Two Rumor Boards

[nauta]

This isn't exactly a code discussion item, but more of a gameplay idea, but this seemed the best spot to put it.  I'm still thinking over how to implement it, but here's the rough idea with a bit of motivation.

Motivation.  You are a new character fresh out of chargen and you want to become X, where X is a mercenary, a crafter in House Salarr, an aide to House Borsail, a thief for the Guild, and so on.  You sit at the bar.  You read the message boards, but there's a lot of stuff there.  It's a bit overwhelming.  And maybe there's not even a post.  Maybe they aren't even hiring, but it'd still be good to know their name so you can order from them or bribe them.

Idea. A second rumor board at the Gaj or in the main square that lists:

o Who the current leadership roles are, or at least their points of contact: Templars, Nobles, Atrium, AoD, Byn, Salarr, Kadius, Kurac, for sure, but also (more controversial) Guild, Dust Runners, and MMH clans of repute.

o Whether the are hiring or not.

I'd like this to have a broader focus than just a board for hiring posts, although it'd fulfill that purpose.  I'd like to be able to know who the templars are in the game in case I want to bribe them, for instance, or the current Merchant in Kadius so I can order something, and so on.

While most leaders will get into the game and post something on the board in the Gaj, this can often get lost in the mess, and the fact is that it can take quite a while before you find the right person, with playtimes as they are, and so on.

[deskoft]

To be honest, I would like it if rumor boards didn't work city-wide but individually. That way we foment people traveling to different taverns for different kind of gossip. It would be nice if guilds had rumors instead of the forums too.

[BadSkeelz]

Most guilds do have rumor boards somewhere in their compounds. They just haven't been used in years, probably because a forum is massively more convenient. If the Rumor Writing tool was more user friendly, and the boards more dynamic overall, they might get more use.

[nauta]

I'd be fine sending someone or myself to the Kadian compound (for instance) to get in touch with the leadership there, but I'd still want a spot outside their compound where the contact information is given. 

Yeah, if it were easy enough, you could just move the in-clan boards to the compound gates for the various clans, where it would list the current contact and that's it.

[Riev]

+1 to moving Compound/Clan Rumor boards to the outside gates, and populate them with current leader information, public information about deaths or "reassignments". If I need a Kadian, and I go to the Gates and find out the one I talked to is known publically to be dead? Well no wonder. ICly I bet I'd have heard about it, but OOCly I didn't catch it.

[James de Monet]

I know the bartender in Luirs used to have rumors (the talk kind, not the board kind) about current clan leadership.  I don't know if his rumors have kept up to date with current events.

Rather than have more rumor boards, though, I would probably rather have a messenger service that would deliver messages (for a fee) to the first person with a specified role that logged in.  The code for this is at least partially implemented for certain jobs already (I don't want to go into too much detail; not sure if it's a secret).  That way, PCs wouldn't get knowledge they maybe shouldn't have (like who leads secretive organizations), but mismatched playtime characters not in the same clan (or in a clan with no forum) could still communicate.

[Veselka]

I would love to have 'Compound Gates' boards, where people can leave messages for leadership, see who is the current set of leaders, and rumors that might affect that clan.

[Grogerif]

I'd like the gate guards that already stand there be the boards.  Everybody knows guards are gossips. (It's a boring job people.)

[Inks]

I know the bartender in Luirs used to have rumors (the talk kind, not the board kind) about current clan leadership.  I don't know if his rumors have kept up to date with current events.

Rather than have more rumor boards, though, I would probably rather have a messenger service that would deliver messages (for a fee) to the first person with a specified role that logged in.  The code for this is at least partially implemented for certain jobs already (I don't want to go into too much detail; not sure if it's a secret).  That way, PCs wouldn't get knowledge they maybe shouldn't have (like who leads secretive organizations), but mismatched playtime characters not in the same clan (or in a clan with no forum) could still communicate.

Was ridiculously out of date, then updated for Tezi-Di & Ruke, now out of date again.

[Riev]

While Discuss scripts would be wonderfully IC and give more of a reason to actually INITIATE discussion prompts, I think the "simple" solution is to do away with the Internal Rumor Boards that are not used anymore, move them to the front gates of compounds, and allow PCs (or staff with an extra minute) to update the boards about who is hiring, who is in charge, etc.

