The Newspaper Idea.

[ffcmike]

This is something first brought to my attention as a joke on the GC forum, rather than a serious suggestion.
But having given it some thought, and discussed it, i really like the sound of it.

I am aware that atleast one other server has its own type of newspaper, although i have no idea what it looks like, how it works, who runs it or what type of articles it publishes.

Anyway the proposal i'm hoping would be well recieved is quite simply to have a player + staff ran "Media Outlet".
There'd be a building which includes levels for "journalist" offices, with all the appropriate NPC characters for those involved, and a printing room containing a supposed production line, but ofcourse all of this would be an unimportant display.

The real business would be staff and players alike writing articles,
covering such things Development Updates, Staff Hirings, Events + Competitions (Monthly Spar for example), general gossip, interviews, random stories and general Graal news, and what we'd end up with as a Newspaper weapon NPC for players to buy.

There would have to be someone with reasonable scripting ability to put the articles in place and handle each release, but apart from that it could be entirely player handled, there could be an unofficial staff team, perhaps with a local guild tag who would do things like ask staff questions or hold interviews, but then anyone else could be free to submit random articles.

Firing the NPC would bring up a display onto the screen, and you would be able to scroll through the pages each showing a headline, the article text, and perhaps a picture.

There are quote alot of potential positive effects this could cause, such as:
Staff > Player communications could be improved.
Any person would be free to become involved with the project assuming they are capable.
Something refreshing/new could be provided on a frequent basis.
It could provide an aspect inwhich to include in an economy/businesses setup.
There's the possibility of the Newspaper being used as a collective objective inwhich to later obtain something of reward (promotions etc).

There has been a little work put towards this already just for the sake of demonstration, i think it's something realistic that could be maintained, but ofcourse it's important that this is something everybody would want in the first place, now yes this idea has nothing to do with gameplay, but it could ultimately be a positive step for the server, how many people feel that this is something worth pursuing?