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EDITORIAL: Agencies to Blame?
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Jojo
Jojo
Old Shoe

Jun-20-2007 12:56

***This is my opinion. Strictly my opinion.***


I've looked at the community, and anyone who's been here longer than 100 days is able to see that Sleuth activity has gone down the tubes. Dead. And what is to blame? The agencies.

Now, agencies aren't the root cause. Let's get that straight. But the way they have been operating is. The problems with agencies are (1) the quantity, (2) the purpose, (3) and the role they play.

Okay, first, the quantity of agencies. Not too long ago, there were about 20-30 agencies. All full at 12 persons each, coming to a total of roughly 240-360 people. That was a good amount. But now, we have almost 120 agencies. That's right. 600% of the amount we had about a year ago. Sure, some may argue that the community has grown, and it certainly has. But 600% growth? I don't think so.

Replies

biggie528
biggie528
Lucky Stiff

Jun-22-2007 07:17

Woooo hoooo finally a post I actually care about! :)

I think that statement really kinda qualifies what I think the biggest problem is with sleuth now for ME. The boards are dull, lifeless and lack any sort of interest for very many people now. The same four-eight people or so are the posters all the time, and I for one am sick of my own face (and Crunch's, incidentally ;) just kidding cpizzle, you know I heart your verbal diarrhea).

I agree with Ara and Roamie that now, having gotten all the skills, the ideal equipment, won a bunch of treasures, captured a bunch of villains, right now, its just routine and sorta obligatory that I play my cases, and its certainly not fun or challenging. However, I still do it for my teammates and agency.

I am soooo ridiculously proud to be a part of my agency, I have an ideal team now with awesome, incredible friends who make me laugh every day. What I miss is the days when the whole community felt like that. Where the boards were a constant laugh a minute, and not filled with drivel about who won a soccer match in school, Nancy Drew and why its oh so unfair that unsubs don't get what we who pay do. I miss people like Autumnsprings, J-ro, Al Z, Leddie, Breit, etc who used to post ALL the time and we would just have fun on the boards. Now they are all either inactive, or just not posting. It just sucks, cuz if you newbs go back and read the histories from like a year ago this time, the boards were a rockin place to be, whether it was just funny posts, or even heated debates, at least it was INTERESTING.

Its inevitable in any community that you get a fair share of immature, unreasonable people (myself of course, not excluded from that). I have tried in the last month or so to be more patient with newbies, as I know I started that way, as did everyone else, but its not just a matter of them not knowing what to do, and how to play. Its a matter of certain newbs starting new detectives all the time to get around (more)

biggie528
biggie528
Lucky Stiff

Jun-22-2007 07:20

login restrictions, or the immense fun of watching bar chat fill up at the same time every day with some computer class who has figured out that they can use the flashchat without getting caught. These people arent here for sleuth, they aren't here for the community, and they certainly aren't here for playing or learning this game. They are here to use a glorified version of instant messenger, and are rude, dismissive of the rules of chat, and immature. I don't see why anyone in the community would WANT these people around or be welcoming to them.

I think the root of the problem in this game isnt the game itself, the agencies or the amount of them. I think the problem is the amount of people that have just given up on the community. Thanks to jojo for bringing this up, cuz like I said, its the first post in months I've actually given a damn about.

Amiss guided
Amiss guided

Jun-22-2007 07:48

Community - Well when I got here I didnt think there was one, certainly not one where my face fitted anyway.

I wasnt one of the newbies that came on here just to use the chat or sprouting abusive talk or treating anybody with disrepect. I got that from some of the older sleuths that have been around along time. I didnt feel welcome at all. But I thought blow ya, Ive paid for the game, I enjoy the game, dont have to mix with the others so im sticking around.

I started an agency at a few days old and am still here. I still dont join in the ' community spirit' of things, just the people in my agency and i feel that is sad. Id like to be part of a bigger community but dont feel i have enough XP to do that. What level do I have to be to get in the club?

Lady Jas
Lady Jas
The Chosen One

Jun-22-2007 09:06

There is no level of XP you have t be in in order to start posting on the vboards...pretty much if you have a desire to play the game and compete with other people a, and along the way make friends outside of your own agency then your sooo cool for that because we like fresh faces around her amissguided. So take the leap and post a reply to a game thread or something like that. It's your best way for people to get to know you!

And Biggie, I coompletely agree with you! I myself, used to post a lot on the game threads, but really don't anymore for various reasons, most of which the games just became repetitive versions of ones that were already there, so I didnt bother with them anymore!



