If they wanted protection, couldn't they simply accept the invite?

Good point.  :)

48 hours is more than enough time to accept an invite, I don't see why this change is needed really

If you can't secure and accept an invite within 48 hours, you deserve to be shot anyway.

It will be interesting to see all of the invites new members get. (If it shows multiple invites etc) otherwise yeah a CL could ask them to put something in their profile and or 48 hrs is long enough typically

You seem not to remember that this game used to have no 48 hour rule and invites could only be accepted after 24 hours when you were a Gangster and could be killed by other users for being unsponsored. People still stuck around without all of the protection that has been added subsequently.

I would prefer to see new accounts brought to their own designated area where they are educated on how to play the game and they can then select to be someone's associate, eliminating the need to accept an invite and being automatically assigned to an available sponsor.

They would be able to choose a family they would like to join from the outset. If they never logged back in, say after 5 days, the game automatically boots them out and they become an inactive available to be blasted by everyone.

This leaves all non-new accounts to find themselves a family understanding how the game works, whilst those new accounts can then be assessed having already received protection from would be killers.

There was originally an Ellis Island style safe induction zone mooted about, which I personally think would be a great idea as a way of separating the genuinely new who are in need of guidance from the lazy old timers who should know better and will come back anyway.

Oo I like the sound of that

With this isn't there a lot of potential for abuse?

For example, I see an unsponsored Gangster who is almost eligible to be shot. His home city is New Orleans and I assume he's there because hey, he's new and probably hasn't travelled yet and if he hasn't bothered to look around and find himself a family he's unlikely to have explored the game fully and moved.Unfortunately I'm in New York and can't get to him before he's a legal shot, so I invite him, which makes other people back off (assuming the feature works as intended and people respect the Invited By), I can then rescind my invite and shoot him when I'm able to get to him?

I'm sure you've thought about that and there's some measure there to stop it going down like I've theorised, but it's worth considering.

Excellent idea from Enkindle here.

I 100% support the Ellis Island thing. Anything, anything at all that we can do to further ease a new player into this game is okay with me.