Right now, the following in game notifications types are used (off the top of my head): NEWS items, special log in announcements, regular visible log ins, visions/other targeted announcements that can be a bit more vague or pretty massively direct but are integrated into the flow of the game itself (criers and room messaging also hit here), and tweets.
The following out of game, but accessible to all players, notifications are also used: calendar announcements and forum posts.
As it stands, GMs pick and choose which versions are appropriate for which types of events as they run them, which does necessitate that a player is fairly proactive and on the lookout for all types of cues that an event is going on/is scheduled to happen. I have to say that in the time I've been with staff, out of the hundreds and hundreds of events that I've either directly participated in or directly watched happen, I can count on one hand the ones that were not invasions and used absolutely none of these notification methods, and that choice was made very, very carefully when it was done. This is not at all me saying anything disparaging towards players who miss these indications or even that there aren't other possible things we can come up with to make it easier for players to catch the notifications while not blowing story immersion (ideas are great, throw them at us!), but I do want to put it out that they exist and are very very heavily used, so that more people know where to look, and what to look for.
This next bit is for the off chance it helps anyone be able to find out more about events, or at least explains some of the thinking used behind each of the types of in game notifications. I've asked some questions too, and thank you to anyone who reads all of this and decides to give their input. It might sound hokey, but I hope that my candor below is taken in good faith like I've taken your comments above, because open discourse really does have the power to create positive change on all sides :D
Special log in announcements and visions/other atmospheric or room messaging announcements go directly into the main game window (the Story Window if you use SF). This is great because it is the one window we as GMs know everyone playing has open no matter what! This is less great because it is a very busy window, and a player could miss things in the scroll. Players who event frequently often combat the scroll issue with highlighting the names of GMNPCs that they have seen/heard of. This is a lot harder for a newer player or one who doesn't already have a hardline connection to events to do without some help, though, and I suspect this is part of the reason there is often a perception of some groups of players having special info. Talking to other players to get the names of GMNPCs can be hugely helpful here, as are Elanthipedia and any posts on the message boards about recent events. If there was a way we could allow you to echo these types of notices into another window in SF, is this something there would be interest in?
The truth is, special log in announcements are the absolute most commonly used thing that the Events team does to indicate an event is happening (provided it's one with a GMNPC, of course), and if a player notices them, they will instantly have a head's up that something is going on. I would give my rough estimation that over 90% of all GMNPC related events have one of these sent out at their start. In my particular case, I default to always using a special log in, and only don't do one if there is an absolute, immediate, and very compelling reason that it is a negative to the event to the degree that it outweighs the benefit of giving all players a very visible head's up. This is super rare, so I almost always use them. My biggest exceptions have been for putting out limited edition items, in which case I tend to alternate between log in messages for the shop owner and other in game announcements along with tweets to try to cover as many bases for how players might find out, so that no one type of announcement has undue advantage for a player.
Regular visible log ins are exactly like a player's log in, and show up in whatever window you have those set up to go to. These are fairly infrequently used, and are generally only done when a GMNPC is already expected to be somewhere due to calendar entries or other long standing notice, or they are coming to an otherwise scheduled and announced event as a 'surprise'. We really don't use this very much, but if a player wants to keep an eye out for it, highlights are again helpful, as well as having player log ins somewhere that is visible to you.
In game NEWS items are accessible by typing NEWS in game. These are used a lot like the calendar system in that only events that make sense to schedule publicly ahead of time are usually put in here. I'm the first to admit that I don't really use this system much, though I know other GMs who do. For events that it makes sense to publicly schedule, is this something you guys would like to see used more often?
Tweets are an interesting subject for me. Being perfectly honest, I was initially extremely wary about using tweets in Prime and held it as a necessary evil in Plat, seeing it more as rewarding people for checking out of daily RP instead of putting in the effort to pay attention to the game environment itself. My inner hardcore gamer pokes its head up like that sometimes and it isn't always the best headspace to be in, but I don't totally discount its advice either. I do think there is an important aspect to some types of events that they require a little bit of player effort to be involved in, even if that effort is just watching the main game window enough to notice when something like a special log in pops through.
That said, I also realize that players have lives and may miss the IG announcement because they logged in ten seconds later than it went out, not to mention that sometimes even when someone IS very attentive to the game, they just don't catch whatever other announcement was sent out. To this end, I have made an effort to tweet more in Prime, but I've stuck to doing this only for the types of events that are public enough/a big spectacle enough that it makes sense that just about anyone would find out that they're going on without even trying. To me, this is stuff like public performances or proclamations, public merchants, alterers who make a big scene, raffles, sometimes invasions, etc. Does this seem like a reasonable balance for when to tweet or not? If no, is there any suggestion for how to address concerns about constant tweeting devaluing and disincentivizing being alert and involved with the game environment and other players?
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