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How to Make a Quest Thread
a complete guide to a well-planned, visually pleasing, more-likely-to-get-donations quest thread


Post One:: The Basics
Post Two:: Organization
Post Three:: Graphics?
Post Four:: A Few Simple Pointers
Post Five:: What Not to Write
Post Six:: FAQ and Links

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The Basics


There are a few basic things every quest thread needs- namely, a quest and a thread.
Before you even think of making your quest thread, open up Notepad or a similar program. Planning needs to be done. And yes, you can do this on a piece of notebook paper, too.
Ask yourself these questions: 'What do I want?' 'How much does it cost?' and 'Where can I get them?' Now answer them right there in Notepad.
    I want- Fairy Wings, Ballerina Circlet, Heart Shaped Box of Sweets
    They cost- Wings, 40000g; Ballerina Circlet, 3300g; Box of Sweets, 100g
    I can find them- Wings, Barton Boutique; Ballerina Circlet, Barton Jewelers; Box of Sweets, Barton Jewelers

Now that you've planned your quest, plan your thread. Choose a theme - colors, font size, etc - and stick to it. To use the above example, let's go with sweet magic as our theme. For colors, let's use steel blue, light blue, and hot pink. Given that light blue is a bit harder to read than steel blue and hot pink, we'll use that for post headings, hot pink for subheadings, and steel blue for the content. We'll also vary the size of each part- headings are large, subheadings are normal, and content is small.

Wishlist/Progress
Wishlist
Fairy Wings ~ 40,000gg
Ballerina Circlet ~ 3300gg
Heart Shaped Box of Sweets ~ 100gg
Progress
Fairy Wings ~ 5000gg of 40,000gg

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Organization


Now that we have the quest in line and the basics of the thread picked out, let's move on to organization. No matter how pretty your thread looks, no one will donate if it's a mess.
Once again, before you make the thread, there's a bit of planning to be done. It pays off in the long run, believe me.
Still in Notepad(or on a piece of looseleaf, depending on your preference) Rough out a table of contents. It should include a post of info on the quest itself, and introduction, and a place to thank bumpers and donators.
    Table of Contents
    1- intro
    2- quest
    3- bumpers/donators
    4- other stuff

It's only the barest of essentials, but there's nothing wrong with quality over quantity.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for- actually making your quest thread. Go into the Charity/Quests subforum of the Gaian Exchange and click 'New Topic'. Before you do anything else, set the topic of the thread to something like, 'Setting up; please don't post!'
There are two ways to go now- you can type up the entire first post, then move on to the next one, or you can reserve the posts, then go back and fill them in. Either way works, but if you've got a lot of content in your posts or you can't type very fast, I'd suggest reserving and going back.
Set up your thread they way you planned in your rough table of contents. Feel free to tweak things that don't seem quite right- change the post order, shuffle content a bit, whatever seems right to you. Once you've done that, go back to the first post and change the subject. It can be simple, like 'Rebbekha's Quest,' or it can match your theme, like 'the Sweet Magic Quest' or 'Hunt for Sweet Magic.' Have fun with it, and make it interesting.

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Graphics?


Contrary to popular belief, having graphics in your quest thread does not automatically make it better. Sure, cool banners make your thread flashy, but flash isn't always a good thing. Banners can be poorly edited, too big or too small, at odds with the theme, or just plain in bad taste.
This isn't to say don't use graphics- I'm just warning you to be careful about it. Don't use banners for everything; just the post headings will do, or even just a single banner in the first post. Again, keep your theme in mind, and make sure the banners are hosted on a reliable server like Photobucket, one that allows direct linking.

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A Few Simple Pointers


Now that you've got your quest thread up, go ahead and take a break. Get yourself something to drink, stretch, move a bit and get your muscles unwound. No amount of pretty pixels is worth ruining your eyes or back over.
Feeling better? Relaxed and refreshed?
Good. We've still got work to do.
First, put something in your signature. It can be an elaborate banner that took you an hour to make, a text link, or even just 'I'm questing for Fairy Wings; donate?' This is so other people can find your quest thread.
Next, bump your thread! It's not going to stay on the first page all by itself, and chances are, no one else is going to do all the bumping for you. Besides, you'll want to apply to charities down the road, and most of them will deny your application if you don't bump your own quest thread.

