Questlog

Docs

Getting started with Questlog

From installing the app to your party’s first chest. Setup takes a few minutes; the game runs itself.

1. Install Questlog

A Jira admin installs Questlog on your Jira Cloud site from the Atlassian Marketplace. Questlog runs on Atlassian Forge, so there’s nothing to host and no external accounts to set up.

Parties linked to a Scrum board need Jira Software for sprints. Every other part of the game works on any Jira Cloud site.

2. Create parties (for Jira admins)

Open Apps → Manage apps → Questlog settings. A party is a team that plays together. Each person can be in one party. Create one per team, and set:

  • Name, motto and tavern name. The tavern name goes on the sign.
  • Home time zone. Day boundaries and daily limits follow it.
  • Working days. Monday to Friday by default.
  • Expedition length. Link a Scrum board to follow its active sprint (and fight the Sprint Boss), or pick a fixed 1, 2 or 3 weeks (and fight the Queue Beast).

Questlog works best for real teams of 4 to 8. The settings page warns you when a party grows past 10. Admins only ever see party totals, never individual activity.

3. Tune the rules (optional, for admins)

The defaults are designed to work out of the box. Under Rules & rewards you can change, for example:

  • XP and the daily cap for each action, or switch an action off
  • Which issue types count as bugs (by default, types named “Bug”)
  • The comment and worklog minimums
  • How the Effort target and the boss are calculated
  • Chest gold, Renown, room thresholds, decoration prices, drinks and brew settings

Every value is checked on the server, with a readable error if it doesn’t make sense, and Restore defaults is always there. Some things are locked on purpose: the level curve can’t change, because that could take levels away from people.

4. Create your character

Everyone else opens Apps → Questlog. The first visit is The Initiation:

  1. Pick a name, a species (cat, bear, frog or bunny), a fur colour and a cape.
  2. Pick a starter kit: Scribe, Timekeeper or Bug Hunter.
  3. Choose your party. Joining gives you 20 gold to start.

You can change your look any time in the Mirror, under Gear.

5. Where the game shows up

  • The issue card, in the sidebar of every Jira issue: what each action is worth to you here, a nudge for the next useful step, a button to raise a drink, and your party’s progress.
  • Jira flags pop up a few seconds after you earn XP.
  • The game page at Apps → Questlog, with four tabs: Party (the expedition), Tavern, Brew and Gear.

6. Earning XP

Just work in Jira. Questlog notices and pays out within seconds:

  • Comment (8 XP), log work (15), complete an issue (30), resolve a bug (35), move a status (5), create an issue (8), add an attachment (8).
  • Each action pays once per person per issue. Two people can both earn a comment on the same issue.
  • Daily caps keep it fair. Past a cap the work still counts, it just earns no XP.
  • XP is never taken back, even if a comment is deleted or an issue is reopened.

XP raises your level and adds to the party’s Effort. Level-ups give gold and an item. The full table is on the features page.

7. The expedition

Each period (a sprint or a fixed number of weeks), the party has two objectives:

  • Effort: an XP target based on the party’s own usual pace and the days people are around. A new party starts with a deliberately reachable target.
  • Boss: get issues to Done. The boss shows counts, never issue names.

One objective earns a Bronze chest, both earn Gold, and neither still opens a consolation crate. Everyone who contributed on at least two days gets the same chest. When the period closes, each member sees a recap and claims their rewards. The Party tab explains how the target was set.

8. The daily brew

On the Brew tab, the party guesses Grum’s recipe of four different ingredients, in order. Tries use ingredients from the party’s shared pantry, which fills up as people earn XP. Gold pips mean right ingredient, right slot; silver pips mean right ingredient, wrong slot. You get one free hint a day.

Solving it gives the party a +10% XP buff until midnight. Want to practise? Play the website edition.

9. Toasts and the tavern

Raise a drink to a teammate from the issue card to thank them for their help, or from the Tavern without an issue. Your first Standup Stout each day is free. It gives them XP and you a little too.

The Tavern is the party’s home. Renown from chests, bosses, brews and toasts unlocks rooms with perks, and members can chip in gold for decorations. The Crier keeps a light-hearted log of the party’s day.

10. Away days and holidays

On the Party tab, mark yourself away for today or a future date (“Gone fishing”). Away days come off the party’s target, and the party only sees “away”, never a reason. Admins can add holidays for everyone under Holidays in Questlog settings.

11. Getting help

Questions, problems or ideas? Email contact@umaylabs.com or see Support for common questions.