LOTRO Item and Quest entry databases are again LIVE and functional!
;-)#
BrasseThanks to Alluvian's smarts and perserverance, now everyone
can enter quests and items!I'm going to repost some of my suggestions here, along with tips on how I go through the process.
First off, I strongly encourage, beg, and plead (and other stuff that will work) for you all to enter quests in. It will help our site grow, it will provide you (and everyone else) with a permanent source for this useful information, and it will grant you bragging rights. Plus it will endear you to me, and I have been known to send cookies to those that earn enough positive faction. (note: cookies sent the slow way overseas taste like sugary bricks by the time they get there)
Next, if you are going to be awesome and helpful enough to enter in some quests, please keep some things in mind:
a) WE DO NOT WANT TO DUPLICATE EFFORTS!! As such, please check here before starting work on a quest, as it may already be up. Also, keep close tabs on the Quests I'm Working On thread (link just below).
b) Similarly, someone may also be working on it as you are working on it, and they may get it posted before you do. Please do not let this frustrate you, or take this personally. It is bound to happen. To help, know that I will happily tell anyone that asks (msn:
wrentheblurry@hotmail.com) which quests I am working on at any given time. I have
started a thread where we can post such info.
c) Please double-check your write-up for typos, spelling and grammatical errors before submitting. Many thanks!
d) Don't forget that you'll need enter the ITEM reward FIRST, before you enter the quest. Taking screenshots may help in recording this information.
e) Please use a numbered STEP format in clear, concise language. Definitely put your own flavor into it, but make certain any dummy could easily follow your directions. For help in this regard, check out some of the quests we already have entered.
f) Please give as specific directions as you can. Pretend that you are writing this quest so that *I*, the ever-lost, can run it on one of my characters. In outdoor zones (it does not work inside), you get the location by typing ";loc". So, give the land, the town, the area, the numerical location, and nearby landmarks, in addition to providing the in-game location.
g) Ensure that your spelling of NPC names, towns, items, etc. is correct.
h) When entering quests that start with "A", "An" or "The", please move the article to the end, separated by a comma. An example would be: True Friend to Holly Hornblower, A.
i) As cool as they look, please do not use any non-standard characters with accents and such. They tend to not translate well when copied over, and when put in directly, they will not show up on search engines.
Now then:
TIPS ON THE QUEST WRITING PROCESS:Of course, your mileage may vary, and you may find another method works best for you, but hopefully knowing how I do it will help some of you. Note that I have two computers, and the game is open on the left monitor, while my word document and needed web sites are open on the right monitor. I recognize this will not work for most, though you can run LotRO in a window to achieve a similar functionality.
First off, I have a template:
The Hunter's Path
Type: Class
Level: 15
STARTER: Bolo Boffin (34.1s, 75.1w)
Pre-req:
Starting Zone: The Michel Delving Training Hall (The Shire)
Add zones:
Reward (COIN): 1sp, 80cp
Reward (XP): xp at level
Reward (ITEM): Avornhar (43), 3 Celebrant Salves, and Fast Draw. Fast Draw is a skill upgrade: "You are able to release your Barbed Arrow and Swift Arrow more quickly. Line Bonus: Barbed Arrow induction time reduced 0.1s. Line Bonus: Swift Bow induction time reduced 0.2s."
NOTE: Your class quest is available upon reaching level 15, and I assume you can get it from any class trainer. I happened to be in Michel Delving buying skills when the quest was offered to me.
Bolo feels you have made fine progress as a Hunter, but still have much to learn. He tells you who to seek out to gain more knowledge.
[h2]STEPS:[/h2]
1) Talk to Gytha Lainey. Bolo says "Look for Gytha Lainey at Asdo's Camp on the Great East Road, between Bree and Buckland."
1) So when I find someone giving a quest, I immediately log all of the info that I can, and I do it in the order that the quest entry database asks for it:
The first line is the QUEST TITLE (self-explanatory).
TYPE: MOST of the time this will be "GENERAL", which is the default in the database. However, there are Epic, crafting, quest, fellowship and task quests, though this is not all of them.
LEVEL: What level does the game assign to the quest? (info is in your quest log, hit L).
STARTER (NPC usually, perhaps an item), LOCATION of STARTER: (Get this by typing ;loc. I usually send myself a tell with this info.)
PREREQ, if applicable.
STARTING REGION AND SUBZONE (for example, Bywater (Shire)--these get entered separately into the quest database.
ADD ZONES: Often quests will have you travel to different areas, log the additional zones too.
REWARDS: Please note the coin reward, the exact name of the item, and how much XP you got AT WHAT LEVEL (though my template leaves it blank, of course, until I have finished the quest). Since it varies, this is important. Also, it is more useful (IMO) to our viewers if you take quests that are somewhat close to your level. When you are entering your items in, you will need to note whether they are a definite reward, or a *choice* of rewards, so pay attention to that.
I can gather most of this before accepting the quest.
2) I read through the quest, and put a summary of why you are doing the quest between the REWARD info and the STEPS. Note how my template has the STEPS surrounded by a header? All of my quests will have that as a header, and I will later make the actual numercial steps
bold.3) Before I accept the quest, I take a screenshot of any items. I have found it very easy and fast to copy this information over into the item entry form at a later time. I usually add the number of the screenshot in parentheses beside the item in case of later confusion.
4) At this point, I accept the quest. Sometimes you can write in 'Additional Zones' at this point, based on the quest information, though sometimes it is not clear until you've gone through the quest.
5) Now you're off and running, doing your quest. I write down each step that the quest gives me, and then I try to elaborate on the ones that need it. Use landmarks, use locations, use hints, use your own flair.
6) For the sake of consistency (and because I am lazy), I use the same ending step (albeit some quests, like the postal delivery ones, have minor modifications) for EVERY quest, and you can see that in any of the live quests I have entered.
7) After you complete it, remember to jot down your XP earned, and fill in anything else that you may have forgotten.
I know this seems long and complicated, but really I just wanted to be thorough. I do not take screenshots of quest info in order to look it up later, because I run many quests at a time, because my memory works better when I write down things immediately, because I do would rather take extra time to write down the information than sift through an ass-load of SS later, and because SS cannot tell the whole story, such as locations and XP garnered. You will STILL have to take notes. So, find a way that works for you, yah?
Now you have all the info, and you are ready to fill it all in. As has been mentioned, put the ITEMS in *first*. After that, you should have all the info to just plug in where it is required in the quest entry form. Since I do most of my work WHILE questing, when it comes time to enter the quest, it is quite fast and painless. I COPY the entire text from the summary to the ending step and paste it into the quest form, add some bold, throw in some blockquotes, and I'm done!
One last thing---I like to either be questing in game, or entering the quests. So I will do quests until i have many many many pages in my MS Word doc, and then I will switch gears, enter my items, and then enter my quests. I do not do them one at a time.
THANK YOU, I sure hope to get lots of help entering quests.
happy day,
wren
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