I've been debating whether or not to make this topic because if I'm alone in doing these stupid things, then I'm going to look like even more of a tit than usual. However, I'm genuinely intrigued to formulate a definite list, so I will sacrifice my own credibility for the cause in the hope that I'm not alone.

So, as you might have guessed, I'm talking about Mafia superstitions and myths, which are things you've done/do which you believe increase your chances or likelihood of success, that are actually based entirely on rumour and hearsay. When I first thought about this topic the other night whilst in discussion with a friend of mine (and not my forehead before any of your bastards bring it up, either), I was amazed by how many little things I could remember doing/having done without having any basis for them whatsoever. This made me wonder just how many other little superstitions and myths exist which people do/have done to attempt to give themselves the best possible chance of glory.

What type of things do I mean?

Well, right off the bat I can think of "not shooting cold", whereby people did a few petty crimes prior to shooting if they had just logged in as someone, at some point in time, decided this radically affected your chances of making the shot. I've sat in countless war rooms where people have actually been chastised for failing to "warm up" prior to shooting and this being legitimately blamed as the reason behind the miss, as if they would otherwise have made it if they "pettied" first! 

Anyone remember the one about making your first kill in Chicago? I used to actually believe that made your gun better in the long term, which with hindsight has gotta be bullshit, surely? Did anyone do this or am I just a gullible moron?

What about authing your own shots because you heard it increased your chances, or putting any type of message in the whisper box giving you a slightly increased chance of success?

First petty boosting your defence?

Having money in every city bank account increasing your vision?

Am I alone in believe all these things or have other people engaged in similar nonsense in pursuit of greatness?

Here's hoping...

I've heard of the petty crime before shooting one, I don't know if that used to be the case (it always seemed to be true at the time, but that was a long time ago), but I don't do it anymore and it doesn't seem to affect anything.

The only other one I heard was the "putting any type of message in the whisper box giving you a slightly increased chance of success?" - and to this day, I still write out whispers on any shot where I think it's risky just in case it makes a difference. It probably is just superstition, but I know I'd kick myself if I missed and hadn't written something out.

I have heard of some the whisper one and one other i heard was to always felony as it reduced wack back so Barry your not alone there.

The "not shooting cold" actually has truth behind it. Sadly that truth applied to a different game (GS) and never MR (or even old .org).... but still, at least there was some grounds for it and wasn't just a bad joke that got out of hand.

I used to always start a new character in Chicago based on it "getting a wackstat boost". Never heard it was supposed to be your first kill too.... though as most hitters started there having the first kill in home city would make sense, so I can see how one may evolve from the other. Have to imagine it is and always was complete bullshit... yet I still know lots that do it to this day.

I could well imagine authing would help, wouldn't write that off completely. I'd still always request perm auth even if it wasn't required. Force of habit more than superstition? I'm not sure. 

The whisper one I often heard too... never believed that one though. Only ever used whispers for having a laugh, or making a very serious message heard.

The different petties for different stats is another one with some grounding. Sadly, again, for a different game :P 

Hadn't heard the city bank one before.

Trying to think of what other ones used to be there....

Back in the days of "3 window wack" everyone used to have their own little quirks to their system. Chatting about those was always great fun. Sadly, my goldfish memory struggles to recall anything more detailed than that.

I still see suggestions that leaving felonies open during an OC decreases the chances of a random fail. I'd strongly suggest that's firmly on the "bullshit" pile too, but I can't prove it (and with OC perks about, best practise is leave it open atm).

Lots of myths around about wackstat calcs that are very easily proven false (by just maxing a single character) that have been around for years and debunked more often than Nessie.

I shall return when the brain actually kicks into gear here and I think of some of the good ol' ones.

Anyone remember the one about making your first kill in Chicago? I used to actually believe that made your gun better in the long term, which with hindsight has gotta be bullshit, surely? Did anyone do this or am I just a gullible moron?

I always heard signing up in Chicago gave you wack boost back when I was new in 2006 

Hahahahaha. Ahhhh, the old "failing jbs? You're about to rank mate". Can't believe I forgot that one. That was always the classic.

