Questing
Questing in Lusternia goes well beyond the simple fetch or kill tasks that are common in many games, though naturally, we have these as well. There are dozens of more intricate quests to be completed here, for those who enjoy doing so. Some can be accomplished on your own in an hour or two, while others may take your entire organization days to complete.
General Hints
While many of these larger quests contain unique mechanics, there are a couple of features common enough to merit pointing out as general hints. Speaking of hints, HINTS ON is a good default for questers of all levels of experience. Sometimes, you'll know what you wish to do, but get it wrong on syntax. This is where hints come in handy.
Hidden Things
Just because something does not appear in a location when you glance, does not mean it isn't there. VERBOSE is a great tool for questing, allowing you to see a room's full description each time you move. Many items are hidden this way, in the room's description. You can PROBE these items, and often manipulate them with one or more of the following commands: USE, TURN, PRESS, PUSH, PULL, OPEN, TOUCH. Going one step further, if you probe one of these hidden items and note a particular feature in its description, you can always try taking a closer look there, too!
Puzzles
Logic puzzles appear fairly commonly in quests with varying degrees of simplicity. Variations of Sudoku, Mastermind, Einstein's Puzzle, the Tower of Hanoi, and various square puzzles can all be found. Recognizing these familiar puzzles for what they are when you encounter them can be a big help to solving them.
Influence
The influencing skill plays a prominent role in many quests, though it's generally left up to the quester to follow the hints. If a denizen suggests that someone be chided for their wrong-doing, try using weakening type influence. If you're told to embolden or bolster their courage, try empowering them. Note that paranoia type of influence can be a quester's bane. Denizens who have been made paranoid will not respond to interaction in their normal way. If you don't have the ability to ANALYZE a denizen, be wary of curious behavior and try back later.
Talking to Denizens
In Lusternia, we do not just walk up to denizens and say quest quest quest quest until they tell us that their son has been trapped down a well. Greeting denizens is a great way to get started, as is asking, "Can I help you?" Listen to the replies you get. Though you're dealing with computer-controlled characters, part of immersion is treating them like people! Many quests require a certain phrase which can only be sussed out by conversing with the denizen.
When all else fails...
Sometimes, even when you know you're terribly close, you get flat out stuck. It's okay to ask for advice on our forums. Chances are, someone else has been through the same thing. While we don't give solutions, players are great about giving others a nudge in the right direction.
Honour Quests
Honour quests are one type of the longer, more involved quests that Lusternia has to offer. When you check someone's HONOURS, you'll often see a line at the end directing you to HONOURS FULL (person) and it's here where you may view all of the honours quests they have completed. As noted above, these range broadly in both difficulty and time to complete.
Honour quests may be done for a variety of reasons. Some yield rewards to help an organization or to hinder an opposing one. Some may be considered rites of passage for a certain characters. Many yield historical context in the game world, bits of information or secrets about the world of Lusternia that are available nowhere else. Most grant gold and karma rewards with some giving other personal blessings.
For a completionist, acquiring new honours will be a constant venture throughout one's play, and as you'll see, there are enough to keep one busy for a very long time.
Regarding level suggestions, bear in mind that some races and classes are more adept at hunting than others, and so outside of Newton Caverns these are all sweeping generalizations. If you know that you're out of your depth in a given area, grab a friend to help or return when you're a bit stronger.
Each organization has a prophecy quest associated with it, and a series of honours associated with the completion, leading up to an epic quest. Prophecy quests generally yield standard rhetoric associated with a given org. During times when that org or the Basin at large is in peril, they can be performed to glean valuable information about world-scale events. In addition to the organization quests, there are a couple of neutral-territory prophecy quests, which are not associated with epic quests.
View the (nearly) complete list of Honour Quests here!
Epic Quests
An epic quest is comprised of a series of honour quests associated with one overriding theme. At present, there are only six epic quests available, one for each of the six player organizations. These quest arcs become available after an individual has completed an org-specific honour quest five times. Usually, this will be the organization's prophecy quest, but similar quests such as resurrecting an organization's nexus shield object, also count towards the five.
Each time a character completes the org-specific quest, he or she will receive a new consecutive honour associated with his or her organization. Upon completing the epic quest series, these five cumulative lines are removed and replaced by one line, designating completion of the epic quest.
In addition to earning the rare honour, the reward for completing the epic quest is an artifact which provides transport to a location in limbo from which there are several exits to various locations within that organization's territories. It can only be used by its rightful owner, though others may follow.
These rewards are intricately tied to the organizations. Should someone leave that org after having completed its epic quest, they will be stripped of the honour as well as the artifact.