time was, to be a crew leader, you had to be someone. not just a great shooter, or a moneybags who can out earn everyone. but a someone.

now, i look and i see many of the famous bold suits where once only a few would be. crew leaders who have no distinct personalities. all you can see on their suit is what their family is and who their sponsors are.

does this mean they are less able to lead, thats not for me to say. but what happened to a crewleader being someone? a well known street presence who could be counted on to be vocal, and to have a purpose behind everything they say.

After hearing what darkangel said bboy starts to share what's in his mind...

I think you have answered one of you're questions sir...it is not for us to say whether they are fit to lead or not.Seing them with the bold suit is a guarantee enough that they have earned what it takes to lead or their GodFather would have sent them swimming with the fishes if he sees them not fit.When it comes to street presence...I guess you said it correctly when you stated the their presence in the streets does always have purpose...now being vocal and having purpose in every words to say can be different from each other.

This conversation arises regularly.  The fact is that the bold suits have done, or their parents have done, something notable to someone somewhere.  Now, whether that translates to being a "someone" leads us to a further questions.

What is a "someone"?  Who decides who is a "someone"?

Power decides the necessary requirements for leadership.

If the Godfathers of our cities decided that an individual required a street presence prior to being considered viable for leadership, then that would become necessary and many more people would flock out here to grace us with their thoughts. Similarly, if they decided that you had to dance three times around a penis shaped tree, then we would see some people strap on their dancing shoes and start jigging. This is because the only rules we have are those enforced by those with the ability to enforce them. Everyone is capable of doing anything that they feel they have the ability to get away with. There is nothing to stop me from opening a HQ tomorrow and trying to bring in some fresh meat...other than the power of those who currently run our world to stop me.

At the moment, the criteria for leadership is determined on a case by case basis by the individual responsible for that city. I don't doubt that they have their own characteristics in mind when selecting candidates and largely place their trust in people who they believe won't embarrass their city, will be loyal to them and won't make too many mistakes. Anything beyond that is probably a bonus.

Is that an issue? That depends on who you ask. I certainly would prefer more emphasis placed upon street activity and generally having a personality. I find our leaders at the moment to be fairly generic, with a few obvious exceptions. More are concerned about surviving and holding on to what they have, rather than ensuring they build something that people will remember after they are gone. This is an endemic problem with MafiaReturns that has existed for as far back as you want to go. There are only a handful of individuals who are prepared to do something different and stand out from the crowd.

Is it fair to blame the ruling powers for the decline in quality of the candidates available? Honestly, no. If people are only prepared to put in a finite amount of effort, then unless they are prepared to wait for people to improve their game, they have no choice but to lower the bar. Our problem is that the bar keeps dropping further and further. I know that picking individuals who won't rock the boat makes perfect sense when you're in a position of authority and sometimes a safe pair of hands is the right choice, but it makes for a dull world.

Ultimately, short of the Godfathers banding together and decreeing what they expect from future auths and raising the standard, this isn't going to change. If they did do this, what would happen to those currently anonymous leaders watching eagle eyed from their HQs? Who knows? Not me and probably not you, because it won't happen.

~C~

From my experience in this game, Godfathers and other CL's trust certain mobsters in this world of ours. People who really work hard get the reward. By no means does work get unnoticed. Once you put in the work needed and a little extra then you should get rewarded.

A lot of crew leaders around are sons or daughters of the most hard working mobsters. They work themselevs up the ranks and prove that they are better than there father by working just as or even harder.

As you you are correct in saying a lot of CL's are sons of fathers who were crew leader, you have to think about how there father got the respect in the first place to start a family. These guys came off the boats and earned what was needed from the right people. Its not like they were choosen at random.Time and time again can you see them rising to the top again and thats only because of one reason. Consistant hard work. Godfathers and crew leaders alike see these men and then there sons to put in the same amount of effort into there crime filled lives.

The reason why its seems that the bosses sons are crew leaders time after time is because Godfathers know they must have the same qualities as there fathers and are then trustworthy.

Similarly, if they decided that you had to dance three times around a penis shaped tree, then we would see some people strap on their dancing shoes and start jigging.

aka The Gwarble Made Man Ceremony

Sometimes things get a bit stagnated here on the streets. A lot could blamed for a decrease in street discussion; stagnancy, complacency, or perhaps just a lack of news. I always applaud those that fine innovative things to discuss and keep the flow of conversation fresh. But sometimes there isn't much in terms of news other than (1) announcements of a new captain setting up an HQ, (2) a crime story, or (3) somebody bitching that all anyone talks about in the streets are announcements of a new captain setting up an HQ and crime stories. The streets are usually the most heated during post-war periods for obvious reasons, and it is sometimes hard to come up with a topic that hasn't been touched upon in the past numerous times. To those that continually spark discussion and express imaginative ideas here in the streets, I tip my hat to you. I for one used to speak on a fairly regular basis and then slowed down. There were times I wanted to come out and address the masses, but just couldn't think of anything to say that I thought would captivate a crowd, and chose to remain silent rather than speaking loudly and saying nothing. Coming out and speaking just for the sake of speaking often times leads to old tired discussions being rehashed over and over again. No offense darkangel, but this speech falls into that category.

Back to the topic of street speakers, I think honorable mention should go out to my beloved Godfather Roman, my advisor and trusted donkey Chuckle, and Kuklinski. Those are the first three names that come to mind when I think of mobsters who have the ability to step out onto the corners and elicit a massive response from a crowd. People can trash talk Kuklinski all they want, but let's face the facts... if people weren't remotely interested in what he was saying they would keep walking, not stop to comment. They call that "heel heat" in certain professions. I'm not ashamed to admit that I keep the Kuklinski Las Vegas Memoirs bound in fine leather and displayed in a place of prominence on my bookshelf in between Sweeney's Mom News Vol. 1 and the Gwarble Barble box set.

We'd all like to see the streets become more active and the leaders taking a more prominent stance in the streets. If there's something to talk about, that is. Sometimes unfortunately, there is not. Andrew_Paxton just made an announcement that he intends to pump life into his business district and encourage his members to become active in the streets. There are people in Chicago that are working to do the same. I'd say that is a step in the right direction.