OK, this is a worked out suggestion from TimeWalker's original idea.
The issue is that there are too many towns on the map with 5 or less residents which just aren't growing. Other growing towns can't get recruits. One suggestion has been to limit the number of towns founded in the first place; partly by making it more expensive to found a town and partly by limiting actually seeing the 'found town' spots to those who have completed the 'Founding a Town' quest.
The quest should be unlocked once the player is level 10, and should only be given to those players who are not (currently) members of a town. The rewards for the quest are skill points in town construction skills, and either cash in hand if you choose not to found a town or a discount on the cash needed to found a town. The difficulty can be adjusted by tweaking the items (and numbers) to be found.
The quest is 3 tasks, followed by a decision which leads to one of 2 tasks. It is offered by Henry: "So, you're still wandering around, are you? You need to either join a town or found one - but it takes a lot of hard work and money to found a successful town. First of all, you've got to select your site and clear it..."
First task: Mow the field to clear the land
Needed: Sickle 1/1
Reward: 1 skill point towards construction
"Now you've got to get your lumber to build with..."
Second task: Sawing lumber for the buildings
Needed: Saw 1/1, Wood x/x
Reward: 1 skill point towards repairing
"You've got your site and lumber ready. Now you need to start putting buildings together..."
Third task: Building the timber frames
Needed: Hammer 1/1
Reward: 1 skill point towards leadership
"It's a lot of hard work founding a town and keeping it running, especially if you are on your own. You might be better off joining an established town instead and helping out there!"
Decide between: [Join a town ($x to spend in the town)] or [Breaking the foundations - find a shovel]"
This sets up the idea of making decisions earlier in the game (thinking about the complaints I've read about 'The Decision'). If they choose 'Breaking the foundations' then they continue following the main quest path. If they choose to join an established town then they get the "Joining a town" task from Maya and the quest then ends:
"I'm sure you've made the right decision and saved yourself a lot of hard work and blisters! "
Task: Join a town
Needed: Join a town (i.e. the player's town tag isn't blank)
"Here's some pocket money to spend in the store! Don't spend it all at once - remember you can put some by for a rainy day by depositing it in the bank!"
Reward: $x to spend in the town
The reward should be about half the money you'd get towards founding a town if you'd followed the main path; the payoff is that you can spend it how you want.
"At last you're ready to dig the foundations..."
Fourth task: Dig out the rocks and make the foundations
Needed: Shovel 1/1, Granite blocks x/x
Reward: 1 skill point towards construction
"Now you're ready to raise your first building; but you need to hold a work party to do so..."
Fifth task: By helping the farmers in their tasks, they'll help you build the town, but you've got to feed them while they're building
Needed: Sugar 1/1, beans 1/1, ham 1/1, corn 1/1, tomatoes 1/1, flour 1/1, oranges 1/1, berries 1/1, tobacco 1/1, water 1/1
Reward: See found town icons, 1 skill point towards construction and $200 discount on founding a town
The reason for all the products is to make people do a multiplicity of tasks - you're making bread, pork & beans, corn and tomatoes on the side, fruit cobbler for dessert, and giving them water to drink and tobacco to smoke.
The idea is that players who complete tasks 4 and 5 can found a new town on one of the found town spots; the monetary cost should be raised to at least $600 to do so (discounted by the final reward). Players who choose not to do tasks 4 & 5 but join a town instead and take the cash from Maya, cannot follow this path of founding a town. They can only found a town by paying the full cost in cash and using a ghost town (which should now be in limited supply). Players who join a town before they are level 10 don't actually get this quest unless they subsequently leave the town.
The skill point rewards are geared towards town construction and should be useful for other jobs. It also introduces the concept of quest forks to players - you get one thing if you choose one option; another if you choose another.
The one thing I'm not sure about is what should happen if the player joins a town without going through the fork and getting Maya's task; should the quest end right after Task 3 and the player doesn't get $x to spend? Or should the quest still play out? This, I think, is where the potential for abuse may appear.