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Here are a couple of quality-of-life suggestions to improve the usability of the rumor system, especially when there's a high volume of rumors:

1) Print out the rumor attributes (purchase date, subject, status, circles, strength, etc.) that are at the bottom of each rumor at the time of original purchase.

Currently, purchasing only prints out rumor text, forcing you to double-check the rumor information in order to get these pertinent details. Among other things, this change should help keep people from knee-jerk responding to rumors outside the stated circle, for example, or from responding without knowing crucial details, such as who a rumor is actually about -- since people aren't always mentioned by name in the rumor text but are flagged under Subject.

2) Include in the rumor output whether or not I've already participated on my account.

Some rumors can hang around so long or have so many replies, it can be very difficult to discern whether I've already responded with a character on my account (especially since I respond to rumors in different "voices" depending on the circle or subject matter). I would like my participation to be clear, either under 'rumor all' in column form or under the individual rumor itself when I review that rumor. Having this info under individual rumor might be better for screenreaders, but having it in column form would be better for assessing at-a-glance. (It could maybe be squeezed in by shortening the 'Known' column and inserting a 'Reply' column or somesuch.)


That's all I've got at the moment. Anyone else have any thoughts on how to improve usability?

Number 2 would definitely be helpful to have, as there has been times, when I'm playing like 4 different alts, I tend to forget if I've commented on a rumor on a character or not.

I threw my two cents in at the OOC meeting, but I feel like playing an Orderite who might not bankroll a whole bunch of IP, being able to somehow use Order status to wade into a rumor pool with some authority of "This is all sin ya'll" would be great. Or a way to get some rumors (maybe random?) through virtual folks confessing.

I don't think we want NPC confessions circulating in rumors, as that would probably damage Orderites' ability to give them to PC players. Confessions are supposed to be private. I also think Orderites have a fair amount of oomph and authority where it counts, so I don't necessarily see a need to give them more weight in the rumor system. You do bring up an important point about theme, but it's one that probably warrants its own thread.

So theme aside, here's another idea for improving the rumor system:

3) Change the command to submit a rumor from "post" to "circulate."

I accidentally posted a rumor early earlier today, because I was also trying to shuffle around some papers/ledgers in my inventory in order to access the right information. I meant to use 'post' to post a paper item and posted my rumor instead. >_< That got me thinking, though: in addition to reducing overlap in commands (post and post), the word "circulate" is preferably IC and reflects the fact that rumors are spoken/voiced. Posting to the rumor system emphasizes the OOC activity, whereas circulating a rumor emphasizes the IC activity. To my knowledge, we don't have a command similar to circulate, so 'circ' should work just fine as a shorthand.

This may or may not be the place to note this, but I have a comment on the rumor system.

Sometimes a dirty rumor pops up that is intentionally vague, and doesn't outright name the person involved. I read it, and start to get all excited because I have no idea who this nasty rumor is all about, and I'm gonna go have some fun rooting around in RP trying to figure it out -- and then, whoops! I see the code-side printout of the rumor, with the 'unnamed' person's identity explicitly stated. Poof! There goes my immersion in the the IC side of things, because now, OOCly, I know who the fuss is all about. (And I've seen some HEAVY accusations thrown about in this IC/OOC manner.)

Of course I can still do exactly what I was going to do, and poke around ICly, but ...meh. The fun of figuring out the mystery has evaporated. I'd rather go follow another RP thread now, where I don't already OOCly have the dirty info.

I think well-meaning folks add a name to the rumor because the field is there in the rumor setup, and that -is- who the rumor is about, but if the actual text of the rumor doesn't name somebody, that information hasn't been imparted to my character in an actual IC way. I can't use it, and I don't want it.

Could the rumor helpfile be updated with a guideline for this situation? No name in rumor = no name in subject field?


(And I like the circulate suggestion.)

I think that, generally, when people fill out the subject field, they probably want you to know who they're talking about and aren't really interested in preserving the mystery. There's no scandal if the subject is a mystery.

While I do see your point about the nature of IC versus OOC information, I'm not sure it warrants a stipulation in the helpfile. Instead of telling other people how to circulate their own rumors for YOUR maximum enjoyment, I'd rather see more power given to you, the player, to view or hide certain information as you prefer.

(Of course, then it might make it easier to run into problems noted in my original post. :)

Eh. I see the information as tainted if I haven't learned it through a traceable IC path. Really, it's not -about- my enjoyment, that's incidental. OOC/IC separation is the cornerstone of the game, and this is a fuzzy/gray area that could stand some clarification.

Say I'm an inquisitor, and a rumor pops up. "I saw somebody casting spells out in the woods." The rumor code side names the subject, the rumor itself doesn't. Can I act on that information? Knowing who the subject is? How do I explain how I came by that information?

You're right -- it's an imperfect and fuzzy system, but I'm not going to argue with an extreme hypothetical case. :) I still don't like the solution, though. The rumor system already has a lot of stipulations regarding use, and I would prefer to give people wiggle room to come up with their own stories.

Still...

Lots of people go by aliases (not their coded first names, which is what the system accepts), so those people can't even be flagged in the subject unless you DO know OOC information (and if you do use it, then you're essentially giving that information away to other players). I like having subjects listed because it allows me to determine how I want to spend my money, but I wonder what the consequence would be if, instead of having a coded first name for a subject, we simply removed the subject altogether, limited it to guilds or groups only, or, even crazier, allowed players the freedom to write a brief phrase or string of names (which don't necessarily have to be based in code)? It'd still be up to you to decide how you got that information (ICly, I think the idea is that you're asking about the subject of the rumor before you purchase it), but at least it would ease some of the coded constraints and allow more flexibility beyond simply giving up first names.

I -like- the brief phrase idea. Very much.

And really, the reason I'm posting these thoughts (and feel so strongly about them) is because this -isn't- an extreme hypothetical case. That situation HAS happened, and recently. I just don't play an inquisitor.

Well, brief phrases won't necessarily keep people from writing bad rumors. >_> But I suppose a stipulation in the helpfile miiiight. I think the simplest explanation is that whatever is shared in the subject is shared ICly along with the rumor, through whatever vNPC is doing the sharing. That's it. Just more information being passed along -- that's your ICly traceable path (unless you happened to get a freebie on login, in which case, I guess you get to make up your own path). At least with a phrase/string, the subject wouldn't have to be tied to a coded name.