A simple idea (which may have been brought up before), but I believe there should be a minimum rank before a leader is able to grant a member the RH/LH position. I propose Made Man.

At the present time, a Thug can hold either position. 
Yes, this change may prove to be a minor annoyance to leaders - but my reasoning is based on immersion and basic plausibility. A rank qualification solidifies that being a Hand is a prominent and prestigious position - whereas, I personally feel it looks out of place for a Thug (who we a supposed to believe has only just joined the life of crime!) to be one of a crew leaders main advisers, over players with much more in-game experience.

If the requirement is Made Man, then this would suggest the character has been initiated into the Family, and has gained his button and trust from their peers.

As with every other time this has been brought up, I am all bloody for it!

Agree with that guy named Jono ^^

^These people.. they have working brains!

I agree with Phab, its not roleplay when a 1 hour character can be RHM.

And I don't think that this could cause any problem to those who are to become crew leaders, its just that they will have to wait first, and make their move more organized.

No.

As much as I don't like thug hands, it's up to the CL. If you don't like it, change it.

While I understand the thought behind it, it's just not practical in my mind. There is too much responsibility involved with being a RHM to put restrictions on who you can give it to. 

Not just that, but I think specifically of 'new' crewleaders with this (not inexperienced, but recently 'set up') . If you have nobody in your crew above made man, there is no reason these people should have to go without hands. Think about every single 'experiment' crew.

Also, like Kyubey says, there's nothing stopping an individual or a group of individuals from seizing power and mandating that all hands be above made. That would be interesting :)

I think some of you are ignoring the other impacts of this suggestion:

Wartime auths won't be able to be ranked up without made+ hands

rogues would probably never be able to be ranked up ^

Experiment crews, or brand new crews without appropriate support will be without hands.

In the case of a sitewar like in may, you might as well say nobody can have hands, as the majority of the game was under made.

Not only that, but I truly believe this will take away a lot of loyalties involved with crews. So you mean if I fight and die for my CL, I can't come back and reassume my previous position of power? We can't ignore the fact that a lot of these under made hands are the 'sons and daughters' of men and women that may have fought and died for these CL's and that is why their children are being rewarded. 

If you don't like it, change it.

I find this retort confusing.
I don’t have a personal gripe with any hand or leader – so I don’t see why either of you would expect me to wage an unrealistic vendetta, just because I prefer a slightly adjusted structure…

My reasoning is heavily based on how blatantly out of place it appears.

ChrisPalko - In the scenario you described, if a leader doesn’t have anybody ranked MM, then surely they should be capable of adjusting their strategy. If the change was in place, then I’m sure they would plan differently.

In regards to your list of “impacts”, I hardly view these as negative points. They are observations that players could adjust to accordingly. I don’t consider it too much of a stretch, for the sake of some accuracy in family structure - which I consider an important foundation.

Experiment crews, or brand new crews without appropriate support will be without hands.

As said above, they should be intelligent enough to slightly adjust their strategy.

So you mean if I fight and die for my CL, I can't come back and reassume my previous position of power?

Yes.
I am saying exactly that. One character does not roll into the next.
It’s supposed to be a new character. 
If your leader favours you, then I’m sure they can wait until your new character reaches MM to gift you the official title.

It all goes back to that it looks out of place, unnatural and inaccurate that somebody without their button is the second or third in command.

I've suggested this before, but I still think this is the best way to go so I'll suggest it again.

If a CL has someone Made Man or above in their family, they cannot select anyone below Made Man to be RHM. They either choose that person or nobody.

If a CL has nobody Made Man or above in their family, they can select anyone below Made Man to be RHM and they are automatically ranked up to Made Man. Their levels do not change, they don't get any benefit from being Made Man that they haven't earned, it just cosmetically (and therefore fits the RP) that they've become Made Man. 

I would love to see this except for RH. I know it sounds backwards but I mean they are people that can see your mails. It should be based on trust not on ranks.

LH would be nice to see a rank requirement though.

Squishy - Why not just remove the RH's ability to promote? I personally hate that a RH can promote. I think it means more coming from the leader themselves. It means they actually make the acknowledgement of the work you have done.

Just my couple of cents worth anyways.

I think Heel has hit the nail on the head, I am not sure how hard this is to code but it makes perfect sense from a RP perspective. A thug should never be telling someone who has made their bones what to do.

Spunky I disagree. Why should anyone be cosmetically changed so their rank says Made Man? A lot of leaders change their hands quite often. What happens if that thug never got Made Man requirements but was removed as RH? That is a lot of work.

I would vote for the Made Man or not at all option. That way no one can claim foul play later on or something.

I don't think you understand, Zephyra, or at least, I don't understand why you're against this.

If a leader appoints a Thug as RHM, nothing changes in terms of their stats. They retain the same levels, benefits and lack thereof etc. It just says when you click on their profile "Made Man". If they are subsequently dropped from RHM, they revert to whatever rank their level suggests they hold; they don't lose any work and this would only be available to use if a family didn't already have a Made Man or above available to act as RHM. 

This would circumvent the current RP fiasco that is Wise Guy and below having authority over family members when they haven't yet made their bones, without compromising on the actual playing of the game allowing a leader to select someone they want as RHM in the early stages when they don't have any higher ranked alternatives. 

Hey Squishy, and people

In theory I agree with this have done many times over tho not plausible in this game as to run a family do need some know how.

Tho to counter it, looking for ideas if a gangster as RH then there could be a earnings restriction on the family as they can not earn as much as a higher rank instead of affecting them should affect the whole family I think that would be fair.

A gangster wont have the contacts that a made man has or the respect there fore earnings are down.

I still think they should work to wear the rank Made Man. Not just be given it (even cosmetically) because then it just makes Made Man worthless. I thought we were trying to make ranks mean something these days?

Agrred Zephyra but look at it with these shoes on for a few mins

War breaks out all battle for a coming a week dust falls theres one leader left with a now very small crew not to many ranked players ok need to rebuild auths 2 people out to form family's whos going to run them who has the exp at high rank none there all dead, ok got to train up the higher ranked with no exp yep they do but also need to rebuild do they have time to train up a ill exp player no, to counter this need atleast one Hand with exp in those cases will most likely be a under ranked player.

I see where your coming from in this day right now is perfect time to train up the ill exp player with those controls, at the end of the day its always going to be a issue

My point is that changing the rank cosmetically (as Heel has suggested) would ultimately make Made Man less of a valued rank than it is now. I thought we were trying to promote ranks having meaning again, not making them worthless.

Agreed his idea is silly, realistically in this world of ours a thug may need to be RH or LH at times in that case earning maybe even on skills of all the family should drop to disencourge this, would you respect a thug with RH no would they be the joke of the town yes, unfortunately it does need to happen maybe lowering the skills of the family can be a way to counter it