Editing Progress Quest (section)

==Development==
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2017}}
''Progress Quest'' parodies the stat-gathering aspect of [[role-playing video game]]s, in which the player advances their character by accumulating arbitrary statistic points. ''EverQuest'' and many other MMORPGs of its time are infamous for their "auto-attack" combat system, where players press a button to initiate combat mode and, from then on, have little to do other than watch; ''Progress Quest'' mocks this with its totally non-interactive gameplay after the initial character setup. ''Progress Quest'' also pokes fun at traditional RPG races, classes, stories, quests, items, and more.

The program was made available by Eric Fredricksen in early 2002. Fans quickly joined in on the parody by submitting numerous reviews to several popular [[freeware]] download sites and game review sites giving ''Progress Quest'' the highest scores possible.

The game has been [[Software Update|updated]] several times throughout its history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Progress Quest Release Notes |url=http://progressquest.com/releasenotes.php |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=progressquest.com}}</ref> One particular upgrade added shaded bars to the screen, which caused some players to refer to the new version as ''Progress Quest 3D''. On the game's now-deleted [http://forum.progressquest.com official forums], a popular [[in-joke]] leads [[newbie]]s to believe that there exist [[Silver]], [[Gold]], [[Platinum]] or even [[Diamond]]-encrusted [[DVD]] versions of the game which have enhanced [[3D graphics]]. Fake "Progress Quest" screenshots from other games, obscure 3D RPGs, helped spread this rumour.

In May 2011, Eric Fredricksen released the [[source code]] of the game on [[Bitbucket]].<ref>[http://progressquest.com/news.php Source Code Released][https://bitbucket.org/grumdrig/pq ProgressQuest v6.3]</ref><ref>[https://bitbucket.org/grumdrig/pq pq] on bitbucket.org</ref>