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Jan-3-2006 16:27

Hi,

I want to give everybody fair warning. There will be two rule changes that effect agency favors and treasure hunts made in the next few days:

1) Detectives will lose any favor that they are holding when they join an agency. That is, if they have a favor available to them that they have not yet started, it will no longer be available after joining the agency.

2) Detectives will not be allowed to join an agency if they are currently working on a favor. They will be required to finish or quit that favor before accepting the invitation.

This is intended to cut down on the advantage that large super agencies (competitive agencies with sattelite non-competitive agencies) have over smaller agencies when competing for treasure hunts.

This change will probably go into effect on Thursday or Friday.

If you have any questions or comments about the need for this rule change, please post them here.

Jan-4-2006 15:57

Excellent decision, Ben :) After all there is a reason why there are different types of agencies and none of them have room for an unlimited amount of detectives :)

As for the 48 hour rule, I think most of us know that there are ways around that anyway, so it seems fair enough to me to make additional limitations for the general fairness of the hunts ;)

Jan-4-2006 16:05

As far as I know, there aren't any ways around it...

Jan-4-2006 16:27

Jojo I dont think anyone said this is cheating. To tell you the truth I wasnt even aware of the fact big agencies did that till now and now that I do know it I still dont care.

But I was a bit annoyed by the fact that FK dont seem to get hunts anymore.
We do our best, work hard and this rule will help us maybe get some chance.

Not everyone can afford the time and money for several detectives. And not every agency wants to ask their members for their password.
I dont say there is anything wrong with doing that. Some are more competitive then others.
But it will be nice to get a chance at hunts once in a while.
Even if you are small.

Jan-4-2006 16:29

Btw I remember an old suggestion about different types of hunts.
Hunts for big agencies who take longer to complete and smaller hunts available only for small agencies.
Maybe its worth looking into it?

Jan-4-2006 16:32

I'll agree.

I've been a huge supporter of the "smaller agency" treasure hunts, in which we can't compete.


As for affording time/money and asking for password...
Time is a key. No agency can be expected to win without an input of time. Money isn't hugely required to win a hunt. And I don't think any agency asks for passwords. It seems to be voluntary in them all.

It seems that there are simply a few people against it, and there is no lying that it isn't cheating. Frankly, I don't see how it bothers anyone. Either you are a competitive agency and you get hunts, or you are laid back and get one every once in a while.

Jan-4-2006 17:00

Reda! I know what thread you are talking about! It was one of the first large discussion I ever tried to participate in!! :D

http://newyork.hypoware.com/map/cityhall/post.spy?id=2389

Jan-4-2006 17:01

Although we are a big agency, our main problem is that our detectives are from around the world. We are never on at the same time. So this new rule, alhtough I didn't know it was already happening, will help us.

However, i am in favor of changing the treasure hunts so that only big agencys can do some, and small others. However, there could be a gray area as to what big is and what small is. Which could cause more problems.

Jan-4-2006 17:26

Rach, that is what Mojo is trying to accomplish now. We have managed to recruit several very good new detectives from all over the globe. That way when I am sleeping someone I trust with my password can be up and work the hunt for me.

I aggree with Jojo in that it is not money that allows bigger agencies to compete better in hunts. It is better management. You need to be organized and committed if you want to be an active agency and chase after hunts.

Hunting is not what every agency is about, nor should it be the end all of being in an agency. The key is to have fun and enjoy, this is a game. That is what we look for when recruiting for Mojo; we want good people that are fun to interact with and are good detectives.

I have read over some of the smaller agency thread and I think that there are just too many variables on what makes a small versus large agency to really have a good opinion on if that would work better.

One more thought on this after reading over the earlier referenced threads. This seems to come up after a break of some kind. It looks like school is out between Christmas and New Years, and someone gets frustrated watching an agency suck up a bunch of hunts during that time. Complaints flare up. Then school goes back in session and every thing evens out again.

I look at the top agencies now, what has stopped them from continueing to grow? Because everything goes in cycles. They were big and strong, now others are moving up. Later others that are not in existance now will rise even further.

Sleuth is a very addicting and fun game, hopefully we will continue to attact lots of new people who will come up with ideas we have not even dreamed of yet.

Jan-4-2006 17:35

If there were to be a big/small agency seperation, I would think that age, fame, and amount of members would be factors.

Age, of course, would determine experience as an agency. Fame would be the major factor, seeing as it really reflects the growth and prosperity of an agency, and member count would mean that more favors are open, so that would put you as a bigger agency.


I think maybe we should have single city hunts for smaller agencies and multi-city for bigger agencies.

But I don't think these rules are really helping much. No matter what, the bigger agencies with more active and more, overall, members will win the hunts. You can't expect to win one if you are small and don't have highly active members.

Jan-4-2006 17:44

*is joining a small agency if the big agencies can only participate in multi's*