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+--- Thread: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? (/showthread.php?tid=3145)
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
I'm sorry, what are Moogles?
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Kitty Wizard - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 12:37 PM)Wolf Wrote: I'm sorry, what are Moogles?http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Moogle_%28Race%29
Cute little fury guys, best known for their trademark "Kupo"!
Believe they're considered a Beastmen, which my character - among many others - aren't too into! Though Moogles and Sylph seem to be cool enough doods anyways. Kids love them and in 1.0 (I didn't follow the storyline quests too much) they were all spirit-y and couldn't be seen/understood by just anyone. Resided in the Shroud at that time. Supposedly mailmen now?
*Terrible at explaining: Moogles in a nutshell!*
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Ildur - 07-28-2013
This sounds like a good and intereting idea. What I'd like to point out, though (look at me, I've become the killjoy) is that couriers are highly dependant on the community. If the RP community doesn't involve itself (as in, actually hiring them for the messages), then it won't really work.
Another thing is that using in-game gil as payment isn't a good idea, in my opinion. People tend to do things efficiently, and the in-game postal service is just much more efficient than any courier. For that reason, I think the implementation should be purely disengaged from the game's mechanics. Unless there's an -actual- item to be sent. Then the best way would be for the sender to call the roleplaying couriers and tell them about the package, then send the actual item via the in-game system with a small OOC note saying "I hired the couriers to send this ICly. Don't open until you receive it ICly!". Using actual in-game gil will just bring problems.
Of course, if someone feels like actually paying the couriers...well, who are we to stop them, eh?
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 12:45 PM)Ildur Wrote: If the RP community doesn't involve itself (as in, actually hiring them for the messages), then it won't really work.
Another thing is that using in-game gil as payment isn't a good idea, in my opinion. People tend to do things efficiently, and the in-game postal service is just much more efficient than any courier. For that reason, I think the implementation should be purely disengaged from the game's mechanics. Unless there's an -actual- item to be sent. Then the best way would be for the sender to call the roleplaying couriers and tell them about the package, then send the actual item via the in-game system with a small OOC note saying "I hired the couriers to send this ICly. Don't open until you receive it ICly!". Using actual in-game gil will just bring problems.
I am still worrying about this myself, I fear that people may not indulge themselves in the service so believe me I know ^^"
I suppose you could be right about the payment thing. I just felt it might give some incentive to people to actually take up the service but now I don't know @-@
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Spiritual Machine - 07-28-2013
I hate to contribute to the more pessimistic viewpoint, but Ildur is right. A payment system will only discourage people from using what is already a very fragile and community-dependent idea.
And yeah, you're going to need heavy support from other guilds on the server just to get this off the ground. With the convenience and privacy of Moogle Mail, both IC and OOC, most roleplayers will opt for sending messages in that fashion rather than chancing relying on a third-party to further their RP.
In the previous communities I've been in, people have either played to have mail drop-off points within locations that can receive mail, or if they've fallen off the grid then they receive messages through friends and contacts who haven't.
I have seen what it takes to get a Courier Guild to work, and I've seen one fall through. Folks from Guild Wars 2 may remember the player-run Pan-Tyrian Courier Service. My guild was one of their allies, of which they sadly had few. We were working with them at one point to expand their influence.
Because people tend to trust their messages with friends and RP partners and seek more unusual ways to deliver messages only at pertinent points in their RP arcs and stories, you run into the trouble of having to be close partners with every one of the guilds that would ever use your service.
And you have to be partners with every one, because they will only rarely utilize your service, so consistent RP will come from having many guilds on your contact list.
This RP may be too slow for some folks, as well. Part of PTCS's problem was that they couldn't find many people interested in playing a courier. You will have these problem, as well as the problem that every one of a Courier Guild's members have to be dedicated enough to the idea to help out with making and maintaining connections, and reminding people that you exist.
So it's a two-way street of needing proactive and patient member and many, many interested customers in order to keep the operation flowing. And it's a lot of work, which is why PTCS was eventually forced to close shop.
I am not discouraging the idea, which sounds interesting and has potential, but I've seen what it takes. It will not work if your way of thinking is, "well, it seems simple enough, so I'll give it a shot."
Courier Guilds require more active participation and work than Medical Guilds do, and you need to be dedicated to the idea, and you need to pounce on all the interested guilds in this thread and cling to their support, or frankly you'll just be wasting your free time being frustrated.
One idea I can offer for someone interested in providing the RP community with a courier service is to make it a small part of a larger guild. The larger guild's officers and members can focus on drumming up general allies and support, and all of the members can pitch in to do deliveries while also being able to engage in other guild content. Believe me, not many people want to join a guild just to be a courier, cool as that sounds on paper.
Whatever you do, good luck.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - FreelanceWizard - 07-28-2013
Yeah, that was my thought about going the cross-FC LS route (or just a forum post, similar to a bounty board), because then people are largely part-time and it becomes more of a service available from a set of characters for the community and their plots. Upon thinking on it further and reading your experience, a full FC might be a bit tough to do without a fair amount of internal plot and NPCs to keep things rolling.
I didn't even notice the in game gil payment thing the first time around. That does get problematic, because people don't usually want to give up their hard-earned game mechanics advantage. You could still charge gil, but it'd have to be handwaved as an IC payment with no actual "real" gil changing hands.
