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Unwritten Rules
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Logan Creed
Logan Creed

Nov-12-2006 21:22

In light of the recent comments on the message boards, it seems like the first question that needs to be answered is:

“Should players abide by rules created by the community?”

My opinion: No.

I believe I may be in the minority here, but I personally think the only rules that should be followed are those set forth by Ben and Sunny. This is their game. Given that there are currently 14,654 active players in the game, I don’t think the wish of the Community can be determined from the relatively small number of players that post on the boards. Especially, whenever a competitive element is involved (whether it be high scores, treasure hunts or fame), it does not seem appropriate that those who are successful are to be governed by those that they are competing against.

What does everyone else think?


Replies

BadAss
BadAss
Charioteer

Nov-12-2006 21:44

Define community :)

Arabella Parker
Arabella Parker
Well-Connected

Nov-12-2006 21:58

I think the rules need to be written out, and posted. Woody2 had to dig back to a thread from January of 2005 to find the rule about controlling 2 detectives in a single agency, and that rule is not clear on what controlling means.

I know Ben has also stated that password sharing is not against the rules, but where that thread is, I am not sure nor do I care to dig.
It is no wonder we keep having the same issues brought up over and over. Unless you want to dig through 1000’s of posts, you will never actually see any rules at all.

But to answer the question, should the community make the rules, or better yet, should the community govern itself and come up with it's own standards of play. I would say Yes. Without clear and precise directions, the community as a whole should govern themselves and the game play.


Ranier Peperhaut
Ranier Peperhaut
Washed Up Punter

Nov-12-2006 22:23

I tend to be on the no side. We all interact with each other in good spirit, and when we cross a line there are moderators there to tend to that problem, as well as other players to come to each others' defense. The mods are there to keep the community in line, and I am glad to have them.

The game itself however is still an individual game in my eyes. Each detective is their own detective. The detectives really only interact during treasure hunts (and of course the AVL league, but that is outside of this realm) and treasure hunts are only in the spirit of fun competition. Treasure hunts do not affect an individual detective, but rather the agency they are in.

Our detectives are only affected by how we ourselves play the game. How another person plays this game has no bearing on how well my detective does. Of course there are some High Scores which I will not be able to beat, but those are due to my own choices in game play - not devoting as much time as others, not wanting to manage as many detectives as others... but all of these are my individual choices.

I would hate to have to play the same way as everyone else does, considering there are so many of us on here, each with our own individual styles. I could understand it if there was some end to this game, some singular prize we were all competing for, but there is not. We are each here for our own reasons, whether that be to advance our detectives or make new friends and interact within the community.

But, again, my actual detective has no bearing on any other actual detective in this game. It is my actions within the community that affect others, and those are what need to be governed by the community. This is what the mods are there for, and they do a fine job of it.

cont... (I am long winded!)

Ranier Peperhaut
Ranier Peperhaut
Washed Up Punter

Nov-12-2006 22:28

However, in posts on those other hot topic threads, I have expressed that I don't necessarily know all the sides of everyone's story. I thank all those who have come forth and given me some insight, because it has certainly helped me to understand the emotions behind the recent posts.

I can certainly see both sides, and how people feel about them.

But still, overall, this game is individual in technical game-play nature and I don't think how one plays their game should be governed by how others play their game.

I think I would have a different opinion if my detective affected someone else's game, but it doesn't, as far as I can tell... It, again, is my actions within the community that affect others - how I speak to people, how I interact with people, etc.

This all being said, I am always open to hearing everyone's opinions, in hopes that I see something in a new light, or in a way I never thought of before.

Respectfully yours, Ranier (Candace)

jroepel
jroepel
Con Artist

Nov-12-2006 22:41

http://newyork.hypoware.com/map/cityhall/post.spy?id=3794
http://noir.playsleuth.com/map/cityhall/post.spy?id=10043

Ok i just went thru alot of messages and these are two of the threads that apply. one lays down the rules, and the other follows up on it and has Ben saying that password sharing is ok.


so the established "official" rules as we know them are:
1) The system will not allow a particular detective to join a particular agency more than once inside a 48 hour period. This does not stop a detective from quitting their first agency (agency A) and joining a second one (agency B) immediately, but if they want to return to agency A, they cannot do so within 48 hours of the last time they joined agency A.

2) A single player should not control more than 2 single detectives within any given agency. This has always been the semi-official policy, but I will start to enforce it more regularly.

