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Multiple Accounts in an Agency
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Sleuth Admin
Sleuth Admin
Tale Spinner

Sep-27-2004 11:21

I want to open up discussion about whether somebody should be allowed to have more than one detective in an agency, and if so, how many.

The official policy is that no more than one detective from any single IP address is allowed in a given agency. I haven't been particularly clear on the issue, nor have I enforced it particularly vigorously, so it's understandable that a lot of people didn't realise that was the rule. If we continue with that rule, I should probably at least add a more obvious notice to the "Invite Detective" screen.

The argument for having a limit is that it is a competitive advantage to have several agents controlled by a single person, because it makes coordinating on hunts easier.

Some points:

1) No system for identifying multiple accounts is 100% accurate. Some people have accounts at work and at home, some have dynamic IP addresses that switch, some have shared IP addresses, where different people at different locations can look like the same address to me.

2) There are a few instances of where players share a computer. For example, Sunny and I both play from home, and therefore the same IP address.

3) Some people have multiple detectives just for the fun of it, and don't use that to competitive advantage. There are a few of the smaller, less competitive agencies where users have more than one detective. they just enjoy being able to share items and cases between detectives and rarely even get involved in hunts.

4) A lot of agencies share passwords. In those cases, somebody may log in with their teammate's accounts often. If they do that, it can look like they are coming from the same IP address, depending on when I look.

So, let me know. How would you like this issue handled? Should there be a limit to the number of agents from a single IP address in an agency? If so, what should it be? Should the game enforce that limit, or should I do it by hand? Should the limit apply to non-competitive agencies?

Replies

Jojo
Jojo
Old Shoe

Sep-29-2004 18:21

I have figured out a few of the things, but could you give more details, as I don't think I have it ALL figured out.

jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Sep-30-2004 08:13

hakunamata, I think we all know you quit a case when you are not sure. My problem is, I make an honest mistake on an occasion...then it is a hello shady, and bye $$. ALthough it doesn't happen often (thankfully), it does happen. I am sure it happens to all of us, but a mistake should not kill us. In that sense I do rely on winning favours most of the time.

Sleuth Admin
Sleuth Admin
Tale Spinner

Sep-30-2004 09:33

Are the prices demanded by the Shady character too high? I haven't revisited that since the time when the highest scoring detectives were around 500,000 exp.

Chronestrian
Chronestrian

Sep-30-2004 10:59

Mine is $350k, but i haven't needed to pay him in about 6 weeks, so I don't mind, but I think it adds a little extra pressure when the cases are in doubt...I like it!

elvenwonder
elvenwonder

Sep-30-2004 11:06

I think the price keeps people from accusing without thinking first, but I do think some sort of loan would be helpful. Maybe you could take a loan from the bank and 10% of the loan amount is withdrawn from your account each day for 11 days (10% interest). If you don't have the money in your account, either earned or borrowed from agency members, for two days you are retired. That would help people who are not in agencies to borrow from or are playing when no other agency members are on.

Clarice Starling
Clarice Starling

Sep-30-2004 11:48

If you're considering options to add some flexibility to paying the Shady Character, what about the option to do a favor for him as part of the payment? It could lower your payment by half or some percentage in relationship to the experience level. The pressure would still be there for payment and the possibility of retirement, but it would be a way to "work off" some of the debt if a detective or agency is short of cash.

jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Oct-3-2004 10:19

I think Shady is still do-able. I mean seriously, we are all responsible to save the money. I usually try to keep double the amount of money in my personal safe. When I pay shady and I am less then double, I take it easy for a while. At this level, one can NEVER guess. The return of investment is crap. I use Shady for stupid freak accidents.

I do think there should be some kind of emergency option. I personally would be willing to pay real cash, to safe this character. Like I said, I would quit playing this game if jstkdn ever died. Like 5 real dollars, to get the falses of my record.

jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Oct-3-2004 10:23

What I also would really like, is to have underneath your detective experience, the amount of money you would be required to pay Shady. When I am at 0 falses, I am in the dark for a long time until I get a false, I much I would have to visit Shady. Or alternatively, give me secret how you can calculate. Bella once tried to help me with this, but I did not seem entirely accurate.

Any idea what Shady would cost at 1381920 experience?

Last time I paid him 250K.

jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Oct-3-2004 10:26

I also like Elvenwonders and Clarice's ideas.

Dr. Falco Maltese
Dr. Falco Maltese
Well-Connected

Oct-3-2004 20:52

Well, I can now report on my experience working for about 15 hours yesterday almost entirely by myself. I had my two characters as well as the log ons for others in my agency - I had access to as many cases as I could solve plus all four evidence contacts.

It was a LOT of work, and it wasn't that much fun. I missed my fellow sleuths, and even though at one point we were leading on one or two of the hunts, I had to watch them all slip away from us, even though I had done about seven favors for the hunts - not counting the favors I did which weren't relevant for the hunts.

So I think the changes in the hunts have made them hard enough that one person would have to be lucky to be able to win one alone, even with an entire agency full of cases and contacts at his or her disposal.

However, I /would/ still like to lobby for a choice of which hunt to apply the favor to. Right now, here I am am, on by myself again, and we are at 0% on all three hunts. Two of them require the Fortune Teller to start. If I should get lucky enough to get the Fortune Teller for a favor, I'd like to be able to ask him for help on the hunt that other agencies aren't as far ahead on, but since we were signed up first for the hunt that another agency is currently at 50% on, I think the Fortune Teller would automatically tell us about that one.

Truly, if one were in this situation in life, wouldn't an agent ask about the treasure hunt he or she were most interested in?

I don't think this option would be very complicated to add - Ben, would it be?

But I think lots of us would really like it!

Thanks.

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