I'm not familiar with Dungeon World. It sounds like "fronts" are just the age old practice of throwing a bunch of things at the players and fleshing out things in response to what they chase after. Been doing that since the D&D Expert set introduced me to adventures not set in a dungeon!

But no, I wasn't suggesting this as a means of inviting the players to go off in a different direction. As I said, the intent was just to create a feeling that the world was large and existed independently of the PCs. To that end, you could actually say it runs counter to that to let the players pursue it as a plot line. Sometimes the unexplained remains exactly that - adds a sense of mystery to things.

Ahh, it's not quite like that but close enough. Sure, the technique has existed since the dawn of RPGs, but DW did a decent job of presenting it in a fresh and succinct way so I tend to point at that example amongst many. The intent behind the mechanic is indeed to let your world grow on its own and give it a depth above and beyond the present story, and things happen whether or not the PCs interact. This could have consequences, or not, but it's more fun if it does.

That should get you started.

It most certainly will, thank you! I want to jam in as many small 'pointless' things like this as possible so that the story doesn't end up feeling like it is on rails. I've been managing so far (making extensive use of the modular encounters in Suns, as well as just making some crap up), but they've been burning through what I can come up with rather quickly. This is extremely helpful.