What do anons look for in a good Quest?

>>577344
Usually what I look for are interesting concepts. [s]and waifus.[/s]

What do you find interesting in terms of concepts?

Things based off of anime and tv shows seems pretty popular from what ive seen.

Or more strategic and planning types of games?

And in terms of waifus do you prefer more of a harem where several girls are around at all times or more of a oh I like her ill pursue this route style?

>>577388
It depends from person to person. I like going to and making drawquests. Concepts can be as weird or mundane as possible, but just make them interesting.

>>577413
So if I were to make a quest this moment (I'm not) based off of what you are in the mood for right now, what would be some must haves that you would highly recommend? such as general "is it romance or action, midevil or future"

Also how do anons most prefer rolls?
best of ? / average of ? / first roll?

Original settings are rad. I'm not stoked on filling out some anon's fanfic.

>>577490
Yeah, ive seen that people hate when the QM makes you follow a path and saying "no you cant do that because its stupid"

if your asking the players for a what to do then when the top answer is rejected its kinda a dick move

>>577490
>>577367
Thank you for the feedback anons. I gotta go do some irl things

>But any other anon that has suggestions, char designs they want used, story ideas, and other stuff they would like so see please leave your suggestions here. Ill be sure to read and devise a quest properly . And thank you all for your advice

Not a fan of fanfic quests.

Having a readable prose style is a must.

I'm more a fan of inter-character stuff than purely mission oriented quests.

>What are the most popular subjects/landscapes/locations

What I've noticed about most of these quests lately is how they're all escapist or otherwordly with fantasy and/or sci-fi settings scattered throughout board.

I'd like to see something more down to earth and mundane as a change of place. Something like working at an office job or visiting a mall where incidental things happen. See what kinds of situations we could come up with that.

>writing style

I personally like the prose to be simple and concrete. Something like popular bestsellers would read, engaging but doesn't muddle up with too much detail. I realize there's a trend of summarizing entire quests in multiple walls and pastebins, but that just overwhelms me as a newcomer who justs wants to get in on the action.

>>577613
What my current idea is, is sort of a Clannad type of story. Except replace chars change details and events that happen.

Then later down the road Having some kind of huge choice. Where you can pick one choice and an entirely Different outcome from what the original plan was but, with better outcomes for the npcs. However to do this I'd need to have a good deal of time to get the players to establish a connection to them to overcome the obvious "personal" goal and instead settle with a lesser ending for the sake of fictional characters

Would that be a type of quest you would possibly enjoy?


>also do anons prefer rolling for outcomes or just pick a/b/c and letting the QM make the outcomes

Such as in the "Melancholic quest"

>>577344
>>What are popular options other QMs have done that you enjoy

I really like a QM who keeps a proper schedule and keeps things organized. Pastebin for keeping track of things in a quest, consistency. Proper sessions rather than just doing a post here and there.

>>What are the most popular subjects/ Landscapes/ locations

Personally I like historical stuff, Sci-fi, or magic light generic fantasy.

Forum RP can eat a dick

>>577931
>>also do anons prefer rolling for outcomes or just pick a/b/c and letting the QM make the outcomes

Rolls

>>577931
Honestly, not really. But I'm very picky.

File: bad example.jpg (20KB, 190x357px) Image search: [Google]

20KB, 190x357px

>>577344
>What do you anons look for when selecting quests.
Since it sounds like you've already settled on your idea, let's talk curb appeal. The first part of getting players to open the quest from the catalog. This requires the player's attention being snagged by the quest's title, image, or the first part of the OP.

This image is a bad example (nothing against the quest itself, just its curb appeal). Neither name nor image give much away regarding what the quest is about, and the post snippet is mostly link text. So there's not much there to draw new players in.

Starting with an initial premise, or a quick setting of a scene and some dialogue, there's various ways to go, just try to make efficient use of your quest's catalog entry.

>>577931
>Would that be a type of quest you would possibly enjoy?
If I saw the word Clannad at all, then no, as I try to avoid Key related stuff. Choosing magical aids suffering for a chance at a True End that could still end up heart-wrenchingly bitter, doesn't really sound very appealing.

