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Oct-1-2009 22:03

Do you have what it takes to outlast all others? Do you think you can rise above the rest and stand out as the ultimate contender? Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to Survivor: Sleuthville!

10 Detectives enter, face off against each other in a different challenge every week, and the last left standing will be crowned Sleuth Noir Survivor! The winner will walk away with a one-year subscription to Sleuth Noir and bragging rights over the entire community. The rules are simple:

1. The first ten Detectives to post an entry will be entered and placed on two teams of five.

2. It's advisable to be subscribed. Some of the challenges may require travel, and if you can't participate, it's likely your team will vote you off at elimination. I won't bar anyone based on this, but it's your call.

3. The losing team at the end of each event will have to vote off one member. To do that each team member will submit a PM to me, which will remain anonymous with the name of the person he or she is voting for, and a short reason why. It can be as simple as-

Name: Heimlich VonVictor
Why: He didn't write any of the poem. It's no wonder we lost!

4. Challenges will be one week long and a winner will be announced at the end, in the event of a tie, a coin will be flipped.

5. Anyone may enter including mods, editors, or even Ben and Sunny themselves if they so choose.

6. The contest will begin when all ten detectives have entered and been placed on teams. It will conclude after nine weeks of elimination challenges.

That's all! Get out there and outwit, outplay, and outlast!

Oct-31-2009 17:25

Hi! Could I please have a minute of your time? Thank you very much!

I would like to take a time out right now. And please, even though it may seem a bit strange, just play along with me. Thanks! :D


Everyone, take a deeeeeeep breath. That's it. Deep. Now, let your mind relax. Stop worrying about the contest. Stop worrying about Sleuth. Stop worrying about work/school/ family/ friends for a moment. Picture a nice relaxing spot, and concentrate.

Feeling better? Good.

Now, Let me point out that this is a GAME. It is not a matter of life and death. It is something put out for our enjoyment. To use a cliche, "It's not if you win or lose, but how you play the game." So, let's stop and take a minute here to remember this is for fun! Not to get headaches and make divisions in the community- that would be a waste of time and effort! No, this is FUN! So, relax, do your best (because that's all anyone can really expect from you), and just have fun!

Oct-31-2009 17:52

To paraphrase the great Vince Lombardi, "If its not if you win or lose, why keep score?"

Seriously though, I agree with the above sentiment, the main rule in any competition I had was to have fun, if that rule is violated, its not worth it.

Keep up the good work Heim!

Oct-31-2009 21:42

Okay, I thought I said what I had to before, but I've found that some of the comments in this thread and some of the PM's that have been sent have upset several of the participants in this challenge. So I think I need to make several things clear. I'm sorry if this comes off as unkind to anyone.

First of all, Anais, thank you for that summation. This is a game. The point is to have fun, which at this point several people are not.

What you see is what you get. If something isn't stated in the rules or the parameters, it isn't part of the challenge. Who will be judging should not be an issue. Suffice to say I have a brain in my head and I know what constitutes a good quality entry as opposed to a poor quality entry. I also know who is qualified to judge which contests. Furthermore, I can usually spot if something is an issue and if there is an issue I will raise it.

If you are a participant and you have an issue with something, and you really honestly feel that it's something I hadn't thought of, then PM it to me. However, chances are if you thought of it, I probably thought of it too and decided this was the best way to do things. For example, this challenge originally was capped, but I decided that instead of going for the best of a select few, I wanted the participants to create a greater number of high quality introductions in the game.

If you are not a participant and you see something that you think would be a cool thing to implement or would like to use some of the ideas from this thread, then great! Just make sure you have the tribe members' permission, but I'm sure they would be happy to have the support! The more the community grows and develops from this, the better!

Oct-31-2009 21:50

If you are not a participant and you have an issue with a current/past challenge or the way a participant is playing, here's the bottom line: I really don't care. I am bankrolling this challenge out of pocket, I spent hours designing the challenges, I spend hours every week communicating with judges, typing up the new posts, and answering clarification PMs. I think I've earned the right to set the rules in this competition. Furthermore nobody has the right to make any participant feel unwelcome in this competition.

The point of this is to have fun and contribute to the community! So let's choose a set of rules, move forward, and have some fun with it!

Oct-31-2009 23:27

First, I would like to commend Heimlich for coming up with this contest. I can only imagine how difficult it is to make these challenges. Good job, Heim!

Second, personally, I prefer the first set of rules.

Let the challenge begin! ;)

Nov-1-2009 02:34


Heim, I reiterate, all your efforts are highly appreciated.

I host a role playing game outside of sleuth myself and I know the effort that goes into orchestrating such an interesting contest of this calibre.

Having said that, I prefer the second set of rules, by far...

Nov-1-2009 08:14

Heim, apologies if my above post gave too many unnecessary suggestions. You are doing a great job and in no way was i trying to criticize what you are doing. I guess some of us were just worn out from the last challenge so don't worry about our cluttering babbles, and just get on with what you have designed. Thank you for giving the challengers an option too, that in itself is already very kind.

Hosting challenges like this takes an herculean effort and what you've got here is amazing. Thanks!

I shall take a break this week and be a pom-pom bearing cheerleader and all :)

Nov-1-2009 17:59

So as of now we are tied at 2 votes for each set of rules. I still need to hear from Ms Helen and miss snopes before a decision can be made.

I also have two announcements to make:

1. I am going to be changing Challenge #5. After reviewing the plausibility with the way the teams fell and the restrictions I would have to place, I have decided to replace it with a challenge from the alternate list. Challenge #5 was originally going to be for the tribes to design a Youtube video to help advertise Sleuth Noir. Unfortunately, I would have to bar the Lenapes from using anything in their current video, and the Comanches would have to make a video with a much smaller tribe than I imagined. Therefore the challenge has been tossed and will be replaced with another.

2. This will be the very last "how many of" challenge. This is not a reflective decision, but rather one that I made when planning the challenges in the beginning. The idea was to have the hunt and gather, heavy production challenges at the beginning when tribes had more members and work could be distributed evenly, and transition into the more intently focused and creative challenges further down the road. Next week we will be moving into that array of challenges. So I'm sure that comes as a relief for some, and a frightening thought for others. Congratulations on making it this far.

Nov-2-2009 08:50

I guess my vote is going to be for #2 as this is most certainly not my "cup of tea" so to speak. As someone who has NEVER written an intro, the thought of writing 5 is exhausting enough for me personally especially just finishing the last endless challenge and recovering from the flu. It will take everything I can muster to write 5.

Nov-2-2009 10:22

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, miss snopes! The flu is not fun at all. Glad you are feeling better!