- Joined
- May 17, 2016
- Messages
- 1,517
- Reaction score
- 3,071
- Points
- 403
- Age
- 26
- Location
- Regalia.
- Website
- conflee.tumblr.com
Yes! Another time suggesting the return of Rumors! I know!
Anyway, lets just dive into the meat of this- or the bread introduction I guess. For those who don't know, the Noble Rumor Court was a thing that existed for a short time last December/January, where players submitted rumors that were posted anonymously. It was a fun idea, but people are people and people are morons. It was flooded with nonsense, trash, borderline spam, and salt. One trend that especially stood out to me was the "eating ___ part from ___ race grants ___ power!" The first one or two, amusing. The eighty seven after that were cancer. But, that's rambling and stating negatives for the system, when I am supposed to be selling you on it! Well, I think I have a way to re-implement it for a slightly different purpose and with less of the toxic nonsense.
The System:
The Benefits:
The Downsides:
Final Thoughts:
I know the old system was very controvertial for a lot of players. Some seemed to love the crap out of it. Others hated it with a passion because of the OOC Drama it heralded. But personally, as I stated above in less clear terms: I think the major issues with the old system lay in the way players used it and not in the system itself. People were morons, and/or jerks with it. They used it to screw around, or to target people OOCly. Since then the community has grown a fair bit in that regard, and the noble system has finally reached a point where it is stable and seemingly secure for the foreseeable future. With rigid rules about what qualifies as approvable content, Staff filtering, and harsher punishments on repeat offenders of the system rules, I think it can work amazingly, and be a fun tool for staff and players to interact with. Plus it allows a little more player agency with events- instead of having to be important, IE Noble, Gang Leader, General/Admiral, etc, anyone can have at least a small impact on things potentially. And the city presented in progressions vs the city presented in-game will feel more interconnected in my opinion.
Thats all, I look forward to any feedback, for or against, as long as it isnt rude, or just saying 'it didnt work last time because ___' and pointing out what I addressed above. If you have examples of how my argument against my statement of 'the server has matured enough for it' thats obviously fine to post too.
Anyway, lets just dive into the meat of this- or the bread introduction I guess. For those who don't know, the Noble Rumor Court was a thing that existed for a short time last December/January, where players submitted rumors that were posted anonymously. It was a fun idea, but people are people and people are morons. It was flooded with nonsense, trash, borderline spam, and salt. One trend that especially stood out to me was the "eating ___ part from ___ race grants ___ power!" The first one or two, amusing. The eighty seven after that were cancer. But, that's rambling and stating negatives for the system, when I am supposed to be selling you on it! Well, I think I have a way to re-implement it for a slightly different purpose and with less of the toxic nonsense.
The System:
- There will be a section under 'Regalian Roleplay' called "The Rumor Court".
- Players will be able to submit rumors or tidbits of news to this section, which will be private.
- Players will be able to tag their rumor with various things, such as 'slums', 'common', 'noble', 'war', etc.
- These posts will be viewable by Lore Staff, who filter everything into three categories:
- Garbage: Garbage rumors are rumors that break a submission rule, or are just stupidly pointless, such as rumors about someone painting their house, or a commoner being seen going into a brothel. In the grand scheme of thing, nobody gives a crap. These are deleted.
- Minor: Minor rumors are rumors or tidbits of information that aren't major enough to grant a post, but are potentially usable by Lore Staff as context for future Progressions or other posts. These are sent to a separate area and are deleted automatically after 2 months unless tagged otherwise by staff.
- Major: Major rumors are rumors or tidbits that are worthy of being publicized or used in a Progression. Examples would be a noble being seen being dragged down an alley somewhere. A business owned by a player being accused of fraud, or robbed by a Great Gang. A large number of robberies and muggings committed by someone or some group. Mostly illegal stuff are the examples I can think of at the moment.
- After the rumors are processed, they are done with as needed. The main method being Weekly or Bi-Weekly "Rumor Mill" posts in the Rumors section. This is where prevalent rumors are pushed forward in one simplistic but information-packed little dumpling of joy for people to read over, and react to ICly with their dramatic GAAAAAASSSPPP???s and such.
The Benefits:
- The system would give Lore Staff even more information to use about ongoing events that are only happening in-game. Lore Staff have a lot of work on their hands already, and limited time- they cant be everywhere and hear everything. This, means they dont have to.
- The system means you dont have to rely on people playing out gossip and rumors, which in my experience most people dont spread rumors ingame. It happens in skype groups and behind closed doors, where ordinary, casual players arent. Players have greater access to the gossip of the town that they need to know to stay up to date ICly and OOCly on the going-ons of the city.
- Its fun. Simply put. A bit subjective, but I loved the old Rumor system, despite its flaws and aweful aweful salt. But I think the Noble Scene and RP Scene in general has progressed, so so so so much in the last year. Especially with the Code of Conduct. So simply put- I liked the system, other people liked the system, and I think its flaws, which dwelt in the playerbase more than the system itself, have been reduced significantly since it was removed.
The Downsides:
- In any system with anonymity, there is the possibility of abuse and salt. Even with the community having bettered itself since last year, it might still happen, and even with staff screening, stuff might slip through unnoticed.
- There is the potential for groups to use this to make themselves look better and others worse, which isnt entirely a downside as it is what you would do IC and I think is fitting, but if left unchecked it could lead to toxicity OOCly. Things like this would have to be balanced.
- It creates more Staff Work. It requires at least a couple staff willing to dig in and process the rumors, and to distil them down into tolerable and digestible mini-progressions of a sorts. Lore Staff have a fair number of members, but it might not be enough. Im not sure how the departments inner workings go so how would I know.
Final Thoughts:
I know the old system was very controvertial for a lot of players. Some seemed to love the crap out of it. Others hated it with a passion because of the OOC Drama it heralded. But personally, as I stated above in less clear terms: I think the major issues with the old system lay in the way players used it and not in the system itself. People were morons, and/or jerks with it. They used it to screw around, or to target people OOCly. Since then the community has grown a fair bit in that regard, and the noble system has finally reached a point where it is stable and seemingly secure for the foreseeable future. With rigid rules about what qualifies as approvable content, Staff filtering, and harsher punishments on repeat offenders of the system rules, I think it can work amazingly, and be a fun tool for staff and players to interact with. Plus it allows a little more player agency with events- instead of having to be important, IE Noble, Gang Leader, General/Admiral, etc, anyone can have at least a small impact on things potentially. And the city presented in progressions vs the city presented in-game will feel more interconnected in my opinion.
Thats all, I look forward to any feedback, for or against, as long as it isnt rude, or just saying 'it didnt work last time because ___' and pointing out what I addressed above. If you have examples of how my argument against my statement of 'the server has matured enough for it' thats obviously fine to post too.
