This suggestion was originally posted by JamesKnowles as Mafia Structure 2.0 but since the idea has gone dead I'd like to make a new thread with a little expansion. I'd also like an input of James's current account and also I'm not in any way trying to steal his idea.

Basically his idea was that current rank system be changed in favor of more realistic system, and I agree. The current ranks aren't that problematic but they bother me a little since I'm a little OCD so I don't like when things are out of order. My biggest issue with the current ranks is that they don't represent who I currently am and what position I hold. We have Capi, Bosses, Consiglieri and Dons who are no more than regular soldiers in their crews and I personally don't like being called a Boss when I'm not a Boss. What I propose, is this:

The beginner ranks should be the way James suggested in his thread. You enter a crew, you work for them and eventually the time comes when the books open. If you belong to the crew that rules the district, the crewleader can promote you to Made Man, but if you are in a captain crew, your CL will have to bring it to the family head who will then promote you (meaning, if I'm in Alucard's crew, in order to be a Made Man Alucard would have to speak to ChaosSpike who would then promote me). The District HQ forum should also be implemented imo.

When you are promoted, you achieve the rank of Newly Made. You're a Made Man, but you're a junior ranked one who still has to pay dinners for the higher-ups. After a certain amount of days have passed, you automatically become a regular, "middle-ranked" Made Man. And after that, you become a Senior Made Man. Once you achieve this rank, you will keep it until you get a crew of your own. If you're just made a captain in a district, your rank switches to Capo, to truly represent who you are. Upon getting your own family and assuming control of a district, you become Boss. And after that, Don. And finally, Godfather.

As for the ranks of Underboss and Consigliere, the head of a district can appoint anyone this, meaning that if the district head decides that his Underboss will be someone who was recently killed and had made a new account, that person goes from whatever they were ranked to Underboss. The same thing is for Consigliere.

Now I know that many wouldn't want anything changed because of nostalgia, but I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts on this suggestion as to why it should or should not be implemented, not counting the nostalgia.

I do like the idea of a section of the HQ - or even just certain posts - that are visible to only made man +; similar to the crewleader's ability to only send mobmails to made man +.

I've always liked the idea of opening the books because the ranking system on this game has always been hideously skewed. As a current example, my crew has 20 Capos and 3 Made Guys - patently ridiculous. Something like this has never really been possible before. It's not really fair that some people could not physically gain a rank through no fault of their own. It would bring realism and a sense of how the real mafia operated - but ultimately it's still a game and it simply wouldn't work.

It's arguably a little bit more of a realistic concept, now. You can still have 60 units at Wise Guy and have access to all the felonies which 'softens the blow' of not being able to rank; but the idea of not being able to rank because the game mechanics will not physically allow it would not sit right with a lot of people. For all the realism and 'real life' feel, it would be incredibly demotivating to know what regardless of what happens, you simply aren't going to be able to rank until people die.

Arguably, this kind of 'set up' can be player-enforced. To a degree, you don't want to weaken your own family by having overly stringent promo policies and thus your rivals will overtake you; but most notably the 'CP' group of leaders brought in a system where to earn a promotion to made, you had to have 3 people vouch for you and if you fucked up, they went down with you. Personally, I loved that shit; it was years ago but it was the last time I remember a group of CL's collectively acting like they were in the Mafia. I loved it enough to bring it back in every crew I've ran since. It was, however, deeply unpopular with a lot of people - but at the end of the day, if they didn't like it then killing the people who enforced it was always an option on the table. If it's the game mechanics holding you back, there's nothing you can do about it.

Even now many players, such as myself, find themselves in the situation where they've hit a dead end when it comes to game progression. I will possibly reach the rank of Don but even if I do I know that I won't move from where I am now, and bearing the word Don on my profile doesn't make me feel any Don-ish. In my opinion the fact that other players have to award you with the bigger rank as opposed to the game itself makes it much more satisfying once you actually find yourself ranked Boss and having a family of your own.

I absolutely love this idea, it makes the ranking system much more authentic

I do understand the problem people would have with players having close to complete control over the rankings, but that is exactly how the Mafia works. I mean, in "Donnie Brasco" Lefty complains about being passed over for promotion the entire movie "thirty years I'm busting my hump, and for what?" but the options are either deal with it or overthrow your family bosses.

