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Nov-17-2006 11:42

Since there has been so much debate about use of detectives in agencies, and now we are getting new rules - is there any reason to have agencies?

I thought the reason to be in an agency was to:
1) Get help with cases - by using each other's contacts
2) Ability to combine favors to win Treasure Hunts
3) Swap cases, in case an agent wanted a particular faction
4) Donate, swap, use cases that may otherwise go to waste

Again, I think agencies should make the rules about how to handle their agents and cases. As a paying subscriber, don't I have a right to do with my cases what I want? I am already limited in how many cases I could play a day, now I am going to be limited in what to do with my cases too??

If people feel their agent is getting abused, quit the agency, join another one that thinks like you, or don't belong to an agency.

Nov-18-2006 01:05

That's just the logical consequence about some people being flammed by other ones.
In the end we just lost great sleuthers!

The new password sharing rules if applied, doesn't affect your own detective.(guessing Ben will find the better way to do it, what about if you can't logg under a detective with 2 IP in less than two hours, and if the same IP can't logg more than two detective in 2 or more hours).
These rules will just forbid to use others detectives account, and yes giving delays in CR analisys , direct help on cases, and treasure hunt, but maybe that's not so bad.

Nov-18-2006 01:19

PS: it's not worst than AVH....

Nov-18-2006 02:41



I thought the reason to be in an agency was to:
1) Get help with cases - by using each other's contacts

I don't see how the changes will affect this. People who don't password share can still get help with their cases. I know someone, Chron maybe, was talking about playing the game as if it were a real agency. There you couldn't use someone's skills of analysis if they weren't there.

2) Ability to combine favors to win Treasure Hunts

Once again, I still don't see how this would affect things. Members can still hold onto to their favours.

3) Swap cases, in case an agent wanted a particular faction

I think here that the whole shared experience is a GREAT thing. Too many times, I got faction cases I didn't want.. and I did all the work on them. However, I got none of the experience.

4) Donate, swap, use cases that may otherwise go to waste

Once again, I pay for the cases, I can't do them but I can give them to someone who wants them.. they get a bit of exta experience, and as I paying customer I get my share.

"As a paying subscriber, don't I have a right to do with my cases what I want? I am already limited in how many cases I could play a day, now I am going to be limited in what to do with my cases too?? "

All the online games I have seen limit turn/adventures/cases/issues or whatever the game mechanic are in some way. I do not think Sleuth is abnormal in this way. The fact that you can share your cases and do more is something a lot of online games would NEVER do.

Nov-18-2006 02:45

"Quite typically when someone is new in an agency we will open up the less difficult cases for them, perhaps search them for them, and then leave them in the files for them to solve. In the past this was a good way for newer detectives to build up skill points to round out the basic skills. Now they will progress slower (and take more cases from the other detective that way) to get to the same point. "

Agreed, it will take more time to help an agent, but if you want to play a game, you do have start from the start and you do have put in the work. BUT you can still do it and get some experience yourself for your efforts.

Perhaps this will also make the high scores board more fair to new detectives who do not want to join and agency and want to solve their cases by themselves.

Nov-18-2006 02:57

Well said LRC :)

Nov-18-2006 04:41

I agree with you Ruby, when i started, i didn't have any freebie thrown my way, even when I joined my first agency. I had to build my detective from the ground up and it made me a better detective for it.

Nov-18-2006 05:35

What's the big deal about getting rid of the high score lists? We won't even have something to debate about anymore.

Basically it amounts to this, some people have a certain concept in their mind as how to play the game of Sleuth. They're not happy to be the only ones playing the game according to their own paradigm but it has to become a generalized uniform concept.

So, what we're trying to achieve is that the scores become meaningful and that we can say "hey, you're only number 18 but I good golly am number 16"?

Nov-18-2006 05:42

And as for you Dark Raven, it took me weeks before I joined an agency and when I did so our most experienced member left Sleuth without further notice. I had to build up an agency starting from zero and with no one I could rely upon to give me advice or learn some tricks. And all this can be very satisfying as you can say you were able to do it your way.

But I can also see how damn enervating it can be if you're on a treasure hunt and one of your fellow team-mates goes camping for a week and all your cases that need a particular PE verifiaction keep piling up or he's holding a favor you're in need of but that favor is out of your reach, so we all have to give up favors we're holding to pursue that favor our absent team-mate happens to be holding. In other words we're gonna have to ask our members to log on 7 days a week and if possible 24/24.

Nov-18-2006 05:43

But yes, I can see how these new changes will hardly make a difference.

Nov-18-2006 06:39

You might even say these changes will put everyone on a much more level playing field regards treasure hunts and may provide a more 'real life' approach to this aspect of the game. We will all have to wait for the detective with the required contact/favour to log in before progressing the hunt, rather than one detective in an agency possibly having access to all the contacts/favours they may need to win the hunt on their own.

Personally, I don't wish to share my password. Having said that, I don't have a problem with agencies that do this. I can appreciate that they may be upset at the removal of password sharing because it will clearly change the way they play part of this game. But giving other agencies a more equal chance of winning the hunt might make them even more competitive in the future!

I totally agree with inactive agency members not being able to take a full part in agency life. I pay to be in an agency; why should other people not pay? Yes, there will always be special circumstances and the policy on retaining non-subbed agents should be up to each individual agency, but generally it is a sound principle.