The Rumor Mill

[Victor]

When rumors are posted in character to forums, they do not benefit from out of character facts.  Portraying a character well sometimes means reacting to situations in which one does not have access to all the facts.  In fact, unnecessary facts can often ruin a potentially entertaining quandary.  For instance, in the case of a well known dwarf believed to be dead, imagine his friends surprise should he suddenly appear again, or perhaps he really is dead.  Who knows?  Truly unexpected revelations make for better entertainment.  Truly heartfelt emotions make for better drama.

Information changes how players react.  The easiest way for players to avoid such metagaming is to not have unnecessary information thrust upon them in the first place.  Limit in character threads to in character knowledge.  Please take facts from outside the game someplace else, and respect players who are attempting to add depth to the game.

Thank you.

[ZeroVega]

Sorry, but the last time Gloin was seen, was by several characters (one of them being myself) and he was quite alive. I respect your attempt to turn Gloin's "demise" into grand RP, however I'm sorry to inform that all it did was stir up a bit of trouble.
  People knew Gloin wasn't dead, because they knew of the "fight" Gloin had with the Dragon Bone Golem, and had seen him afterwards. It probably would have been better, and certinaly more to your taste for those of us who knew this to have just posted it IC, however it didn't happen. When rumors start popping up IC, rather, ones that may cause a particular amount of confusion for players and GMs, we like to put them to rest quickly to avoid confusion.
  I do have one question though. What made your character think Gloin was permanently dead? He obviously wasn't from the last fight he had with the golem. I don't even remember him posting IC on the forum about his little run in with the construct.

[Talan Va'lash]

ZV... You're allowed to post IC things that aren't true.

And the people that knew Gloin wasn't dead was limited to maybe 6 people who were there at the time, and whoever had seen him subsequently.  

-TV

[Lalaith Va'lash]

Talan Va'lash - 11/18/2005 3:13 PM ZV... You're allowed to post IC things that aren't true. And the people that knew Gloin wasn't dead was limited to maybe 6 people who were there at the time, and whoever had seen him subsequently. -TV

  Not to drag this out, but I think the point was... How would any know of the fight then.
  The only people that saw the battle, knew he was alive.  And then Gloin himself. 
  The Rumor seems to have been started through ooc knowledge, which is what I believe was one thing ZV was addressing.

[Dorganath]

*points to what Lalaith said*
  That, and saying "he's dead, let's have a wake" rather than, "I heard he's dead, anyone know what happened?"

[Doc-Holiday]

I advocate Westonianism... No matter what is going on... you are to be completely unaware of it.. even if your looking at it

[Victor]

ZeroVega - 11/17/2005  9:25 PM    I do have one question though. What made your character think Gloin was permanently dead? He obviously wasn't from the last fight he had with the golem. I don't even remember him posting IC on the forum about his little run in with the construct.

 If Victor has a fault, it is that he takes his kinsmen at their word.  When he ran into two other dwarves grumbling about how Gloin has been killed by a bone dragon and taken by the soul mother, he didn't think to question it.  It seemed a great tragedy worth causing a stir over.  Acacea described the encounter, but no other witnesses came forward to claim that they had seen Gloin since.  Victor likes Acacea a great deal, but at the time he didn't credit the word of the agitated halfling over that of the stout hearted (if thick headed) dwarves.  I figured that Gloin himself would eventually step forward and correct the misapprehension, if misapprehension it was.  I expect that it is not entirely unheard of for the supposedly deceased to reappear at a dwarven wake, wondering what is happening.  A wake is a fine excuse for drinking and celebration, and it would be a shame to spoil it just because the dwarf in question isn't actually dead.  I started the thread with what little in character knowledge I had, and couched it in subtle language rather than bold disclaimers.  Read it carefully, and you'll realize that the source of the information is not necessarily reliable.  For some reason, word is spreading through the dwarven community that Gloin is dead.  Gloin may be rather surprised to learn this.  I had no knowledge about other happenings with Gloin's character.  I won't apologize for alarming anyone, but it was my attention to alarm the characters not the players.  I rarely see role-play regarding the consequences of real death in Layonara, and this struck me as a fine opportunity.  Now the tale seems destined to have a happy ending, so I suggest we play it as comedy rather than tragedy.  It would be hilarious to have the whole town in mourning at the time that Gloin makes his return.  Of course, that would require role-playing on the part of those who give credence to the tales.  Even some witnesses to the bone dragon attack might wonder if Gloin had met his demise elsewhere.  Well, everyone but Acacea, the self-professed madwoman.  

[ZeroVega]

[/QUOTE] I won't apologize for alarming anyone, but it was my attention to alarm the characters not the players. I rarely see role-play regarding the consequences of real death in Layonara, and this struck me as a fine opportunity. Now the tale seems destined to have a happy ending, so I suggest we play it as comedy rather than tragedy. It would be hilarious to have the whole town in mourning at the time that Gloin makes his return. Of course, that would require role-playing on the part of those who give credence to the tales. Even some witnesses to the bone dragon attack might wonder if Gloin had met his demise elsewhere. [/QUOTE]
  Well, I wouldn't think of asking you to appologise. I don't think you did anything wrong. The reason for the OOC was that Gloin was having his ECDQ run at the time. People were talking OOC, it seemed he really was gone and it was confusing for the GM running his very large and elaboratly planned quest. By all means continue to RP.... this was perhaps just an "exceptional" circumstance.