Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Mar-16-2007 15:34

I was thinking of getting survelance instead of advanced thread analysis. Instead, I could get a thread contact for every city. I already have Delhi's and Shanghi's. Is this a good idea?

Mar-17-2007 00:11

Your approach totally makes sense, but like mistah Serges said, hand-picking contacts (or gender-selecting them like some disavowed doctor) can really be a hassle. Check out Greyling's bio for proof of that :) In the time it takes you to get those contacts, you could easily stack up enough skill points to get both.

One thing to keep in mind is that surveillance is great when it works, but it doesn't work all the time. There are some theories out there as to how to make it most effective, but they kind of contradict one another (use it early/use it as a last resort; smart gear helps/ smart gear doesn't really matter too much). Someone should jump in and correct me on this if they think otherwise, but I feel like most people say it's a skill that works 50% of the time at best, whereas adv thread analysis is just always working for you in the background...like a really unobtrusive little butler monkey who is totally on your side.

(dig the detective, detective happy thing btw :) )

Mar-17-2007 09:56

the only thing that I'm scared of is if I get advanced thread, than I might not be smart enough to analyze the other pieces of evidence every time. Does that make sense? Like right now, I know I'm going to be able to analzye most of the pieces of evidence (left handed, curly haired, heavy person). With the advanced thread analysis I will know that the guilty suspect is heavy, left handed woman, but have no idea what hair she has. or does it now work that way?

Mar-17-2007 10:30

Nope, having the advanced thread skill doesn't detract brain cells from your other crime scene skills - you'll simply stand a better chance of getting detailed information about threads without it hurting your chances with the other PE you find :)

Mar-17-2007 11:33

Oh, thank you Crunch! Ok, then I will get the advanced thread skill, and not worry as much about which contacts I get. Thanks again!! :-)