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Jun-28-2008 08:39

There have been some recent events on this game that warrant some concern. It’s no secret that there has been a lack of interest. Much of this may be attributed to the release of Shades of Mystery. If that is what people want to play, far be it from me to tell them not to play it.

That being said. I am still a paying customer of Sleuth Noir. As a paying customer there are some things that I expect. Ben has done a decent job at keeping the server up and running. We had a slight issue earlier in the week with not being able to travel and Ben did a great job of addressing the issue and getting it corrected. He always has done a great job of taking care of things. He has not however kept the game fresh and interesting. We recently had the expansion of the USS Sleuthetania. There was a buzz before the initial launch of it and we couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us.

Well what did we get? The opportunity to pay $20,000 to get on board of a ship and do nothing more than play cases. Sure there are some new characters and new items along with 2 new “coming soon” links. That’s it! I can’t help but to feel disappointed in the way this has played out. Two weeks later, the links are still coming soon and the interest of the boat has already gone away. I know I have no plans or reason to get on the boat and be cut off from my agency completely. I don’t know this for a fact, but I think a lot of people are disappointed with the boat as well and some may even be irritated and feel cheated by the whole development.

Maybe I’m being a bit harsh and we are missing some secret that still needs to be unlocked on the boat, but if people aren’t playing, the secret will not be unlocked. I know that Ben is just one person and can only do so much. He has a lot on his plate right now with running both SOM and Noir. I’m sorry, but SOM means absolutely nothing to me as I don’t play over there.

Jul-10-2008 18:28

LMAO. Ms. Helen is back in Noir! Looks like I beat her back here by only a couple of days ;) Hi ms. helen :P Great minds....

Just to some of the points we were discussing before and ctown sparked my interest to investigate a bit into the matter. Last night I logged into SOM and there were 83 detectives logged in, 15 subbed (which included myself).

And one last point... I agree with Breit. If this development team comes to fruition (I'm still on the fence whether I like it or not because I have always loved what Ben alone did with the game) it should be a very small group. And I suspect that Ben will choose people that he knows and trusts to be part of it. Otherwise, it could take a very serious turn for the worse. Breit- I actually think your proposed numbers are a little bit high. I would think 2-3 would be the most doable. I know what it's like getting 6 of my friends out of the house to make a dinner reservation on time and it is quite frustrating. Let alone agreeing on a matters as complicated as these.

I think it would also be premature for anyone to assume that they will be a participant just because they know how to program and whatnot. And those that are actually chosen, if there are development teams, could also make or break the community. But I am sure that Ben will take this all into consideration before making his decision ;)

Jul-10-2008 20:14

I agree with nicnic that smaller teams are the way to go. Large groups come with built-in opposition that hinders creativity.

Drawing from real life leadership/team experience, here's a model that I know works well (most of the time):

1. 3-4 person dream team - comes up with rough ideas; no holds barred here. Sumits semi-polished ideas to:
2. Program team - advises whether project is physically possible - still no judge on merit of ideas at this time (number of members depends on requirements)
4. Admin (and/or trusted lieutenants) - red lights/green lights further development, imposes limits
5. Writing team - fleshes out idea, acting as a go-between for program team and dream team.
6. Program team - codes project.


As you can see, it's very close to Breitkat's suggested job categories. The groups balance each other well, and admin still has a strong, but not time intensive, role.

Jul-10-2008 21:21

IMO, everyone needs to slow down here. All Admin said is that he may consider and here everyone is talking about leadership teams and programming teams, etc.

For all we know, there may be a team in place and none of us know about it except those who are on it.

The team I was on over in The Stone consisted of about 15 or 20 of us, that was a bit different though and I will not go into the details because the game was completely different. All we can do now is wait and see what happens now that we have some feedback from Admin himself.

Jul-10-2008 21:24

I said a few pages back that we all needed to slow down. Remember this still is Admin's game and he hasnt given the ok for it yet...so let's just wait to hear back from Ben, which I haven't heard from him yet either.

Jul-10-2008 21:33

OK. So from what you guys are saying.... I shouldn't start referring to Huglover as Sleuth Admin just yet, right?

Jul-10-2008 23:08

Slow down? At this point it's all talk anyway, isn't it? Gossip 'round the water cooler, as it were.

I don't know if anything said here will ever be implemented, but it's nice to get enthusiastic about something. That sort of energy snowball effect is what set the Sleuthtania thread apart from all the other "I have an idea" threads.

Ultimately it is the admin's decision, but even if he whole-heartedly quashes the idea to dust we've had a good discussion and killed some time. I'm all for letting the idea spitballing continue -- just don't get too emotionally attached to any particular ideas.

If the absolute worst case scenario happens I'll be taking orders for a shirt that reads "I help plan the Sleuth Utopia and all I got was this lousy T-shirt (and a cease and desist order from the Admin)."

Jul-10-2008 23:13

(sorry for the typos, but it's waaaaay past my bedtime)

Jul-10-2008 23:47

*Chuckles*

I'll take two, Jesse. X-Large Women's, Please.

Wonder what judge Ben's waking up for that restraining order. Hmmm....;-)

Jul-11-2008 02:27

I hope very much that I never have to be referred to as Sleuth Admin.
There is one Sleuth Admin, Ben, and it's HIS game, it's HIS everything.

What I do want though are to assist to get some freshness into Sleuth Noir, which is a game I apreciate, but lately have also contributed to my frustration of reasons already mentioned by others.

When summing things up, like Breit did completely perfectly, I think that both the groups she suggested, and the focus she was able to put on what's really needed (not actually the coding but the story-creations), makes me think that if we need to have another leader or co-leader than Ben (which I really hope we won't need), Breit seems to be one of the best qualified. She is the one able to come with the right ideas, and the one able to hit the target and cut away what's not needed.

I too think that a development team is "ruling" over a separate message board, and uses this as their main tool. Everyone is participating in the way that they are allowed to post on some of the "open" message-board-threads, probably after having passed an agreement-page, but there are fewer who are the core development team, who manages the boards and takes the responsibility to follow up.

When it comes to me, I would like to participate in a programming team, that I really wish will be lead by Sleuth Admin, the true Sleuth Admin, but if permission is granted on the base of Ben's knowledge, I feel quite sure that I am out, not in. :-(

Jul-11-2008 05:23

Just one ickle tiny thing which I think would be a great start is trying to get some of the oldies back for like a reunion. Livening the place up and getting the boards used would be a great small start that everyone can help with. I'm ready to sub here again so there's no saying how many others would be wanting to but are put off because of how quiet it is.

As for everything else I think we are maybe rushing it, lets do it one step at a time and let Ben have a think of what HE wants. It is after all his creation and baby :)