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Sep-19-2005 16:53

Sleuth Admin (Ben) has agreed to do a short interview with me. You may post any questions you would like me to ask Ben here.

No personal questions or stupid questions.

The best ones will be answered by the Sleuth Admin!

Sep-19-2005 17:23

I definitely think Andrea brings up a valid question, that I have asked myself many times. Do the frequent requests (50% of sleuth talk at the least) for new additions.......annoy him.

Sep-19-2005 17:23

It asks for a PC answer. Though. :)

Sep-19-2005 17:25

I'm kind of nervious to ask that question, Jstkdn, because I think most of us only talk about these things because we love the game so much. And if Ben doesn't like it, I'll feel bad.

Sep-19-2005 17:26

*nervous

Sep-19-2005 17:57

One more question: "Can there be a part in our Detective page where we pick our favourite threads from the boards? Like Moderator Picks, but our picks so we can remember them and keep them saved?"

Sep-19-2005 17:59

OK, OK. Bad idea. Then there would be no point for Moderator Picks for even being on the boards. Forget that question.

Sep-19-2005 20:21

Sir Andrew, if it were for your own reference, I think it would be useful. Kind of like a mini "favorites" or bookmark like you have on your web browser.

I think I know the answer about the fez already. I think Ben no longer owns it : ( If memory serves, when we first started the thread about the sleuth convention, and then Ben invited people to come to a NYC meeting with him, someone asked if we would recognize him by his fez, and he said he didn't have it anymore. Shocking, I know, but...

Perhaps it was part of the costume he had for that spy party which seems to have provided many of the first photos for the game?

And as for suggestions, Ben hasn't snipped the thread on his admin section where he asks what we think will make the game more fun, so I imagine he still wants suggestions, even if he will only take up the ones he wants to/ thinks are good/ fit with his vision of the game/ he has time for...

For example, I know the bloodhound was the result of someone's suggestion, as was the expansion to include cities besides NY.

But it would be interesting to hear his response to the suggestion question in any case.

Jojo, I've gotten you my questions already. Unless I think of more, that is : )

Sep-19-2005 20:22

By "Ben's admin section" I meant "Game Announcements."

Sep-19-2005 22:08

What does Ben (& Sunny) see as the direction of Sleuth long term, more team play or more individual "free agent" play?

Sep-20-2005 02:13

I am not sure what jojo has in mind, when he selects his questions in the end. There are a lot of interesting questions we can ask. I know that Ben reads sleuthtalk closely. The ideas, and what the community says about them. He implements if they are good, if they can be coded, and if it is with the amount of time he has feasible. I think letting Ben work off a list of ideas for additions to sleuth in an interview, maybe lets us miss an opportunity.


The questions that I submitted to jojo are ones that I have been wondering about for a while:
1. How did he come up with the idea of sleuth?
2. How did he find his original beta testers? When did it stop being beta? (i.e. a short history of sleuth)
3. What did sleuth look like, when it originally went live, how does it differ from the current game?
4. How did Ben and Sunny meet?
5. Where does he get all the pictures for equipment and avatars from?
6. Does Ben know anyone personally in sleuth?
7. Now that sleuth has been live for a while. What were surprises to him?
8. What is he the most proud of in terms of sleuth?
9. How many hours did it take him to build sleuth, both old and new version? Did any of his friends help him?
10. Does sleuth take a lot of his time? Does he have to log on daily? How does he find out when the site is down? Phone messages via monitoring system, emails, or by manually checking?
11. Does Ben have all the hardware in his home, or does he have a host elsewhere?
12. What are his sleuth plans for the future, if any?
13. What determines the amount of skill points you have, experience, and what else? It has turned in to quite a discussion, as people with the same experience have a different amount of skillpoints. Personally I'd only like to know the answer, if it does not ruin the game. I.e. give an advantage gathering skill points, just because you know a trick.