[MUD-Dev] Rumours

[Adam Wiggins]

[Marian, on rumors:]
> that.  A relation between two famous people is just as interesting as
> a relation of one famous person with somebody unknown.  (e.g. the ru-
> mours about Hugh Grant  after he was caught with a prostitute and the
> persistent rumours about Michael Jackson).

Well, in particular 'taboo' or 'perverse' (as defined by a given society)
things tend to be quite rumor-worthy - in this case, a famous, married
pretty-boy receiving oral sex from a prostitute and a famous man and
various reports of pedophelia.  What this may be varies by society, and
that's where things could get interesting.  Inter-racial relationships
on a mud with diverse races, and the more diverse the races, the more
interesting.  Members of political factions falling in love - Romeo
and Juliette.  People of two vastly different ages, or poligamy are always
of interest as well.
This brings up the topic of unspoken rumors - 'I saw John the Mayor talking
to Jane the Mafia Boss!'  This is pretty easy to implement, since you
don't have to parse speach.

> To make the whole thing work  you probably need to have  rumours fade
> with time, or if they go round they won't get passed on again, unless
> they are really, really, juicy. Further should each inhabitant of the
> city have a choice of not further passing on the rumour (i.e. not be-
> lieving the rumour)  but this should be in relation to  the juiciness
> of the rumour and it's believability.  If you want to do it right you

Well, I'd think that it would tend to dead-end once everyone had heard it.
Rumors are only interesting the first time, in most cases.  Thus:

A: "Did you hear about the Mayor?  He was seen talking with the Mafia!"
B: "Really?  Wait till C hears about that!"

vs

B: "Did you hear about the Mayor?  He was seen--"
C: "Yeah yeah, heard about that from D."

> might have gossips who more or less believe and pass on anything they
> are told and sceptics who do not readily believe gossips.  And people
> have less chance of believing a gossip if they know of something even
> more interesting.

I guess your chances of beliving something are going to be based on your
conception of someone's reputation before you hear it.  If you heard
the rumor about John and Jane, above, and you've always known John to
be an incredibly honest and straightforward person, you'll probably dismiss
it (although John's reputation has probably lowered ever so slightly in
your mind).  If you already knew him to be somewhat of a shady guy,
then you'll end up just thinking "Oh, well that confirms it" and your
opinion of him drops quite a bit.  Plus, as you said, your own scepticism
and your belief about the reliability of the gossip.