I'm fairly new, but rank doesn't effect a player's skills right? No matter what rank you are you could potentially be maxed out on skills (the way I understand it) So a Made Man could make an impact on the game by leading a coup in a family and seizing power. The way I see it, rank only would affect the respect and sway you have inside your family. It really would enhance the need for Mafia style respect and charismatic cunning to get ahead in the game. People would also have to start thinking long and hard about shooting because a Made Man could take down someone with a superior rank, which is realistic of course.

And now I think most crimes are based on the age of the account rather than their rank right? If not, that could solve the problem of not being able to do crimes because you're low ranked, because just continuing to play would earn you the ability to commit the crimes.

Like I said, I'm new to this game, but it is the most realistic I've seen so far and I love that. I would really enjoy seeing it become more and more so. Thanks for bearing with me in this post.

all this idea is , is a name change of current titles, which we already have. 

• RH-Underboss of immediate family
• LH- consigliere 

which i would have to heavily disagree with this thread and the one of james, sorry for the this way or the current system is what gives this site its unique authenticity 

also, you dont want to give to much powers to the GF, it is understandable that people would want to make this thing of ours more realistic, but tbh its a game, nothing real about virtualism. So i do understand but the gfs have alot to do running the family as it is, or even the city/districts for that matter. they dont need to worry about each promotion that every cl in under them would like, the current system is relatively just fine

at the very least I would like to see something where if a CL dies then the Rhm moves up and so fourth then he chooses the next LHM so that way we don't see the need for the entire city/district to be slaughter every time!

bump...  think this is a good idea so wanted to bump it to the top. If an admin or some of the coders would like to weigh in and say if this way possible or not that would be great. Thanks

The current ranking system worked well when people didn't reach the top ranks so consistently and hold them for prolonged periods. I can recall Sly making a thread where he had multiple Consiglieres and this being an accept excuse for their poor conduct because it was absolutely unheard of. You couldn't expect a leader to keep that many Consiglieres in line, right? Only now, it is common place. Dons are common place and honestly, if you have the right commitment level, you're going to get there. This presents your leader with the problem of having to hold you back for no other reason that you're not really able to do the rank justice and that virtually never happens. This leads to a dissolution of the importance of the ranks and not only are they top heavy, they are less significant.

My suggestion attempted to redistribute power and responsibility to the people who would be more appropriately placed to wield it. I think this would actually give more things to do for the greater number of people. They won't be just a cog in a large machine, they will be in a position of authority and responsibility, because a Made Man should be massively important, whilst at the moment it is just a stepping stone. A Capo is a hugely significant person within the family hierarchy where as here, it is virtually nothing. This is wrong and should be addressed. 

Well in the real mafia a capo is a sub-boss within the family and in this game de facto Capos are the CLs under a GF in a district (e.g. Lush is a Capo of ChaosSpike). What I don't like is the fact that you can be Capo without actually being Capo.

In this game, Capos are more often than not anonymous people within a family. Nobody should hold the rank of Capo who isn't a Capo, nor should CLs under a GF district be ranked higher than Capo if they are Capos. Your example is evidence of the problem with our structure at the moment, Lush is a Don with nothing to differentiate her (I assume it a her) from any other Don who may or may not be a Capo.

Simply put: You should not be able to rank above "Made Man" unless you're the RHM (Caporegime) of a family. You should not be able to rank above Capo unless you have a family of your own.

Whether this involves making more lower ranks so people can "feel" like they're still ranking up, or just ending the ranking system at Made for now, is wholly dependant on Squishy, but the ranking system here has always bugged me.

I love that idea!

My idea of the structure.

Head-CL

Underboss- RHM when the CL dies the RHM takes over if still alive.

Advisor- LHM, will be an advisor to the CL and RHM.

Captain/Capos(Max 4 Capos)- There should be 1 capo for every 2 made men. The Made Men report to the Capo and the Capo reports to the RHM. Who in turns talks to the CL.

The Made Men(Max 8 Made Men)- They will be the recuritors of the family and the ones that manage the associates. Who in turn report to the Capos.

Associates- The associates are at the bottom of the family. They are the footsoliders and the ones who take orders. Who report to there Sponser. One of the made men.

Any comments on this format? I believe this would be more realistic, because not every footsoldier has casual conversations with the CL. And it would make for a more organized and real heirarchy. This would also influence the hitlist being used more, because someone wants a chance for their promotion so they list the guy above them and tries to move up.

I like the general idea of having the game changed to suit this thread. I like the ranks like they are just now but I feel these new ones proposed could make for the game to have more of a realistic feel. It could bring a more authentic way to the way the game is played. I would also like a few more ranks added which could be a good idea.

All for this suggestion.