(07-04-2015, 11:38 AM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: A couple questions on this, because I can't seem to understand it the same way others are.
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- Is this supposed to be rumors about characters, general locations, events or pretty much anything?
- Do we know or should our characters know who is leaving these rumors? Or are these just supposed to be rumors that are whispered around a certain area that one's character might hear?
- How long do these rumors last? Would or should they expire? If they're all in a single thread, are people to be expected to read through them all? If this was a subforum, would rumors be individual threads with potential updates?
I think I responded to most of these questions in my previous post, but I'll try give a little clearer info on what I'm picturing:
These are supposed to be rumors about happenings, general people (no names, unless they are popular ("I heard General Raubhan is in prison!") among the people in the area the rumor is spreading on. If your character is popular in your neighborhood and something happens to them, you can make a rumor and indicate at its top that this rumor can be heard upon visiting The Goblet, Ward X, for example. In my previous posts I made the example of two rumors that I think would be heard across La Noscea and Thanalan, but as you can see they do not make specific names, since no one of the people involved are that well known.
There is no need for your character to know who the rumor is coming from. Simply visiting the area of the rumor grants you permission to have heard of the rumor (or if you met another RPer/NPC who comes from that area). You are also free to not believe the rumor.
The rumor lasts until you no longer hear of it. This can be done by either posting that "there have been no more hearings of X rumor in a long time", or simply by not acknowledging it anymore because too much time has passed since you last heard of it. Obviously people would not be forced to browse through the whole threat to be up to date with all the rumors, but I also don't want to tell an RPer who DID do that that the rumors he knows of are no longer valid. Simply put, posters should be responsible of the rumors they post, and if the rumor's status changes, they should modify its text or strike it if they simply want the rumor to no longer be heard of. I do not recommend DELETING the rumor completely, at least that way we're always allowed to have conversations like "Do you remember back when there was that rumor about a new disease plaguing the aldgoats in Drybone?".
Unlike the Balmung Bulleting Board, the rumors directory should be strictly IC knowledge, and whoever is able to travel to the areas where the rumors are spread (or, again, talk to an RPer or NPC who does) should be legitimated to acknowledge the rumor.
EDIT: I imagine that rumors related to personal characters can be posted, but names should be avoided (unless, again, they're characters supposed to be popular: famous bards, heroes, war veterans, influent nobles etc.). I think this would be interesting because, if instead of the rumor "Valeria Idavoll was killed in Limsa Lominsa" I posted "It appears a Maelstrom officer was murdered in the outskirts of Limsa Lominsa", this would not be a special spotlight on my character, but instead give all the Maelstrom RPers out there an opportunity to hook to the event, make them worry, and wary of strangers.
I hope this helps.
To be an interesting, intriguing, well-written character, there needs to be something to allow the audience to relate to them. That is what the problem is with who wants their character to be "perfect". Perfect characters will never be strong, and strong characters will never be perfect, because WE (those who read, who watch, who RP) are not perfect.
"What makes a strong character is how they deal with their flaws, their fears, their turmoils, their troubles that get in the way. That's what makes them relatable." -- N.C.
"What makes a strong character is how they deal with their flaws, their fears, their turmoils, their troubles that get in the way. That's what makes them relatable." -- N.C.
