Backstage - OOC Forums
EVE-Online RP Discussion and Resources => Player Driven Content => Topic started by: Esna Pitoojee on 04 Jan 2011, 00:55
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So, having spotted mention of a "gossip wiki" in this thread (http://backstage.eve-inspiracy.com/index.php?topic=1557.0), I was struck by how positively freaking awesome of a concept this is. For those of you who didn't see it, the idea is basically a wiki where information about our characters that can be viewed by others to provide hints as to how RP stories of interest could be found and/or intermeshed with your own.
So... I am proposing something similar be created for the RP community as a whole. I'll lay out two theoretical models ( "intel" and "gossip" ) that this wiki could take the form of, and request your thoughts on the suggestions.
Side note: If Player Driven Content is not the right place for this, my apologies - I didn't want to put it in Web Site Development/Suggestions because at this point it's less a suggestion for Backstage and more a content concept discussion. Anyhow...
MODEL 1: INTEL:
This is more geared toward past things our characters have done that would be publicly viewable (i.e., by accessible records or passive observation).
Example entry:
Esna Pitoojee has recently a new hangar section in Huola VI - 24th Imperial Crusade station along with enough equipment to outfit it as living quarters for a huge number of people. Security is tight, with armed guards patrolling all entryways and checking all vehicles and personnel that enter or leave.
Pros:
- Allows other players to make a form a path of action on their own, without having to consult the 'owner'; this speeds along the RP.
Cons:
- Potential for godmoddery (i.e., "Well, I have super spies who can simultaneously watch everything that your staff are doing everywhere, so I know all of it!")
MODEL 2: RUMOR
This is more geared to things another player or another player's staff might have heard from someone out there. While many more things could be heard, they aren't neccesarily accurate - rumors might be distorted, magnified, or just plain out false.
Example:
Those of you with contacts in the Eugidi constellation [the constellation of Metropolis currently under Amarr occupation] might have heard about a large number of personnel bearing the badge of the 24ic setting up operations in various major cities on the inhabited planets and aboard stations in the constellation. If asked, they freely admit to be working for one Esna Pitoojee, and in fact claim to be trying to prevent anyone on the planet from being enslaved. They're very secretive about what they are working on inside the buildings and offices they rent out, though...
Pros:
- Rumors may tell far more than records do, meaning there are many more chances to start RP arcs (for instance, there's no way to indicate that Esna has a seething hatred of Blood Raiders... but word of it might slip out from his crew).
Cons:
- As above, rumors may be inaccurate or just plain wrong; the possibility of "rumor defamation" wherein someone starts a rumor about someone else to hurt their IC persona is also very real.
So, there we go. Thoughts? Suggestions? Yays/Nays?
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The EM gossip wiki uses 'tabloids' largely. That way you can make it clear that it very well might be rumor, but it will be widely, publicly available. OFC, you could have items from more respectable news organization too, when you wanted. This operates on the idea that capsuleers are at the very least minor celebrities.
For your 1), I think that what, I think it was Aria? started, using spoiler tags and stuff, might be a good way to go about it. It might work better in the 'forum thread' format like that, whereas the tabloid idea is probably better off with a wiki.
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Thread started and stickied in fiction
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Very good idea. Most of the things people can do stationside can't really be done with game mechanics. Need to type everything out in a chat, which not everyone pays attention to or can see. There's tons of NPCs and non-gifted who can and do see stuff happen though. This would represent that.
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EM pieces tend to be stuff that have a grain of truth in them, but are usually misrepresented the way a tabloid would. So you can be pretty certain you can end up with something if you pursue the issue, but assuming that the gossip piece itself is the truth will mostly get you laughed at.