Understanding the Mission Queue

The massive amount of confusion that seems to surround the Mission and Quests Queue and how it works is such that the bulk of the questions we are being asked relate to it. That being so, we thought it might be an idea to sit down and fully cover the matter so as to bring a measure of confidence and understanding....

So yeah, here we go! Oh, before we commence this though if we can make a suggestion? Why not go prepare your favorite beverage and perhaps a nice snack first? If you do that you can snuggle up to the computer and have a nice soothing time of it as we cover this very simple matter!

For our part we prepared a nice pot of Billy Tea - the finest tea in the world which any Aussie can tell you plain - and a plate of Arnotts Chocolate Monte - Nom! If you can manage it we highly recommend it. In fact if you are seriously curious to try that combination - and experience the finest tea ever created (God drinks Billy Tea, we are just saying) if you live in the USA you can obtain some from a company called Simply Australian (we are NOT paid to say that - we are just wanting to help you out).

The Mission and Quests Queue
Right then, first thing's first - the world of The Sims: FreePlay is divided up into different but similar tasks in the form of Missions and Quests.

The difference between a Mission and a Quest is simply a matter of complexity and the number of steps. Which is to say that a single task action is generally a Quest, whereas one that requires completing a number of Quests is in fact a Mission.

These are further divided up into types - with the major distinction being Story Missions and Quests as opposed to all of the other types.

So let's cove the simpler type - the non-story Missions and Quests first shall we?

Non-Story Missions and Quests

Generally these make up the Special Events and mini-stories that are added to the game on a regular basis, with their intention clearly being to provide entertainment to the masses.

Examples of this sort includes the following:

• Holiday Events such as Halloween and Christmas
  
• The Road to Fame Mini-Story (Includes the Teen Superstar Quests)
  
• The Mystery Boxes
  
• The Stables Expansion
  
• Need for Steed (Horse Hobbies)
  
• Bird Feeding (Birding Hobby)
  
• The Quilting and Sewing Hobby
  
• Cooking Hobby
  
• Project Red
  
• A Dance to Remember (Dance Hobbies)
  
• Magic Hobbies
  
• The Pet Expansion
  
• The Pet Park and Pet Hobbies
  
• Fashion Modeling Hobby
  
• Bowling Hobby
  
• Gamer Hobbies
  
• Sunset Beach
  
• The Royalty Expansion
  
• Sleepwear Special Event and Contest
  
• A Pirate Story
  

Story Missions & Quests

Then there are the carefully charted-out Story Missions and Quests that make up the backbone of the main plot and all of the various subplots that tell the story of The Sims: FreePlay.

Examples of this sort includes the following:

• Life Stage Unlocking Quests
  
• Marriage & Relationship Quests
  
• Mystery Island
  
• New Era
  
• family tree
  
• Life dreams & Legacies Missions (Aging and Generations)
  
• The Sim Restaurant
  
• Sorcery Storyline Missions
  
• The Sunset Mall Consumer Adjustments and Expansion
  
• The High Top Carnival
  
• The Pleasure Pier
  
• The DIY Storyline
  
• Deer Spring Falls
  

Merging the Concepts

Now that we understand the influences that represent the changing times that are the Sim World in FreePlay, it is time to define the manner in which the missions and Quests are handled - which naturally brings us to the Active Tasks Menu System!

The Active Tasks Menu
Located in the bottom-left-hand-corner of the screen, the Active Task Menu Interface shares space with the display for the Active Sim - the Sim you are currently controlling in other words - and that makes perfect sense!

When you tap on the Active Task Menu Button it expands to reveal the following additional selections as buttons:

• Core Story Mission Queue (Temporary Button)
  
• Mission Bar (Permanent)
  
• Life Tasks Bar (Permanent)
  
• social Tasks Bar (Permanent)
  

Interestingly enough while there can be four (4) display buttons in the Active Tasks Menu, only three are regular and permanent -- the Mission Bar, the Life Tasks and the social Tasks Bar. Added to these on an as-required basis is the Core Story Missions Queue bar which is used to force to the top of the queue any Quests that are required to be completed in a specific order.

