An elderly (but quite handsome) man steps out of the shadows and looks at the landscape of Cosa Nostra. Seeing new construction popping up in various old neighborhoods, he begins to wonder what the future holds for the criminal element of society...

"Ahem...well, that was fun, wasn't it? I know that some of you whiney bitches are still crying about the loss of a loved one, but remember that spilled blood helps the flowers to grow. It's always good when people die. It's good, and usually funny, too. But let's not dwell on violence past, and instead look forward to a future filled with violence."

"Now then, who exactly is going to be leading us into that future of violence?  I'm wandering the streets trying to figure out whether there is anyone worthy of being associated with someone as muscular and handsome as myself, and I'm left with a big question mark.  I don't know jack shit about any of the current crop of Bosses.  There are at least two bold suits running around who have not spoken a single word on these streets. Ever. I don't mean they have been your run-of-the-mill mute retard. I'm saying they have not said a single fucking word."

"Ignoring the fact that this is an abysmal reflection of how far my forefather's Cosa Nostra has fallen... mainly because I simply do not give enough of a fuck anymore to rant and rave about it...let's instead look at the practicality of this issue.  Besides the inherent reasons for having a voice on the streets (rumor has it, that this was once a world based on words), speaking up every now and then lets the common street thugs know a little bit about you. For example, whether you have the intelligence to run a family. It demonstrates your personal demeanor to a certain extent. It shows where your values exist."

"I'm sure I'm not the only one. There are many potentially great crooks running around right now, who may have discriminating taste in their associates.  I know I don't want to join the first yay-hoo to send me an unsolicited invite. So, how about it? Why not throw us little people a bone and say a few things about yourself, about your family, and give us some criteria to measure in deciding where we want to bestow our loyalty? Because I'm sure as fuck not going to go eenie-meenie-miney-mo when it comes to offering my life and my unquestioned loyalty."

The sad reality is there isn't a single leader I can come out and discuss at length or point to the things they stand for. Maybe my attitude is archaic, but other than knowing Cpt-Harris has a great gun, I know next to nothing about him. Even that is a little more than I can say for the others.

We get that the war was taxing, but come on...

If you weren't going to base your placement of unquestioning loyalty on the things you've learned, in the streets, about the family head you chose, I'm not sure I see the point in this speech.

I'm personally gonna cut the bold suits some slack, for a few days or so, as things get settled.. I know that we have people leading families who weren't necessarily aiming to, but recent events and all that.

It's been a long, long time since a powerful street presence would be a major factor in most auth decisions, or a leader's chance at longevity. The community has changed, the newer bloodlines to the shores are many and these are not the same city streets of old as the ones you speak of. This is moot as there is no denying our current structure is a direct result of the recent leaders' deaths.

I sincerely hope that over the coming weeks we get to hear these new family heads speak out, I want them to move us forward, to actually be leaders. I want to get to know their life of crime personae, not just the side they show in the coffee shops.  If they aren't inclined to be at all vocal, out here,  then I also hope that they step aside for those that are; this is still, after all, a "world based on words."

I am fairly sure that if most of the bolds running around now were to be authed during a time of peace, quite a few eyebrows would have been raised, myself included. Howevere, we are just recovering, from one of the longest and bloodiest wars ever. The bolds have a lot of work to do and quite a bit of sleep to catch up on, I would assume. So, cut them some slack. One of them(Subtle) already gave a speech introducing his Family and I am sure the others will follow.

Also, these days... Street presence doesn't seem to mean much. By my memory and the journals of my bloodline, there have ben NO auth decisions taken based on how active a person was on the Streets. Most were determined by the size of prospective auth's weapon or the number of men he/she had to protect him/her self. While it is far from what I would like to see here, it is how things are. 

Let's just hope these bolds can get there :)

Just my opinion, but a bold suit decision being based solely off a man's gun or protection is ludicrous.  I understand there are other small factors as well in any case, but placing the wrong man with a good gun and great protection into a position of power is a bit, um, ridonkulous? 

From my bloodline's journals, I have read about many men and women who had rarely trained guns that were, and would have, made great leaders. Don't get me wrong, these folks would need the loyalty of the big guns behind them, but, a gun and protection does not a leader make in my eyes.

Perhaps I misunderstood Vladimir's statement, or maybe I am too naive yet in this world. I don't know. But decisions based solely on a man's prowess with a weapon just makes no sense to me. Too much room for error, my reasoning.