I feel like if I want to know whether the Byn is hiring, I should find their gates. If I want to work for Kadius, I should show up and ask around near their compound about who might be in charge.

My caveat is Nobility, because commoners aren't generally allowed in the Noble's Quarter to find out this kind of information.

[nauta]

Yeah, I suspect a manual post on a board dedicated to the process will be most likely to succeed (be it divided into several boards at each compound, another board at the Nobles quarter and another at the Templars quarter, for instance, or just one board alongside the other at the Gaj).  A simple note to new sponsored roles or a quick ooc when using the promotion command in-game to update the board with the relevant contact information should suffice.

However, I had an idea for an automated way of doing it using the 'promote' command: each time the promote command promotes someone to a certain rank --- e.g. Sergeant in AoD/Byn, Agent/Merchant in a GMH (be this IG or out of chargen with sponsored roles) it would automatically append to the discuss script on compound guards / enter a rumor board post at compound gates, stating the name and date and rank. (Obviously, that's likely more codedly onerous than just moving the extant rumor boards; it is also a lot less flexible in cases where someone wants to remain incognito in their leadership role?)

ETA: You know what would also be super keen?  If the top post of this rumor board pointed people to the help file on the clan in question as well.  I can think of a few compounds that aren't obvious to a new player as to what clan resides in that compound (Kurac, Oash, Tor, and AoD in particular), whereas it would be pretty obvious to a commoner.  We can pick this up from the livery on the guards in most of these cases (I think?) but the livery isn't obviously stated in the help files either.

[WarriorPoet]

I love the idea of a whos who board outside clan compounds.

Read board 1

"The guard looks you over and says,"This is the T'zai Byn compound. You can leave a message with me. Otherwise you need to talk to Sergeant Amos, Sergeant Valik, or if you can't find them you can try First Trooper Cheesedick."

Let people write the boards to say "A commoner with a mohawk named Jez came by a few times looking for a sergeant about joining. Can't seem to find a sarge's mind."

[Lizzie]

I'm on board with a board outside the compound, but not for leaving "messages." That can end up turning into a substitute for actual interaction. It's good practice for new players and veterans alike, to remember that if you and the potential sergeant are never around at the same time, it's likely you won't ever have a boss who is there to -be- your boss, meaning - recruits don't get assignments, direction, avoid consequences, etc. etc. Not a good idea.

But the idea of:

>To: Officer
>From: Amos, the tall lanky person
>Date: 1/11/2018, 2:42 server

And no other information at all, will let the Sergeant or any other officer know that someone is trying to reach them. It's up to them to decide whether or not to find out why.

It can be addressed to "All" or "Any" as well, but only a coded officer/ranking member/blood-related house person can delete it.

[Riev]

Let the boards be policed in the same manner other Rumor Boards are policed now. Sure, we don't need "Merchant Steve came by to check on his order of 100 logs. He'll try again next week." but to be able to check on "Current" PC leadership that you can TRY to contact in the first place? That'd be a good start.

While I agree that "if you can't find your PC boss now, you won't find them later", that's not ALWAYS the case. Playtimes change, some roles are designed to explore certain clans. A Gate-board system would at least let Leaders know people WANT to join. Keep the "day and time" like on all boards, and at least you'd know "Oh wow that was 3am, I'll never see them. I'll send someone to contact them and say I'm not interested."

[Veselka]

I'd almost just be fine with 'Board that can only be used by people in the clan', but outside the clan compound, so anyone can read it. People can decide to post some rumors about the clan, hearsay that could be overheard by the gate guards chatting, and useful information like who are the current leaders and their playtimes.

I also like Lizzie's idea of people just sort of 'ping' the board, and a leader PC can check it to see who dropped by looking for them specifically, or for anyone in their clan. If you could add just one word about the subject matter, like 'recruitment' or 'contract' or 'personal', that'd be cool too.

[Dracul]

Expanding functionality of IC rumors boards? Love it. Lots of great ideas..I like both the 'current leadership/know information' as well as a board being located at the gate. It makes sense to ask around at the gate and get good information. --derail note, I've RPed a character learning directions by hanging around the city gates watching/asking vnpcs for fairly well know directions that the character did not know.

[Bushranger]

There used to be a rumor board on Meleth's Circle (where new characters started) that the staff wrote several informative posts.