Let us talk about rumors. Rumors in the Real World, rumors among the ME
community and game rumors.
Schools and workplaces are often awash in rumors. Around the water
cooler you hear that Old Joe is getting promoted or transfered several
days before the official announcement. In the Byzantine seraglio-like
atmosphere of many a large bureacracy, an astute individual can can
sometimes advance his career with such foreknowledge.
Of course, rumors can be false. An example of an incorrect rumor would
be the British "Man Who Never Was" that deceived the Nazis into thinking
the Allies were going to invade Sardinia instead of Sicily.
Our terrorist foes are enthusiastic generators of false rumors.
Something along the lines of: "Osama is going to his grand-daugher's
birthday party at such a place and time". These serve to disperse
efforts against them, confuse decision makers, create stress among
allies, and generate headlines that hamper the fight against the
terrorists. They can also be used to identify just who is supplying the
Americans with information. In the tradecraft this is sometimes called
the "gilded canary".
In the ME community the 'Olde Tymers' can be likened to a series of
interlocking circles. You know a guy in the States who knows a guy in
Denmark, who knows a Scot who knows a Welshman who talks to the folks in
Cardiff frequently. I have used these chains to conduct ruses in the
past.
In any event, rumors drift up and down this chain, sometimes sputtering
out along the way. One recent rumor (unconfirmed) is that the folks in
Cardiff are being advised, in Kinstrife creation, by a coule of active
players whle input from the general membership is not received.
In our ME games we all receive rumors in the form of 'Nation Messages".
Almost always these rumors are true. There has been, indeed, an
encounter, goldshipment, etc. Sometimes you will get false rumors.
Presumably they have been generated by emissary order 580. You will get
a Nation Message that Elrond has an encounter at hex 3333 while your ally
gets the message that Elrond's encounter is at 2424. Elrond definately
has an encounter but just where? The end result is that the opposition
seldom acts on the information and Elrond is safe, thank you.
Order 580 tends to be underutilized. Probably because you have no
control over what is said or who gets the rumor.
While I know there are people who want this game to move even further
along the chess-like strategy game route and care nothing about the
'fog-of-war', if this game is to remain a wargame the fog-of-war must be
retained and even enhanced. It seems to me that order 580 would greatly
enhance this fog with a modification.
The order could have a required field. Two, four or five digit places.
A two didgit entry says which nation (1 to 25) gets the rumor--whatever
it may be. A four didgit entry generates a rumor about a specific hex.
Again, no control over just what is happening at the hex. A five didgit
entry generates a rumor about that particular character. Don't know
where it is going nor what the character is supposedly doing.
Ed Mills
