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Welcome, young blood! Have no fear; I come only with good intentions.
As of now you are only but a civilian, yet if you play your cards right you could potentially be on your way to greatness in this world of organized crime!
Undoubtedly some of you may be 'old hands', meaning your family line has been around before, in this 'thing of ours'. If I am wasting your time, I dearly apologize. Many of you, however, may be new, lost and confused about where to go and what to do. This is why I am here. I will help to explain a few things that will get you started and safely tucked away into an established crime organization. From there your family will do their best to 'raise' you right so that you may rise through the ranks and achieve all your wildest dreams!
Or, at the very least, most of your wildest dreams.
Let's get started then, shall we?
Fresh Off the Boat
You've just stepped off the boat from... well, wherever it is you hail from. Things are different here in America, the land of opportunities. And trust me: opportunities you will have if you get the hang of what is going on around these parts!
The Gods and the current Mob Bosses, from the kindness of their hearts, have done their best to provide the newest members of this society (you!) with extra protection from those with wild, uncontrollable guns of Famiglia Hit Squads. While I wish to cover every aspect of this world with you, I'm a very busy lady and I cannot possibly take that time. As it is we only have 48 hours to get you settled into the Mob Family of your dreams. This is called the 48 Hour Rule. You have 48 hours to get 'sponsored' (find a family) or be shot on sight by one of the aforementioned Hitmen. Anyone, and I mean anyone that poses a threat to you before those hours are up will be punished by their crew leader, rest assured!
Now, while you are free to walk around unharmed for those two days, there are some things you should be doing and some things you should avoid doing if you wish to stay alive. Breaking one of the 'codes' of our world will result in no less than swimmin' with da fishes. We will cover those things within this guide later on, so please pay particular attention when we cross them.
That Well Dressed Man...
When you first arrive in this world you are sent a piece of correspondence (also known as a 'Mob Mail'), describing a scene where you try to pick-pocket a well dressed man. This launches into him giving you a speech about our way of life, as well as giving you a link at the bottom to the Mafia Bible.
Well guess what? That link will act just as it is called: it will be your Bible in this world. It is best to study it completely so you are familiar with all aspects of our world. Sadly, we don't have that much time, do we? Nope! Only 48 hours. Instead, go back and re-read these sections of the MR Bible carefully:
* Introduction
* Rank
* Joining a Family
* Petty Crimes
* Posting
* IRC
These subjects will be the blood and sweat of your first 48 hours.
What's that? Lost the link to the Bible? Simply click on "Help" on the navigation bar, then "Tutorial". Or, for your convenience, I'll hook you up right here:
La Cosa Nostra Handbook.
Avoid Getting Killed
So now you've read up and hopefully can make (partially) well-informed decisions on certain aspects of this world. Yet here is the staple, the bread and butter of these first 48 hours fighting for survival if you will: Staying alive.
How does one prevent getting WACKED! before they find shelter from a respectable crew?
Of course there will always be the random tragedy that occurs, but as I said before those people that are caught will be punished for shooting (or as we call it in our society, 'random wacking'). There are ways that you can limit becoming a target to these instances, however. Joining a family would be the best way to neutralize such a threat, but we will cover how to do that later on. For now keep these things in mind when walking the streets of Crime City, America.
* Omerta: Omerta is an adopted attitude we Mafiosi live by. It is basically considered to be a 'code of silence'. Whatever you see, whatever you hear, keep it to yourself! Of course when you finally get into a family, you can sure as heck share all you like with them; yet until then, it's best to just keep your mouth shut! This includes witnessing WACK!s, MUG!s, or something someone may tell you in private/confidence. Say the wrong thing to someone and you will get shot! I find it would be best to leave the shady business until a later date, when you are an established mobster.
* Do not ask to borrow money: Trust me; we all know that money makes our world go around. Yet we were all civilians, thugs and gangsters at one point in our lives. We all had to learn that hard work is the only way to get anywhere in this society. Earn your own cash and people will respect you much, much more. They all had to earn their own, and may get offended if you are asking for a free hand-up. This 'offense' may end up in cement shoes and swimming in the Hudson River. Once you land yourself in a family there will possibly be someone for you to contact for a loan- until then, hold your tongue!
* Do not MUG!: Again, like above, people cherish their hard earned cash. Asking for it is cheeky; taking it by force is guaranteed to get you shot on the spot. Best to stay away from that cool feature called "mugging" until you learn from your family how to properly go about it. Some families even make a sport out of the activity! Look forward to that later.
