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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 17:44

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

Jan-4-2006 18:08

LOL!

I'm tagging along...

Maybe 2 singles and 2 multi's for each at one time?

Jan-4-2006 18:27

I think people are missing the point here with trying to fudge around with the number of hunts allowed, or size of agencies allowed, etc.

Sleuth is a game to be played for fun. For the friendships and for enjoyment of solving the case.

The competitive side of things is something measured in points. Right now there is a top ten list of agencies (overall and per city) and fame points are the only thing that matters in that ranking.

If Ben (based on the input he gets here from the Sleuth community) thinks that there should be other ways of ranking agencies I am sure he will do it. There were lots of other suggestions made that Ben decided not to implement for his own reasons.

I will bring up a point I made before about there should be an overall listing for agencies, so we see the small ones start up and can welcome them. I will start a new thread along those lines.

This reply has been deleted by a Moderator

Jan-4-2006 20:56

*carefully edits her wayward thoughts that may have been more of an attack than an actual grown up conversation*

Ran, I don't really think this is about rankings as much as it is about what is ethical and allowable.

You are right; it is a game. And having fun should be the top priority. Part of playing a game is to come up with ways, within the guidelines that are set to gain an advantage, while working as a team. Agent rotation was never outside the rules set forth. There were two rules that governed agencies, besides the basic necessity of needing to be subscribed. Beyond that, working to advance position was a matter of strategy.

There are players and agencies that choose not to pass share or agent swap for their own personal and perceived integrity. I commend those who make that choice for sticking to their convictions. However, I do not think they have a right to be upset with those who choose to think outside the box, but within the rules when playing the game. IT IS A GAME. The object is to, yes, have fun, but also reach goals.

I have no issue with the rule change itself. I see it as one more twist to the game to work with and challenge strategy. I am a little disappointed in the way it came about. Mojo has worked hard, as a team, and gone through plenty of growing pains, just like any other agency, and has earned its position on the top five. My hat's off to Eye Spy. Thanks for keeping us on our toes! ;)

(And yes, I am addressing Mojo specifically for a reason. I think I deserve the opportunity to respond to accusations that may have been made against myself and fellow detectives.)

That said. I am finished with my rant and ready to put out a contract on one of the waiter’s friends or family members….

Jan-5-2006 09:17

The community has a split between some people finding agency rotation over the line. Others that find it a strategy and as part of the competition. I see good arguments on both sides on why you should do rotation, or why you shouldn't. The problem is, that to create a fair competition, we need to be on the same page. Otherwise you get situations, where some agencies stay at 11, and others grow as big as they can find members.

What this inherently will mean is putting a cap on the max number of agents playing for a single agency. This is a good idea. Same as I like the fact that you purchase an agency that holds X members, and there is not an agency for sale at the real estate agent that holds 15,20, or limitless.

An agency builds itself until the point of 11, then maintains itself at 11, and competes with other fully built agencies of 11 detectives. Winning the competition then becomes simply a combination of management, luck, and time investment. And not a competition of who has the most agents. And creating a situation where winning a hunt becomes a situation where you can compete requires instead of 11 members....to have 15,20,25 whatever.

All and all I think the technical rules that Ben implements will enhance the actual competition by taking the "biggeST" agency advantage out. Will prevent making recruitment even harder then it already is.

The idea of having hunts for smaller and larger agencies has come up before as well. I think implementing this becomes very hard if the 11 cap wasn't there. You can't support super agencies and the split of small and large agencies. As the definition of a large agency becomes unclear if the number of members are limitless. An agency of 11 could be considered small.

All and all, I personally like the clarity that Ben gives here. And I think recruitment and competition, and health of the community wise...it's the most sane thing to do.

Jan-5-2006 09:28

Yes I am sure that people that are in the pro-rotation camp, find this change crap.

But look at it this way. I once had the banker and the barber as a contact in NYC. One day I woke up, Ben made a change, and I got the banker and the bartender as a contact. Just because some community members decided that some people having 2 PE contacts gave an unfair advantage.

Who needs a bartender if you gotta barber. :)

Jan-5-2006 12:07

My final post on this matter.

Ben is not banning rotation, he is not stopping it at all.

The new rule only deals with importing favors. We can still import detectives in the middle of a hunt.

The rules change and we move on, no hard feelings.

Jan-5-2006 13:41

lol no but you know what I mean. Otherwise this wouldn't be such a long thread. :)

Jan-5-2006 13:46

Can I get a quick clarification from Ben?

Do you lose your favor when you leave an agency?