Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Sleuth Talk

Mar-9-2009 21:36

Last night I spoke of some ideas I wanted to discuss with everyone on how to give a little kick-start to Sleuth. I would like to share these now and hear feedback. These things are not required of the Admin, but things we can do as a community to try to get things flowing again.

NOTE: Please do not bring up the development team. That ship has come and gone. This post is aimed purely at community-oriented initiatives, not changing the game itself.

Also, I would like to note that many players have been doing some really good things around here. The contests for free subs, ctown's radio show, AVH matches. I do not mean to discredit any of this. It's all wonderful. I just think we can do a little more :-)

#1 Advertising - Let's get out there and spread the word. This is a great little gem that we have found and there are probably others that would love it as much as we do. Do you belong to another internet site? A Group for Nail-Biters with Herpes? Post on the message board about Sleuth! (well maybe not that, but you get my meaning) Let others know outside of Sleuth what a great place this is. I would especially target (for Noir) adults who enjoy logic-type puzzles. That is what kept me addicted to this game for so long.

Apr-6-2009 18:07

There is definitely enough when you consider that the only real difference in allowing unsubs to travel is a new map and different names.

Tough detectives shouldn't really be shooting for Pugilism early. There are a lot more core skills that should be learned first (in my opinion at least) and pugilism is less effective in all ways than the better forms of interrogation/intimidation. In my experience Pugilism is a skill that isn't needed until at least 100k exp, which would take an unsubbed detective a few months to reach.

From my own experience (which has come from a lot of nights arguing with low exp detectives in barchat) it seems to generally be newer players that complain about not being able to travel. I know a few people that cannot sub, but still play the game every day, but they don't complain about not being able to travel/play VHs/join agencies. They accept that it is something that is for subscribed detectives. I've even seen people who play for one day that turn round and say that nobody should have to pay for this game because everyone deserves access to everything.

There needs to be things that unsubbed players cannot do. Otherwise, why do we bother subscribing? Every subscriber perk that is given to unsubs gives one less reason to subscribe. Generally, for me, if people don't pay for a game that has subscriber benefits, then they are not entitled to them. That may not sound completely fair to those that are unable to subscribe, but by the same token it isn't fair to allow some unsubscribed players perks and not others. So it wouldnt be fair to allow those that can't sub to have more benefits than those that are just new players. Also, it isn't fair to allow new players to travel, but not those that have diligently played for months or years without subscribing.

So, like I said, I don't think its a bad idea, I just think this is the wrong place for it.

Apr-6-2009 18:21

^ agrees (I'm very agreeable to day)

http://www.topwebgames.com/in.asp?id=1876

SS

Apr-6-2009 20:48

Ok, since it's 4 weeks since I posted this, now would be a good time for a 4 week review :)

#1 Advertising - There is the daily vote on TopWebGames which we should ALL be doing ;) In addition, Breit's webrings has some sleuthers busy contacting them. All this should help bring in new players, but there is still more that we could do!

#2 Don't Fight on the Message Boards! - On the whole this has gone well. Everyone has been on their best behavior ;)

#3 Let the Newbies Figure It Out On Their Own! - Again, there hasn't been any new threads up recently giving away free answers, so this one is working well too... hopefully... Don't know what y'all are doing behind closed doors though...;)

Apr-6-2009 20:58

I did here back from one website today and we have a blogpage on it

http://www.great-murder-mystery-games.com/sleuth-noir.html

So far so good folks! :-D

Apr-6-2009 21:59

ctown rocks!

Apr-7-2009 09:40

I agree with Adam Carter!

To me, in my opinion, it is the wondering and curiosity that reels people in to subscribe. If they are allowed to travel, even for a limited time, it wont necessarily make them want to subscribe. The curiosity is gone, so therefore, so is the interest. Just my humble opinion :)

Apr-7-2009 12:36

I would like to have the option of one "mini-subscription", say for $1, which you are only allowed to get once in your agent's lifetime.
This mini-subscription is valid for 1 and only 1 travel.
This means that you are allowed to travel one-way to one of the other 3 cities, but you will not be allowed to travel back. (To travel back, you will need to buy an ordinary subscription).
This will be useful for everyone who wants to write a SM in another city...
(create a separate character to play the mystery, position him/her in the "right" city to test the mystery while you yourself enjoy the benefits of what a full subscription is all about)
- for the ones mostly playing, it will be interesting to search out another city... but you will also know what you miss (your hard-earned contacts in New York, or a faction standing?) sorry, but to get that back, you will have to subscribe ;-)

Apr-7-2009 14:00

I think its time we moved away from "What can we ask Ben for?" and got back to "What can WE do to help sleuth?" I know, I'm a hypocrite, but what can I say? I'm sure Ms Helen can testify that I do it on a daily basis at home too.

Speaking of what we can do, I am loving the Townies thread. I guess it was just a matter of time before the disgruntled townsfolk of our fair cities came out and gave us a tongue-lashing for our manners and the way we handle things. Well, it's a 2-way street, so we should give as good as we get :D

Apr-7-2009 14:13

I agree Adam, that was a nice surprise to see one of the townies posting and its giving this board alot of attention. Gives us something fun to do besids poke fun at me in the chat room! ;-)

Also, I am still liking the idea of what WE can do. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the game may belong to Ben but the community belongs to us, only we can keep that thriving and we do that by continuing the events of the past couple of weeks. There is very little bickering going on right now, most of us are getting out and voting, (How are you coming with those 500 votes Anais?). I'm looking for more webrings to get us added to as well.

Apr-7-2009 16:29

Would you rather we poked sticks at you ctown? And the 500 votes... well, I'm taking that 2-3 at a time... :P

I think that, while a good idea, the traveling one time for certain unsubs would be too complicated. The figuring who would get to, the programing, the rules of it... plus we would need Ben to do most of that stuff, too, if I am not mistaken. I am with Adam and ctown and everyone else who has said this... what can WE do?

So far there has been a lot of good stuff... most recently the voting, but also the Bar Chat, the Game Room being used, the AVH tournament, and everything.

I know I haven't been here very long, I mean, I look at my 51 days here and then I look at ctown's 1732 or nic's 1006 or Adam's 881 and I feel veeeeery young. I have discovered a few of the secrets so far, and have had a blast doing so. You should see me when I finish the first case of a new difficulty... I am always sooooooo excited. And then I have to tell everyone. I'm sure some people heard at least 5 times in one evening about how I finished my first IH case. I know I'm rambling, but my point is that the discovery of all the little twists are what draw people in. The community seems to be what keeps people here once they have discovered all the secrets. ctown put it perfectly up there... the community belongs to us. This community is what all of us choose for it to be.

On ctown's last radio show, it was mentioned that some people are retuning to sleuth. Why not ask friends who have fallen out of playing to come back? Tell some of your friends in the real world that you think might enjoy the game to come try it out?

And in terms of newbies, maybe once in a while check to see who is online, and if there is a detective with 20xp or so, send them a PM asking how they like the game and tell them to check out the Newbie Questions board if they have not already done so. Welcome them, make them feel at "home" so to speak.