Chade lights another cigarette before leaning back against the brick wall. Taking a drag, he looks around the people walking by, oblivious to the world that he lives in, not even paying attention to the guys in black suits trying to block access to him.

Looking at his watch, he flicks his half smoked cigarette away before signalling one of the messenger boys he keeps around him in the city to come up.

He is late, take your group and spread out and find him.

Turning to his head of security, Kylar, while lighting another cigarette, he motions for him to send a guy with each kid to make sure they find his missing appointment. Nodding his head in understanding he calls a few names and lets them know it is time to earn their pay.

Chade looks at his watch as Kylar comes up to let him know that the man was found, and has left the life of crime behind and gone down the straight and narrow. He owned a cigar store on the other side of town.

Shaking his head, Chade steps forward to get one of the associate's attention that is usually hanging around.

I have a question for you. For all of you.

Why do you do it? How do you keep yourself motivated.

Why do you lead this life of crime that we are in? One of my closest friends just died, I set a meeting today to meet his son and find out that his son isn't in the same line of business as his father. That he owns a shop on the other side of town.

Looking around, Chade notices that people look confused as to what he is saying.

What I want to know, is how you keep yourself motivated, keep yourself in this line of business when friends, comrades, loyal family members die around you and then you find out that their sons or daughters don't follow in their footsteps?

What keeps you here in the streets? What keeps your family here? I know that most of you has a son or daughter running around, or probably got into this life following your parents.

So why?

Shaking his head and smiling wryly at himself, Chade lights another cigarette before stepping back and leaning against the wall muttering to himself.

I must be getting old. Do you think I'm getting old Kylar, going on about such things as this?

The key to motivation is simple; define your goals and act accordingly.  Remove obstacles to your goal, if doing so doesn't impede you longer term.

The further up the "food chain" you go, the harder it is to make a good call on the removal of obstacles, I'd imagine.  For associates of a family, the road is straighforward.  Once you get your button, I think it gets harder.

Simple answer Katarina!!!!!

What keeps me moving forward?
Nothing.
That's the whole beauty. I just keep rolling.

On a more serious note, I like your answer El_Nino. Simple answers are often the best and the most beautiful.

Right Bonzo, the button is probably where dreams or aspirations become far more realistic... and with them follows the responsibilities and threats. Once you achieve something or gain something, only then do the demands of maintaining that gain unveil themselves.

For some of us... friends keep this world spinning. Of course we lose our allies all the time, sometimes losing the bloodline and legacies simultaneously... but whilst a good ally is still in the business, I guess it gives us a reason to return to this life we share and ensure our bloodlines remain supporting each other.

I like the question though, why are we still here ticking away. Friends and family would be the answer for me... they keep my bloodline flowing.

There are just certain people that you meet that stick to you as you go along. They keep me here that`s for sure cause I keep meeting people that are just amazing.

I can say that just keep fighting and proving yourself to be better is one for me.

Excellent question. One that needs serious thinking. From the very first moment i stumbled upon these shores, even before i new of the many, many post offices that were there for the taking i sat down with a bottle of my fathers finest rum and i set my self goals, goals there were realistic and reachable for that moment and time. Ones that could give me immediate gratification and ones that were set further a field, if my life should be so lucky to reach that point.

Initially its these immediate gratification goals what drive and spur me on, choosing the correct paths to reach them, asking all the right questions as well as relying on contact's, always striving to make a name for myself in my city for all the right reasons, with always keeping my long term goals midley locked away as a point of reference to keep pushing my self forward and accumulating business contact's along the way as well as new friends, OK in this thing of ours friends might be a slight over phrase, as we are world of law breaking people but we accept those terms when entering any kind of friendship's here. We know at any point in this life we may have to turn on those close to our hearts, they may be family members, friends or whoever but the point is simple, this is our way of life.

When i reach all me immediate goals, then i bring back out my rum and contemplate my next move.

Why do i do it?

Well why the hell not. Im no 9-5 office worker type. Im a realist i know that wont support my lavish lifestyle or feed my many children i have dotted on every continent.

On a serious note, my friend and mentor Kurtz is no longer with us and his son hasn't returned (as far as I know).  So what is keeping him from coming back?

The suprise of not knowing what will happen next, and the thrill of it all is enough to keep me going

I am involved in our way of life for a few reasons. I fancy myself as a journalist, but I wasn't going to be sent to do a story about Puddles the Panda at the local zoo every other week, just to get my name in the paper. Something about the grind of a 9-5 life didn't appeal to me, perhaps I'm lazy, perhaps I just don't like being 'normal'. Maybe I just want to feel pretty darn cool, so I turned to a life of crime, who can say?

My family line stems back a long way, probably too far if I'm honest. The only way to keep going is to enjoy what little time we have here. There is no point sitting on your hands for months, only to have someone else come along and steal everything away from you, because whilst you got complacent, they stayed hungry. You should never get too fat, too lazy or too soft, because I remember what I was like and I know other people are ready and waiting to strike me down. That isn't a grim view of our world, just the reality of it. We are all part of the same game, vying for the top positions in a hierarchical structure and there are only so many of them to go around.

Can I understand why sons and daughters turn away? Absolutely. Ancestors of mine stepped away and led legitimate careers, we haven't all walked the same path and some never even jaywalked. This life can be glorious, rewarding and entertaining. It can also be soul destroying, cruel and depressing. It isn't for everyone and it certainly isn't for everyone all of the time. Some people lose their hunger for it over time and I would suggest that maybe they retire. They have children who might one day decide that a suit and tie desk job isn't for them and they return with an appetite for it, but going through the motions is pointless.

(OOC: I firmly believe that many, many, more people would retain motivation if you didn't lose so damn much every time. In the old world and at the start of this one, you lost at most, a few months work. Sure, it was still a pain in the ass, but nothing like it is now. You stand to lose 6 months+ of work, as well as any actual money you've invested. Those are some seriously high stakes. Dying used to be an annoyance, but no big deal. You knew that with a month of two of work, you could bounce right back up there towards the top of the pile. At the moment, I don't feel the effort you would have to invest, grinding out the kills, hour after hour, accumulating the BGs hour after hour and the relentless scrounging for money for bodyguards, is matched by the experience you get from doing it all. People are not prepared for losing so much time, money and effort and I can't really blame them. MafiaReturns would significantly benefit if it was pitched once again towards the majority of users, rather than catering to the excesses of the minority. People would gamble, take more risks and actually play the game, rather than just being a player within it.)

What keeps me going? I have a vaunting ambitious and an overwhelming desire to succeed. I like to see those people I associate with succeed. I strive to make sure that I do everything I possibly can with ever possible minute I have to do it. I don't want to look back over my life when it approaches its conclusion and think "Damn, if only I'd..." or "I wonder what would have happened if..". I don't like the current to wash me this way and that, instead I like to have my hand on the tiller and sail the bastard sea.