Having recently stumbled upon Shingo's doubtlessly satirical "An Incognito Truth" presenting various means of deceiving your leader, I thought I would offer a few thoughts on the mentality behind "going incognito" and the things you should consider prior to doing so. I realise not everyone who goes "incognito" has malfeasance as their goal, so stop and think of the answers to these questions before proceeding; it might just save your account.

Do I actually need to do it?

Unfortunately being at the top makes you a target. As a leader you have to try your best to filter those who are dishonest, self-serving troublemakers out to get you, away from those who actually want to just play the game as a loyal mobster but want to hide their past. As a consequence of the nature of "incognito", I regularly encounter people who feel they must hide their identity, when in reality there is only a very small number of people for whom doing so is actually necessary. Most tend to misjudge opinion of themselves and their past actions which gets them into bad situations they really don't need to be in.

A good start point is thinking long and hard about the reason you were actually killed. If you died in a war loyally alongside your Don and family, your next character will almost always be welcome in a new family. Death is a part of life here and how you die is very important. Loyal service is greatly appreciated and will be looked upon favourably by your next employer. This won't be held against you, even if you killed members of your prospective family. Your slate is wiped clean, as long as you let it be. If you bought out of your last family to shoot at someone who wronged you in 2009, then that might be a black mark against you but even that might be forgiven, provided you are up front about it.

As a rule of thumb, unless you repeatedly target or defy the ruling powers, account after account, telling your Don your identity will cause you no harm whatsoever. Hiding it, more often than not, will actually arouse greater suspicion about you than being honest would have done.

Why am I doing it?

Assuming you've decided you need to go "incognito", the next stage is to consider why you are doing it. This will typically fall into one of two categories:

• To play the game without prejudice as to my past actions
• To enable me to cause trouble

If you are in the former category and you've done something moronic or that you aren't proud of, going incognito will likely exacerbate the problem. Look at some of the juvenile stratagems being suggested for use in Shingo's "An Incognito Truth" to maintain the illusion. Pretend to be new. Ask questions. Falsify your shot reports. Pander to your boss' ego. Construct a profile. Consider how you would feel if someone was doing that to you and you had wasted your time and energy "helping" them when they knew all along how to act. It would annoy me to the point where I would kill whoever had deceived me immediately upon discovering their deception. It would also make me very dubious about trusting that person again in the future, meaning they are forced to play like this again and again. Is that how you want your MR future to play out? 

If it isn't, I would suggest again that you don't go "incognito". Be honest with your Don, tell them the truth, even if it is only "I made some mistakes in my past and I don't want to be judged upon them". Most people here have fucked up at one time or another; some of us multiple times. MR is like a continual feel-good story of redemption. I have lost track of the number of at-one-time-fuck-ups that have reinvented themselves and gone on to be highly respected players of the game. It is not too late to hold your hands up and throw yourself upon the mercy of your boss and usually they will take a chance on you. Some, like me, will even protect your right to anonymity and judge you solely upon the merits of your current account anyway, leaving your past at the door, provided you're prepared to do so too. In such cases, your purpose is achieved and you can now play the game without prejudice and you don't have to fuck your boss over in the process. Everybody wins.

Assuming you're in the latter category and your purpose is solely to cause trouble, think about why you're doing that. Is your motivation your own amusement? Is it revenge? Is it creating a legacy as someone not to fucked with? Whichever it is, don't lose sight of it, especially as you consider your motivation against the reality of what you'll actually achieve.

What is it going to cost me?

If you've got to this stage and you still feel "incognito" is the best way to go, time to consider the ramifications of your actions. If you are just tying to play the game and you haven't turned back by this point, realise that you're condemning your immediate future to a web of lies which you will need to maintain. You have to remember the story you've concocted, the account history back story and your explanation as to your ability level. In addition, the friends you knew and acquaintances you made before are likely now off-limits as you don't know them anymore. You're starting fresh as someone greener than green, anything you do contrary to that will be noticed and counted against you. If found out, you will likely login to a death screen. Is that what you want? Are you prepared to trade in your friends and any knowledge you have of the game up to now, just to play? Is it worth it and most importantly is it going to be fun? Most people pack in being "incognito" because it is boring. Wouldn't being honest be a better approach?