To be honest, I'm getting tired of this argument. Not that it's invalid, I just think it's a question which should have been raised long before the war, but wasn't. Why wasn't it? Because bolds were plentiful and when someone showed up on our shores, whether of new or old ancestry, they could find someone they liked without getting anywhere near the Streets; it was a useless gesture to express yourself in the Streets. Crewleader bloodlines have been recycled enough times that bloodline connections were more important than anything said in the Streets. A leader's "Street Presence" was useless to acquire the true assets of our world. You, or your father, or your grandpa just needed the right friends. A returning bloodline wouldn't be doing himself any favors by joining a more out-spoken crewleader than a close friend of his grandfather.

Now that most of the previous batch of recycled crewleaders got shot, we had to pick from a new deck of cards. And like the last set, they don't like to talk that much. But what's the problem? Oh, we've never heard of them because they aren't one of the bloodlines we pulled out of the "Auth" box. They aren't a part of the network of connections our bloodlines have made, so now Street Presence is something we require. That's fucking horseshit. These guys aren't any worse than the last set of leaders, and the circumstances surrounding their auths are significantly more difficult than those we had before the war. In my opinion, these are the auths that you should give a reprieve about Street Presence. They're the ones who have to herd a bunch of whiny pricks into their crews as they kick and scream about both a lack of auths and a lack of quality in the auths they provide. The last batch had MONTHS to do what you're asking and never came through, and you give this set of auths what? Three fucking days?

Like I said, your statements and questions aren't invalid in the slightest. However, it's frustrating as fuck to bring this up NOW when these guys have so much work to do, yet it was completely ignored when crewleaders could sit on their asses for months without coming anywhere near the Streets. So while I would love to see each leader come to the Streets and provide their position on your concerns, we shouldn't think any less of them for not being "actively speaking in the Streets".

OOC: Lots of current bolds are bold out of necessity. The streets are running amok with people just looking to bitch and complain or say something while they still have no ties to their current characters. The leaders should give the streets little attention until people calm down and everything else is sorted, in my opinion. If you don't like that you don't know these bolds... why don't you send them a mail to get to meet them? A hell of a lot more CLs are open to responding to questions with good intentions than you'd think.

If that's not enough, then maybe those not wearing a bold suit should try leading without one and just get the streets flowing positively. Hell, you might get on some bold suit's good side or even become one yourself if you try producing proper street material. Then we'd have a CL with a street presence that some people are complaining we need.

Just to get back on the right track, I did not intend to start a debate about street presence, in and of itself.  I was speaking from the point of view of someone who was looking for a family and had no basis to choose a Boss to offer my loyalty to.  While this concern is closely tied to the whole "street presence debate", it was not my intention to discuss the merits of having a street presence. That argument was fought and lost years ago, at the dawn of the age of the mute tards. But somehow, some way, those who are looking for work should have some means of deciding which family would be the best fit.  I agree with Thanatos that these leaders are probably no worse than the previous batch.  In my opinion, those in control of this thing of ours need to reassess the current culture of Cosa Nostra and start working towards making a change. It's been a long time since anyone in power used that power to implement change for the better. Maybe this current crop can bring about a renaissance of street activity being an imperative to leadership.

At this point in time many crew leaders are basically requiring a resume because there are so many looking for a home they can take their pick of the litter so why would they try to stand out in the streets? It is sad that newer bloodlines have nothing to go on, but experienced bloodlines like what you appear to be and (more importantly) the majority of those currently homeless should know how to go about picking a CL from a group they don't like or know. The supply and demand will eventually shift when more people set up, so people can wait until there's a more favorable number of CLs for this population and hope the leaders speak up more or that they know one of these leaders; but they could skip this all by doing some simple investigating on their own.

As for the rest about no leaders using it the streets... since when are CLs the only leaders? Yes it would be nice to have more active street presences in bold, but if someone can't be arsed to read enough to figure out who the vocal representatives are for different cities then they can't really be a fair judge to a city's leadership. There have been quality reads mixed in with the shit, but it doesn't take more than two or three reads through someone's efforts to figure out if they're worth following. If people want something specific, like the old boxing threads hosted by Lady-Fighter then maybe you could just ask for that rather than complain there's no one talking and leave the complaint completely generic.

