Closed Put an emphasis on GMs writing news stories

[Ametheliana]

I have heard so often from people that they don't know what's going on with other plots, then hear from Wes that plots should post news stories to explain what is happening with their plots. I've asked the players that don't read outside of their plots "would news stories on plot arcs help you understand what is happening?" and they really do think they would.

I think putting a greater emphasis on news stories being made by GMs or their players should be pushed. During roleplay reviews one of the graded points can be if your plot had a news article/post written? Or if every mission a news post OR a report to command was required at the beginning, middle, or end?

Understanding what is happening outside of the plot you play/write in is something that this site is really lacking (ilu sarp but). I know it could help foster community at the cost of a little more work from a GM and/or their players. But who doesn't want to gloat and boast about your cool plot? It helps those outside your plot to know about it and for those in your plot feel like they're affecting the setting.

 

[Soban]

It would probably be every mission-ish. However, my observation is that the time scale of a mission tends to be months or years.

 

[Dana]

Devils advocate, but do you really want to add another task to being a GM?

 

[Ametheliana]

Devils advocate, but do you really want to add another task to being a GM?

Absolutely. Not every task done is energy wasted. If this was something truly useless or energy-consuming then my answer would have less conviction. But it is neither.

I've been doing these sort of news stories off and on for awhile and they give either great motivation if done at the beginning or middle or great resolution and closure at the end. As news stories can run from a paragraph to a whole scene, it's not a lot to ask for a GM to come up with a as little as they want about what is, to them assuredly, old news.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

A neat idea so long as its not forced upon GMs (more mandatory stuff is always a hard no for me, and some things really just dont fit a news story or make sense to have one even referencing vague events). Dont really know how to encourage others to do this tho other than ask frequently or pinging the GM tag in the discord frequently tho.

 

[Ametheliana]

A neat idea so long as its not forced upon GMs (more mandatory stuff is always a hard no for me, and some things really just dont fit a news story or make sense to have one even referencing vague events). Dont really know how to encourage others to do this tho other than ask frequently or pinging the GM tag in the discord frequently tho.

Graded points on roleplay reviews are not requirements ^0^ Just passing overall is. Plus that would make it something you only have to do once a season-ish.

I do agree not everything fits, that's why I decided to include after-action reports to command as another option.

I also don't know how to encourage GMs to do it. Maybe at the end of the year all of the news stories posted about missions could be put in a raffle to get scene art done of them as an incentive?

 

[Wes]

I like the idea of GMs putting News Stories (or some sort of report to Star Army Command) because it really helps us know what each other are doing in their plots. I wish I could read every post but it's not always possible and some sort of summary would be a huge help not just for me but for everyone I think.

That's a great question, Ame.

Also sorry for the slow reply, this got lost in my forest of tabs for a bit waiting for me to get to it.

 

[Andrew]

I think this is a great idea too. I've been making an effort to try and do some more of this myself, in terms of news.
i.e. The recent news about the SMX Battleship, and Yugumo Corporation Stuff. I have one in the works to announce the founding of the Sharie System, etc.

A few things on my mind on this:

• I think that news posts should go hand in hand with a timeline event on the wiki too.
• Maybe too have a separate "Mission Log" Sub-Forum, where GMs could write a brief "Captains Log"-style entry updating everyone on what their players are up to in roleplay. For the stuff that doesn't fit "News"

I'm all for this! Bring on the news.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

Ive already made my thoughts on this topic but just wanted to comment again cause a Mission Log kind of thing does sound interesting. Plots can be LONG in some threads and obviously it wouldnt be an entire debrief but a place where GMs could put such things (Like maybe a sub of the news forum?) and also use it to point at in places such as orders threads for merit and the like if GMs want to go so far as to point out individual actions in it as well.

Tho I retain the 'shouldn't be a requirement but instead just a GM/RP tool' stance~

 

[Commissar Farzi]

Gonna side with Charmaylarg on this-it's a good idea and offers some interesting ideas for roleplay as well-keeping people ic informed of wider events is always nice, but should be in the vein of a tool rather than mandated.

After all, no one's gonna care about little Jack pulling a plum out of that pie he stole from Mrs. Horner. Not unless he decided to go on a Kill Bill style rampage for it.

 

[Wes]

I really like this suggestion and I was hoping it would get further, and I voted for it, but the score shows it's not that popular. Maybe it was the phrasing or GMs feel overwhelmed already. Moving to closed suggestions.

Note that you can now use AI to summarize your RP threads into new stories, so it's not necessarily a lot of work...