For the troublemakers, the question really only applies to what you're prepared to sacrifice. You will die upon discovery, sometimes before you get to act and you will have no recourse whatsoever; back to square one. Many "incognito" accounts think they have successfully weaseled their way into a family only to later find out they are on a contact list of watched accounts. For example, I have a nice colour on my contact list devoted solely for these people and some of them are even online right now. When something suspicious happens, these are the people I'm going to be shooting. Sometimes, if you're "incognito" that will be you.

Supposing you manage to infiltrate a family long enough to carry out some damage, you will get 1 shot, maybe 2 if you perk. These are the only 1/2 on your own terms, after that your pro wacker(s) is/are going to be racing against the majority of the game. How many times are those odds going to be in your favour? Not many, I'm sure you'll agree and now you're dead; back to square one.

Succeed or fail, your name is going to be tarnished. As forgiving and forgetting as most of the people who play this game are, in the backrooms whenever your name is mentioned, there will always be an asterisk against it even years later. You are going to carry that baggage heavily whilst the current players rule as you acted specifically against them, but also to some degree whoever rules. Calculate if it is worthwhile before proceeding.

What is it going to cost my friends?

Assuming you're happy to be distrusted forever and lose account after account simply for being you, if discovered, you should now consider the impact your actions will have upon your friends. If your "incognito" account is a complete and utter success and you bag yourself a few worthwhile targets before dying, a debt will still have to be paid. We're in the mafia and on top of that, nobody likes to be made to look foolish. The Don you betray will likely be saddled with monetary compensation to the family you've targeted, in addition to the desire for revenge from the ones you killed.

Either/both of these, in the absence of finding and punishing you, will be passed on to those you're closest to. I've stated before that I personally have no issue whatsoever shooting someone you're friendly with just because you were friendly with them and you've wronged me. I want to make it as difficult as you to fuck me over as possible and if that requires me to shoot your friends to get my point across, then I will. Unfortunately for you, I'm not alone in this line of thinking either so the stakes are going to be pretty high for you and your chums if you act against us.

Therefore it is prudent to remember even if you're happy to be an outcast, your friends might not be. Consider whether you're happy condemning them to death before you act, because that is what you will be doing.

What am I going to get out of it? 

You've decided you need to go "incognito".

You've decided that "incognito" is the best route for achieving your purposes.

You've decided that you're happy with the consequences to you.

You've decided that you're happy with the consequences to your friends.

Now ask what you're going to get out of it for the high price you're going to pay. Who are you going to kill? Not the leader(s) who wronged you, as that will take months of work and then their friend is going to shoot you in the face even if you do hit. So in reality you're going to shoot a lowly protected player associated with the person who wronged you. Is it worth it? Is that what motivated you in the first place, killing an inconsequential friend? I doubt it.

Plus, that person will be compensated when they come back; you'll get nothing. They will have bodyguards; you'll get nothing. That person's leader is another month, two months, three months into their development further ahead of you; so is all of their family. So is all of their family's friends. So is everyone else except the person/people (if you're lucky) you kill, who will be compensated, and you, who won't be.

You're going to get 5 minutes in the sun in exchange for a lifetime spent in the shade. 

Conclusion

If you still think the paltry reward is worth the avalanche of shit you're going to bring upon yourself and those around you for the foreseeable future, then nothing I say at this point is going to dissuade you.

Good luck with your "incognito", you're going to need it.

A question arose first in Shingo's thread, and again in this one.

I understand going incognito can be for a sly future attack, yet you also mentioned it could be to kind of leave the past behind and start fresh.

In the latter case, wouldn't being upfront about being incognito to your crew leader then make you no longer incognito, in the bad sense of the term?

And if you went full incognito and didn't tell your crew leader, yet it wasn't for a future terrorist attack, so instead just to escape maybe some past heat or to start immediately with a clean slate from some actions that had tainted your bloodline, then would being found out later still accrue the same penalties as those that went incognito with ill intentions?