>578245
Implying I were doing a fantacy quest. Would the image I used for this thread be something good

Personally I don't enjoy when the thread image has the name of the quest in it. Dunno why it's just kinda a turn off for me

And I wouldent blaitenly use a show and ride the shows popularity to players. But I am writing up an outline for a quest reminiscent of clannad. As in it has a similar feel to it
>or at least in my opinion

Within te first post I try to set a slight feel for that episode one monologue.

Then instead of shoving the shows chars in your face I try to allow the player to pick their particular person... Or not depending on how they would vote

Currently I'm thinking up a draft that I'm probably gonna pitch in a day or two. Then dependent on the responses I'll stop and modify or continue

>>578245
And also by no means am I locked into anything. This is gonna be my first quest so I am very much open to ideas, weather it's for this quest or a different one any helpful info is greatly appreciated.

This is going to be more of a test of if I'm a good QM/ can keep interesting content flowing/ keep people wanting more.
>and every bit of feedback you all give is helping me with that

>>578673
Using a show name if you are planning to make something along the way is fine (you DO have to keep the Characters though) and gets you the desired audience.
If you look at the current Kancolle (as example) quests none of em is 100% lore friendly but they are popular non the less, in short dont be afraid to steal settings when it fits you

This looks like the place to ask, so I'll ask; anyone here think a pokemon mystery dungeon-oriented quest would be a good idea, or should I throw the idea out a window? Want to get this straightened away before I ask anything else.

>>579061
Yeah sure. Pokemon dungeon seems like a fine quest.

>>577777
WITNESSED

Son of a bitch, I knew this would happen to me one day. Ignore and forget, ignore and forget.

>>577777
Not exactly mundane but Melancholic Seems fairly grounded, if a bit harsh.

>>577344
/pol/ themes

As far as genre, don't lead me a trail into a brick wall.

If you want to write some titillating harem "oh look everyone's just HAPPENING to be losing their clothes" stuff, that's fine. No, seriously! No sarcasm. It's not my cup of tea, but other people like it. It's fine.

But be clear from the very beginning. If I read the first thread and I think I'm getting into political intrigue and drama or something, I'm going to be something extra-miffed when you shift from fourth to first. More miffed than I would've been if I had just scrolled past your story in the first place.

Don't do the thing.

Of course, the opposite is true as well. If your citrus-scented harem story escalates into politics and sudden seriousness, some people are going to go along with it, but other people are going to be annoyed and miss those days of haremy yore.

So in short, don't just know your audience, but also know what audience you're going for in the first place. I guess? Yeah.

File: wtf is this shit.png (923KB, 863x921px) Image search: [Google]

923KB, 863x921px

>>577344

>Original setting
>no Pokémon gameplay (directing pets, summons or waifus to do all the stuff instead of the protagonist/s)
>not set in real world
>no trapped in video game or dream framing device
>low to mid powerlevel when starting out

>>592154
How do you feel about an escalation from orphan kids running a soy-lemonade stand to crime to hired mercenary work?

All good suggestions

>>577344
Honestly, the thing that most hooks me into a quest is an engaging writing style. Which is a quality I can't really quite articulate in any specific fashion. Some writers just have a certain way with words (and characters) that makes their work especially fun to follow. Where the writing style really reflects the tone of the scene and the personality of the characters, and the characters themselves are interesting and engaging.

So, basically not much different from any other work of fiction, in the end. A good premise helps, but ultimately it's the details of the execution that really separate the really good from the merely decent. The features and skills that make for a great quest are ultimately the same as those that make for a great novel or short story, so really the best thing an aspiring quest writer can do is to read lots of fiction (of all varieties) to get a feel for the art of writing.

>>592154
Speaking as a former quest author who ran his quest into the ground by violating this very principle...yeah, this.

File: Patreliancefix.jpg (240KB, 1900x1000px) Image search: [Google]

240KB, 1900x1000px

Ive been reading a lot of Chinese Xianxia novels recently (sub genre of Wuxia, more focused on fantasy elements.) And im thinking of running a quest based on it. It would basically be a fantasy quest except with Chinese influence, though I will probably throw in western tones for more familiarity. Would anybody be interested in this type of quest?

>>597351
Yep.

>>597351
Don't pander, leave the western stuff if it is not part of your vision.

>>597377
It would probably be small things like names and maybe some creatures.