As noted the Queue Bar only appears when there are Story Missions present that MUST be completed in a specific order so that the story and any dependent Quests or missions are completed in the proper order.

The Story Mission & Quests Queue Bar

This Bar appears when there are order-specific missions and Quests to be completed, and it includes a small number button to both indicate how many missions that this bar contains, and allows access to see what they are.

That said, the missions that make up the queue exist for reference ONLY. That is to say you cannot simply cherry-pick the Mission you want to do from the queue -- you must complete them in the order by which they are present.

So for example at the present moment our Queue consists of the following missions in the Queue Bar which we present back-to-front:

• The Pirate and His Goddess
  
• Sous Judgmental
  
• In Da Clubhouse
  
• Raiders of the Lost Artifact
  
• The Mysterious Island
  
• Money Grows on Trees
  
• Bread Winner
  
• Life dreams & Legacies
  

So the queue above means that the first Mission that we will need to complete - for the queue missions -- is Life dreams & Legacies, then Bread Winner, then Money Grows on Trees, and so on and so on!

In addition to this queue of missions while we work towards completing Life dreams & Legacies (or any of those queue missions) we can also work on the three OTHER permanent missions and Quests, which at the time that we wrote this were:

• Royal Linage Story: Ask about Chivalry
  
• Weekly Tasks: Have 5 Sims Reading Pulp Novels
  
• social Tasks: Have a Preteen Use Simbook While in a Neighbor's Town
  

The Permanent Bars

These three bars, while they may seem mundane, are utterly crucial to progress of your game and its story! Let us look at why and how that can be, shall we?

The first is the Mission Bar, followed by Life Tasks and social Tasks.

The Mission Bar is pretty obvious - it is there to guide you and remind you of the next mission or Quest that you need to complete in order to move the story forward. It is there, in other words, to help you to always know what you are meant to be doing so that you do not end up lost or confused.

Next we have the Life and social Tasks Bars - important for an obvious reason and a not-so-obvious reason...

First let us examine the social Tasks Menu, which is there specifically to help the players to obtain Social Points - or SP.

The fact that SP are used for purchasing special and even rare Objects - mostly decorations - for your world.

Examples of this include paying to build very special Houses like the Two and Three-Story Houses, the Scandinavian House, and the Latin Villa to name a few.

In addition SP is used to pay for rare and special Objects such as the Modern Bar, rare bath tubs, and some special electronics to name a few. You should get the idea then.

From the examples above you might think that Life Poonts would basically follow the same pattern - and they actually do to some extent. There are some Houses that require LP, and some rare Items, but what the Weekly Tasks actually accomplish is not so much serving as a source for LP, but rather serving as the primary route to obtaining Mystery Boxes!

The Mystery Box

The Mystery Box comes in four basic varieties: the Curiosity Box, Loot Box, Bounty Box, and Fortune Box. While they are similar in basic format they are different in contents and cost. The differences are:

• Curiosity Box -- Cost = 1 Key[br /]
  Contents: x1 Common Items + x3 Standard Prizes
  
• Loot Box[ -- Cost = 3 Keys[br /]
  Contents: x2 Common Items + x4 Standard Prizes + x2 Premium Prizes
  
• Bounty Box -- Cost = 5 Keys[br /]
  Contents: x6 Standard Prizes + x4 Premium Prizes + x1 Rare Items
  
• Fortune Box -- Cost = 10 Keys[br /]
  Contents: x10 Standard Prizes + x12 Premium Prizes + x2 Rare Items
  

In Conclusion

So there you have it - this is the essence of the queue scheme and all of the paths that are accessed via the queue scheme!

You should now have a much clearer understanding of the Queue Scheme - we hope so, anyway...