* Do not WACK!: Last, but not least, in fact I'd say 'most importantly': do not shoot at people! This is the fastest way to end up with a bullet between your eyes. I know it looks tempting and it sure as hell probably looks fun, but there are many, many rules for handling your firearm responsibly. Get into a family and contact that family's Hit Squad Leader for more information before you ever decide to use it. You could end up taking someone's life, or worse- losing yours!
Now that I've basically given you a list of things you cannot do, we should look at a few things you can do to get started on your way to Mafia greatness.
What is There to Do?
There are plenty of things to see, even more things to explore. The question on your mind probably is: where to start? My suggestion? Start criming!
Petty Crimes are all you can do for now crime wise. I suggest start off doing these, as it is the easiest way to earn money and for you to gain your very first gun! (Of course, as a reminder, do not use it yet.) You can find petty crimes under the 'Profit' section on your navigation bar, and then 'Petty Crime' (or simply click here). You can only do a petty crime every three minutes and twenty seconds, so make sure to use a timer to keep track! My suggestion is to start at the bottom petty; do that ten times before moving up to the middle one. Continue on this until you've mastered them all. You'll be knocking over 7-11s in no time!
You can also do something called 'Jail Breaking'. This is the most effective way to bond with other Mafiosi, as well as to gain ranking points you will need to move on up in this world. Whenever you are in a city, click on the 'War' menu, then from there click on 'Jail' (or simply click here). If there is someone in jail in your city their name, number of guards and how long their jail sentence is will show up on your screen. If empty, you will receive a message such as "The city jail is currently empty." More on Jail Breaking is outlined in the Bible.
Stopping by The Streets is also a good way to keep updated on what is happening in our world, as well as find a few speeches to keep yourself entertained. Make sure that if you want to participate in certain discussions you always speak with utmost respect and honor. A tone indicating otherwise may make you a prime target for hunting season. You can find the Streets by navigating to "Communications" and then "The Streets" (or merely click here).
Now, while activities like these can keep you busy for the early parts of your career, the only way to get truly involved in our world is through finding a family. So how does one go about that? Just keep on... reading on.
Finding a Family
The best place to start is to find the family you want to spend your life in. Bear in mind once you select one you cannot change crews; so choose wisely!
To find the available families, click on "News and Info" and then "Crews" (or you may click here). This will show a list of all of the crew heads as well as the mob syndicate heads, organized by cities. What is the difference, you may ask? A big one!
A Crew Leader is the head of everything; the top 'dog' if you will of his/her entire family. Everyone in their direct crew, as well as their 'Captains', work for him/her. When viewing the 60 Second List (the map that shows the members on the streets below), a Crew Leader looks something like this (a big bold name with an underline). You will request an invite from this person or their Right Hand Man/Woman directly, unless their headquarters is full.
A Right Hand Man/Woman is the second in command of a family or associated family branch. Request an invite from this person if the Boss him/herself is not available, or seems to be too busy to respond. When viewing the 60 Second List, a Right Hand looks something like this (an italicized name with an underline).
So what do you do if the direct HQ to the main organization is full? You will request an invite from one of their 'Family Leaders'.
Family Leaders may also be known as 'Captains'. They hold a smaller headquarters in the same city as the Crew Leader, and work directly for him/her as well. Their main goal is to train up the younger and newer members of the business to someday perhaps be moved to the main HQ with the Boss Man/Lady him/herself. When viewing the 60 Second List, a Family Leader looks something like this (a bold and italicized name).
Once you have figured out whom in the family to contact, the next step is to work on the invite request itself.
Invite requests should reflect who you are as a Mafioso. You want to present yourself with dignity and honor- and above all else respect! Remember that you are talking to a Mobster Great, here!
One thing that most will not tolerate is a bad invite request. Click here for an example of such. If you send in something like this you will most likely be asked to clarify, and no one really wants to have to go through a question and answer period with a Right Hand. Trust me, those bastards are hardcore.
There are, however, two types of well written requests that will gain you a positive response from a crew. The first would be the straight forward invite, demonstrated here. Another, more elaborate type of request can be the Role-Played request, an example of which resides here. (For more information on Role-Playing, click here.)
Hopefully from here you will gain a response and be sent a key (or invitation) to a HQ/Mobster family!
And Now It's Time To Say Goodbye...
So you have finally joined a family. And then what? I'm sure whatever crew you end up in will fill in the blanks with whatever other questions you have or need. Remember, you can always refer to the Mafia Bible (That link one more time: La Cosa Nostra Handbook) or contact me if you have and queries.
Congratulations, new Mafioso! You have survived 48 hours in the crime world. Here's me wishing you have many more hours of survival, and that you turn out to be tomorrow's next, best and brightest Mobster! Good luck! |
