Suggestion: Mail service for nobles

[wizturbo]

It would be awesome if there was a way to drop off and pick up letters to various members of nobility or Templarate.

There could be a fee.

Any thoughts?

[Jihelu]

They already have one.
It's called aides.

[a french mans shirt]

I like this idea.
There are a few nobles that are hard to catch for whom this would be good. Maybe they only log in between two and four in the morning, yet they shouldn't have a reason why they can't send a letter to Lady Fuzzbottoms Oash. They do, obviously, their time frame doesn't allow for the easy acquisition of an aide. Part of the reason I've never played a noble is because I know I won't be able to make it to peak or to peak events more often than not, times and places where people would be who could be aides for me.

[wizturbo]

They already have one.
It's called aides.

Some jobs are great for PC's to have.  Some aren't.  Mail delivery is hardly one of them.

[Erythil]

I would extend this to also have a message service for commoners that allows you to send messages no longer than the equivalent of one 'say' by a courier.

[Dar]

I concur. It is called aides. And it is an incredibly perfect service that aides should perform.

It allows for an aide to betray his noble by getting other nobles used to him delivering letters and then being bribed by a 3rd noble to carry fake letters.

It allows an aide to be stolen from to intercept letters, or have one letter stolen from and have another planted.

It allows for an aide to learn how to read/write if the Noble is careless with ring use.

If the noble is lame and simply has no interest in Aides, he simply HAS to have one if he wants to reach other nobles outside of his playtimes.


Letter delivery service is great to delegate to other PCs. The gain of having it automated is minor, while the loss is grandiose.

[Iiyola]

It allows for an aide to learn how to read/write if the Noble is careless with ring use.

How? It's not like one can learn how to read/write by just staring at a paper with words on it?

[evilcabbage]

that requires staff support afaik.

[Jihelu]

It allows for an aide to learn how to read/write if the Noble is careless with ring use.

How? It's not like one can learn how to read/write by just staring at a paper with words on it?

What they said.
You can't codedly just look at paper and learn reading.

[wizturbo]

Nothing about the design needs to prevent aides from still acting as messengers.  The service could be expensive.  The service could be insecure.  There are plenty of things that could be introduced to make it non-redundant with PC messengers in the rare times you need them.  

Also, you're severely underestimating the positive impact this would bring to the game and on noble game play.  It is not a minor thing.  Having actual letters lying around, coded objects instead of PM's on the GDB to coordinate playtimes, could be invaluable from both a convenience and intrigue factor.  They're hardly ever used at the moment, because coordinating the delivery through an aide could take literally an entire RL week, most people don't bother with it.

Leadership roles and literacy often go hand in hand.  Anything that can be done to help make it easier to coordinate in an IC manner shouldn't be ignored.  It only hinders plot development.

[Dar]

Nothing about the design needs to prevent aides from still acting as messengers.  The service could be expensive.  The service could be insecure.  There are plenty of things that could be introduced to make it non-redundant with PC messengers in the rare times you need them.  

Also, you're severely underestimating the positive impact this would bring to the game and on noble game play.  It is not a minor thing.  Having actual letters lying around, coded objects instead of PM's on the GDB to coordinate playtimes, could be invaluable from both a convenience and intrigue factor.  They're hardly ever used at the moment, because coordinating the delivery through an aide could take literally an entire RL week, most people don't bother with it.

Leadership roles and literacy often go hand in hand.  Anything that can be done to help make it easier to coordinate in an IC manner shouldn't be ignored.  It only hinders plot development.

Are you basing this on a real data? Because I've played an aide twice in my entire gameplay, and I think I've 'always' hand 'some' kind of scroll from someone. I mean this shit was non stop. I loved it.

[wizturbo]

Are you basing this on a real data? Because I've played an aide twice in my entire gameplay, and I think I've 'always' hand 'some' kind of scroll from someone. I mean this shit was non stop. I loved it.

I've spent about 100+ played days with literate characters, so maybe...3 RL years of experience on giving and receiving letters?  Getting a letter was never super common, except from a handful of PC's that really loved to press that kind of thing. 

Also, if you have a PC who likes to write a lot of letters, an aide is always a better choice if the service costs coin.  Nothing should change there.

[Gravity]

I really like this idea.

In my limited experience, getting letters out is a pain in the ass:

> Noble 1 writes letter
*Time passes*
> Noble 1 waits for his/her aide to be around
*Time passes*
> Aide 1 passes the letter to aide 2
*Time passes*
> Aide 2 waits for Noble 2 to be around
*Time passes*
> Noble 2 gets around to reading and replying...

The time involved may be considered realistic by some, but it stifles the entire point of having literacy and its subsequent impact on the game.

[Kankfly]

I actually agree with Dar on this one. I think making it a PC thing rather than a NPC thing creates more opportunity for RP, increasing conflict, and the opportunity for betrayal and corruption.

Maybe someone should make this into a MMH. Anyone think of that? Imagine the possibilities!

[wizturbo]

Maybe someone should make this into a MMH. Anyone think of that? Imagine the possibilities!

This isn't some valuable service that an entire merchant house could be built on.  We're talking about something Nenyuk could have in the bank which would cost almost nothing for them to add save some additional labor.   

Terash could also provide services like this (as another player has suggested), which would be great, because it puts it back in the hands of PC's but not necessarily just one PC's RL schedule.

[Jihelu]

Maybe someone should make this into a MMH. Anyone think of that? Imagine the possibilities!

This isn't some valuable service that an entire merchant house could be built on.  We're talking about something Nenyuk could have in the bank which would cost almost nothing for them to add save some additional labor.   

Terash could also provide services like this (as another player has suggested), which would be great, because it puts it back in the hands of PC's but not necessarily just one PC's RL schedule.

I think the idea of having a merchant house do letter deliveries is stupid.
Then you mentioned Terash and I think it's cool now.

[Lizzie]

I could see Terash setting up a courier service. Atrium members would have the added feature of "trustworthy" service from more seasoned students/employees, while non-members might end up with their courier being a new student being tested for trustworthiness (eg: their message might not get delivered or worse - might be intercepted). A possible setup:

The wyvern-carved bin: messages needing to be delivered to a Borsail noble.
The green and purple painted bin: messages needing to be delivered to a Fale noble.

etc.

It'd be in a room where brand-new students don't have immediate access. If it's a "test" message the hostess can just meter it out as needed. Trusted students and graduates who stay on, would be able to just pick a message and deliver it.

[Zenith]

I think this would be a fine idea if it weren't secure. If Lady Oash could bribe the system to get a look at the letter being sent to the Templarate from Lady Borsail. Or if Lord Fale could intercept that message to Lord Tor. If you're putting in an automated system it shouldn't be perfect and foolproof. But yes, it would be very handy to have a way to get in touch with people who are not online at the same time you are.

[Iiyola]

A nooble mailbox with (copper) key would be one way. Picking said mailbox would also be an option.