One of the many needs the Messengers will need to fill is how to get news out to regular, non-forum-hopping explorers in an in-cavern way.

I have a suggestion to solve this need for the time being - though I completely support re-examining this "solution" (as all others) as we approach the building of a real Guild of Messengers.

The problem as I see it is twofold:

<>Where do explorers get their news in-cavern?
<>How do we tell them about it?

I have created a bevin called "Hermes News' Bevin." I propose that we post short event announcements, episode updates, and even links to the newest works by TCT, CNN, KIToons, etc. on the imager in this bevin and make it public. Explorers can learn to go here for the latest news, and don't have to rely on OOC methods.

To solve the second problem, I've come up with two possible solutions, either of which could work:
<>KIMail has proven to be an effective way of communicating. We could send out KIMails that say "For in-cavern updates and links to OOC news, visit Hermes News' Bevin in your Nexus."
OR
<>Every Messenger (or Messenger supporter) /shouts the above message in whatever location he/she is, at predetermined times. My suggestion would be every hour, on the hour, so all explorers hear the message regardless of where they live. (Of course, if someone /shouts right before you, please do not repeat it!)

What would you guys think about this as an interim solution?

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Shimmerillion | KI: 01204798 | GoMe Website

The limited slots in the imager is a major problem for the idea. Imagine if you could only see 5 news on the internet... but the shouting for people with big buddy list is an interesting idea.

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"When you want your message out in the cavern, use the Guild of Messengers."

Andros KI: #265443 Kalypso Ki: #5962956

shimmerillion wrote:

I have created a bevin called "Hermes News' Bevin."

Trying to keep your hood showing in the Nexus is a full time chore.

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semplers' shards

semplerfi wrote:

Trying to keep your hood showing in the Nexus is a full time chore.

Hmm, I didn't think of that. Maybe utilize one of the more popular neighborhoods instead of a new one?

I know there are only limited slots in the imager, so the number of stories would have to be restricted.

The "Town Crier" idea could also be utilized on its own, for any number of things.

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Shimmerillion | KI: 01204798 | GoMe Website

One flaw with shouting things like that not everyone wants to here it and its a quick way to get on someone bad side.

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Unless specifically stated otherwise all posts by me are my own and not official TCT statements or policy.

No one has ever criticized me for making a "Town Crier" announcement. Most people say nothing. Those who do speak say "Thank you."

I make the announcement brief, with some humor. No more than two lines. I wait for a lull in the chat, and then speak my piece. It's usually something like

"/shout General announcement: Party starts in the Watcher's Pub in one hour."
"/shout Come on in and dance your feet off!"

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Want to learn more about the D'ni? Look here: http://www.dpwr.net/

D'net had a Town Crier/Herald thing going for a bit, and it worked well.

They'd go into a public area like the city, and /shout that they had a D'ni Network announcement, make the announcement, thank everyone for their attention, and head out. Going into a 'hood, they'd ask if they could make an announcement.

We found that what was needful was one person organizing the Heralds, keeping a list of them, and getting the announcements to them, and scheduling who was hollering which days.

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Officially bonked R.E.B.E.L.
Falling Man Group Secretary
Storyteller & Creatrix
MOULAgain Houligan KI#00001498

This could work.

The only possible problem is that it may be difficult to give detailed news this way. Either you risk annoying people by going on for a while about this, that, or the other, or, if you had a system where people could PM for info, you could end up being swamped.

That, and it may be difficult to orchestrate on a consistant, day to day basis. Heck, I know the guys at the TCT Extra have had trouble keeping up during episodes. Rosters are diffcult beasts to battle.

In the end, it depends on what other options we have, and how many people are willing to commit to this kind of work.

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http://www.thecaverntoday.org/Archiver
The views expressed by me are my own, and do not represnt those of The Archiver, or TCT, unless explicitly stated as such.

MOUL KI: 13986530

Eleri, perhaps the Relayers might agree to assist? They are usually on call during episode week. (Other volunteers would also be welcome, of course.)

The message would never change: "Visit so-and-so bevin for the latest news."

The way I envision it is all participants agree to /shout at certain times, regardless of location. (They would be shouting to Age Players.) Therefore, there is no need to worry about who is doing the shouting. If Crier A is in the midst of typing it in and sees an identical /shout from Crier B, then Crier A simply erases her message and waits for the next /shout time.

The only problem with this is if there were no Town Crier in a particular location. However, even so I figure we'll get the majority of people in-cavern.

We do run the risk of angering explorers as Anthony noted, but Eleri said this wasn't a problem for the Heralds, so hopefully explorers will be tolerant. I for one think the in-cavern news distribution is one of our biggest challenges, and there will be more happy explorers than angry ones.

The bevin in question would have 5 slots on the imager. 4 of them would be brief news stories - I can summarize a DRC visit in less than 5 lines, and I'm sure others can as well. The 5th imager slot would say, "for more info on these stories visit so-and-so Web site."

The troublesome part, then, becomes keeping up with the news itself, as Narym noted - rather than arranging the Town Criers. Any ideas on this aspect?

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Shimmerillion | KI: 01204798 | GoMe Website

I think it would be better to put a single-line Web address at the bottom of each imager message. That way you see it each time and don't have to use one of the five message slots for the Web address.

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Want to learn more about the D'ni? Look here: http://www.dpwr.net/

Even better would to be to ask the hood (assuming you would go around to various "subscription" hoods to post this news) how much of it's imager you can use. Also what is wrong with distributing to one or two responsible people in a subscription hood (those names/KI numbers would be put forward when a hood signed up for news) who would make sure the news got posted and stayed up there for a certain amount of time before recieving a new message to post. That way, everyone gets involved if they want to....rather than directing people to a "news" hood.

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Moula:
DMom2K KI 74181
GameBoomer KI 83122

SL:
DMom2K Darwin

Citizen of the Metaverse and oh, yeah, The Dude abides....

Those are both good ideas.

I guess my next question is - would anyone be interested in trying this for the next episode? What would be the pros and cons?

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Shimmerillion | KI: 01204798 | GoMe Website

Just keep in mind the Relayers are very, very, very few in numbers. We work very hard during the episodes and that is why we focus only on live time events with the DRC only. We just don't have the resources right now and we do need the down time in between 'Busy Week' to recharge. (I wish that were different, but our numbers are not increasing that much so that we can do more) I did pass on the KI Chain mail when I could while on duty during the episode and even got a few requests for it after the episode was over from folks who just wanted to catch up.

I think the KI Chain concept is probably one of the best of the ideas....it uses few people, is passed on widely and doesn't run the risk of burning someone or a group of someones out.... I think between that, getting postings in the Guild Imagers and getting 'subscription' hoods in populated hoods to agree to posting news and informational items, you can cover quite a bit of territory and people in the cavern and keep information up there for long enough periods of time so that new folk will see and hopefully respond.

Just something to think about!

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Moula:
DMom2K KI 74181
GameBoomer KI 83122

SL:
DMom2K Darwin

Citizen of the Metaverse and oh, yeah, The Dude abides....