Thank you. I'll compile it and send it to you latter today. I was about to reply to your PM, when I remembered that I am unable to yet.
Your reply here and to another poster brings about a two part response from me. As they are somewhat related, I'm keeping my reply here in this thread. But therein lies part of the problem ... instead of posting hither-and-yon across the board, I'm compiling my response to one thread.
Let me first start with your comment about posting. To me that came off rather snide. I don't know about other people, but frankly, I'm not one to post just for the sake of posting. If I have something to say I'll say it ... otherwise I'm more of a lurker. To assume that someone is a n00b to the board and game just because they have a low post count is erroneous. General speaking I have both the PS client and the BB open at the same time. I've spent a fair number of hours surfing the forums trying to find answers and just generally getting a feel for the community.
I run a BB myself. For a board the size of the one I have, a post count requirement would be a death knell. I've also seen it be a death knell for a board that had 20,000+ members. IMO post count requirements end up encouraging spamming ... which is the bane of most mod/admins. Or you end up with a large number of people all posting at the same time and your board becomes so flippin busy it's an exercise in futility to try and keep up. I realize that trying to keep the balance between members and appropriate activity is a juggling game and that what works for one BB will not work for another. But that's just my $.02.
Second off .... yes there are a ton of questions about quests here. The admins & devs have admitted there's still bugs to be worked out. And yes, there are people asking to be spoon-fed. However, to paint everyone with the same brush is again an erroneous assumption.
Between the DH & I, we have something close to 35 years RP experience. 20 of those years, the DH has been a DM. We well understand the concept of asking the correct question and the joy of working out a puzzle for yourself. Matter of fact, because of the way DH DM's ... I've long since learned "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it". His favorite trick when players would wish for something (i.e. I wish for a lot of gold) would be to give them EXACTLY what they asked for (a 1 ton lump of gold would suddenly drop on the PC). We learned really quick about phrasing a request.
No, I am not asking to be spoon-fed. And others are not as well. You are correct ... in some instances the correct phrase is in the original quest request. Most decent RPers know to take notes. So okay, I've taken my notes, I've gone to the right guy ... and asked EXACTLY what the quest told me to ask. No go.
You are also correct that spoon-feeding would take away from the game. Out of all the electronic versions of RPG's I've played, PS is in the top of my list. What I (and I imagine others) are asking for is a gentle push when you've exhausted your options. Or a way to clear out a quest that is well and truly stuck. Those that are asking to be spoon-fed do deserve a bit of a sneer. If they want easy, then PS is not the game for them. It's an evolving game in terms of both game and development. There's going to be learning curves and there's going to be bugs. That's a given. It's also been well admitted to. So please ... don't assume.
*kicks soapbox back into the corner*