Clickquest
History
Clickquest according to LRR, is an online "MMO" dreamed up by Alex. It is completely text-based and it's only real feature is a chatbox and user colors. Gameplay is limited to One Click = One EXP, and each level up takes 10 times the clicks as the last. The max level is 100 (although a promised expansion will add 10 more levels!), which would take more clicks than can be easily conceived of.
LRR Fan Fugiman did indeed take up the challenge of making the game a reality. The first release at http://clickquest.x10.mx/ had already garnered over 200 users and 1.5 million clicks by August 25th 2010. Fellow LRR Fan Nmaster64 purchased http://www.clickquest.net/ and is assisting with server administration. A more stable version of the game was released in early September.
Another fan made a version of the same idea but it lacked the look and feel of the LRR video. Also there is no chat box and the text is in comic sans, not DOS font. This article is not about this version.
The Game
There are differences in gameplay between ClickQuest as depicted by CrapShots, and ClickQuest the game. In the game the level progression is actually *1.09+1. This means that Level 100 can be obtained after 6,477,867 clicks, as opposed to the several trillion that the *10 format entails. There have been a few changes to the visual format of the page, for example the self contained chatbox and differences in player colours.
In correspondence with the video, at Level 50 (85,694 clicks) players are able to choose between the light and dark versions of their chosen colour. Additionally, at Level 75 (749,843 clicks) players are able to change colour at will. At Level 100 glow text is obtained, which is black text outlined with a glow (the colour of which is defined by the player).
There have also been various additions to the functionality of the game including but not limited to:
A Statistics tab listing the top 10 scores, your score, and LRR member accounts. Recently the Statistics tab has been updated to include the two players above and below the current player. Failcounts have also been added.
A "Meet the Team" page to tribute those who contributed.
A Colour List to facilitate colour changes after Level 75.
A Chatlog has also been added providing access to the history of ClickQuest chat.
List of CQ Terms
Failcount (or Phailcount): a tally of the number of times the player has been disconnected from the server (in any way other than closing the window, time-out or logout). Fails are a result of the server thinking that a player is cheating, for example from too fast or too consistent clicking. Bad internet connections have also been linked to disconnects (also known as d/s).
Longcatting/Ivan: to be clicking but having the window arranged in such a way that the chatbox is invisible, or to be ignoring chat. It generally means that the player is otherwise occupied while they click.
LONGCAT: Good luck. Used as a goodbye.
glhfdp: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Panic. A Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy reference.
Ding: Level Up.
CLANG: Level up if the levelling took over 20,000 clicks. This means that every level after 62 CLANG is acceptable.
Origin
ClickQuest originated in Crapshots episode 45, The Grinder, as an absurd metaphor for games like World of Warcraft and how pointless they are at their core.