Rumor Pricing

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As the player of a Troubadour, I would first like to encourage people to seek out a bard in order to save money on gossip. I'm excited to say that there are more of us about all the time! It's a great way to support our guild and a good source for regular RP.

That said, I know they aren't always conveniently on hand, and as a player of a non-Troubadour, I agree that it is often doesn't feel worth the price to pay for all the rumors.

I'm not entirely sure how the cost of rumors is decided but I propose a system like this.

3 silver = the basic cost of a new rumor
-1 silver if it's the right circle(s) for your character
-1 for CHA bonuses
+1 if it's fleeting, transient or short-lived
+2 if it's enduring, persistent or deep-rooted

Cap the cost of a single rumor at 5 silver. Then, like messengers, a single rumor purchase is "doable" but multiple all at once encourages people to get out and trade gossip with other PCs.

[Helena]

To confirm that rumors are expensives, a cyan character, willing to ear all the rumors, will have to pay 191 silver currently.

[Puciek]

But who said that you are supposed to hear all the rumours, especially by paying for them?

[Popcorn]

I have to agree with Puciek here. You shouldn't really expect to know all the rumours that are going around the city, and paying for them isn't the only way of getting that information. Perhaps people need a reminder that they can share rumours they hear about? I've known more than one person who didn't realise rumours could be spread that way. It's fun to gossip! Ask people if they've heard about something and see if they'll tell you the rumour. Offer a rumour you know in return.

[Percival]

I think that paying for a rumour is the penalty for not sharing rumours with others. This should be the base for any tavern roleplay if there's nothing else to discuss.

[Puciek]

More often than enough people talk about rumours and not share it with the person they talk about without some OOC cues like coloured obvious text in emote, which is silly. There is no harm in sharing rumours, so if you are talking about a rumour, share it with all those within earshot, if people were to do that - problem solved.

[Rabek]

When I played, I would just buy all of the one-silver rumors every time I logged in. Sometimes higher, if I was playing a particularly wealthy gentry, but generally just the one silver rumors.

Between that and the freebie rumors you get for logging in, you'll end up getting them all after a few weeks as the older expensive ones cycle out, since rumors start cheap and get more expensive as they become popular.

I mean, if you want every single rumor, that's an easy and cheap way to do it at the cost of taking some time to get set up.

If you only care about specific rumors, then the price isn't a big deal anyway.

[Helena]

Sharing rumors could be more frequently done, indeed.

I agree that buying only the rumor that interest you is the thing to do. That's what I am doing, I may have bought two in four months. Yet, I find it ashame to have to make that choice.