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Multiquest
Multiquest (MQ) is a method to transfer the rewards of a quest from one character (possessing part of its requirements, and all of its faction requirements) to another character (possessing the same faction requirements and all other requirements the first character didn't have). This method is useful when some or all requirements are NO DROP, and so would normally prevent transfer between characters.
NOTE: Some quests are NOT MQable. Players are responsible for researching quests, finding evidence or reports of successful MQs in the past, and considering the risks of failed MQs. Do not turn in any quest item you cannot afford to lose to any NPC unless you have a perfect understanding of what you are doing. There are many notable exceptions of quests which do not work, such as many (all?) solro temple quests.
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Example: Journeyman's Boots
A popular example of this is the
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: WRIST
AC: 6
INT: +5
WT: 2.0 Size: SMALL
Class: ALL
Race: ALL
MAGIC ITEM NODROP
Slot: FEET
AC: 1
Effect: JourneymanBoots (Any Slot, Casting Time: Instant)
WT: 2.5 Size: SMALL
Class: ALL
Race: ALL
Example: Velious Armor
A piece of velious class armor quest is another example of an "MQable" quest. Let's say a Monk wishes to acquire Grand Master's Wrist Wraps, and they possessed three Crushed Flame Emeralds, and has kindly (or higher) Coldain faction ... but they did not have an Eroded Leather Bracelet.
Another character possesses an Eroded Leather Bracelet from a Kael group he attended. They wish to sell it, and they also have kindly (or higher) Coldain faction. After agreeing to a price, the seller first turns in his Eroded Leather Bracelet, then the Monk buyer turns in his three Crushed Flame Emeralds. Because the Monk was the last person to turn in an item, the NPC gives him the reward.
How it Works
In EverQuest quests are inherently communal unless coded otherwise, so if (for instance) an NPC requires three gnoll fangs, then if player A turns in two, although they don't get any reward, those two fangs don't disappear. Instead they stay on the NPC until player B turns in a third fang to claim the reward, and this basic principle applies to any of the (up to) four items required for a quest.
This fact is why players will sometimes receive "error messages" from quest NPCs that suggest they've turned in the wrong number of items, when they in fact turned in the correct amount: a previous player had turned in the incorrect amount, and the NPC still "remembered" them. These error messages will always be emoted by the NPC for each item turned in, regardless of the final result of the transaction.
Because of this, if you are completing a quest with multiple turn-ins of the same item (eg. Gnoll Fangs), you should turn them in one at a time, until you successfully complete the quest once: that way you avoid turning-in extra unnecessarily.
Detailed explanation
Each time a player uses the Give window, this transaction is broken down into discreet subtransactions, one subtransaction for each item given (items cannot be stacked in the Give window in classic EQ). After each subtransaction, if the NPC has a MQable quest, the server will begin a stateless procedure to determine quest completion. This procedure runs for each subtransaction. The procedure will check a memory array assigned to the NPC. This array holds the last items given to the NPC in the last several subtransactions, regardless of what Give window transaction they belonged to and regardless of what player initiated the transaction. If the items required for quest completion are all present in the array, then the quest completes, the array is cleared, and the player receives rewards (if any). If not, the NPC will give an error speech, usually something along the lines of "I need to see more items before I give you this reward." This error speech is never specific about what items are missing nor how many. This is why, in normal circumstances, players will see three error speeches before a quest completion dialog. There was no real error, the procedure is just stateless and too dumb to remember what exactly is going on with the NPC on its own.
When a quest is not MQable, then there is a different procedure which accumulates all the items in one Give window transaction and checks all of them against the quest conditions in one go. No array is necessary in this context, and no history of the transaction is accessible to the player in the event of failure or completion alike.
MQ failure modes
Not MQable
As mentioned, some NPCs simply refuse to multiquest. In these cases, you MUST give all items in one Give window operation. If any items are missing, the given items are lost.
Previous transaction
!!!Tested on 10/9/2023 - FAILED MQ!!! Gems were handed in BEFORE armor item; noted the miscommunication and attempted to "reset the NPC by filling his memory stack". I traded 1 bat wing to start in order to make it a total of 4 items traded to the NPC. I then did 2 additional transactions where I traded 4 unstacked bat wings to the NPC. Following the trades, I attempted to hand in the armor item and received a shiny new SS Cleric BP for my enchanter. RIP.
When attempting a multiquest, there is no way to check if the NPC has already received some items from a previous transaction. For example, suppose Player A hands 3250 gold and Shadowed Rapier in, then Player A logs off for some reason and doesn't finish the quest. Players B and C come along intending to do a multiquest. Player B hands in his ring and immediately receives Jboots because he completed Player A's quest. Now Player C cannot receive jboots unless he or someone else acquires another ring.
It's possible for Players B and C to avoid this outcome if (before attempting the multiquest) they give the NPC 4 items, any 4 items (they could be Muffins). This "resets" the NPC by filling his memory stack, overwriting the previous hand-in(s). NPCs will never remember more than the last four items they have received. There's virtually no cost to taking this precaution before every multiquest attempt. However, take care NOT to reset the NPC BETWEEN hand-ins of a multiquest. Clear communication between multiquesters is advised, before even arriving at the NPC.
Project 1999 Support and Multiquesting
Being able to multi-quest at all is arguably an exploit that the original game's developer's didn't intend, and some would argue it shouldn't work on Project 1999 at all. Although the they don't go that far, the staff does have a policy of not reimbursing any failed turn-ins resulting from attempted multi-quests.
This is both because of the "exploit" nature of it, and because their (100% volunteer) team would have far more work if such attempts were reimbursed.
