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I noticed that recently both the Gogo identity thread and the Last Elixir threads have had some traffic. This led me to thinking; rumors used to be such a commonplace thing in the videogame world. When games were simpler, there tended to be a lot more open-endedness, which gave rise to all sorts of rumors, many of which have been discussed or even covered in FAQ sections on this site. What is it about rumors like these that makes them so interesting to us?

But do rumors really exist anymore? As game developers become more thorough, it seems like less is left is the players' imaginations. Is there anything in the current generation that can be considered analogous to the rumors surrounding Aeris' or General Leo's revival? I'm not really one to answer that question, as I don't play as many videogames anymore, so I'm interested to see what you all think.

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I think for this to work there needs to be a big active fanbase. There can be loads of ideas in games but they don't get the same attention as Aeris or Leo because there's not enough chat about it, starting the rumours.

If you're talking post FFVII there's a ton of these kind of things in Deus Ex in 2000 and definitely an active fanbase even now. A lot of character motivations and events are unclear but still enough is given to build some kind of idea of what's going on. So this is more like Gogo's identity and less like Aeris or Leo. Each ambiguous thing will have rumours attached and people will say they've heard NPCs saying X Y or Z. Four things below that I can think of off the top of my head.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Ok, a lot more like Aeris and Leo, I think the majority of first time players will escape out the window in Paul's apartment when it's attacked. Doing this will mean he died in the attack and JC finds his body later. However if you stay and fight he survives. I think new players will treat this as a rumour and follow it up but it's not quite the same level as Leo or Aeris.

There's a few mentions of an affair between actress Maggie Chow and JC's brother Paul that doesn't quite get explained but you can sort of work out how it went and how they broke up. There's an email in his flat from 'Sweet Charity' that's either a porno or another woman or Maggie Chow. I think it's cool because it's a bit like the information we get in the real world of our siblings' relationships (I don't necessarily mean by secretly going on their email or Facebook). In a discussion people will pitch in with stuff they've seen in the game and some of it is total bollocks from what I understand.

Also the level of connection between the NSF and Morgan Everett is never quite explained. He calls them into Paris at one point which might mean he's been supporting them in the US, and it might mean the NSF is one of his tools entirely.

There's not really an explanation for why Manderley shoots at JC in the back when he tries to leave the last time from UNATCO. Manderley has been shown to protect Paul and JC from Walton Simons, and although he's seen to be weak in the end his failings in terms of leadership and morality are mostly from buckling under pressure I think. So when he shoots at JC it's not clear whether he's feeling betrayed personally or he feels he has to do it for his superiors. Up until that point he seems to admire both of them and wants them to succeed a bit like a father-figure in the beginning.

Oh and for a fifth thing there's a rumour of a safe in Manderley's office that's behind his bookcase but you can't get to it without cheats. I've seen someone posting an image from the level editor that shows it but I don't know if that's an outright fabrication or the real thing.

I've seen these things discussed on fan forums and I've talked about it with friends as well. There are a more but that's enough to be getting on with. Like I said it's definitely not at the same level as Aeris' revival.

Another one could be the G-Man sightings in Half-Life 2? People will say they've seen him and it's rumoured he's here and all that kind of thing.

That's all I've got right now.


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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

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What is it about rumors like these that makes them so interesting to us?

The allure of mystery. The excitement of potential discovery. The spirit of adventure.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 24th February 2012 05:59

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