Too much bloodshed is happening these days. Godfathers dying, gangsters being submerged into the billowy depths of the sea, mothers losing their sons and daughters to the terrible turmoil that has now been deemed as the Age of Svetlana by many different philosophers of the time, such as old Einstein and skinny Elvis (may he never get fat by eating too many sandwiches).

But even in the AoS we're still dealing with the effects of war, and I'm sitting here wondering: "Sublime, how can we fix all of this?"

"What can we do?"

Well, sirs and ladies and those still with us (RIP JosephLigambi) I have found the perfect solution! Call it my Aha Moment! as it were: We have a good old fashioned sit down with the leaders and the gangsters and figure out how to bridge this gap which has caused so much terror. First, however, we must find a champion for each.

So, please, if you're a gangster or thug who's soon-to-be gangster, or one of the leaders of this esteemed place, please come forth so that we have no more terrible death like that of Napkin or Aneurysm: Let's have a conversation, start a dialogue, and maybe, just maybe, fix what's been happening today.

We can begin when our heroes have arrived.

I also call forth the competition committee to protect me, if I so happen to die then I pray that the CC shows no mercy to those who intervened in this competition of sorts. A competition to save lives.

Thank you for allowing me this gesture of good will.

Are sit downs not usually done with good faith? How does one side trust the other that is blindly shooting around out of paranoia? How do you get to good faith in the scenario?

How can we have a sitdown when Kuku has been murdered? There is nobody else who is qualified to arrange a sitdown of this magnitude. This isn't the minor leagues.

I know we're scary. I don't blame someone for wanting to bridge this gap with a good old fashion sit-down. 

I would like a sit at the table with these ass kissing tyrants. We can discuss this over some tea an crumpets. We're willing to let the sons of Napkin, Joe Lambragini, Jojo, and Spacey not be purged. Surely they don't like the taste of their own medicine. I think we can come to a 3 to 5 day contact on their lives. Freedom doesn't come cheap though. 

This war of the -1s, as Tutte's stupid ass likes to call it, can end and no more blood has to be shed. Lets talk.

The cities of Detroit and Chicago will be vacated entirely, allowing the hostile gangs from NPCLand to step in and take over.

So let's me get this straight. You've been fighting to overthrow the current "regime" for months and months and if you're successful your first order of business would be to allow NPC's to take over two cities, instead of trying to fill the city organically?

How do you think that's beneficial to this world? Or are you too blindsided by hate to understand that there is a lot more work involved sitting at the top, than you think. 

NPC's are a form of punishments by the gods for not being able to fulfil criteria and you're openly already announcing that IF you ever got in charge, your initial order of business would be to do this?  

What an incredible insite to your plans SHOULD you sit at the top. 

If I recall correctly, BricktownCL led Detroit with extreme competence for an extended period before HeadCoach came in and brought the city to ruins. I wouldn't dismiss the plan out of hand. 

I don't expect you to understand the intention, Scousepole. Run along.

What's not to understand? You clearly have no intention of trying to be "better"  if you manage to overthrow the "regime" . As per, you will take the easier option. 

How can, allowing NPC's to set up in teo full cities,  knowing that it's a punishment for not being being good enough and filling the cities organically? 

It's lazy and it's a pathetic admission of how you would shape this world. It's apparent for everyone to see, how inept you would actually be. 

Shit... You caught me, Scousepole. You're simply too smart for this place. What a waste of human potential.

If DT and CH were to be disbanded and replaced by NPCs, what would we really lose? 

Nuccio_Carrara has 1 speech and 5 responses in 89 days and that was his own auth announcement.

Jelly-Viterelli has 1 speech and 3 responses in 101 days and that was his own auth announcement.

Arianna has 1 speech and there was her own auth announcement. 

Would we be any worse off not having to listen to the almost certainly artificially assisted announcement of the rebirth of Sleep Token?

There is a strong argument that we would lose nothing with the loss of everyone but LA and that is not due to the contribution of the late Don who oversaw the place as he was as culpable as the rest. 

Four cities don't even have a full 5 VIPs. Chicago and DT have 1 each - Chicago's being that auth announcement I mentioned before and Detroit's being Luciana's response to Kuku discussing the death of Lucy, her own predecessor, nearly two weeks ago. I can't really explain how disappointing I find that. 

I could go on, but what would be the point? This has truly been the worst extended period for the Streets in memory and nothing has changed in the 18 months we've endured thus far. Forget purging, bloodlining, supposedly driving people away from a life of crime, whatever, the lack of interaction with the wider populous is and has been absolutely abysmal since the very beginning and yet somehow still manages to plumb new depths with each passing week. 

