I have been wondering the streets of our mafia world and noticed that there are a lot more families popping up. This isn't exactly anything new. I have seen many cities have around five to six families in them, but when is too many just too many? Are we going for more families but them being smaller in size or would we rather have less families and have more crew members? I do not know the reasons behind why some leaders enjoy having so many families and why others prefer to have just a select few. Personal preference, maybe.

In my opinion having so many families, but still having the same amount of bloodlines give and take a few that come to our shores and stay for a while or perhaps even for a long while, is making families have very few family members. Some families are lucky and end up with almost a full man HQ while others are sitting at twelve or twenty. Wouldn't it be better to have larger families? This way you will have better chances at the members bonding and building a very strong family base rather than a very large spread out one. For me that would build a very weak bond and the loyalties of those in the family wouldn't be very strong either.

At the same time having more families also allows for people to rise up and show what they can do. With very few families it is hard for others to prove themselves capable of leading. Only if a leader dies will someone might be allowed to have their chance to be authed. So having more families allows for others to have a chance at something they have never been gave before. So there are pluses and minuses to this issue. Yet, there are always positives and negatives to everything in this world. You just have to choose which is more worth it.

Of course this is all my opinion, but this is why I bring it up for all of you to take part in. What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you agree or disagree?

I believe I heard Godfather TheDean state last night that over the next few weeks there would be expansions into the empty cities. In the post war rebuild, some things tend to take longer than others. We'll soon see life in the empty cities and the more crowded cities thined out.

Allowing for many different families to be able to set up shop allows for a lot of colour in these streets.  Each leader brings with them new ideals and philosophy on our way of life, and this allows each wannabe mafioso the chance to find a family with similar interests and values.  Of course you can go to far, but I really have not seen this yet.  As long as there aren't empty families there can be leaders.  I think a very definite example of it going to far is if the Godfathers removed the auth system and allowed anyone who wish to set up.  I dont see this happening anytime soon, so for the mean time I am excited and interested to see all these new leaders and how they will work together.

Oh and for those who are curious my interests and values are gym, tan and laundry.  Hopefully Mr. Lamotta feels the same way.

G-T-L, I have to agree, I would hate to see auth’s being put into vacant cities just for the sake of filling it up or acquiring godfather status just because it sits empty.

As has been stated the vacancies will be filled as and when, I see it has the respective cities leaders protecting there own cities before ensuring other cities are full.

That mentality is one that I welcome to be honest, after all nobody wants another Kuklinski running about do they.

Whether we have more families with less people in or fewer families with more people in the numbers still run the same. The quality is still there or it isn’t no matter of the numbers.

I remember my father telling me a time when there were very few people around here, but there were roughly around 23/25 leaders between the 6 cities, which, doesn't really look much when they are spread across the country, but considering a lot of the families had something like 10/15 members in each, one of which only had 4 members, it was getting ridiculous with the amount of auths and then to top it off, 2 more auths came in 24hrs - That to me was silly, the whole thing.

But now, this way of life, this thing of ours is a lot more popular than it use to be and we are getting new members join us every hour of every day of every week, so I think it's appropriate to have the leaders we currently have and once the empty cities are being used, it will be a lot more spaced out and perhaps a couple more auths in place.

I like the idea of this speech, it's just how my father once saw it.

Good subject Foenix. This is something i have actually been thinking about recently.

While it is always nice to see as many cities filled as possible, the people must be the right choice. You can't just give a city to anyone without a lot of thought going into it. Just because a leader has been around longer than other or has more members, does not mean he should automatically be given his own city. Last thing we need is for someone who isn't ready to get given a city but then have things not work out. We all know where that leads and we definetely do not want anything interfering with the re-building process.

Getting to your actual question about certain cities being too crowded, yes some are. Having said that, last night we were graced by TheDean's presence who indicated there will be movement out of New York, again these things take time. The only over-crowded cities right now are Chicago and New York, but that has to be expected. The 2 Godfather's are currently the ones with the task of filling up the empty cities. And i am sure in their own time and when the time is right for everyone involved, they will do so.

When our cities are filled and things are more normal, i would like to see a system introduced which controls the amount of crews in any one city. Something that will be fair on each city and will help balance out the numbers in each city. But that is a bit far off just yet, for now let's all just concentrate on re-building and see what will happen.

Sorry to go slightly off subject in regards to what Crew Leader Cruel said. I can understand where your coming from Sir where you think that some Cities we have great number of people residing there than others and yes it does cause some problems for the smaller cities, but surely if some cities are having problems with the number of people joining crime crime families in those cities, surely those cities need to look to see where they are going wrong compared to the others?

We here are all part of organised crime and we live in a dog eat dog world. It is survival of the fittest, we shouldn't have to make rules because certain cities are falling behind, those cities should redouble their efforts to make them as big and bad as the others.

I guess a lot is to do with peoples perception, I for one do not consider New York to be over crowded. I imagine TheDean feels something similar considering he Authed the Quattro driving one to set up a bent cop shop in the city.

I am a firm believer in choice and that people should have as diverse an option of people to go to as possible. Less crewleaders means a lot of full HQs and people waiting to find a place, what we currently have for anyone fresh off the boat is 17 possibly homes each with their own merits, advantages and disadvantages. I would never like our world to become a place where people are saying "it is my turn to get a new member".

