Cults, Gods, Demigods and their creation

[andromeda_welles]

I'm a relative newcomer to manaworld, in that I've only been playing a couple of months. But the one thing that stands out to me about this game from others that I've played is the social side.

People seem to be a lot friendlier on Manaworld.

So what has that to do with the topic title? Well, I've discovered the not-so-secret society "The Dawn", which seems to be entirely player inspired.

I really like the idea that the players can generate social content for the game. Having the players create the basic storyline of the present world seems to me a great way of making the game come alive. Let the GM's create the coherent background to the world, and the main plot lines/quests in the present, but let the players create the incoherent social present.

So, the question becomes how to make this whole idea gel into something that can work from the GM's perspective but give the players some input into creation. It's next to impossible for the GM's to police the social aspects of the game, so it becomes difficult, I know, but this idea is actually about rarity - the rarer, the better, in some ways

Ideas:
1) The GM's should rename themselves as Demigods. Keeps the whole backstory consistent, but lets the GM's influence the current. Sounds cool, too - Demigods traditionally do the work of the Gods with their own awesome powers (if not quite god-like ones).

2) The demigods should occasionally find out what is happening socially - particularly when movements like "The Dawn" spring up.

3) When such an organisation does appear, the Demigods have the power to formalise that in the game world. How? How about an item that can be bestowed but never traded, so that the recipient is the only person who can ever use it. The item? A white robe, to be bestowed on the "propet" of such an organisation.

Just a little idea...