There were a lot of deaths this last war. Some of these deaths have created a power void both in the game and here in the streets. Many new auths from the war wouldn't have been made an auth except for the need during war. Unfortunately for us time is the only thing that will sort most of this out. We need time for some of our new CL's to get to levels we are more willing to accept as our leaders. We also need time to heal some of the wounds left from this most recent, and very bloody, war.

Finally I believe we all need to learn to accept that many of our great leaders have moved on. People such as Sammy, Space Cowboy, Deadly, and Phil aren't going to be speaking up for peace anytime soon. Their kin may be able to voice their thoughts however without the GF position behind them their words unfortunately do not carry as much weight as they once did. There are new leaders and we are headed in a new direction right now. Let's try to enjoy the ride and see where it takes us.

Yeah give it time, I already see a nice change in the streets, way more active and interesting, so theres something everybody came together and try to tribute something to the cause, im shocked. keep it up

We must all be patient. I have outstanding faith in all of the current auths, however we need to understand that they are put in a sensitive situation and we must be patient to allow for them to make the correct choices that will be best for the long term. Leaders think long term, not short term. Have faith in them. 

It's good to hear you spread some wisdom on the streets, Face_Puncher. Now that I have the ass kissing out of the way I'll put my two cents in on a point you made in your response.

"In my opinion, those in control of this thing of ours need to reassess the current culture of Cosa Nostra and start working towards making a change. It's been a long time since anyone in power used that power to implement change for the better."

I've been hoping for this for a long time. Since the war ended I've heard the word 'rebuild' so many times I dread it as much as hearing nails on a chalk board. I would love to hear someone talk about reinventing instead of only rebuilding. If we're just going to rebuild back to the way things were before there was no the point removing the last group of leaders. For several generations this thing of ours has been a broken record repeating the same line, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

I'm not criticizing past leaders. I'm just hoping to see current and future leaders be brave enough to be different, not carbon copies of every leader before them. When I hear a mobster say they want to be like Deimne, build a city like Deimne and have a hit squad like Deimne I think, 'Wow! That guy must've been a SEXY God!" No seriously, I agree he was one of the best yet it baffles me why anyone wants to to be exactly like someone else. There are a lot of good people that influence how I do business, but I don't strive to be 'like' anyone else. 

Regarding street presence, we've heard dozens of reasons why people don't think it's important or why they don't speak in public. Instead of giving the same old automatic responses I hope people, not just leaders, reconsider, throw caution to the wind and say, fuck it, let's try this. Naturally we've heard a lot on the streets after the war. Things were starting to pick up before the war too. I hope to see that trend continue.  

While I don't disagree that hearing from leaders would be useful in helping those looking for a place to be find home, the crew leader is not the whole of a crew. I think it remiss that people discussing this never bring up who ELSE is in the crew. Your fellow crew members will impact your experience in a crew as well, and a perfectly acceptable leader is not enough if everyone around you is incompetent.

While it'd be ideal to hear from the leaders what they are looking to create before choosing a place, the leaders are quite swamped, and I'd wager some (or most) of them are still figuring this out themselves. Unlike peacetime auths who are aware their day is coming and have time to think about their goals and prepare for the future, a week ago these crew leaders had no idea that they were going to become crew leaders.

Personally I find this exciting as it allows the possibility for the crew to be more involved in defining themselves as a crew. We could see some very close-knit and dynamic crews come out of this process as the leaders and members figure it out as they go along. I thus would suggest that someone who is truly lost look to the element they do have prior knowledge of. Look at the members in the crews whose ancestors yours knew or knew of, and wager a guess at the crew culture that will emerge based on the information you do have.

While I think the general idea of hitting the ground running - especially when it comes to someone's ambition - is a sound strategy, the odds of someone sounding slightly pretentious or even naive as they lay down their entire goal to the public while there are still enormous gaps in stability is pretty high.  Speaking for myself and a few others who I've spoken to, Athena is correct; most of us have been absolutely swamped, and for some of us, we're not sure what the future holds for us past extending some stability to the four cities.  

The one silver lining someone can take out of this entire situation, though, is that this is one of a handful of times where the public has started a proper, influencing dialogue that doesn't rehash the same tired conversations that we've been having for the past few years; if there's one thing war does aside from the obvious, is that it fuels conversation and debate.  With something of this magnitude, most of the spreadsheets have stopped churning, the majority of us are engulfed in a debate on how to proceed, and we're adapting to it based on what we're hearing, and I have no doubt that it'll play a deciding factor in what some of us decide to do moving forward to avoid some of the mistakes that got us into this situation to begin with.