Used to always love the holding of breath and anticipation of someone taking GF too. With everyone secretly hoping they failed the test :P

"Anita" was not killable, I guess that one is kinda true lol

I'd forgotten the old "A cop came around the corner" one being indicative of an imminent increase in rank. That used to be followed fairly religiously prior to levels as far as I remember.

Regarding the Godfather one, I can remember holding many discussions over the prospect of becoming the Godfather of Philly and succeeding Anita. All manner of different calculations were concocted estimating whether you had to have a better gun than she did and if there was a possibility of actually dying if you couldn't kill her. It was even questioned whether we should try to raise the money and buy her off at one stage too. In the end I'm pretty sure we died prior making it all irrelevant as well. 

I actually started doing the 'warming up' before a shot when I returned on Adz, without any current knowledge to a truth in it.

It just seemed 'logical' to have done a job and then try and wack someone after the fact lol

Nobody told me to do it, I just prefer to always have my timers always ticking over and thought this would help my wacking skills. Definitely superstitious yet like sportsmen that go through a certain kind of routine before they go out and play, it gives me a certain routine to get into and feel confident too. Sounds stupid, but it's a psychological thing. It's especially handy when I'm chasing IA's and need to have a good rhythm/flow going.

Whenever I fail fail a felony or have a string of failed jbs, I still sell my drugs to see if I've gained a unit or not, even though I know it's utter bullshit; which is kind of reflective of most of these practices - I know they're nonsense but I still do them.

I still never shoot cold; but it always has to be the second petty, can't even remember why. I still auth my own important shots even if perm-auth is already there, and I leave a whisper on important shots but never on ias; before the days of public statements a few (myself included) believe that whispers = better chance of success, but more  chance of a WS going out.

I still maintain that my '3 windows' set up from the old wack system was the best even though it was empirically not. 

Im pretty sure this have no relation to any stat or anything in-game. But whenever I take big shots, like first waves, IWPs and such, I find that it helps to be completely nude. 

I don't want to start any rumours or anything Doozer, but I feel I have to add that I've never missed a shot on a Godfather when absolutely bollock naked and touching my right nipple. Just sayin'.

The only time I play this game with any clothes on is if I have to log in from my phone somewhere public. And even then it's not a guarantee.

What I found most amusing is the complexity of most of the myths.

Each one of those would require the coders to put in all kinds of special cases and checks all over the place that would be

rather complicated to develop and test.

Being a software developer myself, I know how lazy we really are and how we hate to special case things....

That alone always gave me the assurance that none of the urban myths about the game mechanics were just Smoke and Mirrors :)

I still see suggestions that leaving felonies open during an OC decreases the chances of a random fail. I'd strongly suggest that's firmly on the "bullshit" pile too, but I can't prove it (and with OC perks about, best practise is leave it open atm).

Doesn't a felony before attempting an OC take you out of the OC? Like, you still get the reward if it succeeds but it's like you aren't participating in it. I remember someone telling me this, I may be wrong.

I personally have a couple of MR rituals: I always do inter and intra-city travels in the same specific order. Also every message that is the 00th in line (100th, 200th, 500th, etc.) is always sent to my current CL at the time, and is a reply to their message. I don't know why I do this, but I do it.

How about Ganelon taking a poop prior to the first wave of any war?

Also, I'm pretty sure Anita would have been killable, had anybody outside her family lived long enough to train a proper gun.

I remember back when Spunky and I were noobs, having a discussion as to which of the 4 petty crimes would benefit us most to do right before we raced for an IA to increase our chances of hitting, as if we would stumble across a little known secret to success. Sure after a certain point people just default to the Robbing the Post Office crime when they petty, but what it... just what if... it was actually the Snatch a Purse or Con a Schlub petty that would give us that extra boost we needed to give us advantage? All nonsense of course, and in fairness to us both I don't remember doing a whole lot of experimenting with it, but it was discussed and this thread just reminded me of that :D