Believe me I'd really love to jump in a street thread, but have you seen ANY street threads that could involve Detroit, or even me for that matter? No. All I'm seeing, is new crews setting up, "burgerhousings" and stuff like this. How is anyone supposed to get into something that doesn't involve them at all?

Get your facts straight and see how many responses I had as Lucy. I try to contribute as much as I can. It's not my fault that I am WAY more active in businesses. Of course, if you actually were visiting the business district, you'd know this.

I'll help everyone that joins our crew and I do not hold any grudges, despite of anyone's past. FatGrin knows this, yet he fails to mention it here.

But hey let's ignore all of that and say Detroit and Chicago is the problem, since it's so convenient.

It's not my fault that I am WAY more active in businesses.

Just out of curiosity, whose fault is it? Are we taking nominations? If so, I say we blame this one on FatGrin. He’s a suspicious looking man.

This discussion cites the removal of Chicago and Detroit and the merits (or lack thereof) of vacating them to allow NPCs to move in. I have suggested that the wider populous would lose virtually nothing by that happening due to the lack of output from those places. That isn't an endorsement of the other cities, as I actually go on to state how totally they have also completely failed, but simply an acknowledgement that Detroit and Chicago are part of the problem as they were being discussed.

Given that, and the fact that this isn't about helping or holding grudges, it would have been a bit odd for me to bring your record in those departments to the fore as it both had no relevance to what I was saying nor was this about you particularly. I guess you felt targeted by this criticism as you hold a relatively minor leadership position, one in which your bosses place zero importance on certainly, and your name was mentioned as the only known speaker from DT.

To clarify then, my previous response a comment on the lack of virtually any non-mandatory output from those bosses who should absolutely do more. But in a bid to get my facts straight and open this chat up, let us take a look at Lucy. Do you think that, a two week dead Consigliere, who was thanked for her help by her murderers at her funeral is a good example of why Detroit is a good place to ply your trade or a bad example? Is that type of leadership beneficial to the world or not? Despite being WAY more visible in the Business District than certainly I am, what was her reward? A box and platitudes after the fact seemingly.

So if we were keeping a tally, the non-mandatory output from the NPCs and DT/Chicago would be the same (nothing) and the slaying of their own LHM would be less. You could actually make an argument that we would not only not lose anything, we would actually be better off as a whole if that was to happen. 

As to the point of there being no Street speeches which could involve Detroit, they could, I don't know, start some? Encourage some if not begin them organically? Report on something they are doing which is noteworthy (like Lucy's effort in the Business District)? Begin a new initiative? Keep a diary? Tell a story? Hold a competition? Question something? Change something? Do something?

You get the idea I guess. 

So let me get this straight.

You are saying just because we don't contribute outside of our crews that we should be wiped out?

I mean this is just my opinion and you've probably been in this life way before me but... No crew should ever feel obligated to contribute anything outside of its inner circle. The point of a crew is to be powerful and to keep its members united and respectful to each other and, you guessed it, make money.

I agree, the wider populous wouldn't lose anything by the removal of such crew. But to say that a city is better off vacant is just not a solution.

Because when new people come into this life, they should be given options. If they want to be in a Chicago or a Detroit crew, they should have the option to do that. Because maybe that city suits their character.

Want an example? Take me. I started a mechanic shop in Detroit's business district. I'm not saying that this wouldn't work in other cities but considering that Detroit is also known as motor city, it makes much more sense doesn't it?

But what if Detroit was empty? In that case, I could still start that business in Detroit, sure, but how many customers would I get? Nobody is there, except for npcs.

Now, addressing the shot. For those that don't know the full story, it looks bad. And I can't blame them. The bullet I took was a mistake. Was I mad about it? Yes, and one would say rightfully so. But mistakes happen, and people learn from them. I received compensation, forgave them and that was the end of it. 

Yes. The streets have been dry lately. I'd go as far as to say that they've been a little dry since I joined this world. But truthfully, it's no one's job to change that. Sharing stories and hosting events and competitions should be an optional thing.

Personally, I do have plans for the streets. But it will take me some time to come up with something I think is good enough and even more time for me to feel confident enough to share it. Have you thought about that?
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TLDR; Vacant cities are not a good idea because they minimize options for new people as well as eliminate engaging interactions. Also a crew should not feel pressured to contribute to outsiders.