Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Sleuth Talk

Nov-14-2006 21:04

There's been a lot of arguing recently on these message boards. Both sides of the recent argument had good things to say, but it was disguised by the many, many bad things everyone else had to say. A simple question was hijacked and a simple issue was blown way out of proportion with devastating results.

I'm not a big socializer. I don't often post on these boards. I don't PM or chat much with anyone outside of my agency. So I don't really know any of the people who participated in these debates. I am not going to judge or blame anyone for anything. I am just going to tell you my opinion as someone who didn't notice the debate until it was over.

Whether I agree or disagree with either side, the truth is what happened over the past few days should not have happened. This game is fun for me because of the game itself. Some players don't care about experience points and high scores. Some players do care. You know what? Both sides are right.

It does not truly bother me that one person uses his available resources to take an advantage over others. That actually seems very American to me (I don't know if he is American or not, but I am, so I can't complain about his actions). While it may not have been the fairest way of gaining experience, it did not bother me, because it did not affect me.

What did bother me was that people seemed personally offended and affected and outraged by this. It did not affect anyone else's gameplay at all. If you don't like that it happens, then don't put any faith into the high scores. Other than that, it does not affect you.

The debate started out fine, but then it became nothing more than "you people are cheaters" "it's all this person's fault" "I don't agree with this person's opinion, which means they're wrong". These were cheap, personal attacks that had no place in this venue. It belonged in a dark alley with a pair of brass knuckles bought from the detective shop.

Nov-16-2006 12:03

Hi there. Actually, Sir, I read your posting about twenty minutes after it was published.
My posting in the other thread was meant to be taken as a warning, not a threat. I said, ....'to the people who are attacking the former ERF team..."You're going down a very, very dangerous road, and you will not like the outcome." ' What I meant by that is this: the Sleuth community has been down the same road repeatedly in the last few months, with heartbreaking results. People have been shattered, torn apart, at each others' throats, and at war with each other for months now. Many in this community are either rapidly running out of patience (including yours truly), or have given up entirely and left. So, if you choose to take my words as a threat, so be it. I'm hoping people will see them for the warning it was intended to be, and change their ways. (Shrug)
Either way, this community cannot continue as it has been. Too many people have been hurt, and there has been too little change to show for the damage. Regardless of who's to blame, what the 'issues' occuring in the game are, and whatever else people can come up with, there needs to be fundamental changes in the way that people in this community deal with each other and communicate together. The community will not survive otherwise.

Ben, I am sorry to do this to you on your anniversary/birthday/days of celebration. But I sincerely hope you will see this, and begin the process of change. You are the leader of this community, and everyone here looks to you for leadership and guidance. Your friends are crying out to you for help. Please help them.

Nov-16-2006 22:04

Thank you for clarifying, and I now understand where you are coming from. To be honest, I never noticed problems like this before, but I don't normally check the boards that often.

Nov-16-2006 22:28

Thanks for posting such a fair-minded and complete summary of the debate, Odietrying.

I will post a new thread in the Game Announcements section covering some upcoming rule changes, and a more clearly stated position on what we consider to be fair strategies.

Nov-16-2006 23:44

Thanks Ben - I really think that out of all this, the most clearly urgent thing is clarification of what people should consider 'rules' here, irrespective of what is possible with any given game engine, so that should help immensely.