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+--- Thread: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? (/showthread.php?tid=3145)
Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
Maybe this is really silly but I was thinking that maybe some people(including myself) could make use out of this. One of my characters would often be receiving quests via courier as well as returning his reply or occasionally sending updates. I thought it might be silly were he to go out of his way to travel all around Eorzea just to tell someone something that would normally be done via mail.
Anyways, I figured we could pay people a small fee to people offering a courier service to deliver messages for us. I'm pretty sure there's no way to do this other than physically telling the courier but you need to compromise I guess ^^" Naturally, anyone could come along and tell us they'll deliver our message and then just make off with our money so for a more secure service we could use a particular code word from this topic, which if said in-game would be the equivalent of showing credentials or proving yourself to be a legitimate courier(in other words, you must deliver the message. You can't say the code word and then say "nahh, I was scamming you"). If you can't find anyone with the password nearby, well then it's up to you whether you want to trust a stranger or not.
Not sure, I just thought it'd be nice to seek out couriers in taverns or wherever and see it as though my message were on the way. Not only is it more immersive, but anyone who overheard it or is familiar with a courier could intercept it if they felt up to it. Obviously I'd only encourage such behaviour if you genuinely had a reason to ^^
Sorry if this is a really silly idea but I thought I'd mentioned just in case..
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Gideon Aryeh - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 11:39 AM)Wolf Wrote: Maybe this is really silly but I was thinking that maybe some people(including myself) could make use out of this. One of my characters would often be receiving quests via courier as well as returning his reply or occasionally sending updates. I thought it might be silly were he to go out of his way to travel all around Eorzea just to tell someone something that would normally be done via mail. Its an excellent idea, there have been courier groups in mmos before. Its so good that why don't you consider it as something to do yourself? I'm sure you can easily find help doing it on Balmung if you ask, trust me. You're around a pretty good bunch.
Anyways, I figured we could pay people a small fee to people offering a courier service to deliver messages for us. I'm pretty sure there's no way to do this other than physically telling the courier but you need to compromise I guess ^^" Naturally, anyone could come along and tell us they'll deliver our message and then just make off with our money so for a more secure service we could use a particular code word from this topic, which if said in-game would be the equivalent of showing credentials or proving yourself to be a legitimate courier(in other words, you must deliver the message. You can't say the code word and then say "nahh, I was scamming you"). If you can't find anyone with the password nearby, well then it's up to you whether you want to trust a stranger or not.
Not sure, I just thought it'd be nice to seek out couriers in taverns or wherever and see it as though my message were on the way. Not only is it more immersive, but anyone who overheard it or is familiar with a courier could intercept it if they felt up to it. Obviously I'd only encourage such behaviour if you genuinely had a reason to ^^
Sorry if this is a really silly idea but I thought I'd mentioned just in case..
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Maybe even make an alt that does that as a job?
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Its a great idea. I think you would get a lot of interest doing it too! A job like that is also a great icebreaker for a new roleplayer and makes it easier to meet people. Consider it. One thing to know about roleplaying, the most mundane seemingly boring concepts can turn into great rp. They are easy to start up are usually based on things in real life so its easy to roleplay them because there is plenty of reference material.
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Besides in this case rping a courier can really be fun. I've done it before in other games! Trust me you will get a kick out of it and before you know it you will know a lot of fun people and your rp skill will naturally grow!
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - FreelanceWizard - 07-28-2013
A courier linkshell/FC would be a pretty cool idea, I think. (An LS might be better, because then it could be cross-FC.) You'd obviously face competition from, well, linkshells, since linkpearls seem to be relatively common, but not everyone has a linkpearl connected to someone with which they want to send a message. For instance, two FC leaders might want to communicate, but might not want to meet in person for various reasons (for example, the Blades of Nald'thal and the Knights of the Twelve probably wouldn't want to ever have any possible association with each other in public
), and might not have a connected linkpearl.Have you seen the anime, Last Exile? Couriers play a major role in that series. They have their own guild with traditions on how to acquire and complete deliveries, a code of honor with regards to completing them, and even a system of star ratings for the difficulty of the delivery. You could draw some inspiration on the LS's lore from there.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 11:46 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: A courier linkshell/FC would be a pretty cool idea, I think. (An LS might be better, because then it could be cross-FC.) You'd obviously face competition from, well, linkshells, since linkpearls seem to be relatively common, but not everyone has a linkpearl connected to someone with which they want to send a message.
Have you seen the anime, Last Exile? Couriers play a major role in that series. They have their own guild with traditions on how to acquire and complete deliveries, a code of honor with regards to completing them, and even a system of star ratings for the difficulty of the delivery. You could draw some inspiration on the LS's lore from there.
It crossed my mind but I was feeling doubtful that anyone would actually want to make a wholes establishment out of it. Although, when you think about it... if people started using it quite regularly and they had couriers lurking throughout many different areas then it could prove quite profitable. Hell, they could even have different prices for regular and express mail.
Regular = Guaranteed delivery within the hour
Express = Immediate departure and prompt delivery.
Hm... if anyone actually feels up to this then I'd love to make use of your services TwT
(And thank you for your reply, Wizard ^^)
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Vashies Alexander - 07-28-2013
hahaha love this idea! Who wouldn't! I mean i love to get message from some one telling me they need my aid. What is silly that no one has thought of this be for. I think we should do it or start thinking about how it can be done. Singing telegrams?