Now that I think about it, an alternative approach might be to work this as a service of favors. If I carry a message for you, your "payment" is an agreement to carry a message for me or someone else at some point in the future. That'd be nearly impossible to actually enforce, but if you had players interested in the concept, it might be workable. This is sort of similar to the way the Corellian Merchant's Guild in the old WEG Star Wars tabletop game worked -- if the guild passed on a message for you via its other members, you'd be expected to do the same at some point in the future.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
In that case, a guild of sorts seems it would take too much work. So perhaps it's best to revert to the original idea? Everyone who is familiar with this topic can easily be a free-lance courier. If you hear someone looking for one and you're up for it then feel free to take part. I myself will likely try to pay actual gil but I'll see how it goes ^^
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Ashren Dotharl - 07-28-2013
I may pick this up in some small fashion. One of the ideas I was considering for the Blades' front company was a shipping company, imports and exports around Eorzea especially with Ul'dah being the center of commerce and smack in the middle of Gridania and Limsa Lominsa. If I end up going this route, maybe I'll have a small subsidiary division that handles courier services... after all what better way to collect intelligence is there than to have people just give it to you.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - C'io Behkt - 07-28-2013
I was actually wanting to have C'io be a freelance courier also (to complete a personal list of mine), but paused when I remembered that Moogle Mail existed and that the moogles were probably a better network than C'io could manage on her own. However, moogles might be good for official routes, but since some people are outside of the network, I can also see Couriers as effective in those cases wherein someone is difficult to find, out on the fringes, or just doesn't want to be found. Party bounty hunter, part mail delivery!
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
Haha, yes my character is a bounty hunter so.... >w<
On a mildly related note, I was hoping to find some neutral party that I could have any courier messages addressed to me delivered to. Since my character will always be on the move, it'd have been handy to have some area I can return to consistently where someone could pass on the messages to me. Shame people can't own taverns or such TwT
That's likely too complicated though so I guess I will use this in-game mailing system people are mentioning ^^
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Myxie Tryxle - 07-28-2013
Myxie doesn't trust moogles, so I would definitely use this sort of service. Assuming she ever actually perfected a working invention idea to the point that it could sell that is. >.>
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
Haha, she's an inventor? *Looks up her wiki page*
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - FreelanceWizard - 07-28-2013
On the original idea, yeah, L'yhta would definitely courier messages as a sort of side job. It fits in well with her desires to meet new people and travel the world -- and what better way to do both by carrying messages and the like? For a person who identifies as a mage, for another miqo'te, or for someone legitimately in need, she'd even do it just out of the goodness of her heart. For someone else, well, she'd probably expect a favor in return in the future.
@C'io: The part bounty hunter, part courier thing is awesome. I can see one walking up through clouds of blowing sand, deep in the sunscorched deserts of Thanalan. The grizzled veteran drops her axe to her side as the man she's finally found cowers in the dunes. "N-no... I didn't mean to do it, I-I swear!"
She reaches into her bag and pulls out... a small parcel, a scrap of vellum, and a piece of charcoal, all of which she hands over. "Parcel for you," she notes, blasé.
The man blinks a few times, then wipes a tear from his eye. "Y-you mean, you're not here to--"
"--Make your mark here. I've got other places to be," she interjects, jabbing a gauntlet-clad finger at the dotted line on the receipt.
"A--al, r-right..." the man sputters, scrawling a wobbly signature. The courier snatches the receipt and the charcoal back and turns to walk away, pausing for just a moment to add, "You best be moving on, 'fore I have to find you again and send you to meet Nald'thal for that other darkness you've done."
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Ellie - 07-28-2013
I love these kinds of roleplaying ideas, and I'd support it 100% if it weren't for the moogles. Besides the one or two people whose characters distrust moogles, I can't imagine this courier service would get much interest or notice considering that the moogles do the same thing for absolutely free. I just can't see a courier service working out ICly.
EDIT: Not to say definitely don't do it, but if you do, keep in mind what sort of competition you're going up against and plan accordingly. There might be a lot of fun to be had by having a rag-tag courier service on troubled times, or a service that specializes in jobs that require secrecy and discretion.
Moogles are timid creatures, so maybe a courier service that will brave whatever dangerous areas or territories it must to get messages out to where moogles dare not go?
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Ashren Dotharl - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 03:23 PM)Ellie Wrote: a service that specializes in jobs that require secrecy and discretion.
^This is really the only way I could see an idea like this really working. While the Moogles are awesome in that you can send packages and letters freely, there is a restriction that would make this idea prosper under certain circumstances, that being you can only use Mog Mail to message someone on your buddy list. This isn't always beneficial however because the person you need to contact might not be on your friends list, or hell you might not even know their name.
Lets use Freelances example from earlier of the Blades of Nald'thall and the Knights of the Twelve. These two groups are in a way two sides of the same coin, but neither one of them would ever be seen associating with one another publicly under most circumstances, however lets say for example that the Blades uncover some piece of information that they feel the Knights of the Twelve might be more adequate at dealing with. Let's assume for the sake of argument that the Blade who has this information has no idea which Knight to contact, and perhaps the information is very sensitive (the Moogles themselves in game admit to occasionally reading messages), so rather than risk sending a Mog Mail, even if they could, they could hire a courier under the direction of delivering a message to the leader of the Knights of the Twelve and no one else, or something along those lines. This allows for vague recipients with specific orders, something you can't achieve using the ingame mail service. I for one would probably use this service a lot in order to contact individuals anonymously and what not.