Rumors in the Air (Discussion)

[Blue]

UPDATE EDIT: The Rumors in the Air Thread is a thing! Post your rumors there, and post your questions here!

 

Hello all,

 

So I've been looking around the site to see where I could post a specific rumor. I have been wondering how people handle rumors, and this is what I've found:

 

- Rumors in wiki pages, related to specific characters.

- Lantern pages, written newspaper articles.

 

Now, I like both of these, but I think they are both a bit insufficient in helping an IC rumor spread. The wiki pages contain rumors specific to certain people, and they're also rarely checked unless you already met that character IC.

 

The Lantern is good, but I assume it'd be hard for IC illiterate people to acknowledge what it says, and the articles are usually based on well proven facts. It's rare that journalists only write about "rumors" (unless it's legeds), BUT, sometimes, rumors can lead a journalist to investigate one and maybe turn it into an article later.

 

So I was thinking it might be a good idea to make a Rumors Directory thread, where we can post stuff that we think should be acknowledged by people around a certain area: beastmen attacks, a new serial killer in town, a music band growing famous among the teenagers, you name it. It's not only a good way to lure attention to certain facts that you have been roleplaying, but also a way to ICly promote events, too ("The ABC Manor's wench has finally found a bachelor! People in the Goblet are already talking about an upcoming engagement party!").

 

It doesn't have to be speficic to a character (it usually shouldn't be speficic to a character, unless you think it's someone most of the city/area would know), and perhaps it's best to avoid writing stuff that will commonly frowned upon to be ICly acknowledged, such as things related to major NPCs, or an in-game accessible area getting wiped by a nuke and so on.

 

I think it doesn't need its own category, but a single thread under "Roleplay" (maybe in IC Square, or under Lantern) would be good.

[Maril]

I think this would be a good idea

[g0ne]

See above. 

 

I vote in favor of this idea as well! :bouncy:

[Caspar]

I'm super big on rumors. I want them to spread and perhaps become true via people getting involved. Kotodama and whatnot.

[Lilia Lia]

This is an excellent idea!  My FC does something like that on our forum where we have a master thread dedicated to posting small updates that others in the company would be aware of, which can be things like "so&so hasn't been seen around lately" or "people may have heard loud explosions in the yard last night."  It's usually a very good read and provides a nice way of keeping up to speed on what everyone else is doing.

 

Having something like that at the RPC level would be wonderful and I imagine it would really help to add a lot of continuity.  I'd definitely be reading it often and trying to see ways that I could incorporate it into my RP.  Styling it as a "rumours" directory is a good idea because that accounts for the way that people learn the information, but calling it a "rumours directory" is a bit of a misleading name because people might see it and think that it's a dumping ground for character rumours when really what you're referring to is more a buzz tracker that keeps track of things people in the Realm may be talking about based on our RP stories.

 

It would also be great to have RP encounters where I'm meeting someone that I've heard a rumour about, or something from a company that I've heard rumours about, so I could say something like "oh, the Behemoth Riders?  I've heard about your philanthropy work for Conjurors Without Borders."  And so on.

 

Anyways I say do it.  Start a thread.  I'll contribute to it and read it frequently.

[-no longer matters-]

When I start RPing on War Siren very soon, I will need rumors to get jobs as a Wandering Merc! So I am all for this!

[Lilia Lia]

I feel silly for not knowing this before looking, but we do have something sort of similar here:

 

http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=5431

 

But I think your idea is for something more short-form that's easier to digest quickly.

[Kellach Woods]

The bulletin board is more for individual stuff to say "what has this character been up to?" more so than actual rumors.

[Blue]

I feel silly for not knowing this before looking, but we do have something sort of similar here:

 

http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=5431

 

But I think your idea is for something more short-form that's easier to digest quickly.

 

The bulletin board is more for individual stuff to say "what has this character been up to?" more so than actual rumors.

 

 

Yeah, it's not stuff about what RP characters do that I want (also I believe that the Balmung Bulletin Board explicitly says that it's OOC knowledge and should not be taken IC). Rumors in general are not "personal", unless the subject is someone the vast majority of the area would know (a rumor about me could be spread in my neighborhood, but certainly not in the whole town, for example).

