This post was a lot more cohesive in my head yesterday while driving home from work, so bear with me.
I saw the mention on the General forums of user-created quests and thought that was a keen idea. It seems to fit in with the whole player-directed world vibe I get from Glitch. As I understand it, part of the intention behind the game was to allow the players a hand in shaping the story of the world. It's the Giants' imaginations, but we're fueling and directing it so it doesn't fall apart.
I thought user-created quests would be a great way to allow the players to tell their own stories while helping to add content and community to the game. This is going to be a long post, so you might want to grab some crudites and an exotic beverage.
The actual accessing of the quests can be done either regionally - through bulletin board type objects in the housing centers or in the administration offices - or globally through the familiar. I picture the interface looking a lot like the quest log we already have.
Now for the long part... the "quest wizard" would be divided into three parts: description, tasks, and rewards.
The description area would be the name, description and the dialogue, with options for multiple statements/responses. After each blurb of dialog, the player can customize the response to call up the next blurb. The last response would be the yes/no acceptance, which would then bring you right to the actual quest description.
Tasks would be actions like pet/harvest/water/etc, collecting items, or giving items. It looks like the quest tracking is set up to be very robust so you could have potentially complex quests through this system. Maybe the task selection is done through a dropdown or checklist or something. I sort of envision multiple lines for tasks with action, quantity, and then item and target columns if applicable. You select the task and how many times it must be performed. Since they usually have a target, the target field would be dynamically populated with valid targets, including group options (all, for instance). Only "give" would require both a target and an item, I think.
Now for rewards. The rewards break down into the following categories: currants, xp, favor, energy, mood, and items. The players would be able to set whatever reward they want. I don't think it should be enforced by the game. If the players aren't willing to pony up a good reward, the quest might not get done. Let me explain "pony up:" The way I see it, the players must already have and contribute whatever the reward is. So if I make a quest that rewards 100 energy, I have to donate 100 energy from myself to the quest. Likewise for mood, favor, and xp, currants and items. Now, donating xp should not take you down a level. Since everything you do gives you xp, I feel it's a valid resource to play with.
Hopefully I've described this well enough for the devs to get the gist of it. I have a long commute so I have time to think about these things. ;)
EDIT: I knew I forgot something...
Obviously, there would have to be some sort of approval process for this. You can't just let any and all players throw things willy-nilly into the game. Spore is a perfect example. This is something else you could tie into Bureaucratic Arts, maybe 2 or 3. You could even allow players to be part of the approval process by giving them a quest or something to create a certain number of approved quests, and they also need Bureaucratic Arts 3 or 4 or whatever. Then perhaps they need an Approver's License. You'll turn it into something goofy and fun, I'm sure. But I realize the checks need to be there to make sure the quest creators have played and know the game a bit before they contribute to it.