Obviously, NPMs are currently a subject of much discussion and abolition at the moment. I have no objection to non-playing characters (for instance, we have no one that plays on the 'law' side in this game, therefore there are non-playing characters acting as arresting officers) but I do have a dislike of NPMs. The reason I do not personally like them is that they are afforded status, rank, privilege and money making skills of a real player without the effort of a real player. In order to remedy this, and since the concept of what they do and how they generate money for the site isn't going anywhere, I have a proposal to change the concepts that are at odds with what I see as wrong.

My proposal is that instead of being a non-playing member, the function will be a NPC operated Storefront or warehouse, which sells excess loot and stolen goods generated by the daily crimes of the family they work for. While I will be calling it a "store" or "shop" for the rest of this proposal, the name and title can be changed if need be. Some of the changes will be mere cosmetic in nature to how the current NPMs exist, some of the changes are alterations, and some of them are mere optional additions should this idea take hold.

I'll start with the "cosmetic" changes, as well as list reasoning for maintaining current NPM features in this NPC shop function. The shop should be "destructible" akin to someone WACK!ing an NPM. The shop can be "shop-lifted" akin to "pickpocketing" an NPM. They would become abandoned to avoid heat from the police 31 days after setting up. They can participate in Organized Crimes, as they are the outlet in which the acquired items can be sold quickly. As they are set up in locations that are typical of crime, they can also witness activity the same as NPMs currently do.

The most important change is the way these shops generate their money. While they will still slowly build the amount they are capable of making the older they are, they will have a set minimum and maximum value that they make in a day. While they always will generate the minimum amount for the day they are on, the work of the rest of the family will dictate if they make up to the maximum amount. For every crime a family member or associate does, they contribute to the total family count for the day (petty would count as 1 'point', felony 4, successful OC participant 5 or so, successful OC organizer 8 or so, etc). The total 'points' earned are then compared with the totals of the other crews that have the same size HQ, with the highest total setting the points needed to earn the maximum amount for that shop. The other crews will earn the percentage difference of the max - the min amounts in relation to their point total compared to the highest point total. Example:

Day 1 for your shop, with the min set to $50 and max set to $100. Your crew has completed crimes that amount to 500 'points' for the day. Another crew with the same size HQ as you set the highest 'point' total at 1000. Since your crew did 50% of the work as the hardest working crew, your shop would earn 50% of the difference between the max amount and the min amount, which in this example would mean that your shop would make $25 over min, or $75 for the day.

Obviously, the weight associated with each crime can be set to reflect keep each crime level in comparison to each other. There would also be an exception for new crews, where either their first 10 shops or shops bought within the first month are exempt from the comparison, and automatically earn the maximum amount (as long as its the first HQ set up by that person - no disbanding and reforming loophole should be allowed).
The number of shops available to each crew will be based on the size of the HQ. There can be one shop for every five HQ spaces. This means that a ten-man HQ has two slots shops available, a 25 man HQ has five shops available, and a 50 man HQ has 10 shops available.

Beyond those changes, there are a few optional ones that I thought up that are not a part of the core changes that I am proposing. One of these is the ability, when purchased, is to set the shop as either 'MOBILE' or 'FIXED.' A FIXED shop would stay in one particular city, and only use crimes committed in that city for comparison in generating money.

Another would be the ability to set its 'STATS' either through direct selection or a similar Q/A as players receive when signing up a new character. The change can affect how easy it is to generate money among other things. For example, a 'defensive' or guarded store would be better protected from shop-lifting or destruction, but it would take more crimes to reach the same level as a normal shop (something simple like 0.9 * CrewCrimePoints when comparing to the max). An info setup would allow the shop to be better with witness statements, while being more susceptible to shop-lifting, destruction, as well as more difficult to crime for. A 'money-making' setup would suffer in its defense and witness ability, while making it easier to crime for (1.1 or 1.2 * CrewCrimePoints).

With this change, I feel it will focus this part of the game and alleviate the conflicts that are associated with NPMs.

(If any or all parts of this doesn't make sense, feel free to ask and I will attempt to unscramble it as best I can)

Cracking suggestion. Keeps the benefits of NPM's whilst ensuring that only CL's who promote as much activity as possible in their crews will reap the maximum benefit. However, I don't think it'd be totally necessary to have different start up answers or having fixed/mobile options as it hasthe potential just to overcomplicate things.

More options to consider:

- shops/warehouses needing to be bribed in the same way that DFP's are

- Tying in street posts into the points generated (as posts currently count towards ranking points for individual members)

- As the shops/warehouses come to the end of the cycle, it should occur just how you say - abandonment to detract heat; rather than cashing in on something for a month then getting a kill out of it too.

Love this suggestion entirely. Best one I've seen in a long while. I'm not sure if the player commission is doing anything at the moment, but I'm apparently a part of it so...

waves magic wand

But in all seriousness, some potential modifications:

I like the idea of street posts counting into these "points" as well. I think everyone here would admit that actually roleplaying a character and posting in the streets/business district is an important aspect of our society.

I think it would also be interesting to use this suggestion to actually give the business district a purpose. Right now it's a place where a certain subgroup in the community goes to develop their characters and run random businesses.

But the point of businesses for the mafia is to be a "front". Why not tie these money producing "storefronts" or whatnot to the number of active businesses in a city's business district?

I would not object to posts in the street or business district counting toward the crime point total for a crew. Weighted against the other crimes properly, it could be a good contributing factor.

I also would not object to needing a bribe during the shops run. Although I wonder if the initial 10 credit cost (since this would replace NPMs, the same cost would be associated with it) would cover it.

I wouldn't mind either way if it was abandoned immediately after its last payment or if it sat around and someone could use an MIA contract slot to destroy it. I feel the former is the better method, but I wouldn't care if it inherited the current NPM system.

As far as being a "front", I would tie the DFP system into the business district, as a DFP can be a long term operation (assuming one were to keep up with the bribes). This system would be more along the lines of selling the old ladies purse after you have emptied the money from it. Since the heat of selling stolen items and the fact that each one would expire, I wouldn't tie it into the business district.