 

To make it more clear, here is two rumors that I'm looking forward to post if this feature is added to the site:

 

Mostly heard from people in and from Ul'dah and Limsa Lominsa:

"There seem to have been several cases of disappearance and kidnappings among the homeless and refugees of late."

 

"It appears that a sort of serial killer is around. All the victims involved seemed to dabble in black marketing and slave trading. The authorities believe these murders might be at hand of beastmen or other slave traders, as the slaves are always taken from their dead keepers."

 

As you can see, it does not involve my characters at a first glance, but it's something my characters could hear and talk about (both rumors are related to a side-plot of mine), and I'd like to see other people acknowledge this and perhaps talk about it, too.

 

Of course, the RPers are also welcome to not believe the rumors ("I've never seen this happening, personally"), but the rumors will be ICly persisting, giving themselves a form of believability. If I want the rumors I posted to stop, I will have to post:

 

"There have been no longer cases of dead black marketeers or disappeared refugees of late."

 

So until I do that, my previous rumors should be taken as still on-going, without me needing to post them repeatedly to remind people. Although this may be done in the case that a specific black merchant or a certain refugee camp in particular have been struck. I hope this gives an idea.

[DoomsdayClock]

It does sound like a good way to publicly throw hooks out into the world. I think I could get behind this, and would likely utilize it for some of my characters. :thumbsup:

[Unnamed Mercenary]

A couple questions on this, because I can't seem to understand it the same way others are.

 

1. Is this supposed to be rumors about characters, general locations, events or pretty much anything?
   
2. 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?
   
3. 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?
   

--

 

In relation to where it would go on the forums, is this supposed to be IC knowledge or OOC stuff letting a player know what their character can pick up on? The Bulletin board does already sorta fill this role, and is supposed to be IC-only. Here's a clipped version of the original post. If this is something people would want, as seen in this thread, Mods can probably open up a poll for implementation.

 

[...] 

not everyone has the time to sift through dozens upon dozens of threads to keep abreast of the latest happenings and community lore.

[...]

In comes the bulletin board! Treat this as a character blog of sorts, a place where we can communicate, in easily digestible posts, the goings on of our characters' lives. 

[...]

All of this and more can be fair game. The hope is that it will encourage others to take an interest in the lives of those they play alongside but, perhaps, had not yet had the opportunity to interact with. It might also serve as a useful little tool for rumor-mongering, depending on the content of the post, but shush now, you didn't hear that from me.

 

Some guidelines to keep in mind when posting in this thread:

 

1. All posts are to be in-character.

2. No back-and-forth threading here, only one-off posts of reasonable (no more than a few paragraphs) length. However, if you happen to read a post that caught your eye, don't hesitate to follow up on it through other means (PMs, in-game, or just more RP in another thread/location!)

3. Try to post no more than once a day, per character.

 

 

[Blue]

A couple questions on this, because I can't seem to understand it the same way others are.

 

1. Is this supposed to be rumors about characters, general locations, events or pretty much anything?
   
2. 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?
   
3. 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.

[Caspar]

I think a thread in bulletin board, especially a sticky, would serve this purpose well.

Each post could contain a rumor or two and there could be a format that shows the areas in which the rumor circulates, what types of people are spreading the rumor, what the rumor is, and whether it's true or not.

[Michikyou]

One of my questions would be:

How do we know that it is not a rumor and not people using their charcters to ooc harass other characters?

[Blue]

One of my questions would be:

How do we know that it is not a rumor and not people using their charcters to ooc harass other characters?

 

As names are not made, I think it'd be hard for rumors to be used for harassment. Even if someone spread the rumor that "It seems there is a serial killer aiming at conjurers all over Gridania", I don't think this would be a form of harassment. Just something for them conjurers/gridanians/wood wailers etc. RPers to talk about, and maybe RP on. I honestly don't see how it could be used as an harassment. They're never personal.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I should perhaps note that creating such a thread doesn't require mod or admin approval.

 

Adding to It to the "Important Threads" section would.

 

I would suggest making the thread and if it has prolonged use, like the Bulletin Board thread, a mod can pin it to the important section.

