01-08-2020, 12:24 AM
Hello all, thought I'd pop in and put in a plug for KJC's Quest. I'm dipping my toes back into PBM games again and having been having great fun with Quest and I'm still very much in the initial (and arguably less fun) stages of the game. This is in no small part thanks to TVMike who has been a great help and very generous with his time and patience.
I've also played DungeonWorld (and will likely play again). As Mike pointed out, in DungeonWorld, you are controlling individual characters whereas in Quest you control a party. You enter orders in both games in a similar manner. I am not sure how Quest compares to DungeonWorld later in the game since I've only started with Quest recently. Quest does have a couple of nice things going for it when it comes to new players. The game provides "catch-up" turns to new parties, which allows you to send and receive turns right away (i.e., without needing to wait for the regularly scheduled turns) for your party's first 20 turns. This is a great for purchasing equipment, recruiting new party members, and doing some skill leveling quickly. It takes away some of the pain associated with starting a PBEM game and having to wait for a long time before you're even ready to start doing fun stuff. There's also the G20 world in Quest, which is fully automated (i.e., without GM moderation) and lets you send turns and get results within minutes. That is great for newbies as you can do and learn a lot quickly, and likely fun for existing players as well. G20 still has quests and plenty to do. The only difference, I believe, is the lack of GM-controlled events and interactions, which you have in the other game worlds.
On a final note, and although I know Quest is past its prime like many PBM/PBEM games unfortunately, it does seems very much alive and I've run into player controlled parties often.
I've also played DungeonWorld (and will likely play again). As Mike pointed out, in DungeonWorld, you are controlling individual characters whereas in Quest you control a party. You enter orders in both games in a similar manner. I am not sure how Quest compares to DungeonWorld later in the game since I've only started with Quest recently. Quest does have a couple of nice things going for it when it comes to new players. The game provides "catch-up" turns to new parties, which allows you to send and receive turns right away (i.e., without needing to wait for the regularly scheduled turns) for your party's first 20 turns. This is a great for purchasing equipment, recruiting new party members, and doing some skill leveling quickly. It takes away some of the pain associated with starting a PBEM game and having to wait for a long time before you're even ready to start doing fun stuff. There's also the G20 world in Quest, which is fully automated (i.e., without GM moderation) and lets you send turns and get results within minutes. That is great for newbies as you can do and learn a lot quickly, and likely fun for existing players as well. G20 still has quests and plenty to do. The only difference, I believe, is the lack of GM-controlled events and interactions, which you have in the other game worlds.
On a final note, and although I know Quest is past its prime like many PBM/PBEM games unfortunately, it does seems very much alive and I've run into player controlled parties often.