Ruby Quest
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ruby Quest |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Weaver |
| Date(s): | 2008 |
| Medium: | Quest (writing) |
| Country of Origin: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Ruby Quest was an influential quest game created by Weaver on the /tg/ board of 4chan. Its popularity gave rise to the quest format of interactive fiction.
History
Quests aren't called Quests because of Bard Quest. They're named after Ruby Quest.Like reverse Midas, /b/'s touch transforms gold into shit. In 2007/08, ambient board toxicity had reached dangerous levels for any creative effort. Original content was a dinner bell for trolling. While the environment was not yet unworkable, it was unwelcoming, and soon, the board's stable of artists abandoned the site. During this time, it was suddenly revealed that something like half of the most popular characters had secretly all been the work of a single poster, working at great speed. Even the one with the Guy Fawkes mask.
Near the end, that artist, now under the pseudonym 'Weaver,' experimented with a thread called Ruby Quest. Inspired by Jailbreak and Bard Quest, but with a much different aim in mind, Ruby Quest represented a more serious, narrative approach to the medium. However, by then, it was on the wrong board. Weaver left /b/ to try again in greener pastures: /tg/, 4chan's 'traditional gaming' board.
/tg/ had been founded as a place to spam Warhammer 40k image macros and share "your most unhygenic D&D group" anecdotes, so it was an odd and arguably off-topic place to run a quest about a cartoon rabbit. However, although /tg/ wasn't intended for roleplaying, it was intended for roleplayers. In the past, when so-called 'drawwhores' had run fantasy-themed character interaction threads on the board, they evolved naturally into narratives. (Seen in hindsight, the first 4chan Quest was probably 'Drew the Lich.')
Ruby Quest, however, was intended as a game and a narrative, from the ground up. Instead of mocking the Adventure Game paradigm, Weaver embraced it. He leveraged the medium to create tension. Audience interaction created immersion. Bad suggestions could result in failure and character death, and for perhaps the first time, the audience actually gave a shit about that.
Early threads used mystery and puzzle solving to create audience investment in the character, and then leveraged that investment to create a compelling horror story. The art was simple but expressive, and created a stylistic clash between the simplistic, cartoonish innocence of the character designs and their increasingly dangerous, increasingly surreal environment.
Just as importantly, it was quick to draw. Input created output in minutes, creating a sense of immediacy to further heighten tension. No quest before (and arguably, since) has managed to combine speed and quality in this way.[1]
- Sequel Nan Quest
Fanworks
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Fanart
- there’s a bonus red in this one., Archived version by cuppacats, 2012 alt link
- Ruby Quest/Animal Crossing., Archived version by stevetwisp, 2012 alt link
- i forgot to post these BUT i reread ruby quest in october & did some redraws of old fanart from my first time reading :’), Archived version by seasaltinecrackers, 2016
- wicked, hateful things abound, Archived version by hornet-s, 2019
- rubyquest shitposts #1: the shitting, Archived version by planetrainn, 2021
- I reread Ruby Quest nearly every year on Halloween ever since i discovered it!, Archived version by corgiestnerd, 2023
- normal fox hes normal put your hand in his mouth, Archived version by str8aura-draws-horses-and-stuff, 2023
noting as i run down the fanart for Ruby Quest that a lot of people tend to draw Ruby with realistic, rabbit eyes, but then make her third eye human. I like the implication there.[2]
Videos
Other
- i know its been a long time since you've last touched or mentioned ruby quest & it's related stuff but with it's recent 15th anniversary..., Archived version, 15-year retrospective in a Tumblr ask answered by nitrosparxx. Posted 30 December 2023
- Ruby Re:Quest=, Archived version Ruby Quest remake from around 2015 by artist @humunanunga (Tumblr announcement, Archived version)
External Links
- RubyQuest on TVTropes
- Ruby Quest on 1d6chan Wiki
- Mirror of Ruby Quest on MSPFA
- RubyQuest retrospective and flash animation collection Mozai.com
References
- ^ Interactive Fiction: A History of Questing. Ralson, Jun 30, 2015. Via Wayback Machine archive.
- ^ Tumblr post by str8aura-no-not-that-one. Posted 8 November 2023.