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Sep-3-2006 20:18

It seems to me that lately there have been new agents joining agencies to steal their equipment.

Is there a way to allow agents to "borrow" agency equipment, but at the time that they quit, the equipment is returned to the owning agency? The only equipment they can take is the one the came with.

I play another rpg, they are able to do this there. If the agency wants to give the member equipment, they simply unclick the "agency item" button. This is done by a director of the team.

Sep-3-2006 20:59

I know I am a tad old school here, but i think that issues like this are best dealt with in house if at all possible. Sometimes it is a simple misunderstanding and we end up having peoples names trashed only to find out later on that it was not them.

Also with the rash of new agencies popping up all over the place how do we decide what happens when two directors of a new agency disagree and then end up fighting on the boards over equipment and money as has been done in the past.

To me isues like this have always been in house issues, not the domain of public boards. I still think that way i guess and find that it is equally effective to warn people via pm, from director to director. Also using common sense is always good as well, for example if someone wants to join your agency and have been in 3 different ones n a week, there might be a good reason to say no to them, using the caution that CFM talked about above.

Sep-3-2006 21:04

Also, one possibility of dealing with issues like this would be to put up a directors lounge/board where agency directors could talk to one another without making a big issue out of things on the public boards.

Sep-3-2006 21:07

It's just for the sake of avoiding public fights that a retrieve gear option could prove itself useful. I don't see a problem why agencies can't get back waht belonged to them in the first place. So far the notification system seems to be operational but it would save us all a heck lot of typing messages if a simple security option could prevent that newcomers walk away with stuff.

History proved that some will never learn and for some reason will always take out of place satisfaction in ripping off others. I fear that's also a part of community dynamics.

Sep-3-2006 21:09

First of all, let me state that no one has stolen equipment from my agency. We have been fortunate to have serious, honest members.

My reason for suggesting an equipment tracking system is precisely to eliminate the misunderstandings, battles, public debates, etc.
If the equipment was returned to the agency automatically upon someone quitting or getting retired, there would be no reason to post threads, name trash or debate.

Sep-3-2006 21:09

Well, Kris just basically said what I was going to, but I will elaborate on my idea. To me, it seems like it would be a good idea to have a 'directors only' board, similar to the mods board. You can only post and view if you have director status. On this thread we would post any warnings about a given player without making that player defensive. I know there is a network through which PMs are sent, but I dont think they are sent to smaller agencies, which would be more deeply hurt by this type of betrayal. This board would reach directors of ALL agencies (assuming they read it of course). I do agree that trying to keep these things in house is a good idea, but I also believe that directors have a right to know about theiving detectives before having to learn it the hard way.

Sep-3-2006 21:13

Solve, I like the idea of automatic returning of gear ONLY if there is a way to mark it as agency property. I know that I would be upset if I came into an agency fully clothed, and left nekkid...

Sep-3-2006 21:13

To give credit where it is due, the idea of a directors board or lounge is actually a very old one i came accross earlier this week, when digging for info to answer a question in the newbie board.
http://noir.playsleuth.com/map/cityhall/cs/post.spy?id=1534

So yes, it was Chron's idea a long long time ago. Might be a good one now though if we consider the number of new and smaller agencies popping up.

Sep-3-2006 21:14

Awww, and here I thought it was my idea. :( Great minds think alike huh Chrone? ;)

Sep-3-2006 21:19

Autumn,
Absolutely, the agent would own what they brought in and what the agency "gave" them.

Only equipment belonging to the agency would be returned to the agency.

Sep-3-2006 21:25

I am not sold on the idea of a "come back button" for gear for an agency. I think that we need to suffer the consequences of our actions with our detectives. If we trust the wrong person, it is on our heads to live with it.

That said I think that there should also be a private conversation with the detective in question. Not a quick 5 minute conversation but a chance for both sides to review what happened and try to come to an agreement.

Then it should be made public if no agreement can be reached. That way each director is responsible for his or her own actions, and if we post about a problem detective we will be answerable for our posts.

Also the affected detective gets to publicy make their point on what happened and the community overall can judge for themselves on the idea of hiring that detective for their own agency.