There is one thing in our world that I have always wondered about and that is pickpocketing and peoples perceptions.

Our gods have recently informed us that pick pocketing has been changed from being classed as an attack and is on a different "clock" to that of taking shots with our guns.

For those of you less au fait with our world and things up till recently you could only try your luck in someones pockets or take a shot at someone once an hour. This has now been separated so that you can take a shot and pickpocket someone in the same hour and each attempt for each thing is an hour apart.

I am however most likely preaching to the converted and you all know these little facts.

Getting back to the original point, in light of this recent change what are peoples perceptions of pick pocketing these days.

Also there are a number of people who are tattooed with "No Pick Pocketing" if you are so tattooed do you avoid the cities that say they are pick pocket friendly and your pockets will be harassed in those cities?

I merely consider pickpocketing done on other mafioso as an action that is done to show off the skill that one has with one's fingers, and the ability to choose such timing that the person being pickpocketed is not even aware that such an action has happened. Obviously, I do this with the full knowledge that others will also be trying to do the same with me. I do not see the harm in such a thing happening, as long as the person doing so is someone I have a personal grudge against, or someone at odd ends with my family. I believe that no one will be foolish enough to carry more than a few grand in loose cash, and that is little more than pocket change. Also, most people who have gotten the better of my defenses in the past almost always ensure that I find the cash they took in the next day's mail.

I genuinely think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with pickpocketing to the point where I struggle to understand why those who try to run away from that part of this thing of ours do run from it. From my persepective it's just a bit of harmless fun, a little challenge between mobsters. And mobsters is what we are, not the elderly guarding our pensions. Let us all be honest, how much is the maximum of $5000 that can be lost actually worth to us? Very little, to the majority, I'm sure. Nothing that a few petties and the odd felony couldn't bring back, certainly. It just seems a terrific fuss over nothing in my eyes.

PickPocketing has many different outcomes. It's been found that PP'ing DOES increase stealth. Whenever we have abilities that are promoted that involved stealth, it will ultimately raise activity for BG shooters and randomers.

Now whether or not some of these BG shooting 'cliques' are aware of this stealth increase, I am not sure. Coming to another point of being 'mugged back' after a PP, I'm not sure if when you are mugged back, if that takes away the increase of stealth, seeing as the person obviously knew it was you and you did not actually 'stealthily' PP them.

As far as a personal note, I don't see anything wrong with PickPocketing in general. I think it's apart of the game that can either be in our favor or against us. How we use the tools the gods have given us is ultimately on us. Again, personally, I think having the ability to hone our skills in stealth would be good for the city, but we would also need to know how many people are using those skills in the first place in order to get a real grasp on whether or not it would be good for LV.

Senka was walking along the streets when she heard Romeo speaking of pickpocketing. Knowing she had an aversion to pickpocketing and wanted nothing to do with it she listens to what he has to say.

In answer to your question Romeo and to make this short and sweet. As someone who does not like being pickpocketed I do try to avoid those cities as much as possible. Clearly there will be times I cannot avoid travelling to them but in whole I do try to avoid going to those that state my pockets will be harassed. I work hard for my money as I'm sure others do and I think their wishes should be accepted regardless of where they are.

Walking outside the streets I see a crowd of people listening to a speech being made. Curious as to what it was about , Khione moved closer. She soon found out that the topic is something that she loves to do .

Pickpocketing , it's something that I enjoy very much....especially if the wallet I am picking are from my friends and we would end up in the business district to have lunch or drinks courtesy of me, of course.

The way I see it, the pick pocketers nowadays have increased since the Gods have separated the attack and the pickpocketing timer. People are less afraid now to be pp'ied back because their timers for attack will be messed up....now they could care less if they will be mugged by the person they pickpocketed.

Benji hears Romeo speech about Pick Pocketing and smiles as he drops a wallet in a dust bin and stuffs his illgotten gains in his pocket

To Pick Pocket or Not To Pick Pocket? Romeo i myself have never had a Problem with people placeing there hands in my pockets its somthing i have gotten used to, The loss of $5000 max i wont lose sleep over Though we know that with Pick pocketing we run the risk of being mugged back. I for one am never bothered with either result its our way of training up skills to help out our familys so its all good. As for the Citys that condone Pick Pocketing i applaude there stand there.

Bengi spys a mobster with a bulgeing pocket walking by smiles a wicked smile and starts shadowing his new mark

pp-should be an automatic--i share in this game ,i get pp'd----and feel others are opted to do the same... c'mon members its....mafia what do you want to do ,,paint our nails----so lets get to the facts ,that it is a probability,both ways---so join in and erase and allow----to me it should be part of the game !!!!

To you it should be a part of the game. Others do not share your point of view. We work hard for our money (5k or not) and why should we be robbed of our work? It's like wacking. It's part of the game and yes I know during wars and rogues etc that it happens but would we allow everyone to just go and shoot whoever they want without consequence? I doubt it. So why should we have to sit back and say"yeah well you can rob me, its okay"?

True that not all people view pickpocketing as harmless fun and I agree with you Boss Senka when you state that it's your hard earned money so why should anyone try to pick your money. Nonetheless , that is why we have banks that we can access whenever we want to .

