This suggestion takes inspiration from @DominicGrey's suggestion in his 'Radical Suggestion- END PERMADEATH' thread where he mentions the below.

2. Player Account Names, separate from Character names.  We could still maintain the cloak and dagger excitement of not knowing who someone is or (who their bloodline was if you prefer) by separating Contacts lists into an account friends list and a character contacts list.  The idea being that when you become friends with someone you can communicate with them through your account to their account without revealing who your current characters are.  By keeping a continuation of social groups through multiple characters I think MR could grow its community more easily.

I believe this idea needs it's own thread, so it can be commented on fully and hopefully then implemented. I have enhanced the idea some, which will hopefully give it a bit more traction.

I've played this game for a long time, and to begin with, the social aspect of the game was one of the main points that kept me coming back. The times I'd have on IRC with people from every city, were so much fun. When you used to create a room for a new family, you would have people from all cities in there, adding to the experience. Take #molson or #morningwood for example, two channels that although don't see a lot of activity now, still have multiple people sat in them now. I believe with the introduction of lounge, this has been lost, as it's difficult to keep track of who people are, both in game and out of it.

My idea is that your master account, would have a publicly viewable profile, which would be capable of receiving and sending mails. This would allow friends to keep in contact through their master accounts, instead of tracking them down each time one of you dies. Your current character name would not be sent in the mails to allow incognito players to remain that way.

As well as this, there would be an option to list your current in game character name in your master account profile. Similar to the way that admins used to have a 'Playing Account: xxxxx' field in their profiles. This would be completely optional, again allowing those you want to remain incognito to do so.

If this idea was implemented, I would suggest a one-time option to change your master account name (be that the name you login with or just the viewable name on the master profile, whichever is easier to code) so that it is easier to go by the name you're most known by. For example, my master account, I think, is SammyGarcini, and whereas this is a name a lot of people know me by, I personally would rather it be Pratster.

This could then be put into lounge as well, if possible, or if deemed necessary.

This would go a long way to keeping people connected, and in my opinion, keep them wanting to play more. I know I found it difficult once I returned from my time away from the game, as I didn't have a clue who anybody in game was, and it made it quite tough to be motivated to play at all.

I would be fine with this if we had a way to toggle on and off a master account. Sometimes you just want your own space ..

+1 with a toggle

I've had a few associates, both fairly new and completely new, during my run as both RH and CL. A few of them have actually expressed a frustration when it comes to connecting with people because of dying and having no clue on how to find them again after you return. These connections they've made kinda drift away after death according to them. 

If it hadn't been for IRC and all that way back when I started I'm not really sure if I would have stayed. I think this would be really valuable especially for newer players as they might have a harder time finding people compared to experienced ones

+1

I'm not 100% sure on if I'm truly sold on this idea for the fact of you could've pitched the idea of letting all users back into rooms. I mean tracking people down can be a hassle at times. I do like this idea though. As Mercury said a toggle or some sort would have to be in the coding just do to being able to see a persons account when they felt like not being incognito about things.

+.5

Mafia.org used to have something like this after it was re-released (and still does in a very limited way) and I actually liked it a lot. Basically when you logged into your master account you would have an OOC area where everyone had a single name that was not changed, There were forums, chats, friends lists etc, almost like what MySpace was back then. I don't think it would need to be as social media-esque, but it would be cool to have an OOC area where we could keep in contact with longtime friends without having to give out whatsapps and other things.

This would make it easier to keep in touch with friends in-game (without 3rd party apps like Aang mentioned).  I think it would get so many more casual visitors to consider staying.  I've definitely stayed on as long as I have because of the people I've met and it would remove a big headache from dying to stay in touch with them more easily.

+1

I like this idea and would also like the option to post in OOC forums from this master account, rather than my playing account, to differentiate between player opinions and user opinions. 

Posting in OOC forums from a master account is a good addition. No reason why you shouldn't be able to do that, might help people truly consider posts OOC and not tie it into their current playing accounts.

