What is your idea?

Increased time to rank, increased time to become a Crewleader or Hand. Restructuring of Godfathers within cities.

What does your idea entail?

1. Increase the time to rank for all of Goomba to Don. Goomba could become 5 days, Earner 10, Wise Guy 20, Made Man 30, Capo 45, Consig 60, Don 75, Godfather 120. (I've also accidentally removed Boss as an option, but Capo and Boss are the same thing IMO). 
2. The XP to rank should also be scaled alongside these new timescales. 
3. Hands must be Made Man or above. To be a crewleader of any form would continue to be Made Man or above,
4. Single Godfather per city. A Godfather would have total control over the city, with each other CL in the city effectively being underbosses to the Godfather. The Godfathers direct members would be very limited, consisting of these Underbosses, a RHM, and a Consigliere type function (which could simply be the LHM we have today). However, they would need to authorise any promotions to Made Man. The underbosses can then handle any promotions to Capo or Consig. 
5. HQ Wack would no longer exist in any form, but anyone attempting to kill someone who reports in to them, or someone acting on a hit created by the Godfather/leader, would be given an advantage. 
6. Anyone Made Man or above can shoot at anyone, without authorisation. 
7. Authorisation to Wack for Wiseguys and below can come from any Made Man within the family, this should be largely invisible to leaders above based on stealth stats, however there would be a % chance that an authorisation get spotted by the overall leader or Godfather (this could lead to more internal plotting and backstabbing, but it shouldn't be without risk). 

How can your idea be successfully implemented into the game as it stands?

People's rank migrates to the new rank based on current age. Godfather Chairmen become the City's Godfather. Other Godfathers, if they exist, would fold in to the new Godfather's ranks. 

What is the positive impact of your idea?

1. Death would be felt more prominently amongst uppers, as people can't immediately move back in to a Hand position, or become a crewleader in less than 2 weeks.
2. Godfather positions would be more limited, meaning more potential for players to compete for those positions, and the friction/turnover that can generate. (It is the mafia after all, egos will play their part :)). 
3. Overall, there would be more opportunity for different people to step in to positions of relative power, as the time to sit out before becoming a hand/leader again would be increased to at least 1 month. 
4. Large scale wars (or very effective rogues/freedom fighters) will lead to a larger shift in power than we see today, which would be more in line with a real life war/mass wipeout style event. 

What is the negative impact of your idea?

1. People may not get as quickly hooked on the game without the dopamine hit of quick ranking (maybe we make Goomba/Earner/WG a little easier with a stretch to get to Made?)
2. There could be more difficulty in getting promoted to Made Man, as the increased power they have would increase the risk (I don't believe this is a bad thing, others may disagree)

There is a lot to pick apart here, but my initial feeling is that a change like this would not stray far away from the current MR we all know and love but at the same time encourage more RP, with a change in outlook on your character (and consequent approach to the game) for the better. What I'm reading here is that responsibility changes with rank, and each rank has its own objectives. The family tree / organisational structure moves from something more one-dimensional and one-way to something more structured and broader. You have a specific responsibility depending on your rank: You get a taste of managing your own (sub) crew as a boss / capo but still ultimately report to a Don or GF who is still above you, with responsibility of the capos. Below Made, you make as much cash as possible, make a name for yourself and push to become the leader of your own small crew within your family. Arguably an extension to a sponsor perhaps?

Points 1 and 2 - completely agree. When I started playing a long time ago it felt longer to climb the ranks. Add in currency with credits and commerce / whatever you want to call it, you have a market to help things go quicker and be at an advantage versus the person in the list next to you (appreciate this is subjective / it's what you choose to do with them etc etc, but it's a newer concept versus what went in the past). Earning a promotion badge would simply mean more if it was slowed down that little bit and the XP reflected it.

Point's 3 + 4 - Yes x 1000. The decision of who to appoint as RH/LH lies with the overall boss and is subjective to a point, but I cant see how it can be justified to appoint someone who is not Made when others with more XP and of superior rank are overlooked. Appreciate this in turn gets us in bloodline territory, plus newly-established crews are a curveball to this argument, and is a debate in itself and we really shouldn't go there in this context etc etc but realistically in the mob, this recognition just wouldn't happen - at least not in established families. The Don, Boss, Consig of a family just don't talk or listen to people who are not Made in the context of la Cosa Nostra, about the business of the mob. The 1 month rule TheD has put in means you can find a different way in the game for a short period of time, then when the time comes around you have options. The space in between ranks is larger, and that rank, in turn, just means that bit more.

I think there's some good ground for further debate around this, and the proposals have been well thought-out. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say. All of this is said in my very honest, humble opinion.

1. Death would be felt more prominently amongst uppers, as people can't immediately move back in to a Hand position, or become a crewleader in less than 2 weeks.

Let me fix that for you to be more accurate:

1. Death would be felt more prominently amongst the people constantly hunted by uppers.  So when you do die after getting to a rank you'll be even less motivated to do so.

Hard disagree on this. Make it easier/faster if nothing else. But I don't think rank speed is an issue.

I'll hard disagree with your hard disagreement. Now, leadership change isn't my primary motivation here, but I really think anyone wanting leadership change AND quicker ranking is doing their cause a disservice.. the less on the line, the less time to pass, the easier it is to retain power after death. I'd also argue the recent wipeout where every Godfather died supports this. 

Deaths would be felt more by everyone. But if someone is dying repeatedly before achieving whatever their goals are right now, its not going to be any worse for them in the future. Does it really hurt more to die as a 20 day old Wise Guy compared to a 20 day old Boss? Or maybe they're not even boss as they're being held back as they're not trusted enough to be Made. I'd suggest no. 
 

When ranking WAS slower, leadership deaths were felt more prominently, as it was known it would take them a while to have a character back in a position of strength. People who want to fill that vacuum have more of an advantage, and more time for their roots to grow, before someone else can rebuild and challenge again. 

When ranking WAS slower, leadership deaths were felt more prominently

No they didnt.  And ranking hasn't changed.  Just gun building. 

Power is all about who you know and what money/influence they have.  An individual doesn't feel shit when supported by a large group.

With all that said, I'd still take this over literally no changes.  But I have a hard time believing we see any changes to anything.