Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Writer's Workshop

Mar-30-2007 12:23
(sticky post)

We've had a lot of questions regarding whether or not there are still free subscriptions being offered for writing a Featured/Scripted mystery in light of the online editor and changes to the submission process.

On the one hand, we want to encourage people to express their creativity and make more content available to subscribers. On the other hand, we don't want to degrade the quality of Sleuth by featuring mysteries that may not be very well written.

We now have the concept of "Featured Mysteries", which are highly publicized on the Case and Login page, as opposed to "Scripted Mysteries" which are available to subscribers but may take a little more digging to find.

With that in mind, here is the new reward policy for user written mysteries:

Those mysteries that pass editor and admin approval will be listed in the various cities under “scripted mysteries.” We will choose a deserving few from that pool to be listed as “featured.” Only authors of those mysteries listed as "featured" will be awarded subscriptions.

The length of the awarded subscription will depend on the quality of the featured mystery and will be worked out with the individual author prior to publication.

Dec-23-2007 16:28

It's great to see that there is a reward for writing a featured mystery, but is there any kind of reward system for those who regularly contribute to writing intros for the random mysteries?
I know intros are much easier to write than a full mystery but maybe for those people who contribute heavily by writing a lot of GOOD intros (please note the emphasis on the good) there should be a reward too.
I feel that this would help to raise the already high standard of the game right across the board.

Apr-15-2008 18:43

hi all, i'm not sure if this is the right place to ask. I would like to know how many times can you solve the same Featured Mysteries in order to get the same reward? & will it count under False Accusation if i failed to accuse the killer & one more question, will it count under false accusation if i failed to accuse the killer in an AVH?

Apr-15-2008 19:02

It's not really the right place to ask, but why not answer anyway?

I believe you only get the reward once, no matter how many times you play the case. False accusations don't count against you, but may count as a quit case.

If you accuse the wrong person while working a case in an AVH you'll get a FA same as usual, but accusing the wrong townie will just fail the hunt (no FA, no visit to Shady).

Sep-17-2008 07:06

hey, I'm interested in writing SM or FM things...
do sleuth has a basics and specification SM, like:
"Do I must have a story which have many ends? or just a linear end?"
"Can I make a script which in that SM or FM we got a competitor(other hired detective), so there's a deadline of accusing the culprit?"
"Is the case always about murder?"
etc...

Sep-17-2008 13:09

Iganagakun, in answer to your questions:

1. A story can only have one end, but you can add many twists and red herrings that make it more difficult to figure out that end.

2. You can't create an actual deadline by which time the mystery must be completed. It's actually a very cool idea, but the capability doesn't exist.

3. The case can be any type of case you like, and actually would be very refreshing if it weren't about murder. Theft, kidnapping, scams, insurance fraud, arson, assault, missing persons... whatever you can add to the list that I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.

Also remember, even though your mystery will be edited, things like poor grammar and spelling to a point where it appears as though you didn't bother to at least spellcheck will get your mystery sent right back to you. Also, make sure you have enough to make an interesting story - two suspects isn't much of a mystery (especially if one of them dies halfway through).

Something important to keep in mind is that there doesn't seem to be a character limit, at least for things like the Introduction, Ending, Crime Scene, and those important Twist and Research items. They can be quite long if need be.

Good luck with your mystery!

Nov-17-2008 17:09

A quick question for the admin: are reward subscriptions still being offered for featured mysteries?