Active stage¶
The active stage is the first stage of the quest whose required task isn't done yet. The system doesn't lock this stage in — it recomputes it on the fly from what the player has already finished. So it shifts on its own: both when the player completes tasks and when the quest itself changes.
Only the active stage is live¶
The system deals only with the active stage. Tasks of future and already-finished stages are "asleep" — nothing is counted for them. The active stage decides two things:
- Conditions are checked automatically — constantly, for all of the player's active quests, not just the pinned one. For details — see Task completion conditions.
- The whole active stage is shown in the HUD — for a pinned quest. All tasks of the active stage appear on screen: both the required one and the optional ones. But a quest reaches the HUD only through pinning, not because it's active — an unpinned quest isn't visible on screen, though its conditions are still checked.
The stage shifts when the quest is edited¶
Since the stage is computed from progress, editing the quest takes effect immediately on those playing it right now. Add a new stage at the front, and players who haven't finished the quest will return to it: its required task isn't done, so it's now the earliest unfinished stage. Once they clear it, they end up right back where they left off — finished stages stay finished.
This doesn't touch completed quests. A completed quest is frozen: its status and progress no longer change, and edits to the quest itself don't reach it — for someone who has already finished it, it stays exactly as it ended. More on the states — see Quest and task statuses.
See also¶
- Quest structure — stages, required and optional tasks, quest outcomes.
- Pinning — how the active stage's tasks reach the HUD and who controls it.
- Quest and task statuses —
active/completeand the freezing of a completed quest.