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| Change the Jobs Board: Recruiting Renewable | Started by: JonBoutcher on Oct 29, '26 16:53 |
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I still remember it well - even though it was more than half my life ago. I had just started playing this game, and it was trying to get the hang of it. Some would argue that I never have. That's for them, and ChatGPT, to grapple with. Anyway... A player got in touch and asked if I'd played before. I said no. They sent me a little bit of money, and suggested I get in touch with "crew leader" and to say that they'd sent me. I did this, and the CL gave me some advice on how to make money - it was fixed drug prices in cities at the time. The CL gave me advice on profitable drug routes and said words to the effect "and that's it - follow that drug route, don't shoot anyone, and get in touch with me if you have any questions."
The first person to send me a message was named Lexicon. I heard Lexicon was/is a woman from Birmingham, in the UK. No idea if it was true. I can't remember the name of the CL. Two people gave me a friendly welcome to a game, and that would have been around 2002. I'm still here.
Why am I saying this? Well, basically, because like almost everyone playing this game, I would like it to be more popular.
Yes, I know, this is the SUGGESTIONS page, so where's my suggestion?
Well, this is it. A two pronged approach.
The first prong is that we get rid of the jobs board. Or, ideally, retweak the code so that it is another feature of the game - that in itself would be a fun and interesting debate.
The second prong is where every single one of us has a part to play. A new player appears on the list with a name not recognisable... Regardless of whether you're gangster or a Godfather, why not message that person? Ask them if they're new here, or if they need any help. Start a conversation. It's more likely than not that it's someone pretending to be a newb than an actual newb, but just act like it's a newb. Explain how to make a few dollars. Give them a few of your head-earned bucks.
Alas, real life stuff means that I can't devote my time to mentoring a newb, but I am self-aware enough to realise this, and I know that I could introduce my newb friend (or person pretending to be a newb) to someone who could help them.
When I've been a CL or a hand, operating the jobs board could be frustrating - kicking myself for forgetting to switch if off, but then again, it was useful for tracking contacts. Like everything in the game, it can be used by a malevolent actor to make someone else look bad, but that's just the nature of the game.
But taking things right back to 2002 - I think as AI changes life around is, the personal touch is more important than ever. If a new face turns up on these shores, I'd love to have the honour of being the person who made such a positive impression that they remember me 24 years later.
I think virtually everyone on this site would want to encourage, enable, and facilitate the journey from newb to veteran of this site.
So, in a nutshell, I think we should focus on the qualitative - new characters should receive warm welcomes, regardless of their activity on the jobs board. Some of the Warm Welcomers will get sarcastic or offensive replies - well, that's life - and this is the mafia. Some Warm Welcomers will even pay a bigger price. An old CL account of mine Warmly Welcomed a man named PaddyPower into his HQ and made him a hand. Paddy went rogue, and got me killed. But that's life, and in the grander scheme of things, I know that I did the right thing. And the Capo di tutti i capi of that era, reluctantly I'm sure, killed me for having been killed by a rogue I took a chance on. But that Capo gave me $1m when I returned. A warm welcome.
So yeah, some of us will get taken advantage of - again, this is the mafia. But some lucky ones will do for someone what Lexicon did for me.
Any thoughts?
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Myself and a guy named Sprozza, long before the jobs board, ran a ln establishment called the Thug Help Desk. Now, this was a two fold thing: 1. We did actually want to help and grow the game 2. We got around the "member whores!!!!" That used to be banded about. You see, in the good ol' days it was thought thugs should message leaders not vice versa. We were a body rich enviroment. So much so we would shoot the unsponsored. What you say has merit but the natural, and fair response, is that what the job board is for. I have no idea on the data driven analysis that has gone into new member sign up to retention percentage that Squishy no doubt has completed. What was the figure before job board. What is the figure now? But i do agree. A human talking to a human without prompt gives a much better feeling. Maybe job boards go active after 30 minutes but every genuine new member sign up lights up the associate button to all sponsors to message the person? Yes. We could do this anyway but i think a few would still cry member whore if people did so puts people off. |
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| Reply by: JimmyMcNulty at Oct 29, '26 21:00 | |
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The job board was created to act as a bridge between existing users and new users. I would *much* rather things happen naturally, but that process does not happen, nor would it unless there was a shift in how things are run on the player side. The job board will never be a replacement for actual people interested and proactive about growing their family. The problem of getting coverage by interested parties is near impossible, so advertising is at the absolute bare minimum to match what the sponsors are willing to do, and will stay that way until there is a change. As I said earlier, a change has to happen, to have an open canvas where the users control the game requires the responsibility of onboarding new users, or, if they do not want that responsibility or can not meet it, then a change has to happen where the users are not the gatekeepers of families. Sooner than later, the change will happen, you guys get to dictate what it is and to what level. I think what is being pitched here would be a positive change for the game and it's leaders, it keeps 100% control with you guys. |
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| Reply by: Squishy at Oct 30, '26 01:51 | |
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I wonder if there's a bit of a trap going on, maybe for guys who havent been around as long as I have, who think doing the job board is enough? Or they're worried about being called a member whore lr being shot etc.
But I think there's enough goodwill and creativity being generated to get something productive going |
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| Reply by: JonBoutcher at Oct 30, '26 09:16 | |
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