Letters are a big part of this game... it's pretty much the only way to interact, in character, without being in front of someone. The IC/OOC divide strains because IC letters arrive as OOC email, and often, people will want to send responses quickly. However, in nine months (wow) of game time, we've largely worked this out, with new people either inquiring as to how messages work or picking it up from IC conversations or checking the wiki.
One thing that seems to confuse some people, however, are the Greens. They view them either as a medieval email server or as a network of spies, neither of which are entirely accurate. Instead, I would like to use the Greens as an example of how Lloegyr works when you're not looking.
When you send a message, I assume it arrives by the Greens. If you want to send it by some other method, you better have some other method bought and paid for on your sheets... otherwise, your message has just gotten the storytellers attention. Not sending a message through the Greens is like refusing to use the postal service or UPS/FedEx for your mail: sure, maybe you don't want one of those organizations handling your mail, but how are you going to send it? Unless you have a named messenger or some sort of holding that can be used for such a thing, I assume that the message travels by the Greens.
And most of the time, nothing happens. The Greens are good at their jobs, and they hold a place in the world.
But when something happens, it's not that there's a network of spies or a plot device. What I do is I take a character, either PC or NPC, and they do something. There's named Greens out there... you've met some of them at game. They have fears and desires and flaws and virtues like any other characters. And sometimes a message ends up in their hands.
Every letter is a story, and the Greens are part of that story. I understand that your character might not want the storyteller messing with any of his or her letters. Understandable... but how important is it to your character? Is it more important than that +1 to hitting something with your sword, or convincing someone that you're not lying? Because there are characters out there who are trying to do things, and sometimes they come into conflict, and my job as a storyteller is to resolve what happens when one character comes into conflict with another, and be fair about it... not to minimize the opportunities for these conflicts and stories to occur.
A lot goes on with the Greens, and with letters in general. It's no so hard to keep a particular message from falling into the wrong hands... reserve that effort for when it's important, and when it's not, enjoy the story.
One thing that seems to confuse some people, however, are the Greens. They view them either as a medieval email server or as a network of spies, neither of which are entirely accurate. Instead, I would like to use the Greens as an example of how Lloegyr works when you're not looking.
When you send a message, I assume it arrives by the Greens. If you want to send it by some other method, you better have some other method bought and paid for on your sheets... otherwise, your message has just gotten the storytellers attention. Not sending a message through the Greens is like refusing to use the postal service or UPS/FedEx for your mail: sure, maybe you don't want one of those organizations handling your mail, but how are you going to send it? Unless you have a named messenger or some sort of holding that can be used for such a thing, I assume that the message travels by the Greens.
And most of the time, nothing happens. The Greens are good at their jobs, and they hold a place in the world.
But when something happens, it's not that there's a network of spies or a plot device. What I do is I take a character, either PC or NPC, and they do something. There's named Greens out there... you've met some of them at game. They have fears and desires and flaws and virtues like any other characters. And sometimes a message ends up in their hands.
Every letter is a story, and the Greens are part of that story. I understand that your character might not want the storyteller messing with any of his or her letters. Understandable... but how important is it to your character? Is it more important than that +1 to hitting something with your sword, or convincing someone that you're not lying? Because there are characters out there who are trying to do things, and sometimes they come into conflict, and my job as a storyteller is to resolve what happens when one character comes into conflict with another, and be fair about it... not to minimize the opportunities for these conflicts and stories to occur.
A lot goes on with the Greens, and with letters in general. It's no so hard to keep a particular message from falling into the wrong hands... reserve that effort for when it's important, and when it's not, enjoy the story.
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