Apeomancer’s Topical Quest Collective <with apologies to Droo ...>

Hi all! Karya asked me to write something for Muddled Times about quests, so I’ve written a bit about the two most common quests of the day - Agrazag’s elements quest and Umbrarg’s island quest, as well as a little on quests in general. Analysis of other quests may follow, if I get to play them in a little more depth.

Quests are some of the most fun you can have on MUD. Remember what it felt like to be a newbie, when everything was new and interesting? Quests can help you recapture that feeling of wonder, and can help you get out of a MUD playing rut - I put my present bout of comparative success at achieving and exploring down to completing Agrazag’s quest.

They come in several forms, the most common of which is a new area attached to the main Land in some fashion. Some involve the main land itself, as in Kyric’s Elf Quest, where elfin hordes pour across the Land from a secret base. In some cases, you have to be transported to the quest by the wizard who put it up - this goes a long way to prevent wicked explorers (like myself) using trickery to complete the quest.

They can also be a great source of tricks in their own right, especially if you can take items from them back to the main Land. They are often very dangerous - I highly recommend you don’t bring your mage into one without prior knowledge of what you’re likely to face.

The points you get for completing them are often quite high, but they are rarely the main point of a quest - fun and kudos among your fellow players are the usual reasons for doing a quest (along with finding tricks/bugs in them and showing them to their creators…heh).

Without further ado, here’s my roundup of the two most common quests of the moment - Aggy’s and Umby’s.

NB - ‘Realism rating’ refers to how many bugs and tricks I find in there, and how real the place feels to me. The main Land, tested to destruction and improved over 20 years, is considered to be 10/10.

Agrazag’s Elemental Quest

Author:	Agrazag the wizard
Method of entry:	Teleportation by Agrazag
Personae allowed:	Sorcerers and necromancers only, one at a time
Risk level:	High
Realism rating:	9/10 (only two things I could find that Agrazag needed to fix ...)

Analysis: A compact, beautifully-constructed and described quest - my favourite so far (and not just ‘cos I got past all four element areas on my first go). It has five areas - a murky lagoon for water, a fiery cave for fire, an earthy cave for earth, some darling little fluffy clouds for air, plus a final, dark boss area. The puzzles range from totally easy (the water realm’s) to rather hard (the air realm’s). Each area has a rune at the end of it, guarded by a rather dangerous phantom. There are also two secrets hidden in this quest, one of which I found. This quest has the advantage that you cannot bring kit into it, and so cannot use many sneaky tricks in it.

Umbrarg’s Island Quest

Author:	Umbrarg the arch-wizard
Method of entry:	A trawler that goes between the island and the jetty. A sign is put up at the jetty when the quest is up.
Personae allowed:	Anyone
Risk level:	Varies, most areas are low
Realism rating:	8/10 (a few errors, including something quite odd with one of the mobiles, but that’s not surprising in a quest this big, and I know Umbrarg does fix them)

Analysis: A huge, sprawling monster of a quest, with many separate areas with their own treasure. Rather the opposite of Agrazag’s quest, where you’re working in a small area towards a single goal. It has a somewhat more modern feel than most of the main Land - the town actually has shops and a dentist, albeit a rather scary one. Many lovely and beautiful locations, at least two mazes (possibly more - I still haven’t got into the damn quarry cave area), some nice puzzles - and a flying machine, that no-one seems to have got to work yet (as far as I know). Some of the areas include the mountain with its scree slopes, a fishing town with a lighthouse, shops, houses and a boat, the pine wood with the wasps floating around, the caves beneath the isle, the salt mines and a mansion guarded by a daemon.

This quest has more possibilities for abuse than Agrazag’s, as you can bring items in and out of it. However, the trawler takes time to get to and from the isle, preventing people mixing up the main Land and the Isle’s items too much - a trick also employed by Cat’s balloon quest.

All being well, the server staying upright and Cat returning from his holiday, I’ll get to see some more quests in depth by next issue, so I’ll have a go at them then.

              Apeomancer (aka Maxmage)

P.S. A quick, non-MUD related plug - do visit http://members.xoom.com/thenorm42, my site with many downloadable Real Audio files from my favourite band, the Mission. Also visit http://www.theawkwardsmiles.freeserve.co.uk/ - the homepage of my friends, the great Awkward smiles!

P.P.S. Trying Umby’s quest again, and some wretch summoned me to the cbc ... I feel that summoning from quests is grossly unfair, people doing them have enough to think about!