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
@Sandbourne
Ah I would but one of my characters would likely be using it a lot assuming I can find business =w= It wouldn't seem as fun were I to have an alt deliver my own messages for me ^^" That aside, I don't think I'd do well managing a whole group like that.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - FreelanceWizard - 07-28-2013
The thing that'd make it very workable as a cross-FC LS would be that you could have people who do it as a side job, and those who are really committed; it could also work as an FC. Plus, if it's an established group in the world, that'd help characters feel more comfortable about using it in their RP; "oh, the Couriers' Union? Yeah, they're trustworthy, a totally neutral party." It could then also be used in people's backstories or as part of their RP. Someone could hire a courier to deliver a message to their family in, say, Ala Mhigo or the Empire. While the "bad guys" probably wouldn't see the couriers as a neutral party (and so these would be "9 star missions" in Last Exile parlance), others might do so (they wouldn't want people trying to interfere with their messages), and you'd thus have a lot of RP potential.
As you can see, I'm really digging this idea you've presented here.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Ashren Dotharl - 07-28-2013
Well linkpearls as I understand (if it's anything like in FFXI) are physical objects that would theoretically have some kind of distinguishable markings on them or something (otherwise how could you tell them all apart). So with that in mind if this were done through an LS you wouldn't need to have a code word or anything like that (since code words are easy to obtain if you know how, or have the money to bribe/extort). Bearing a linkpearl from a reputable courier service would be enough in most cases, sort of like a badge or an ID card that says "this guy is trustworthy" especially since the people who control the Linkshell can create and destroy Linkpearls, which means if one were lost or stolen it could be destroyed and a new one created. That was how I understood the way they worked anyways, correct me if I'm wrong.
On a side note, aren't Moogles technically the canon courier service in the game via Mog Mail? I mean you can send letters, packages, and gil through them. The only downside is you can't use them to contact people you don't know, so I guess this could be where a freelance courier service would come in handy.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Gideon Aryeh - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 11:55 AM)Wolf Wrote: @Sandbourne Ask for help with it, you'll get it trust me.
Ah I would but one of my characters would likely be using it a lot assuming I can find business =w= It wouldn't seem as fun were I to have an alt deliver my own messages for me ^^" That aside, I don't think I'd do well managing a whole group like that.
And as far as your character using it, well there is nothing at all wrong with that. Besides I'm sure the people who own UPS use their own service all the time *winks*
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - FreelanceWizard - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 11:59 AM)Ashren Snow Wrote: On a side note, aren't Moogles technically the canon courier service in the game via Mog Mail? I mean you can send letters, packages, and gil through them. The only downside is you can't use them to contact people you don't know, so I guess this could be where a freelance courier service would come in handy.
Yep, moogles do provide the canonical mail service, but of course, they only deliver in places where moogles are -- so, major settlements, largely, and of course there's probably limits on what they can or will transport (no "sapient cargo," for instance). You also have to pick up your mail from the moogles. I can imagine the freelance courier service specializing in deliveries to places where the moogles don't go, direct deliveries of sensitive cargo (read: people), or more ill-defined courier services ("take this and bring it to the guy in charge of that Free Company").
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 11:59 AM)Ashren Snow Wrote: Well linkpearls as I understand (if it's anything like in FFXI) are physical objects that would theoretically have some kind of distinguishable markings on them or something (otherwise how could you tell them all apart). So with that in mind if this were done through an LS you wouldn't need to have a code word or anything like that (since code words are easy to obtain if you know how, or have the money to bribe/extort). Bearing a linkpearl from a reputable courier service would be enough in most cases, sort of like a badge or an ID card that says "this guy is trustworthy" especially since the people who control the Linkshell can create and destroy Linkpearls, which means if one were lost or stolen it could be destroyed and a new one created. That was how I understood the way they worked anyways, correct me if I'm wrong.
On a side note, aren't Moogles technically the canon courier service in the game via Mog Mail? I mean you can send letters, packages, and gil through them. The only downside is you can't use them to contact people you don't know, so I guess this could be where a freelance courier service would come in handy.
I wasn't expecting anyone to actually take interest in being part of an actual fully-fledged courier service so it was really a matter of; If someone says the codeword then it is the IC equivalent of proving their identity as an official courier and that they have read this topic. The word wouldn't need to be a secret or anything ^^" It's just putting it down to people honouring the procedure and not thinking:
"Nah I can scam this because I am a professional"
That was just my humble suggestion though, I'm sure there are much better methods that can be thought up, particularly from people who have actually played the game and can think of existing features that can be used for such cases.
Miii... what I mean is that I have no real interest in participating or running the service myself. It doesn't suit any of my characters unless it is a friendly request, in which case it's a free and platonic favour.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - FreelanceWizard - 07-28-2013
I didn't mean to walk all over your original idea with my brainstorming; I suppose I misread your post as a request for ideas.
At any rate, I think it's a fantastic idea regardless of implementation (informal, LS, FC, or whatever).
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - K'nahli - 07-28-2013
(07-28-2013, 12:18 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: I didn't mean to walk all over your original idea with my brainstorming; I suppose I misread your post as a request for ideas.
At any rate, I think it's a fantastic idea regardless of implementation (informal, LS, FC, or whatever).
Nonono! You weren't at all ^^ I just think you misunderstood where my interests were in such a service. I just want to pay people to do it for me, I don't see any of my characters ever playing a courier role. Anyways, it doesn't need to be me who runs or takes part in the service ^^" Whoever is interested is free to do as they please.
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Teardrop - 07-28-2013
That's actually kind of an interesting concept...hmmmm
RE: Sorry if this is a silly idea, but..... Couriers? - Kitty Wizard - 07-28-2013
I think courier characters are a great idea, and I'd love to join up with an organized group of messengers!
As well as use them! Still haven't decided if Cima is tolerant of Moogles - and if she's not, she'd really prefer not to use their little post service! (Though IG I obviously have no choice.) Cool idea relative to the linkpearls too!