@Muhsterino - I'm still convinced this is the solution, I just need someone at EA with enough knowledge to implement it (which, one would think, would be a relatively simple task, but apparently not). I'm reposting here for everyone's benefit from the link you provided earlier:
If the player states the quest does not show up in their taskbook, ask them to log out and credit the "sideshow bob" item under "modifyland>add characters." This is NOT the permanent character, but in fact the NPC they need to trigger the quest. Once this is credited they'll see it in their inventory and can tap "use" to deploy it, and they'll see a message saying bob is loose in their town. After capturing him a ! will appear over bart's head, and tapping bart will trigger the quest