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Aug-27-2004 15:46

Since I have heard that there is a certain agency here at Sleuthsville that is signing on brand new characters for the sole purpose of joining other agencies to come in and steal four expensive pieces of equipment, I have setforth a brand new rule in our agency to check out newbies before bringing them in, and this is the new rules made at LONE WOLF DETECTIVE AGENCY, as follows, to-wit:

The agent trying to join must send me an email by using their real email that they sign on with to play Sleuth here, and to verify that they are who they say their character is, they must give me the following information:

1) Character name
2) Time Zone-State or Country
3) First Initial and last name
4) Contact (Banker, Shoe Maker, Barber, or Tailor)
5) Experience points, and skills
6) What they do for a living
7) What time of the day they will be signing on.

And anyother information that will help, that way, if there was a problem with this person, we can give the info to Ben and/or Sunny, so he can follow-up on our request, to take care of the problem at hand. I feel, if the person is honest and their intentions are straightforward, then they will not mind to give the information requested in order to join an agency that will protect them in return. I hope others will consider what we've decided to do.

Aug-27-2004 17:52

Thanks DaRu, you rule!!!!!!!!!!

You know, frankly I am disappointed we are having a discussion as to the best tactics to keep the baddies out.

As for my messages to the bad guys. I hope you are enjoying this game, quite sad actually that you can not play this game without it being at cost of others. Too bad, you are missing out on a great game, with a great community.

Aug-27-2004 18:30

What are your agency rules for promoting rookies? That seems like a way to screen out the overt scamming described above. You can still share cases - but the key to the equipment locker (not to mention the executive bathroom) has to be earned through service to the agency.

I also think private chats among directors to give heads up on potential 'artists' would be useful. It has always seemed rude to ask, but we would be happy to 'furnish references'.

Aug-27-2004 21:16

I too doubt that people will want to give personal information. But any efforts to work together are a good idea. I can suggest two things:

1) A place to report characters that do this, perhaps even on this message board, although there should be consequences if you falsely accuse someone for the sake of slandering them. That hitch aside, the names of characters doing this will be known to everyone, and if it's a few human culprits, it will certainly cost them a lot to keep on buying new characters.

2) Asking Ben to ban the IP addresses used by these clowns.

Aug-27-2004 21:45

ben's already stated the problem to banning ip addresses, so that's a last choice kind of thing

Aug-28-2004 02:49

We keep people on rookie for a while. If they have been working well and serve the agency for a while and it looks like they can be trusted we promote them.

Aug-28-2004 04:25

i agree with bigdoc. keep them as rookie for atleast a month. if u suspect someone of stealing kick them out and when u see he/she joined another agency tell the directors about it and let them decide what to do. atleast that what i'm doing.
we were also robbed twice, once by a director! grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Aug-28-2004 13:50

Well now that is something we *can* work together on. It is simple one of the reasons why we never let someone stay rookie for a month if they work their ass off....as they may leave the agency for another that does offer a low threshold of becoming an agent.

However, if we all institute this rule, then that would problem would be gone. Dare I ask for a show of hands?

Problem is, even with a months rookie status...some thiefs would be *that* patient.

Another idea is. Is to have certain items in the locker for agents. And other items that can only be used by officers and directors. Then you can be more selective, and only allow agents to use equipment you can easily replace.

Aug-28-2004 14:03

I don't know, it seems like maybe keeping them as a rookie for a month is too long of a time. I would suggest a week or two. The reason being that they could be held back from working more difficult cases by not having better equipment. Does that make sense, or would this shorter time period not deter thefts?

Aug-28-2004 15:21

I am sure, people who like to snoop on agencies or rob them blind would love that. We have done 1.5-2 weeks and got robbed blind, spied on by someone etc.

I for one would be really surprised if you had no experience with it. We all have, though in a different ways perhaps.

Aug-28-2004 16:02

We're a newer agency, about 3 weeks old, so to me it's not surpising that it hasn't happened to us yet. However, I'm sure it's only a matter of time, and I have no pretense about us being immune to it.

Because I am new to directing an agency I wasn't sure about what time frame would work best. Obviously you would know better than me, as you have been a director for much longer. I am perfectly willing to go along with and uphold whatever time frame the majority of directors think is best.