3) Password sharing is ok.
=======================================================
I'm posting this because i think we need to have the official "written" rules down in front of everyone. Now we can post what all of the bloody "unwritten" rules are. If we are going to have this discussion, lets get everything out there.

reda
reda
Well-Connected

Nov-12-2006 23:25

Well said Ranier!

Lady Ruby Caplan
Lady Ruby Caplan
Well-Connected

Nov-13-2006 01:50

I have always maintained that Sleuth is a game that is playable at all levels and you can play it how you want.

The Sleuth community started small, as with small communities, there is a general consensus with how things are done.. unwritten rules as such. As that community grows more and more people challenge the status quo which, for better or worse, results in change.

I do NOT think a set of rules or guidelines needs to change Sleuth. I still think that Sleuth can stay a game that is playable at all level and how you want if there are a set of clear rules or guidelines.

I think time and time again, big debates could have been prevented by a set of rules and guidelines.

Here is a quote from another game I started playing that gives and example of rules that still maintain a flexible playing game:


"4. Don't abuse multiple accounts.

This is a tricky one. It's not against the rules to have more than one character per household, or per computer, or even per person. What is against the rules, however, is to have a bunch of extra characters that act as item or Meat farmers for your main character.
Here's a yardstick: If your main character is advancing at a rate faster than would be possible without multis, then you're more than likely in violation of this rule.

If you're abusing multis, and your behavior is noticed, all accounts other than what appears to be your primary will be disabled. If you make a bunch more multis and start doing it again, or if the first abuse we notice is really annoying or egregious, your primary account will be disabled. "
Policies of Kingdom of Loathing. I don't know if this is against copyrights? I hope not!


Now a lot of games have very strict multi character rules.
I'm not saying that we need that particular rule in Sleuth.. but I do think the time has come where the community has gotten so large that it's wouldn't be a bad thing to have rules and guidelines.


Lady Ruby Caplan
Lady Ruby Caplan
Well-Connected

Nov-13-2006 01:54

They set clear boundaries so that everyone in the community knows where they are and what they can or can't do. It also means that there is a way for repeat offenders to be removed for equipement stealing which I think is an even bigger problem.

Some might think it's a little sad that a community would need rules/guidelines, or that we shouldn't need them or that people should all get along, but in what community does this work? Not many and those it does work in are usually small, constant, insular communities.

Like I stated in the previous post, there were a LOT of ideas on ALL sides that I agreed on. However, I think once again, a community destroying debate has occured because of a lack of rules and guidelines.

Delvin
Delvin
Well-Connected

Nov-13-2006 03:36

I am no longer loggin in daily, so I am not sure what had prompted this post. But just to offer my personal opinion. Sleuth used to be a free game. A lot of the gamers has been around since the beta stage. Their opinion and comments about this game did in fact shape the rules of this game. As time goes, we have more and more players. We had players with lots of money, established agencys and exp. points and we have players that have nothing. I, myself, had some "problem" with some of the old-time players when I came up with some suggestions. Read this post http://noir.playsleuth.com/map/cityhall/post.spy?id=2389. We tend to have different opinion about how this game should be played. A lots of gamers would post their opinion on the message board regarding changes of certain rules. I had to agree with Logan Creed that only rules stated by Ben and Sunny MUST be followed by all gamers. But we should also pratice some self discipline about certain "unwritten rule", such as not trying to poach gamers who are already in an agency. The message board is simply a place whereby we state our opinion, Ben still have the final say. Sleuth started out as a very friendly game. Gamers from different agencys became "cyber friends" with no conflict of interest. This administrator has came up with some side game which is very competitive among gamers and agencys but I hope that all of us do not forget that this a nothing but a game. I had solve numerous cases, favors, a few treasure hunts and villian hunts, but my greatest reward here is getting to know some great cyber friends, one of them actually paid for my 1-year subscriptions, else I won't even be logging in every few days. Happy Sleuthing! :)

Hawkeye Harris
Hawkeye Harris
Battered Shoe

Nov-13-2006 03:52

* Ben & Sunny set the rules
* Jroepel has printed said rules in question (regarding hot issues)
* Nuff said, let's embrace each other's differences and play the game
* Happy sleuthing to all, and to all a good (night)(day)

PS: If these rules seem vague to some, perhaps Ben (wisely) does not want to micro-manage the players. Let's get on with it

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