A few things to keep in mind while you're questing:
One, most other people in the Charity/Quest subforum are questing, too. If someone bumps your thread, thank them, but don't ask them to donate. It's enough that they've put you at the top of the first page, and asking for donations from bumpers is a good way to insure that they don't give you anything.
Two, always be polite. Whining and complaining about how no one's donating to you and no one loves you is just annoying. Save the angst for your journal.
Three, never advertise. You can and should bump other people's quest threads, but limit links to your signature, and don't ask them to bump you. Not only is that annoying, it's also selfish and rude, and it puts off prospective donators.

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What Not to Write


Use of the word need in reference to an item on Gaia should probably be avoided. By strict definition, nothing on Gaia is needed, be it gold, items, or bumps. Saying that you need virtual money or pixels doesn't come off well with a lot of donators, so it's probably best to avoid the word and not take the chance.
The crying emoticon is not loved. A lot of people can't stand to see it in a quest thread. If your thread is organized and reasonably well-presented, there should be no need for begging.
Don't get upset if no one donates to you the first few days of your quest. It could take a while before you get anything, and getting upset won't help at all. Just bump, post, and poll instead; earn your own gold while you're waiting for other people to give you theirs.
Most importantly, don't just keep the gold if you abandon your quest. If, after a while, you decide that it really isn't worth it, go through the list of people and charities who donated to you and return their donation. It's unfair of you to keep the gold they gave you for Fairy Wings if you have no intentions of actually using it for Fairy Wings.

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FAQ and Links


FAQ


Links

Charity Forum Dos and Donts
Guide To Having A Good Avatar
Quest Status Bars by Palmer586
[=A NEWBIE'S GUIDE TO GAIA=]
the Gaia Dream Creator at TekTek

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Well done thread, I congradulate you. Hopefully more GAIAN's will use your information, and actually be successful with that NM Scarf quest, or Angelic Sash, or OMG Hat, or ANY of those "Seem's Impossible" quest's. I sure wish I would have read this before I made MY quest thread. I hardly get any posts, it's been days since anyones even touched it. Well, I am sure this will be helpful.

-Shadow

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Thanks for the compliment, Shadow; it means a lot. I took a peek at the thread in your signature, and it's really not bad, but if you don't like it, I could help you clean it up a bit.

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Last I heard...the [example] tag doesn't exist....

Anyway...the post about "need" is a bit soapboxish. You really shouldn't be presenting your OPINION as some kind of INSTRUCTION. Instead of telling people not to do these "annoying" things. Try suggesting they don't and explaining why it doesn't help them to be doing that.

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No, the [example] tag doesn't exist; I just put that in there to mark examples.
As for suggestion and explanation in place of instruction.... I thought I did explain why not. Apparently, that part needs work. Thanks for the tips- I'll try to make it less preachy.

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when are quests comming out?

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Wingzero3802
when are quests comming out?


Quests aren't 'coming out,' as you put it. They aren't a feature. A quest is when someone finds an item on Gaia that they want - usually very expensive - and sets about getting that item. A lot of people after anything more than 1000 gold will make a quest thread, encouraging people to donate and giving themselves a place to post and make gold.

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Hmm, how do you sujjest I clean it up? And actually, the GAIA "Quest System" IS coming out. I have heard we will be able to quest for wings as well, and something about questing for old donation items, but it takes ALOT of devotion and work. A Halo quest would take about 3 years on average to complete XP.

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shadownightX
Hmm, how do you sujjest I clean it up? And actually, the GAIA "Quest System" IS coming out. I have heard we will be able to quest for wings as well, and something about questing for old donation items, but it takes ALOT of devotion and work. A Halo quest would take about 3 years on average to complete XP.

Halo quest = gonk . I have no idea how anyone can stay devoted enough to get one. I tend to avoid questing for donation items.
As for your thread, I'd suggest putting the Rules post closer to the top, and maybe spreading the content from the first post over two or three posts instead of just one. For example, you could move Donations and Special donations to the third post, put Rules in the second post, and shift everything else down accordingly.
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