In the spirit of the season and nostalgia.. I've decided that I'm going to post some of the information from prior years' Christmas quests. I'll try to post the general idea for the quest, any random details I can remember - and most importantly - the poems!

So newer players, you can cringe at all the fun you missed... Older players you can reminsce how much fun (and death!) you had...

These quests more than any others I've run (except for maybe Star Wars) are very fun for me to create (and participate on occasion). They give me a chance to get creative with things like the poems, and also to challenge some of our players with some of the nasty things I cook up. I usually write some custom scripts for the quests, because I don't want to ask BZ to code holliday spells for me . Hence things like burning eggnog down your pants, or Rudolph burning you with his nose.

I'll to make a new reply for each year so I don't clutter this up too much - also these posts are going to be loooong because of the poems - so beware

-Gargamel

This one might have been the first year I was acting as the "quest God". The poem (imo) was seriously a poor effort. The quest was fun .. larger mobs loaded assemble items, a necklace, a light, and a weapon that no one ended up loading - see next year's quest for details on the weapon ... i liked it so much i saved it for a different quest!

Randomly loading around the mud were christmas themed pieces that assembled and could be redeemed for quest points - this was intended for lower lvl players, but everyone was able to take advantage.

And finally - the poem:

"a tinsel encrusted scroll"

'Twas just before Christmas,
And all through the world,
While all were asleep,
A new quest was unfurled.

New items were made,
And have all been scattered.
New mobs have spawned,
Whose blood will be splattered.

This quest will be run,
In two separate tiers,
So this Christmas will be,
The best one in years.

To the mud's newer players,
Who are still Motie slayers:
We've heard your meek voice,
So you have a fair choice.

There are items around,
All with Christmas theme,
For you to find and assemble,
and hopefully redeem.

If it's a greater challenge you seek,
And you find yourself a bit too weak,
Team up with those not new to this game,
To attempt to gain fortune and fame.

For those of you who have been here for ages,
And seen this mud through all of its stages,
I've created monsters to test your fate,
And to determine which of you is truly great.

The monsters hold many a wonder,
For you to find and kill and plunder.
Some hold ribbons for you to find and redeem,
And others have items of which you could only dream.

As this rhyme comes to an end,
This I say to all my friends,
Thank you for choosing this mud to play,
And from the Immortals, a very happy holiday!

So my 2nd year running Christmas quests - i was very busy and didn't get the chance to put together anything super involved. I did a take on the 12 days of christmas. Every day a new set of mobs was released to the mud - as they approached the first day of christmas - they got much harder. The harder the mob the more quest ribbons they had (i think ...)

Here's the poem:
(much better than the prior year in my opinion)

"a frost covered note"

It's Christmas again,
So listen my friend,
There's much in store,
For you to explore.

I wish I could beat,
The quest of last year,
But, I'm dead on my feet,
And have to work fast, here.

Twelve days of the Yule,
For you to try and find,
More monsters to duel,
To boggle your mind.

From out of the past,
I've taken a song,
You better think fast,
You won't have too long.

With under two weeks,
To find what you seek,
You better have haste,
With time not to waste.

For a hint from above,
It's from your true love.
A bird in a tree,
Is what you send to me.

My brief time to compose
Has finally come to a close,
When it's all said and done,
I hope you all have tons of fun,
And with all of your new found toys,
Happy Holidays, girls and boys!

So the third year I did the quest, I was inspired by some of the quests I had seen on Maple Story - which I played for about 2 weeks before realizing I hated it. The concept was that letters to a sign were scattered around the mud - randomly loading on mobs. 2 letters - the first letter in each word "Merry Christmas" were to load on 2 harder mobs. The first person to get me a completed sign would win a prize - every complete sign after that got qps (i think).

The prize was the weapon that I spoke about in the first year's quest. It was called a Christmas Tree - and is one of the cooler things I've done on the mud. I s_parsed the color codes - green, white and red - to make the item look like it was actually blinking if you repeatedly typed "eq" (if it was equipped).

