A few years ago we put in a rule to help players get out from under the firm grip of the KGB mentality - demanding papers from everyone at every turn.  With the new version of the game on the horizon new users will be landing at our shores and really won't be prepared for the grilling that some of the paranoid uppers can put them through.  I hope that adjusting this policy will nudge the community in the right direction where common sense prevails over paranoia.

The original rule was intended to curtail bloodline harassment. However, since its implementation, it has had some negative effects on the community. It has created an extra layer of paranoia, even on lounge, which has made people reluctant to engage socially with each other since people were required to dance around the rules to find those who they were familiar with. Additionally, it has created a scenario in which upper structure is more likely to "purge" out those under made that they do not know, since they cannot ask. One principal to handling the rule was to promote people at 11 days to open up the ability to ask, but for uppers, in most cases, there was no incentive to do so. Finally, members who were promoted were able to be dishonest just as they were before the rule was implemented, and so the rule did not have any grand effect on preventing bloodline harassment itself. The negatives have outweighed any sort of benefit. Since the rule's implementation, there have been very few actual infractions of the rule because uppers would either promote someone and ask, leave them at wiseguy forever and keep a watchful eye on their growth, or simply would just shoot the unknown under made.

The rollback of this rule does not mean that bloodline harassment will be tolerated. Additionally, any rules regarding requests of character history are still in place, and will be dealt with harshly. Lounge hostmasks are still anonymous and cannot be used for tracking an individual between accounts. Those who are under made and do not wish to share their bloodlines are as always able to lie or fake their backstory. However, in most instances, much of the community would probably prefer to answer such a question honestly (or at least have a confident backstory ready) as some familiarity reduces paranoia and may curtail purging and other side effects of having to dance around the whole topic.

So let us proceed with some common sense. Lets hold each other accountable for diving too deep into paranoia and seeing monsters under every bed and in every closet.  Sometimes a new player *is* simply a new player. 

https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/951655 is more information on the rule that has been reversed.

Ben_Dover

If you want to know about my past, ask me. I'll either tell you or not.

See thats the problem.  Man I am just a social guy with a shit memory.  I don't know who Ben_Dover is, but if we were talking and you made it sound like we knew each other, I as a crewleader couldn't be able to ask who you were without fear of causing issues.  It makes the flow of conversations really awkward as we dance around the elephant in the room (which probably even isnt an elephant actually).

Removing the restriction and just encouraging people to create their own backstory if they are paranoid about their past in the end probably is the better direction than trying to get everyone on the same page about something so fundamental about conversations that is more often than not is harmless.  It was easy back in the day of IRC where you kept the same name, but with people on a new name every time, its pretty quick to lose track of someone who you genuinely enjoyed the company of.

TheDame

Obviously by reversing this rule you are saying that bloodlining is acceptable to some degree.

Bloodlining has never been illegal, never will be.  When someone fucks up, sometimes they need to be killed until they course correct.  With some people it may take several tries.  Bloodlining also works both ways.  The CL that kills the wiseguy.  Wiseguy comes back to target the CL - vs - Wiseguy kills CL.  CL comes back to target the wiseguy.  Its works both ways.  There is no way to determine/verify/enforce anything bloodlining via code - so its best if the userbase holds each other accountable.

Can the player base bloodline people they find  that condone rape culture, or players that  think it is okay to black mail in game even though it is illegal in real life? 

Every player has a gun used to enforce their will.  Every player is in a family that can be used to enforce their will.  Every family has allies that can be used to enforce their will.  Players are only alive because the entire site as a collective agrees that they should be.  The worst of the worst is only alive because through inaction, the bar is set to encourage the lowest common denominator.

And yes blackmailing people is covered under internet crimes.  Don't give me that rigamarow about us playing criminals we are playing criminals not actually acting it out. 

As with the past, the present and the future, I will be more than happy to work with your local authorities with any information they require.

Or players that nearly destroy the community with taking advantage of game glitches?  Now I know these types of players did get some sort of punishment's due to the acts. But behavior speaks more truth than words. 

 So is this reversal so that the paler base has more control of these types of players? 

The entire userbase has the power to remove anyone who is undeserving of their status.  If the standards are below your liking, hold your crewleader accountable. They in turn hold each other accountable.  Which in turn holds the entire userbase accountable.