I've never done it, nor feel like I would or should, yet I feel some may genuinely want to wipe the slate clean without any intent to do harm to others. Should they be required to tell their crew leader upfront about it, or should they still be OK trying to be completely off the radar?

This is going to sound strange, but there are levels of deception, some of which are acceptable and some which aren't. Really, there shouldn't be any obligation on anyone to disclose anything about their accounts prior to the one they are playing and in an ideal world everyone would treat each account as a new life, totally independent of what came before. Unfortunately this doesn't happen and people are unable/unwilling to differentiate between their characters and often between themselves as players and their characters, mingling them all into one entity which plays the game over and over with the same grudges/friendships as whoever came before. This failing has led us to the messy concept of "bloodlines" and "coffeeshop alias'" and a whole host of other justifications to explain why people behave in this way.

People approach me from time to time stating things like "I don't want to be judged by my last account" or "I'd rather not say who I was before" when asking for entry to my family. I don't quiz people to their other accounts anyway, but to me this level of honesty is fine. They aren't trying to con me into thinking they are new and wasting my time. They are being upfront and asking for a bit of trust that they won't fuck up. 9 times out of 10 I will happily grant this opportunity and appreciate the fact they didn't try to bullshit me. This level of deception is acceptable and what I'm advocating many of the "incognito" accounts should do rather than hide and lie. Ultimately it is a bit of give and take, they are telling me that they aren't all they appear to be and in return for that honesty I'm giving them a chance to demonstrate they can be trusted. 

If you aren't honest from the beginning and you do get busted down the line as not being who/what you claim to be, then the consequences, regardless of your intentions, are likely to be the same as those who do so purposefully to cause harm. Even if you had no need to hide your previous characters from your Don initially, the deception and often time wasting that has accompanied your progress is likely to have been more damaging/annoying in the long run and will destroy all trust you had built up with them.

"Incognito? A couple fellas have accused me of the fact ever since I started doing jobs for the Batiatus family. It turns out Capone is a common name around here. Who woulda known, huh? I've only ever known a couple'a Capones, and I was born into that family. I'm trying to work my way into this one. Like anything, it comes down to trust, don't it? One guy told me it was suspicious I didn't go into the coffee shops. He never heard of a guy who didn't drink coffee? Another guy told me I knew my way around the drug trade too well for a paisano. I told him I wasn't one - I'd been in the business since I could remember. The real trouble isn't that I don't got a bloodline. At least not one anybody'd know."

Al scratched the back of his head, before shrugging his shoulders and continuing, "I get the sense that some mobsters like to fall back on the names of their fathers because it gives people a sense of where they come from. I don't have a bloodline to fall back on; I could give you the name of my father and his father before him and you wouldn't have ever heard of the old men. We are each men of our own name. In that sense, I come from a family that leaves our ghosts buried."

He cleared his throat and swallowed with a slight cough, taking his time to think, before concluding, "This seems to have put me at odds with the mindset of many, particularly the men who did seek me out to say, Hey, you're fooling nobody! And they're not entirely right. It seems I've succeeded in fooling them into thinking I am not me." 

Uh, thought I was in the streets for some reason. 

I've went incognito a few times. Usually its because I don't want any of the baggage associated with my past accounts, not in a negative way, but from the positive. I usually run with the same crowd, and if they know I'm here, and I don't join them, I get abuse. I did this when Deimne was in charge. The only other time I do it, is for similar reasons, I've been away for a while, usually due to an admin ban, and I'm scoping out the lie of the land before returning.

If you don't have malfeasance (and that children, is why Barry has a 33lb head) in mind, then its usually best to admit you have a history, but you'd rather leave it in the past. Ranking up and trying to play a complete n00b can be hard going, especially when you get involved in game and start posting in the streets or interacting on IRC. Sometimes its really hard to disguise who you are, especially if you have been around for a large number of years. Sometimes people can ID you just from your writing style.

*shrugs* I've never cared who knew my familys past, for anyone who may care I was

I can go back farther but why does it matter. I am not that woman, I am the woman who stands on her own deeds and words today and my ancestors are just that. I learned from them and moved on. 

