) is to have a coalition of writers all working together on a main story, as well as each of them working on a side story. Hopefully each side story will be able to tie into the main story for the grand, epic, finale. If not, they will still be entertaining, and that is rather the point of the whole thing.

 

The writers will know the main story and their own story (though I hope to work out an ending of my own so that the writers can be surprised as well), but none of the others. The puzzle creators and other people helping to add more flavor to the stories will know their section, and no others. There will be a main forum section where everyone can get together and brainstorm, but the creating will be mostly done in private areas.

 

Some of the stories are going to take a long time to unfold, and some will be short. I estimate this entire Quest to take between a month and two weeks to build up to the finale.

 

[Main point of this article is here:]

 

The thing I have realized that I need now for the story that is done are Actors. By Actors I mean dedicated role players who can be given a script of what is going to happen in their section, for them to play out as they wish. They would be Actors and not just Role Players because they would have to pretend to have no knowledge of what is coming and not let it affect their decision.

 

I imagine this could be a chance for some of the really brilliant role players out there to shine. A warning, however: some of the more hardcore, dedicated role players may be forced to do or make decisions that will be very painful to their character, emotionally. The goal is to encourage character growth within MD, instead of having it all be back stories and outside of the realm. I understand that some role players are too attached to their characters to sacrifice like that, and I'm sure we can find room for you as well.

 

Message me or reply to the topic if you're interested.

 

Secondary point: I'm considering creating alts for the purpose of the story. Your actions would determine their fate, and hopefully a well written story would let you come to care about what happens to them, even a little. I know I personally have trouble being mean to characters in games where you have a choice, partly because I'm afraid they'll jump out of the tv and get me, and, well, its just mean. Does anyone else feel the same way? If a character was sufficiently interesting with a unique personality and you got to know them, would you care if they died (the alts would die in the story and never log in again)? This would also present wonderful opportunities for character growth. If a healer were unable to save someone they cared about, how would that affect them? If, at great risk of life and limb, and yes, limp due to loss of limb,a hero were able to save someone they cared about, how would that change them? I anticipate the results with baited breath.

 

 

Additional thought: If people can fight and argue and care for Bob the Tree and Abra the Aramor, why not a character created for a story? As long as they are well developed and sympathetic this could work out quite well. Especially if some people dislike the character and wish them harm, and others want to defend them.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Jester