Technically there is no question here...so I'll just toss out some of my viewpoints.

>Santa Zulg already abided, so it's not about anything there.
>I just want to know your* personal view of a special form
>that IS within one of the foci.
>(And no I've never had a quest form so I'm not reaching for
>any sort of advantage)

I'm not quite sure what you mean. None of the quest forms are technically within one of the foci. They are modeled after rules of one of the foci, but they are technically quest forms which is enitrely different than an offense form.

If you're given tiger, or sand lizard, or some other existing form as a reward, the cost is the same as if it was one of your normal forms.

>Or maybe power related. I'm sure some 'quest forms' are
>pretty close to copies of existing forms and it is more a cosmetic
>change for the 'cool factor'. So maybe those don't cost as
>much extra mana. Just my two dollars** there.

An offensive quest form tends to be better across the board than an equivalent normal offensive form. They have better offensive capabilities, defensive capabilities, and tend to have more skills (utilitarian and not).