I get the concept of people not wanting anyone to know who their old accounts were if they had a bad history, though I don't agree with it in practice, but as the saying goes one bad apple spoils the bunch. Some of us who say we are new, are actually new and have taken the time to A. read the forums (one of which is titled something like "How to Level Up Quickly"), B. read the wiki page, C. ask a TON of questions of our crew AND the help desk and D. purchase credits to gain a slight advantage to help make the game easier to learn and play. 

Picking up on something quickly shouldn't be a red flag it should be a relief, in my humble opinion. Respectfully, I would think it's much easier to have someone who can learn fast than someone whose hand you have to hold. Of course this isn't the first game like this that I've played, however this is indeed the first time I've played this particular game. When you've played one or two others like this, it's a little easier to pick up on things than say someone who is completely new to games like these. That still doesn't mean I don't need tons of help with everything, just ask my crew lol. 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is when someone actually comes here for the first time and is interrogated and accused of lying because they can grasp the game quickly, it's unfair and hurtful(for a lack of better words). I admit, my name was definitely not the best choice for a first character, but it doesn't mean I'm doing what my name implies. Then the issue snowballs because, no matter what you say or do, if someone's made up their mind about you that's it. I'm thankful I have the crew I have and that I've been given the chance to prove myself and show my intentions are good, but damn this was the roughest first couple of days of a new game I've ever had! LOL

Anyways, that's just my two cents on the matter. I look forward to getting to know all of you and hope to eventually call you all friends. Fingers crossed.

Little joke for you all:

What do you call a cheap circumcision? 

A rip off. :D

LOL Deception. Keep em coming. I also came here after not playing for 8years, and hit the ground running. An avid gamer and writer, and having had played this a long ways back, it was just easy for me to get going. I've met others like this, so its not rare yet I have also asked others when I was a RHM who they really were because they were just dynamite from the get go, even though they stated many times they were completely new. Your name though, lol, definitely would spin some heads.

Barry cheers for that, I thought that would be the case. Honesty is necessary to build trust, and without trust there just isn't a relationship imo. Trust is a main pillar, and without it the roof caves in quite quickly. I also believe it best to be honest up front if someone chooses to start clean and put their troubled past behind them, so it all makes sense.

If someone didn't want to admit they were being incog yet have previous experience and instead pretend to be new, this would be an attempt at deceit and you would need to question the motives, especially if being honest to your crew leader would give you a better relationship starting out.

I've never, ever understood the necessity that one feels the need to go "incog", as Bazza has so beautiful said, mostly its down to disillusion of ones own self importance, and that's the harsh truth. I think most people enjoy the fact that they "are forced" to go incog, or  believe they have too anyway.  Its a very much an over practiced action, and very few really succeed in doing anything with their incog, never mind staying undercover long enough, these days.

I unfortunately have fell under that bracket a few times, thinking my "amazing lineage will only achieve something if I go incog" when in actual fact that's pure dog shit. It is easy to get wrapped up in it though. Only once have a genuinely been forced to hide, it was when prem and roman banned me and a few others from all cities (it was a very contentious decision) one I still have logs of actually, but lets face it, I was bg shooting the shit out of everyone, poor chade <3 But other then that the other few times, they have been an incog of fantasy rather than necessity.

Like, lets be blunt, people know I hit, people know I go hard, id always be a target, tis the nature of the beast. Why I would put all that brain power (im scouse-I don't have much) into trying to stay incog. Im always going to be a target, and for that I claim a moral victory. A vast majority of my accounts use the same name over again, or I have like 3 standard names that people will know, and im happy with that.

I think these days, this whole word incog, it now carries a negative stigma, and that's fine but that's a cross you must carry if you're going incog.

I think it is largely a tremendous over-reaction or exercise in self-indulgence.

However when you are subjected to irrational and systemic blood-lining it can be necessary to stay alive.

I suspect though; instances whereby incognito is used for those reasons are few and far between.

Also it is nice just for a bit of subtlety and to enjoy the click monkey escapism this world offers.