Stop using staff blocks for everything.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by papajchris

People would complain about Newspaper boys/girls just as much.

I think you're missing the point Crono is trying to make. The complaint isn't about the amount of information that is being given, it is about the methods used to display that information. Staff blocks are a lazy way and they don't fit in with the theme of the server, where as paperboys/girls selling papers on the streets would. Currently you purchase newspapers straight from the Era News building, and this kind of transaction doesn't happen in real life, you buy papers from people selling them on the streets with little stalls, in shops, or you get them delivered. If there was various points where papers were sold on the streets, the NPCs could announce the latest headlines whilst shuffling in the "important" messages that the staff feel players need to know.

I'm going off on a little tangent here, but I believe that the Era News building should be reserved as a corporate area. I think that a job should be offered here too; delivering newspapers within a time frame, with the amount of time you take determining the amount you make. Imagine a little paperpersons job, similar to that of the letter delivering. Hell they could even give people little bikes after you've worked there a while and it'd be a good way of giving new players easy access to better transportation, also meaning that they don't just get plowed when they leave the hospital.

Originally Posted by papajchris

And why do all that work to the mall when its only temporarily down.

It wouldn't be a lot of work if generic systems came into play like the ones suggested by myself or Dusty, but again I wasn't really condemning the use of staff blocks, only encouraging them not to be used long term.

Originally Posted by papajchris

And not many read the news gui, else the block wouldnt be there. But sad thing, even WITH blocks there, people send them in incorrect some people are just....

This still doesn't justify the use of staff blocks in the middle of the setting for this purpose. When you play on a game, you don't see huge instructions placed in the middle of some random roof, because it ruins the setting. Whenever there is doubt players should always be checking the options.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by Rufus

Hell they could even give people little bikes after you've worked there a while and it'd be a good way of giving new players easy access to better transportation, also meaning that they don't just get plowed when they leave the hospital.

Changed my mind with this. To make the job a little less like mail delivery, you should receive a bike for the period of time in which you're delivering newspapers and then return it. Once you've done a certain amount, the Era News place could give you it as a gift to use outside of the job.

[natchez416]

Originally Posted by Rufus

Changed my mind with this. To make the job a little less like mail delivery, you should receive a bike for the period of time in which you're delivering newspapers and then return it. Once you've done a certain amount, the Era News place could give you it as a gift to use outside of the job.

I thought of an idea to make this idea possible while keeping it player run.
A player would be able to buy a month long subscription to era news. He pays, say, 1k for the month of delivery. This money is controlled by an NPC for the next month. The 1k is taken by npc and put in an npc bank account that neither customer or era news can access. For every paper that is delivered to the customers mailbox, 100g is automatically withdrawn from the npc account and given to the era news safe. At the end of the month the customer will receive the leftover money from the npc account. (if there is any)
Also something will have to be scripted to prevent the paper boys from delivering the same paper more than once.

This solves the problem of a customer paying for delivery, and getting ripped off by lazy paper boys. : )