Okay, for those who love quests.

What type of quest do you most enjoy?
1) Find something and return
2) Find and Kill monster
3) A Mystery where you must speak to people and
figure out the answer from clues.
4) An adventure where you sent to locations all over
the place finding objects, and killing monsters to
uncover something.
5) Raid type of quests, where you spend an entire day
or longer fighting your way with others assisting to
get to some type of boss mob.

What time frame is most preferred for quests?
1) 10 minutes or less
2) 30 minutes or less
3) 1 hour or less
4) 3 or more hours

Do you prefer completing quests by yourself or in groups?

Finally if you have a dream type of quest, and would be so kind to detail it, please respond with that quest here, as detailed as you would like.

Thanks,

Vladaar

I prefer the find someONE and return them quests. Especially since I usually play the people with the high charisma

But on a realistic scene, I like quests where the characters have a chance to bond and develop large in character relationships. I once had a quest go by, and it was the dream quest that I had, merely because of the character relationships that were uncovered. I was playing a kobold rogue - an orphan - and I ended up getting "adopted" by two of the people in the group. My character now had a family, which he had not been used to, and the relationship between the characters grew and grew. It was probably the best campaign I'd ever had.

As for how long it should take to complete a quest, do you mean in game, or out of game? In game, I think it should take a few weeks, but there's no reason for that to be the total time out of game. However, one quest, if you're playing with a group of people around a table, should take close to 6 hours, unless it's the whole campaign which is one quest with several side quests. Then it should take months.

Does this answer all of the questions in an appropriate matter?

Interesting question.

What type of quest do you most enjoy?

Number 4. Some of the most fun I had gaming was during a shadowrun game where we had to do just this.

What time frame is most preferred for quests?

This quest spanned the entire 3 month campaign.

On a smaller scale, I tend to like raid style quests that can be finished in a session or two.

I like...

...the quest that never ends,
it just goes on and on, my friends.
Some people started playing it
Not knowing what it was
And they'll continue playing it
Forever, just because
It's the quest that never ends
it just goes on and on, my friends.
Some people started playing it
Not knowing what it was
And they'll continue playing it
Forever, just because
It's the quest that never ends...


You get the idea, I suppose.

Give me a good group of players, plenty of interaction and development, and you can throw all manner of quests, side-quests, back-quests, and whatever else you want at me.

How long should it take?

As long as it takes, of course... just because a cake says to bake at 350 for 35 minutes doesn't mean that you absolutely have to take it out of the oven 2100 seconds after you put it in, you know?

I've only really had the luxury of playing three characters tabletop that quested for anything--I've GMd the majority of my gaming career. However, I've ran one campaign that's main quest has lasted since 1999. The players developed the characters out well, they played the character's growth well, and I threw in a wide array of small side quests where pieces to the puzzle were discovered that it's all fallen together rather nicely.

So, give me a group of people with talent, and a desire to play the character, and I don't care how long, or what type of a quest, we're playing.

To quote Bromern:
So, give me a group of people with talent, and a desire to play the character, and I don't care how long, or what type of a quest, we're playing.

To quote Eol:
Give me a good group of players, plenty of interaction and development, and you can throw all manner of quests, side-quests, back-quests, and whatever else you want at me.

This one agrees with both of the above, and with Admiral concerning time frame fluctuation. I believe that it is not the DM that makes the game, it is the players. Most DMs will admit to getting plenty of inspiration from good players themselves during the course of a game, or even a session.

Not to pat myself on the back, but I ran a questing game once that was finished in three five-hour sessions. The players enjoyed it so much they didn't really want it to end. So I allowed an "intermission", of sorts, for the characters to rest and recoup, then started them on a quest in which the object of the first quest (a rescued son of a noble) held key information to solve the new quest, which was why he was abducted to begin with.

I made it a point to tell the players that they were the inspiration for the second quest, and they rewarded me with yet another insightful flash that led to a third and fourth quest by the same company, all related to each other and ascending in inportance, wealth, and reknown for the characters. The series of quests culminated in a bard (a second character of one of the players given temporary npc status) writing a ballad of the party's exploits, and a letter of recommendation for each character from the noble involved. The results of these letters is still ongoing as one-on-one scenarios with each gamer, when time allows.

[ deeeeeeep breath ... ]

The point is: Players with intelligence, knowledge, and an honest desire to see a quest completed -- coupled with well-developed characters and interaction makes the time frame irrelevant, as far as I'm concerned. A real joy is to have this all come from relatively new players (this entire group had only a few months experience in the game between all of them).