What to do when stuck

[Caylin]

As some of you know(perhaps many), I have struggled quite a bit since joining early August. I won't lie; when I found FK I was looking for a way to prepare myself for D&D a bit more because I've barely played and wanted to get a little more hands-on experience. This is helping a lot, and my brother says I probably know more about Forgotten Realms than him now lol.
Anyway, I love MUDs, and this game is most probably the best I've played because it's also related to D&D which is another interest of mine. But the gripe I am having is not that I have perished in combat dozens of times, no. It's the learning curve track that I seem to have obviously derailed from. I've spent a lot of time not playing the game(which is really bad for any game), simply because when I do try to play I don't get very far(and by that I mean not even a snail's pace). I have over 300 hours since early August, and a lot of that is probably idling while I try to figure stuff out or read things or just wandering. Most of the community is super nice, which I've stated many times I'm sure, and I'm constantly thanking everyone who helps me, but obviously there's something the matter if I struggle with newbie quests. Like the one Joy helped me with yesterday. I'd been searching this area over and over on and off for the last week or so because the first time I went in and killed the guy in the kitchen -- he did not drop a key. The first time I saw the key was on the ground near the bridge almost a week later, which I immediately assumed was not for the door(which was open when I found it with Joy). So before that time I had been searching tower, which Joy and I still haven't completed, but that's fine with me. I just wish it was obvious to me before then that the quest had nothing to do with the tower itself.
So my question is this: what do you do when you find yourself stuck or the clues aren't obvious enough and for whatever reason you can't get help from other players? Joy said that two quests I have would not need help but here I am idling again just thinking "Where did I go wrong, there's literally nothing to go on"

[Talos]

I would be curious of the circumstances of that particular mobile's death. The key 'should' drop every time. Did you kill him in the kitchen and was it you doing the quest or were you helping someone else?

[Caylin]

In the kitchen, by myself.
EDIT: I even searched his corpse, because duh, guards carry keys.

[Talos]

And you had encountered the npc who assigned this quest, or you were just exploring the area without the quest? The criteria are to be in that room, be the one who kills him (not a minion or ally, or have him bleed out) and have that quest active. If the key is not dropping, the quest ins't working. No one should get stuck over it, so it will be changed.

[Caylin]

Yes, all of the above. This was my understanding as well. Is there another explanation as to what could have gone wrong? Other things in the area seemed to be missing as well(several statues in the tower), but what do I know.
EDIT: He might have bled out, but not because I fled or anything.
2nd Edit: This topic was meant to help more than just myself, so it's good that we're talking about this, but I hope the main question doesn't get ignored because of the one area I mentioned that may have a problem.

[Talos]

I've altered it a bit, it should now load during combat, though you still have to kill the kobold to progress.

As for the main topic, the best answer I know is to find a buddy. The wonderful community here will always be the first and best resource.

[Vaemar]

I remain stuck often, in some quests I am still stuck since I started playing. Sometimes I manage to guess what to do, sometimes I can with very little help and some other times I get them immediately even if they are far from simple.

Personally I am not too bothered because while quests are nice and beautiful, and some are also very well done like Batterhill, they are however not the most important part of the game for me.

[Caylin]

@Talos That's all anyone can expect. Thanks. It should help anyone who hasn't done the quest.

@Vaemar I agree, but even if they aren't the most important part, they are in the top 5 for sure.

Here's another example. I just completed a quest I got recently that I was stumped on last night and today. The ghost wants her locket back, but there are no hints as to where to find it. Talking to the knight didn't reveal much and there was no information as to where to look and asking questions does nothing. I randomly bumped into the thief in a district I've never seen him in. If you're going to write a wandering npc into your quest, don't make him wander far. He may as well have been in Tangled Woods, I would have found him just as easily there. I mean, I had no idea he was a thief until now. At least, of anything other than maybe food...I knew I would complete it eventually but I shouldn't have had to ask around for help with a quest that could be finished in a few minutes.

