Bud chuckles abit after hearing Billy.

I guess I spoke to soon. Nonetheless the best of luck to everyone!

Now while the second change made to this competition is quite exciting...the first intrigues me a bit.

Why do we really need a BG cap? Doesn't it just increase the chances of an outside influence determining what happens inside Black Bottom?

No it does not.

Outside interference will be enforced fully and a post later on by the Enforcer will be coming.

Billy is right. The Truck from New York will be enforcing this competition and EVERYONE knows they don't want the truck.

Dan sits down quietly by a tree, imagining the terror the truck.

OWP is for suckers anyway. Everyone knows you want a boss who is Well Protected. That is, I've heard on the grapevine, exactly the optimum amount of protection.

Coincidentally...

Kittyhawk I would imagine that as Billy made it clear this was a godfather council agreed upon venture, that they are all of a like mind and they will probably all enforce the rules on their own cities/districts. This in itself is enough to ensure that an outside influence won't determine what happens in Black Bottom.

What the bodyguard cap does do, is ensure that people can't get a huge foothold on the district and remain unassailable to the average joe - which is quite handy should one of the leaders prove that they are unable to work as part of the larger group, or that they are unworthy of the title they hold.

Billy let me be the first out here to say - thank you for listening to people's concerns and addressing them so appropriately. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

I am trying my best to make sure that this competition gets balanced and is indeed a shine opportunity and not just another free for all.

Speaking of which the Godfather being chosen by the Council is going to remain in effect. I spoke to people about it and going through things decided this was the best way to do so to keep the mindset focused on proving yourself and not killing everyone to reach the rank.

I stand by this decision after taking in what the other Godfather's had to say about it.

Enforcer Truck should be on his way later to speak about how the outside interference enforcing will be done.

May I ask the reasoning for the Godfathers choosing who the winner is?

I understand if not, I'm just curious why that's seen as the best way to go.
 

I also wanted to talk about a certain sentence you said, as it got me thinking - "to keep the mindset focused on proving yourself and not killing everyone to reach the rank".

Okay. On the one hand I see what you're trying to do with that. I really do. However, a big part of this thing of ours is war and killing. To deny that would be silly, so why refer to it like it's a bad thing to be good at? If anyone gets into a war how good they are at killing can be the difference between complete decimation of their people, or victory and living to carry on building up.

Plus, if you give someone a district without knowing what their nature truly is don't you risk putting more people in danger by giving them all the power of becoming godfather? At least if people are allowed to battle it out between themselves you will see how they handle themselves normally, which will better prepare everyone should they be the eventual winner.

I understand the worry about someone killing everyone to reach the rank - but these kinds of people usually end up dead well before they even get close. The Las Vegas experiment which one of my long past ancestors was involved in started off in huge turmoil - as you'd expect. But it settled. People worked together instead of trying to kill each other. There was no choosing of a godfather from someone outside the city, and it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic experiment in terms of the leaders that emerged victorious from it.

If choosing the winner is something you're all dead set on, why not just get a list of names and pick now? Or just auth someone you actually want to be there? I mean choosing the winner is just like picking your own auth anyway - isn't it?

I will answer the killing thing first because I find that a little shorter of an answer.

The point is not to limit people killing but to make sure the mindset isn't there for people to come in and go, I am going to kill everyone and take the Godfather role myself. Which is another reason why we decided to go with the Godfather Council choosing a Godfather. Also we are not denying anyone killing anyone in general, it is a no outside interference meaning if somebody dies they die, the only different is I want the mindset to be on being given the opportunity to be a leader, not be a hound and kill everyone to take Godfather. Hopefully that makes sense?

Now on to the Godfather thing, some of the reasons specified for it was one which was well if we made it a race to Godfather there is no age restriction so the race could end with one person entering at 120 days, I did not want to restrict the days and let anyone do that. Besides that the reason for not letting the district choose is because we felt that would as previously mentioned above, cause the wrong mindset that people feel the need to kill to become a Godfather instead of work with their district and show why they deserve to be the leader.

Another reason given was that they felt the danger level was higher when Godfather was the fighting title other then people wanting to the chance to shine as a Crew Leader and being rewarded Godfather instead of fighting for it as most could probably agree that when you have 5 people in a district they are hardly ever going to decide on one Godfather and normally everyone wants it.

Now I  want to speak on the last bit you put and kind of explain how it is going to work. Basically what  we wanted to do was to give anybody who wanted it the chance to become a leader. There are none of these authorizations to set up where we go hey you go and do this and become a Godfather we will choose you. We wanted everyone to get a fair chance at being a Leader and standing out, and out of the people interested is who I believe the Council will choose to lead the city.

Lets kind of take a trip down memory lane when a man named DeadlySin did the Vegas competition, if you remember in the end he did not need to kill everyone to take Godfather, instead he was given a city, and PoisonousJelly was given another city. DeadlySin proved why he deserved his own city and so did PoisonousJelly. This is the same way I hope for this to end, where somebody is proven that they have the best at heart for their district and will then be given the city out of the work they do.

I hope this sums up my thinking on this and the questions you have. I have thought long and hard about things and as I mentioned a few times I am not perfect, some things are literally better on paper then in the actual world and I have tried to fix these things.