Pickpocketing also helps every crew in one way or another , that is if the leader of the crew knew how to utilize it well ;)

I am not sure what game is being referred to here this is my life. I am partial to a little finger dipping myself when the opportunity arises depending very much on the person whose pockets appear appealing.

On the subject of cities, Senka raises an interesting point but one that has a double edge to it.
I work hard for my money as I'm sure others do and I think their wishes should be accepted regardless of where they are.

Whilst I accept you work hard for your money, what of the Post Office you rob, or the shop owner you extort? What of the Trucking Depot you raid or the bank you hit? Do these people not also work hard for the money that we take?

There is also the question of wishes. Whilst I accept that an individual has wishes then surely so does the city head. Most have worked exceedingly hard to get to the position where they can make city wide rules. I must confess I am inclined to go with the city over the individual however that is very much down to the individual.

Pardon my OOCitis, it seems I had forgotten to take that shot the other day and with it being such a long night I was a bit late.

Khione, I believe most non-pickpocket friendly probably use those banks however to bank after every time you rob the post office or run a prostitution ring can get tedious, or forgotten briefly. Would it not still be disrespectful in some way or another if you went against someone's wishes? I mean I understand all the benefits of pickpocketing but "friendly fun" isn't the term everyone associates with pickpocketing.

Romeo, I understand your point of view. I tend to try and show respect to individual wishes as well regardless of the city their in. If that specific city head wants to pickpocket under their own rules thats fine. You asked if those of us who are against it avoid those cities and I mainly meant to answer just that question. For myself, I do as much as possible avoid those cities.

With all due respect Boss Senka , again I agree with what you have said that it is kind of disrespectful when one disregard the wish of an individual. But as dear Romeo here point out the city head's wishes and made as a rule is also one thing to consider.

As you also pointed out it will be tedious to always bank everytime one had knock down a post office or do a crime, but if I remember correctly there is one very very tedious guy , who was also a Godfather of Chicago way back then who always quite cleverly have bank his cash every single time.

Now let's go back to one's individual wish to pickpocketing as oppose to the rules of each city...which do we follow? But then that is another debate so to say.

Oh I wouldn't presume to ignore a city head's wishes. I, myself, don't pickpocket and I don't wish to be pickpocketed. I bank my money as often as I remember to do so. I wasn't trying to say you should ignore the city head's rules but again I only tend to go to the pickpocket friendly cities if I have business there, otherwise I wouldn't go. It just comes down to a personal respect issue for me which can be bickered back and forth and at the end of the day it doesn't matter if your in a pickpocket friendly city because it allows people to pickpocket at their own will. So I do what I can specifically to avoid such things.

Stilnox spots a lively discussion in the streets, not faraway from where he was sipping coffee with someone. He excused his self, stands up, and made his way towards the crowd. While listening to his fellow mobsters, he can't help but notice a friends bulging pocket. He tried his skill, and got lucky, taking a wallet full with cash.

He then hands it back, and gave his own opinion about pickpocketing.


"I rarely pick pockets before. When I was a young thug, my mentor ingrained into me that picking pockets is a waste of time and will affect your ability to attack. Something which you should keep open in case the need arises."

He then smiles as he remembered his old friend.

"But with these changes, I pickpocket as much as I can. I would do it left and right. Why? Because it's something that I can do when I get bored. It's something I can do while waiting for the next scam. It's something I can do without hurting my ability to attack in case I need to."

He then takes a deep breath and decides to close his argument.
"I pick pockets but I still respect the city's rule with regards to picking pockets. If it's a city that allows it, then I do it. If it doesn't, then I refrain from doing it."

Oh I will never have thought that you will go against the wishes of the city heads nor anyone here for that matter .

That is why whenever I go to a city that specifically says that only people who are allowing themselves to be touch on their pants , I always ONLY do it to my friends and family members . And if circumstances doesn't allow me, then I ask permission from them, so that I won't disrespect anyone of them.

Benji looks at Khione a sly look in his eye

oh really strange i am sure i felt your hand in my pockets trying to grab at a roll of quarters

Winks at Benji_Veniamin

I'm sure my dear its more than those quarters I get a hold of!

She giggles before she eyed the post office at the other side of the street.

I, for one, view pick pocketing to be 'harmless fun' as the totally stunning Khione has pointed out, mainly because the damage it does to one, financially, is almost negligible.I mean, I am just a Wise Guy and if a Pickpocket cannot hope to dent my pockets sufficiently then I don't think he can hope to dent those of higher up Mafioso. Thus it is harmless. As for the fun part. I believe picking pockets is one of the ways for us Mafioso to hone our skills at sneaking up on somebody without either one of us ending up in a body bag or behind bars.

I also understand the people who view it as an attack. While the toll it extracts is not huge. People tend to get frustrated when somebody sneaks past their body guards and their own vigilant sight and makes away with a sum of money. No matter how small this sum is, people tend to get irritated and frankly, that can be understood.

However, I believe this furore about pickpocketing boils down to an issue of a person doing as another person asks him/her to do and that depends on whether the person planning the pp respects the other person and cares about what he wants. For example, if I was a Gangster and I tried to pickpocket a Made Man in a city that endorses pickpocketing only with the owner's consent, then I will probably be shot. However, if I was a Godfather and I did the same thing to a Gangster. Then the implications will probably not be so dire. Thus, if you are in a position to enforce your opinion about pp'ing then you can get away with it. Just my two cents.