Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Sleuth Talk

Jun-17-2012 17:57

Everything old is new again... or maybe not.

And let me start with a preemptive "Puh-lease, freedom of speech and all that aside, let's not turn this in to a debacle."

So, 'some' people have been getting up my a... err I mean politely pointing out to me, that the whole "some people have more than two subs in the same agency, and isn't that against the 'rules'" is banging away behind the scenes.

I've asked Ben to look at this with a view to scrapping the concept that more than two subs in the same agency is a 'bad' thing.

To be bluntly honest it's never been particularly well policed unless it was by self-policed by certain players who were trying to edge out the competition in Treasure Hunts.

My personal opinion is that the 'againsts' never really equalled the 'fors', and that we're at the point where as a community the TH scene just isn't that cutthroat any more.

So, I'm more than happy to go with the flow, as I suspect no-one really minds anymore.

But I'll leave the final word to Ben, of course.

Please feel free to discuss politely.

Please limit your lunatic ravings to a minimum nic :D

Jun-19-2012 11:57

What cfm said (very eloquently) :-)

VS, I can speak to the alternate view to this debate. Five/Six years ago I very much thought that having more than two subs in an agency was unfair/cheating/whatever you want to call it, as did several other people that have posted here that said that they now have changed their opinion.

If you are trying to stay competitive in Treasure Hunts, and you have 12 different real people playing detectives, it is MUCH harder to coordinate. You have to deal with time zone differences, availability of players, and just general communication issues. If you are one person playing lots of detectives you don't have this issue. Sorry to be so basic, but that's what it comes down to. If I'm sitting here waiting for my agency mate to log on to try to get a favor and it's 3:00 am their local time, and one person from the agency I'm competing against comes online and does 8 favors and wins the hunt in an hour because they are just rotating through the different detectives in the agency, I might get a little upset and feel it's unfair that I am following the "rules" (rules laid out six years ago and aren't referenced anywhere now) and keep getting beaten by an agency that I perceive is not following the "rules". That's basically what it boils down to.

This topic has been heatedly addressed time and time again in the past for these very reasons. Ben very clearly stated years ago that it was a rule that you could not have more than two subs in an agency. Some game features were also tweaked as a result of these discussions that we now live with (one being if you play cases from another detective, the detective owning the case gets half the XP). Ben has always frowned upon password sharing as well, and at one point threatened to put provisions in place to make it not possible (over which a lot of people in the community simultaneously soiled their pants).

cont'd

This reply has been deleted by a Moderator

Jun-19-2012 12:02

I don't want to jump into Ben's head, but I'm pretty sure the reason for this, is when the game was developed and the concept of agencies, treasure hunts, etc. was formulated, I think it was meant to be something that multiple people would try to accomplish working together as a team and they would be somewhat difficult, and therefore rewarding when you were able to win one. I don't believe the original intention was for one person to sit there with 8 detectives (or passwords to 8 detectives) and complete them on their own just by optimizing the use of favors. Because there is no real competition in that; it's who is on at the right time and has the time.

So as I said earlier, I can see both sides of this. Mostly because I was on the side of being vehemently against people controlling more than two detectives in an agency because that gave an unfair advantage to them.

I'm just posting this to give the alternative view you asked for and just why some of this stuff has come up time and time again.

cont'd

Jun-19-2012 12:02

But this is a different time now. There are only a handful of agencies participating actively in hunts. And while I'm still in the camp of "it's a little annoying", I think there are bigger things to worry about - one of which is having some fun here again with coming back and seeing old friends coming back. I know my new agency will never reach the top of the High Scores list (maybe if we keep at it non-stop for the next 10 years ;-) ). So it doesn't really matter to me anymore. And those high scores lists, just by nature, can't be as competitive anymore because the game has been around for so long. Some of us have missed years of sleuthing and it would take that long to catch up to the players that have stayed. To brand new players and agencies, it's almost a pipe dream. So those lists become less of a goal as they were when the game was newer and it was more of a level playing field.

