Make Quash Useful Again

[LonelyNeptune]

As it stands, quashing a rumor you don't like is the last thing you want to do. It's counterproductive. Quashing rumors currently does the following:

- Blocks you from posting any sort of rebuttal to the rumor
- Blocks you from viewing the rumor in the future (which makes no sense. You should be able to remember a rumor you heard and disproved)
- Is very unlikely to get rid of the rumor even with a few people quashing it
- Bumps the rumor for everyone to see, again, even if there was no new response

If you hear a rumor you don't like, the best option right now is to actually promote it with a response that hijacks or disproves the original rumor. People know this, and I see them using it all the time instead of the quash mechanic.

I'd like to suggest that we make quash useful again with some simple changes. Allow players to quash rumors by submitting a rebuttal if they choose. Stop preventing players from viewing rumors they previously quashed. And fix rumors being bumped when they have no new responses. I actually think the 'strength' of quash is balanced on its own, it's just the other problems that make it not worth it.

Suggested commands:

rumor promote # <promotion text>
rumor quash # <rebuttal text>

[Taunya]

Yeah, it is pretty broken.

If you have QP to burn, you can use 'rumor influence' with a negative number until it's looked at, which bypasses the negative effects.
Relatedly, you can't use rumor influence on a rumor you've quashed, either.

[LonelyNeptune]

Relatedly, you can't use rumor influence on a rumor you've quashed, either.

I knew there was something I missed. It's was pretty annoying to find that out the hard way.

[Kuzco]

Yes, quashing is mostly useful for low IP bards. High IP bards first burn influence to damage the rumor, then quash it.

[Buzz K[ir]ill]

IIRC the rebuttal text was removed because when you're quashing a rumor, you're actively trying to remove it from circulation -- whereas a rebuttal contributes to the interest by adding to the conversation. I don't think quash needs rebuttal text, and I see this as fine as is.

However, I do agree that a quashed rumor shouldn't be removed from your list and made inaccessible to other forms of manipulation. I recently also found out the hard way that if you quash a rumor, you are then prevented from using IP to influence it out of circulation. That was annoying. I also don't like it when I have to cycle through rumor updates that actually don't include new responses...

Removing a rumor from your list might be nice if you're the kind of person who gets worked up about rumors and would feel better to just not have access to one anymore and not be bothered by responses or updates to it. But maybe that should be a separate command, like RUMOR IGNORE.

Finally, I would love for someone to explain to me what the differences are between rumor STATUS and STRENGTH. Quashing affects one, influence affects the other. So which one is used in calculations that determine how long the rumor is around? Both? What about status? Is that for determining how much a rumor costs? Would love for this to be demystified a bit for us regular joes.

[Niamh]

Added to talking points list.