I have just gotten final approval on my thesis on quest systems for MMORPGs and figured I would post it here since we have had discussions about storytelling and content generation in MMORPGs. The thesis documents the research and development of a quest system for It's Alive Mobile Games's game platform, but the background and research chapters (chapters 1 and 2) may be of interest to all MMORPG developers.

You can view the thesis as a PDF-file at:
http://saar.se/thesis.php

Comments are welcome.

William

Thanks. Like I wrote, it is the discussion that I think remains interesting too, now that I'm no longer working under those conditions.

There were limitations on the project that kept me from trying to build anything revolutionary (limited time, limited capabilities of the rest of the game platform, a requirement from the school to stay within the academic fields of the courses I had completed, requirements from It's Alive, etc.). However, the end product did succeed in a number of areas: it was very easy to use, it had few requirements on the rest of the game platform yet was very extendable, and it was basicly a finished product.