I don't think you need a toggle option for visibility of master account, personally. There wouldn't need to be a last active time on the profile, so people wouldn't know if you were online or not, and if someone mailed that you didn't want to talk to, you can just ignore it.

This sounds like a way to make more permanent connections rl without the 3rd party apps as no one has to use it & can continue old style if wished. 

Do many people claim to be someone else when they aren't? I'm not personally aware of that happening often, if at all.

If it does though, the rule on asking those under made who they are, could be expanded to having someone verify themselves using a master account. If you are asked to verify yourself this way, you report it.

I wouldn't say a previous name remaining contactable is the reason for my suggestion. Personally, when I returned after a long time away, I had no idea who anybody was, or their previous names, or the one before that. Having a 'Master Account Profile' that I could mail, to ask if they were still playing, would've made this much more enjoyable. Part of the reason I'm not massively active at the moment, is I have almost no idea who most people are, whether they're crew leaders, hands, or otherwise.

People will always be sly and try to get around things, but if it's in the rules that you cannot verify a persons identity like this, and breaking of that rule is reportable, then I think that would be ok?

Regarding posting, how about if a master account was only allowed to post in OOC, if they are happy to have their current playing account tied to it? As in the original suggestion, you would have the option to display your current playing account in your master account profile. Only if you were enabling this, would you be able to post in OOC forums. This would stop those who aren't playing, just running their mouths when they more than likely have no idea on the state of the game currently.

Also, a master account would in 99% of cases, be the name that person is mostly known by. Due to this, I don't think it would lessen accountability. If someone is antagonising people, or making a prat (I know) of themselves, they aren't completely anonymous, they have their master account name tied to it all.

This sounds like an absolutely incredible idea provided accountability is maintained in regards to the posting aspect(s).

Perhaps with the OOC Master Account posting we could get that extended to other Forums as well? Specifically; Suggestions/Help/Outside. 

I know that everyone is super hype about adding this feature but I’m not.

I do like the idea of being able to stay in touch with your friends but I get so tired whenever i hear of people using underhanded tactics for figuring out the bloodlines of person x, y and z i don’t want to add more ways. Give it a few months and I am sure someone will be working on making a list of who's master account is who’s.

Anyways assuming this is going forward I do have 2 suggestions for limiting the abuse of mob mailing for master accounts:

• Friend request system & private mailbox

The idea is that only people who you want to stay in touch with /communicate with can reach out to your master account. To get connected you would have to send them a friend request which includes a small text box in which you can state a reason for why they should add you. 

You could say that you knew them in the past, that you are there to buy credits, stealth bgs or w/e and then it would be up to them if they want to open up the connection or not.

• Master to master

Allowing only master accounts to mail eachother would ensure that both parties are held by the same credibility and you would be able to keep some distance from the game if so is desired.

• Friend request system & private mailbox

The idea is that only people who you want to stay in touch with /communicate with can reach out to your master account. To get connected you would have to send them a friend request which includes a small text box in which you can state a reason for why they should add you. 

You could say that you knew them in the past, that you are there to buy credits, stealth bgs or w/e and then it would be up to them if they want to open up the connection or not.

AidenPearce: One of the main issues with how things are currently is that people often don't know who is who once someone is on a new name - which was a big factor into this Suggestion - making it so you have to mail someone first for request seems completely ineffective for fixing that issue, unless I am misunderstanding your proposition. 

I don't think friend requests are necessary. Friend requesting someone would be the same as sending the first mail in my opinion.

I don't think there's a real problem with it only being master account to master account, however I don't really see the point in that being the case either. If someone mails you that you don't want to talk to, you don't reply to them. On the matter of accountability, I would say an playing account would have more accountability than if they mailed from their master account, so I'm not sure what the need is for this.

On your original issue though, AidenPearce, if people are happy to tell people their master account name, then they're more than likely going to also have their playing account displayed in their profile.

As for people using underhand tactics, again there should be a rule against this, punishable to the same extent as enquiring who an under made person is.

You can't stop people breaking rules. You can only punish the rule break to discourage it from happening again.