However if people continue to keep having feedback posted in here maybe some minds will be changed and a few things will change, but again, I am not wanting to restrict people from killing each other if they feel the need to do so, I just want the mindset to be about shining and being given the chance to be a Leader, not killing for the role of Godfather.

Good point, Eric.

I'm with you here. Why should the leaders give someone in this 'experiment' Godfather? As Eric said, the Las Vegas experiment was crude and blood filled for a long, long time. Eventually the leaders did work together and if memory recalls DeadlySin and PoisonousJelly both came out on top as Godfathers. (PJ in Vegas, Deadly in Philadelphia).

I don't like the idea of 'choosing' a winner. Let them do what they want, it's the whole point of the experiment.

"Hmm I kind of don't know all the details or really I am just not privy to any of the godfathers secrets really but I would have to assume the godfathers are picking because they are the ones who have to deal with the new head the most and I doubt they will ignore any input from the people competing or ever just watching before making their choice. I honestly dont understand why anyone wants a full anaracy city but meh. Also I seem to remember the vegas expirement was pretty much a failure and we placed someone within Vegas as a whole but man this thing has been tried soooooo many times and my ancestors memories are a bit fuzzy"

Skip hides his paraphernalia before continuing 

"Anyway still I say lets at least give it a week before we are so quick to judge every little detail guys and gals. Contrary to popular belief Rome wasn't built in a day"

Dan,

I have went over this with a few people and a lot of the outcome is based on, if I flip this around, if I go ahead and say alright the Godfathers want to elect to make this less bloody but I feel that maybe you are right and maybe the Godfather crown should be earned with survival then it will cause a lot of strictness to come into who is let go into a blood zone.

Another thing is with no days restriction it isn't a fight anymore for Godfather, the only way to go about it would be to less them pick who gets to go Godfather,  and when do we allow them to do so if somebody enters who gets 120 days, kills everyone, and goes well nobody is left guess I will take Godfather now.

It is a really hard rule to implement with a no days restriction, if you have a suggestion or a way that would work to get what you want and what I want, I have no problem talking it over with a few people and seeing what can be done about it to make it more of a competition with a Godfather goal.

I think you're probably overestimating anyone's proficiency at warring if you think they could walk into a district on their own, kill off everyone in it, and claim godfather with no members of their own.

I just had a quick look at some facts and graphs which are accessible by anyone in our world (you can find them here) and well over 200 of the people in this thing of ours are under 100 days old, so the likelihood of what you're saying happening is even lower.

In fact I've just had an idea, and feel free to tell me it's an awful one if you like - what if you placed a restriction that said that before you are allowed to take godfather, you have to be set up in the city for at least two full weeks.

I'd also like to point out as well, that it takes time for people to gather the amount of people needed to get them into the position of godfather anyway, so it's not likely that anyone could just set up and instantly take it!

You know what Eric, I actually like that.

Tell me how would you feel about a full Godfather reign in a city. Something like once you enter the competition district you have to spend at least 60 days part of the district before you can take the role of Godfather.

This would be a good two month time period before they could even take the role of Godfather.

We can fine tune this for me to take to the higher ups and see what they think but that isn't a bad idea at all.

Sorry I am tired I kind of messed up my response there.

I didn't think to remove before hand, but I like the idea of possibly 60 days in the district before you could take Godfather.

Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Just to clarify, I meant the minimum time as a crewleader instead of just choosing a godfather at some point down the line.

Eric grins at Billy.

I'm glad you like it though, I think it addresses your concerns about people just wading in and taking the city whenever they please as you say, and it also ensures that the competition won't be over in a matter of weeks meaning plenty of interest and intrigue for the rest of the population.

If leaders are required to make a setting up speech in the streets at the time of setting up, it will be easy for everyone to see exactly how long they've been there and leave no ambiguity over the exact time at which they began - which also means the 60 day minimum would be easily worked out.

Yes, I did work it up in my head as a replacement

I do really like this idea. I am going to go over it with a few people and then I will make another post on here if we decide to change this final detail but please be known that this is the last thing I am contemplating changing so once this goes in, this is what was decided by everyone and you will now have to live with whatever comes out of it.

Hopefully that did not sound too harsh and bitter because its not I appreciate all feedback and really hope this competition will be a great one.

The biggest thing provided by the Godfather council selecting the Godfather is closure which is something these competitions rarely ever see. Most fizzle out with the deaths of everyone involved when the mistakes made inside the city begin effecting those outside the city. The ones that have succeeded have generally only done so with some outside influence. Take Eric's example of the Las Vegas experiment he cited earlier. That city had found a working balance between the leaders at a point that allowed them to continue but there wasn't closure until the Godfather of LA at the time, as part of his Left Hand Man's rebuilding program after the massive war that saw the death of Stamina, moved Eric's ancestor to Philadelphia and named him head of that city while naming another leader from Las Vegas at the time the head of that city.

To be honest if you're going to use Las Vegas as an example, don't forget that the city would have had an entirely different godfather a lot sooner had Stamina not gone to move Animal to Saint Louis... Alas, outside influence in any shape or form does change the outcome of said experiments for the positive or potentially negative. However PoisonousJelly and DeadlySin I know had reached an agreement that whichever of the two had the opportunity to take godfather first, would be the one to take it and the other would happily work under them. All the outside influence did was separate them and give them a city each.