And I think I said this earlier, but in my mind there is absolutely no difference between paying for and running 12 different detectives, and having the passwords to all 12 detectives in your agency, even if they are different people. And this is somewhat the norm in the Sleuth world.

And if someone has the time and money to pay for and play 12 detectives in the same agency, I'd almost congratulate them for being so dedicated to Sleuth

Jun-19-2012 12:07

And I think I said this earlier, but in my mind there is absolutely no difference between paying for and running 12 different detectives, and having the passwords to all 12 detectives in your agency, even if they are different people.

I agree with that. If one's allowed, the other should be too. And vice versa.

Jun-19-2012 13:16

So cfm, nic and serges have all valid points, and Vampiric Smile, i wasnt accusing you of starting any mods vs players debate, im truly sorry if i came across that way, i just said that so someone else didnt sort of take anything being said here and run away with it to start an arguement you know? You make an excellent point yourself VS that the key here is for everyone to respect each other, i couldnt agree more.

So we have (i think) from nic's contribution there (well said by the way) What both sides of the arguement are here, it used to be considered unfair but obviously from the responses on this thread, Its not a big issue anymore and certainly the revival here on sleuth isnt nearly as competitive as it used to be in days past. Im happy to see this game lively again and yes if Ken did leave over this serges is right, that is sad and i hope to see him back. Biggie makes a point too that really having multiple detectives, and having passwords to multiple detectives.....really it amounts to the same result doesnt it?

So as ive said before i really dont care either way about this issue, if the unofficial rule is dropped that may be best since no one really seems to care, and also, there really isnt a way to enforce that rule as serges said before. So everyones making great points as i keep saying, and i guess i have nothing further to add. Ill await Ben's final ruling on this patiently myself, but more opinions into this discussion never hurt. :)

Jun-19-2012 15:33

Hello, lovely people of Sleuth! :)

I come in peace. :) lol

Anyway, I have to say, I am guilty as charged! I had two agents in my agency right now who are all alts of my 'fallen friends' (friends who left the game a long time ago). I apologize for making these two alts subscribe. I have my reason.

And the reason is that Aknas, now has two (2) false accusations. *gulp*
And I can't afford to pay Shady, the amount of 198M.... I think there was an announcement some time ago that Shady's price will drop once you reach a certain XP... but that's not the case yet, apparently, or I just misunderstood the announcement?

So, how can I pay Shady? With the help of these two dets, of course. Aknas doesn't have that amount of money and she can't play as long as she's got two FAs, she'll risk getting a third one. The two dets can help her pay Shady.

I could ask the members of sleuth for some help, but that would be too much of a hassle, what with asking and then inviting etc, etc, etc.

Weird though, when I had these two subbed, the following day, SS posted this, lol

Anyway, I have been playing another game, and in that game, the devs are strict about only having two accounts. Get a third one and your original account gets suspended. I don't know how they do it, but it actually works. And you can also be a sitter. You can only sit two accounts as well.

Ok, I think I have explained my side eventhough I think there is no need for me to explain, lol. I am glad that the players of Sleuth have also matured and are somewhat lenient on this issue. We are evolving, lol

Keep on Sleuthing! :)

Jun-19-2012 15:37

Can i say its nice to meet you aknas and i think i just had a mini-heart attack when you said 198 million, the fact that didnt scare you off, wins you my respect. Seriously. I will stop complaining about owing shady 300 grand now. And yeah i dont think you need to explain yourself or apologise, This doesnt seem to be a big issue anymore around sleuth. :)

Jun-19-2012 15:43

Hi Aknas! I didn't realize you were still around.

I think if we dove into this issue a bit, we'd probably find that it has become common, for situations like your own. A lot of people have left the game and I could see agencies gift subbing their old members just so they can keep their agencies somewhat active and maintain contacts, etc.

Jun-19-2012 15:44

lol Jason. I think she may have left out a decimal point ;-)