File: 4L_vUBsNKf1.png (375KB, 341x435px) Image search: [Google]

375KB, 341x435px

>>592154
>mfw the QM did the thing last night

>We like original settings more than fanfic
>Quests with original setting dies more often than fanfic quests here
I guess I have you two-faced shitters to thank for Laughing Dog's death.

>>588779
Political themes or /pol/ themes?

>>577344
General stuff, rather than story-related.
>Good writing
Most important is execution, make sure you have decent prose and can keep the flow of the story engaging. Edit your shit as well, get rid of adverbs, etc. Treat it like you're writing any other kind of fiction.

>Original setting
Just my personal preference, I can't stand fanficiton. However, fanfic's skip a lot of the issues in gathering new readers and grab anyone who’s interested in reading more of what they already like. Plus, they have a lower quality requirement to maintain readers because people will be willing to read it, almost regardless of how good/bad it actually is, purely to get more content based on the original story.

>Be upfront and communicate with your readers
Ask what is/isn't working for people and try to fix anything you can; but don't sacrifice what you want your story to be about in the process. If you're going to make a haram where all the female, or whatever, gender characters are there for smut alone then be very clear about that asap and don't change it for others if that's what you really want to do.

>Your OP is the most important post
Especially true for the very first, but every OP should be interesting enough that someone newcomers who read it will be intrigued enough that they'll read some more. Tie it with a good title, image and beginning of the OP.

>>600514
>. Edit your shit as well, get rid of adverbs
I'm sick of this allergy modern writing styles have about adverbs. Because that's all this anti-adverb stuff is, about cultivating a modern kind of style. It's not a real 'rule'.

Plenty of excellent published authors lean into adverbs, Pulitzer and Man-Booker prize winners. Plenty of shit ones never use adverbs at all.

>>577344

Basically, what things boil down to is that you want your Questers to have a good time. There's a line where you have to draw where you don't give them what they want, but keep them coming back in the hope that they do. Too much of the first and they get bored - too much of the second and they give up and go somewhere else.

For me, it's just to be engaging and opening enough not to spoil it for everyone else. Then again, I'm a DnD/CoC freak with tabletop sessions, so that's how I approach things.

>>600522
Sure, but you'll notice they do it well. Most bad writing leans on them heavily, as substitutes for proper word choice, rather than using them where appropriate.

These rules are always guidelines at best, meant to be broken, but the idea is that you should pick strong words/descriptions. A crap example of the top of my head is: “she walked across the bridge angrily” versus “she stomped across the bridge”. The second gives us more information, while sounding less awkward, and does it in less words. But you should still totally keep adverbs in when they improve the sentence, just make sure it does. At least, that’s my take on it.

>>600543
>“she walked across the bridge angrily” versus “she stomped across the bridge”
While your first choice is obviously bad, your second choice doesn't necessarily work for a specific character. Not everyone stomps when they're angry, and the visual language could be painting an inappropriate picture of the individual. Between the two, it could be that the first is more appropriate to the second when it comes to conveying character. Of course there's nearly always going to be a better way to express the sentiment than the first option, but just because something is shorter and punchier doesn't necessarily make it 'better'.

I'm not really expressing this sentiment very well.

>>577388
Anime/TV Quests: Okay, but strongly depends on subject matter and what combat system (if any) is used.
Persona 2129 was awesome with combat and slice of life stuff, when it was still running.
It's really less about the system than it is how you describe things.

Waifus: Objectively shit, most of the time a good story will be ruined over waifu-shit; whether it be OOC arguing or passive-aggressively sabotaging actual parts of the story to make sure their waifu wins and/or the others lose.
But Anons project hardcore, so they're always going to want either one waifu or a harem (which is even more cancerous to a story).

>>600594
But that's my point, the second conveys something about the character and the situation as a whole and the first doesn’t. With just the one word change the sentence expresses more information to the reader in a shorter period of time, while also flowing more naturally. Plus, if the word's inappropriate for the situation or character, as with adverbs, you just pick another way of describing it, like "Crossing the bridge, her heels landed with the delicate tapping of constrained rage.” Or something like that.
In terms of shorter is better, or less is more, it’s a general rule as well; of course there are times when a longer, more elaborate sentence will better suit the story, just as there are times when the sentences might instead need to be one or two words long. It’s the idea that the writer is trying to help facilitate the reader’s imagination, building a framework of words that is then developed fully by the one reading it, rather than creating the perfectly elicit description.