The other over riding factor in this to me is making New York a positive place to work from and as such a place where Godfather TheDean can maximise the investment he has made into the city. Godfather Roman is probably looking to do the same in Chicago, as will anyone else who becomes a Godfather in the future.

My personal perception of crowded is 55 families with 50 man HQs carrying 8 members each. When we know that everyone who is active at a point in time is either in a bold or slanty suit, then the leaders will realise that maybe something is amiss.

Sorry to go slightly off subject in regards to what Crew Leader Cruel said. I can understand where your coming from Sir where you think that some Cities we have great number of people residing there than others and yes it does cause some problems for the smaller cities, but surely if some cities are having problems with the number of people joining crime crime families in those cities, surely those cities need to look to see where they are going wrong compared to the others?

We here are all part of organised crime and we live in a dog eat dog world. It is survival of the fittest, we shouldn't have to make rules because certain cities are falling behind, those cities should redouble their efforts to make them as big and bad as the others.

Gianfranco, you appear to be confused as to what i was actually getting at. I have no concern about cities with more crews and members, in fact, i gave reasons why they do so when i said this:

The only over-crowded cities right now are Chicago and New York, but that has to be expected. The 2 Godfather's are currently the ones with the task of filling up the empty cities. And i am sure in their own time and when the time is right for everyone involved, they will do so.

I would fully support the idea of Don Cruel to put a system in place which defines a certain amount of families in each city. My family has been around for a long time and I've seen "housing problems" more than once but not like this and it's a fact that we have a "housing problem" because of too many HQs. Anyways, we're in a re-building process and I'm sure that changes will be made to equal the cities.

I would never like our world to become a place where people are saying "it is my turn to get a new member".

Underdog, I'm pretty sure this will NEVER be the case, Don Cruel was talking about a system which determines the numbers of families. Recruiting is still a different thing and has nothing to do with this idea.

Sorry I misunderstood but I would like to no more about this idea and how it would work. Would there be a limit on how many families are able to setup in one city or would it be on how crowded a city was. For example City X has 3 families that are full so they can auth a 4th? City Y also as 3 families but they are half full City Y can't auth a 4th.

My idea in simplest terms would be along these lines:

We have 8 cities.

3 crews per city without a Godfather.

4 crews per city with a Godfather. (This include the GF's crew.)

If a city fills all their HQ's (50 man), then of course they should be able to expand by making another auth.

Like i stated earlier, while re-building is still in place this idea won't happen, but when things are stable and crews are flourishing and getting stronger, i would like to see this idea (or one similar) implemented. It will give more stability and a better balance all round.

FraDiavolo and Don Cruel

Are you trying to say that you would like a system in place that tells a godfather he can not auth anyone else into his own city?

I personally wouldn't be in favor of such a rule or system being implemented.

My bloodline has seen it happen before and was quite glad when the present system was put in place that basically said "It is your city you can do with it as you please"

I don't see why any person would make a case about setting a limit on what a godfather can and cannot do. The simple fact of the matter is that if the world became "overcrowded with leaders," as you say, natural selection would take place and we'd thin ourselves out through a war.

Within reason, we should be given as much freedom to work as we wish and auth who we want should we have the power to do so. If we don't then someone will take offense to our actions and both sides will have to deal with it accordingly. To be honest, I think that is one of the foundations of what makes this thing of ours what it is.

Underdog, RoRoG.

I am not trying to tell a Godfather what to do. That would be very foolish of me now wouldn't it?

I am suggesting that in the future i would like the Godfathers to discuss the possibility of implementing some sort of system.

Yes, Godfathers can indeed auth however many people in their city they want, they have the power to do so. But why i have tons of crews in one city when we have cities lying empty. Right now, it's understandable, as i have stated twice now.

This is why said i would like to see something maybe put in place in the future.

I hope this clears up the confusion people seem to be having.

Don RoRoG, I think this natural selection you are talking of is bad for business. We need a safe world to do successful business. I think with equal cities and the same chances for everybody leading a city this stability can be reached, all are talking about rebuilding and living in a safe working world after these wars. I do believe that this is a good idea to ensure stability in our world and that we can do good business with that system.

We're businessmen and we chose this live to have a better live than the other citizens. Blood is bad for business, everybody knows that and that's why a such a system could be implemented.

I am suggesting that in the future i would like the Godfathers to discuss the possibility of implementing some sort of system.

If the godfathers come up with a system then so be it but originally I believed you to mean that city hall should come up with a system. While I don't personally feel that a "system" is needed in either case I most definitely believe that if such a system was built in I feel the godfathers should be the ones to decide it.

Don RoRoG, I think this natural selection you are talking of is bad for business.

Natural Selection is very much what business is. The strong lead and grow strong organizations and the weak get bought out or fall to the wayside. While I feel stability is necessary at this point in time, natural selection isn't going to quit being a law of our land just because we're striving for stability. Right now we're adapting to our war-torn environment by trying to let ourselves grow a bit but eventually stability will give way to war when we reach a breaking point. Its the inevitable truth of our world.

If the godfathers come up with a system then so be it but originally I believed you to mean that city hall should come up with a system. While I don't personally feel that a "system" is needed in either case I most definitely believe that if such a system was built in I feel the godfathers should be the ones to decide it.

You basically just agreed what i have been saying from the start. Gkad we agreed on the matter ;)

I believed you to mean that city hall should come up with a system.

That was never the case :)