Okay, here's the story.

In all other RPGs I have played I have always loved quests. They are a chance to explore and learn about the world, but with some guidance and a point. While the free form playing of games like UO is fantastic, it is kinda nice sometimes to have someone tell you what to do.

But......I hate using quest guides ( i.e help from other websites) unless I absolutely have to. I just started my first "real" quest (other than "escort me to the local ice cream parlour" or "go kill 3 squillion amoebas") and it is worrying me just a little.

The quest is "The Ancient World (Part 1)" and the instructions are, to say the least, pretty vague. "Blah...blah...blah....Mondain...blah....blah...bl ah....Minotaurs...blah...blah....blah....bring me a fragment of a map"

WTF!!!!! How am I supposed to have a clue where I might find a fragment of a map. Being ever resourceful, I looked up Minotaurs (I don't mind using bestiaries). Something struck me as not quite right, so I gave in and looked up the quest on uoguide. It told me to kill something entirely different to get the map fragment. I could have spent my life killing minotaurs in vain.

My question is: is there a reasonably logical way within the game to uncover what you are supposed to kill to get the fragment? If there is I am more than happy to work my way through this. If there isn't are all the quests like this, where they are impossible without using a guide?

Sorry about the slightly rambling post, but I am sure you get the point

Most of the quest giving npcs will give an extra clue if you access them again after taking the quest.

If you access Broolol a second time he tells you:

A traveller has told me that worshippers of Mondain still exist and wander the land. Perhaps their lore speaks of whether the bull-men survived. I do not think they share their secrets gladly. You may need to be 'persuasive'

Petra, thank you very much. That was so obvious that I missed it.

Oooh, yes. Definitely keeping talking to quest-givers for extra clues. This is my favorite quest I've found so far and it's fairly challenging unless you have the right skill or skills mastered. Enjoy!

~Gaspar LeMarc

Back in the day, I went red from killing wandering healers (doh) so I was just running around killing the red healers (ha! Now the tables have turned!) without realising what the map fragments were for. When I got around to that quest I was able to do it loads of times and got some pretty great loot - it seems the easiest strongbox quest to complete, although the loot emphasis on archery and elven items can be annoying!

Yup, u can still get the fragment of the wandering healers

healers grove in ilsh is a good place to farm them