Cordelia Falco
Cordelia Falco
Battered Shoe

Jun-22-2007 10:53

The thing I like about Sleuth is that it's flexible. You can enjoy the competitve side of the game in treasure hunts, but you can also get satisfaction from moving your detective along or catching a villain, pleasure from making and talking to friends, fun from role-playing, and so on.

It's this flexibility that got me hooked and keeps me hooked, especially because I work full-time at a conspicuous desk in an open-plan office, and have a fairly long commute (and a husband who likes it if I talk to him occasionally), and I therefore simply can't spend hours Sleuthing every day. Yes, I'm addicted so I sneak as much time as I can, and yes, I try and do as much for my agency as I can (and I hope they think I do OK at that), but there are practical limits.

The point of all this is that treasure hunting is fun and I get as hooked as the next guy when the hunt's on, but I would hate it to get so competitive that those of us who can't play for several hours every day feel there's no place for us.

Cordy (in the office, once everyone else has gone home)



LauraVo
LauraVo
Battered Shoe

Jun-22-2007 10:58

I told myself I wasn't going to post but after reading Amiss' post I felt like I should. I haven't been a subscribed member all that long and at first felt the same way as Amiss. (Although I did first discover sleuth a couple of years ago.) Because there are about 8 really active posters with loads of experience and who are clearly familiar with one another it does give off the feeling of an exclusive club. After awhile I decided that just because I have no clue what a merkin is doesn't mean that I can't post on the message boards too and so far no one has made me feel like a complete moron.

Getting back to the initial post from Jojo, from a new persons perspective I don't think the problem is that there are too many agencies mostly started up by new people. I think the problem is that, as so many of you have stated how bored you are with the game, there is a lack of involvement between the sleuth generations. My agency, Sirens, is a wonderful group of people and I love being a part of the agency, but recently we have been experiencing a lull that has led to a lack of involvement from various members, (for various reasons.) It also led to a new person quitting and starting his own agency and while I'm not quite sure why I think it's because he didn't realize that there was a transition going on within the agency. I read back through a lot of posts both at my agency and on the message board and I agree, there seems to have been a big drop in involvement in both places. Because of the boredom that older, established members feel and the agencies they lead it then leads to the agencies not becoming as involved with treasure hunts and the like. (If you have an agency of 10-12 people and only 3 people actively involve themselves in a treasure hunt it probably feels a bit pointless.)

LauraVo
LauraVo
Battered Shoe

Jun-22-2007 10:58

I have certainly read the irritation in the posts written to newbies, some of which I agree with and some of which is baffling, (why do people care if there is a thread about Nancy Drew?), all and all it certainly turned me off from posting because I didn't want to be scorned as well. It's almost as if there is one clique of people who have all the control while the rest of us stand milling about the edges and only a few of the shameless youth put themselves out there.

So now we have bored, irritated members who make new members feel like their not welcome in the community. So what do new people do? They form their own agencies and try and figure it out on their own. (I'm not saying that new people are treated like trash but until you've been here for a little while and persistently read posts it does seem like there is some hostility toward new people.)

I don't think agencies are the illness, they are just one of the symptoms. I don't think the community has gone to pot because all the new members are young, immature and having nothing of value to add. I think it's beacause the immature people have no problem jumping up and posting whatever they want, while the rest of us new people are just confused by the whole thing.

I'm not sure if I've been clear in this post. I do want to point out that I love this game, I love the ribald sense of humour many of you in the, “older generation,” have and am no longer feeling too shy to post on the site. I think there may be a transition going on that is making the tone of the game go haywire for awhile but I am hoping that the anchors of the community find some way of reinvigorating their interest in the game and that we new guys can freely allow our fervor to flow.

Lady Jas
Lady Jas
The Chosen One

Jun-22-2007 11:03

Very good point about the treasure hunts Cordie!!!

Lady Jas
Lady Jas
The Chosen One

Jun-22-2007 11:32

Laura I know what you mean with the post written at newbies, as we now see that because of a newbie posting a long time ago, and some others posting on it recelntly our beloved Fiddler has decided he had to leave the game! And I mean actually kill himself off!

So good point Laura!

Rhiemma Moon
Rhiemma Moon
Well-Connected

Jun-22-2007 11:40

Alright, people... if two 'newbies' have actually dared to pitch in and express an opinion... how many more do you think are out there who feel the same and can't or won't bother to say anything. You wouldn't know it now, but when I started this game I was so shy the thought of actually posting put me into full panic mode. Luckily people weren't being so snippy when I signed on or I NEVER would have. ::sighs:: yeah, yeah... you don't have to read my long-winded diatribes and you'd miss me anyway ::grins::

Amiss and Laura, thank you for speaking up.

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