[Blue]

I just wanted to know where to make it. It's an IC thread, but neither Town Square nor Tomberry's Lantern seem areas it'd be put in. If not given other directions, I'll put it in Town Square and see if a mod sticks it or moves it elsewhere, I guess.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Town Square should be the most appropriate place. These are rumors that should be taken ICly, are they not?

[Blue]

All right, I have renamed this thread to be used for discussion should further questions arise regarding the rumors that will be posted in the actual thread, so to keep that one strictly IC and clean of OOC commentary.

 

I will also make that thread stickly for Balmung rumors. RPers from other servers are welcome to make their own, though!

[Blue]

And done: here's the link http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=12447

 

If someone could sticky it, that'd be adorbs :love:

[Unnamed Mercenary]

[[steps in as a mod]]

 

I've opened discussion with the other mods about getting it pinned to the top, next to the Bulletin Board.

 

Personally, I'd like to see if it takes off first (stays active) before making a decision. But at the same time, it could also be said that by pinning it now, that would be the necessary action to give it the exposure it needs to become active.

 

Just waiting for a few more mods to chime in on the subject so we can make a formal action.

 

[[steps out as a mod]]

 

In the meantime, I've got a rumor or two I can probably add in

[Jana]

Would these rumors be necessarily about your own character(s), sort of as a hook for getting others to seek you out? Or would they be about the results of others' RP to kind of inform others?

 

Or am I overthinking things at 2:30 AM?

[Blue]

Would these rumors be necessarily about your own character(s), sort of as a hook for getting others to seek you out? Or would they be about the results of others' RP to kind of inform others?

 

Or am I overthinking things at 2:30 AM?

 

They can be both. They can be things that you have roleplayed and that you feel NPCs would notice enough to talk about, or they can be foreshadowings of an event you're setting up (ex: your character is about to get married? "I heard that merchant's daughter finally found a bachelor!"), or they can be things related to your character (ex: your character is an Au Ra in Mor Dhona? "It seem a large number of those horned humanoids has arrived in Mor Dhona..."), and so on. It is a tool to both allow others to hook to your plots, as well as to give people something to talk about at taverns even if they won't ultimately participate. It's nice to see our own stories become acknowledged by other RPers, I feel it makes it a bit more realistic.

 

Of course, if you spot rumors that are in conflict with your own view on lore or background, your character is free to not believe them.

 

Here's a quick copy-paste of one of the FAQs, in case you missed it in your 2A.M.-driven zombieness. If that still doesn't answer your question, I will try be more specific.

 

What rumors can I post? Rumors that are strictly related to your own character (and thus wouldn't be heard of from people that didn't ICly know you) should be kept to your wiki, but of course if you don't make names you can post it here. If your character is a merchant and he gets attacked by beastmen, go ahead and say "It seems beastmen have been getting more and more aggressive. Another merchant's haul was stolen the other day in Thanalan!". The purpose should be to involve others into your side-plots while at the same time not making the rumors all about yourself. If someone is interested to learn WHO is the merchant who got attacked by the beastmen (sellsword seeking for hire as bodyguards, perhaps?), then they should privately contact you and figure out how their character may learn about your merchant's identity and find him.

 

"Well yeah, then I can just post all my personal rumors by turning them nameless!" Not exactly. When deciding what to post, simply ask yourself: would people in this area actually talk about this? Were there enough witnesses? Was it enough of a big deal? Nobody will likely talk about "hey, it seems a chick got sexually harassed at the Quicksand and threw a glass of ale in the face of that rude Lalafell!", because that happens all the time there. But if a famous singer slips off during her performance on the stage, or an unpredictable underdog wins at the Grindstone? The locals may very certainly laugh/talk about it for a little while.

 

Posting rumors about things OTHER RPers did is fine, but you may probably want to OOCly inform the owner of those characters first, to see if they are okay with it becoming common knowledge and if they agree with the version of the facts that you are going to post (Which doesn't necessarily have to be true, as per the Chinese Whispers rule. An Au Ra suddenly appearing in a village's abandoned house where no one's ever seen one before may turn into "A DEMON! I saw the face of a demon peeking from that old, dusty house, I swear it!")