[Areia]

The best thing I've found that works for me when I get stuck on a quest to the point I start getting frustrated is to leave it and come back another time. I'll go do another quest (there are, like, hundreds out there ), or go find just some good ol' fashioned RP, whether that be just finding someone to grind with or actively working on the character's progression as a person with other PCs.

The other day, Areia finished a quest she's been working on on and off for literally a year and a half, lol. But every time I came back I made at least a little progress through it. Also, working the same sticky quest with different people or, better, several people at one time, can really help. Often it just takes a second or third or fourth brain to see the obvious or maybe not so obvious thing I'm missing.

Other thing is, even if I have to leave and come back fifty times, I don't give it up. Because the feeling when you finally figure it out is just fantastic since quests here are that well written.

As for that particular quest, though, I can't say I've ever noticed anyone have that sort of problem unless the guard bleeds out (probably the breaker of most broken quests). If you have the quest, and get the killing blow, it should drop. But yeah, maybe you just happened along a rare bug or something, that happens. Good news is, whenever that does happen, our superawesome imms are so good about fixing it as quickly as is possible. So best of luck when you try again!

[Alitar]

Yes, all of the above. This was my understanding as well. Is there another explanation as to what could have gone wrong? Other things in the area seemed to be missing as well(several statues in the tower), but what do I know.
EDIT: He might have bled out, but not because I fled or anything.
2nd Edit: This topic was meant to help more than just myself, so it's good that we're talking about this, but I hope the main question doesn't get ignored because of the one area I mentioned that may have a problem.

I've never seen any issues with statues there, and personally haven't come across any issue with that guard dropping a key but it looks like staff have addressed the issue and made it easier to aquire for the generations to come, for which I am sure we will all be thankful. If he 'bled out' that would explain why the key did not initially drop for you. While that is a 'lowbie' quest it is still regarded as a rather challenging one because the statues and coins are terrifically well-hidden at times. Good luck in future!
Finding people to adventure with will help a great deal, as with patience bordering on apathy in the face of difficult quests. Some are just very very hard and while they could be written to be done differently, we are talking about time and effort that someone has already volunteered and put into making an area for the game. It may not be seen as perfect by all, but at times there are fewer hints so as to create further challenge. As for the quest with the youth, I feel like I recall a hint somewhere, but perhaps I am mistaken. In the end you managed though, so in my opinion it is a rather successful quest.
As I said before, good luck in future.

[Caylin]

@Areia Spot on. That is exactly the way I feel about it and I've seen something like that before but needed to see it again. So great job putting that into words.
@Alitar Well put, thank you.

Hopefully other new players will gain enough from this to keep at it in general and work together. I'd already completed the quests I mentioned with Suldak but I was doing this for the benefit of every new player and it was not just about those quests, they were just examples.
It does feel kind of lame that you have to go back many times and inch further the quest each time, because that is not like my experience with D&D. The way I saw it, you do a dungeon one way or another and what you get out of it depends on how well you do. Of course I haven't played much either but still. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who struggles with quests. Hopefully I can reduce my 'incomplete' quest log a little more, I hate to see it take up a whole page.
Thank you folks, and everyone feel free to keep adding more to this topic.

[Areia]

It does feel kind of lame that you have to go back many times and inch further the quest each time, because that is not like my experience with D&D. The way I saw it, you do a dungeon one way or another and what you get out of it depends on how well you do.

D&D is definitely a totally different experience in that and honestly plenty other areas. I think of them as completely unrelated games, really, at least in the gameplay aspect. Like you said, in tabletop D&D, you do a dungeon or run through a campaign, and there's no "Hey, let's stop and go do this other task for now until we can figure this or that out." In general terms, I think a lot of the difference comes from there unfortunately being no way to have a DM watch everything you do while you're on FK.

That said, though, if you're ever fortunate enough to get involved in imm-run plots and RPs, or if you already have, I think you will see a tremendous difference in how things progress. In a normal NPC-driven quest, no one will probably ever come close to leveling half of Waterdeep, but I and a few others almost managed it with imm intervention recently, lol, and the physical game world itself changed as a result of those IC decisions. So the "real" tabletop sort of experience can be had here as well.