If you happen to see Bcoz around - ask him to take a look - he was the big winner

And the poem:

'Twas real close to Christmas,
And all through the land,
Everyone is wondering,
What quest I have planned.

A sign that was made,
To spread some good cheer,
Was split into pieces,
As it would appear.

The letters that spell,
This holiday phrase,
Have now been spread,
All over this place.

Now, two of the letters,
Have already been taken,
By two really mean guys,
If I'm not mistaken.

One of them we know,
Was certainly pinched,
By that dirty scoundrel,
The mean Mr. Grinch.

The other was stolen,
By a rotten old geezer,
You call him Scrooge,
To me he's Ebenezer.

To the person that brings,
My sign back to me,
Great gifts will I give,
To fill you with glee!

It's time to get started,
You better get cracking,
You won't win a thing,
By sitting there slacking.

Now go on and get out,
Explore and have fun!
Merry Christmas to you,
This poem is all done!

This quest might have been the most epic of all the quests I've run in terms of scope. Thanks in large part to the efforts of Kahlan who set up a lot of the "quest system" aspect of it. I helped to refine some things, write some custom scripts, create the prizes and test to make sure the whole darn thing worked (oh, and make up a little poem for it) - but Kahlan did the heavy lifting.

Two parts of the quest. Part 1 - slightly easier .. load pieces to a present. combine those pieces with a nametag from Santa (via the quest system) and return each present to a little boy or girl. After the last one was completed. santa provided a nice prize.

Part two asked hte player to trade that nice prize in for a chance at a better one. This time, santa tapped on the player to hunt down bratty little kids who had already stolen their presents. you needed to find the kids, and bring santa back his present. The prize after the last kid, was a nice little hat.

This was one of the most successful and well thought out quests I've been a part of - and it never would have happened that way without Kahlan.

The poem:

'Twas right around Christmas,
And all through the world,
While no one was looking,
A new quest was unfurled.

This year we're tapping,
On good old Saint Nick,
To help with our cause,
And make this quest slick.

Two parts to the quest,
Is what we have planned.
Santa dropped his presents
All through the land.

In part one of our game,
Some presents were shattered.
And across the wide Mud
The pieces were scattered.

Santa will give you
A tag with a name
A kid needs a present
To win in this game.

The pieces you'll find,
From random places.
Combined with this tag
Will make smiling faces.

The task that we ask:
Spread Christmas Joy,
Return the right present,
To each girl and boy.

If you find yourself seeking
Something a bit harder,
You better listen up:
There is a second parter!

If it is your choice:
When part one is all done,
You can exchange your prize
For more difficult fun.

You see, what's in store
In part two of the quest,
Will take some cunning
From the mud's very best.

A number of presents
Have all been taken
By some bratty kids
If I'm not mistaken

Santa will give you
The list of kids' names
Please hunt them down
For fortune and fame!

Once you've given the gift
Back to dear old Saint Nick
He'll give you the name
Of the next little prick.

Each kid on the list
Gets progressively harder
So it's OK if you quit
After the first parter.

But for those who decide
To see this quest through
A wonderful prize
Will be in store for you.

That's all I am writing
It's time to go home,
It's getting annoying
Coming up with these poems.

Good Luck with the Quest
Hope you had a good laugh!
A very happy holiday
From the Immortal Staff!

Thanks for sharing all of the details for the quests. I hadn't realized that you were responsible for them and the subsequent fun.

I first started playing in December in your 3rd year of the quest. I remember running around in the mob museum and being ambushed by either the aggro scrooge or grinch. It wasn't very pleasant.

What I like about this year's quest is the ability of both small and big players to participate in the quest.

That said, I have never completed any of the past Xmas quests, so this year will hopefully be a first for me!

Also, btw, I like all of the poems - they are almost as good as the quests themselves!