ABSTRACT
This chapter describes general concepts, focusing mostly on the way they are used in roleplaying games and MMORPGs. It explores the ultimate silver bullet when approaching quest design and the only one universal rule is: iteration, iteration and iteration. Quest design also always has two key aspects, the mechanical or gameplay aspect and the narrative aspect. A common mistake in quest design is to see quests as pure mechanics without any relation to narrative elements. Quests are often designed based on a set of mechanics, and narrative elements are later added as flavor, like frosting on a cake. Tutorial or introductory quests may be a lot shorter, and players can have overarching quests that require several hours or more to be solved. However, despite being outmatched, the players will be able to save the woman from her attackers and escape and thus complete this optional quest.
