Okay, I'll throw my two cents in. I admit newness to all of this, but bear with me. Here's my story:

I was approached by a higher-up in the family to join. However, it wasn't a blank invite. Me and the "recruiter" in question had an in-character discussion of the family, my likely role (drug mule), and the central location of it (L.A., soemwhat adjacent to my hometown of Vegas). Why? bEcause Iwanted to do a littel homework and rping at the same time, and I was obliged. In my opinion, it's undersandable to go looking for recruits. Heck, it's practical in the current market where thugs aren't a dime a dozen, and no one wants to be caught short on men. Fine. But you need to communicate with your potential minions. You're just a name when you send and invite. you chat 'em up, you're a person. And I like working for people more than names, because people will actually do soemthing when ou need help. If you want clickers, you can have them, but I enjoy the dancing. And the speeches.

Claps as this new mafioso speaks

Very well put sir! I applaude you , very well put!

Aug 31, '09 16:03 lorrie has invited you to join his crew. (Accept) (Decline)

When you get a random invite from some stranger you never talked to, do you accept and take the easy route in or decline and have dignity?

Truthfully, I say abuse it. Take the easy route. It is their fault, so make them realize. Shoot someone in the face after you have accepted the invite... I am still debating though and would like your feed back. Any and all opinions are welcome.

-----

OK folks, let's put the record straight here.

I know for a fact neither myself or lorrie send invites to anyone without first sending a message, but if a mistake has been made, than please accept our appologies, decline the invite & move on.

I know 100% that lorrie welcomes every unsponsered -48 on the list & offers her help if they have any questions. All this, well before an invite is sent.

Furthermore, you only have to look at the bottom line of the list to find out who's member-whoring.

Do i have permission to laugh at the pointlessness and ridiculousness of this thread. Having worked as lorrie's LHM for some time now im sure she was trying to help you.. i don't see where you get the idea that shooting someone in the face because someone invited you to their family would be a good idea

And looking at your rank.. Im guessing, Just spitballing but i don't think you have a gun yet.. and if you do it's not a very good one.. so yeah.
Totally a waste of time and space this thread is..

And one more thing.. I still don't see what lorrie has done wrong.. she simpy invited someone to the family to help them.. if its that much of a frickin problem.. decline it, ignore it. don't bring it here where you just waste everyones time..
I don't see how she can have meant anything bad by inviting you to the crew..

Sooooo what's your problem with her?

Not much I can add here, other than what's been said already. One thing I would like to say though. Helping? Seriously? People have mentioned the RP aspect, but no one's stopped to point out that a Leader personally, actively helping a new member - even with welcome mails - is way off the mark. Leaders and higher ups help family, not strangers. They delegated, that's why we have a massively underused associate/sponsor system.

That's ok though really, Leaders 'helping' new blood is one of those forgivable roleplay faux pas because it is working towards the betterment of the game. However, sending an unsolicited invite to help is at best extremely misguided; at worst actively destructive. if 10, or even only 5 CL/RHM et cetera chose to 'help' new members by inviting them without prior communication, it would drive new players away in droves.

if you joined a new game, knowing nobody's name, and give strangers invite you to their crew (remember, at this stage you have no idea what a crew is and how it functions - a crew on many games is the equivalent to our own MUC), one of three things is going to happen:

1. You think, 'what the fuck is this? I don't get this at all' and leave.
2. You think, 'Well I don't much fancy this game, it doesn't look like you have to actually do much.'
3. You actually stick around

Oh, number 3 doesn't sound too bad actually. But wait, there's still a chance you're just going to drive them away; and even if they do stay, with one simple act you've given someone an impression (and first impressions are very hard to shake off) that they don't have to earn anything. Yay.

I don't mean to have a pop at Lorrie here, I don't think anyone does, it's just one of those practices that used to be totally unforgivable and is now a little more tolerated, which gets us cynical old fucks in a frenzy. Lorrie is not to blame here, these things just become accepted through months (years?) of leniency.

At least that's how I see it.

I

Its a game... When I first joined, no one but Lorrie made me feel welcome to the game and made the game understandable and playable. Without her help, I'd most likely be a Gangster with $50k tops. She first sent me a message, welcoming me to the game and making me feel comfortable and then after talking for a while she invite me. 

Surely its up to the CL to decide who they want to invite, and if they want Thugs or Wise Guy's, whats the difference? I think people take this game too seriously. Admittedly I amnew and I'm not aware of what would have happened 3 months ago, but guess what? Times have changed and you have to learn to accept that. I'm not doubting that 3 months ago a CL would have been shot but at the end of the day its their decision. 

OOFda has clearly played this game before and maybe s/he has a grudge against Lorrie, because as DK said before, no one has mentioned anything like this before about anyone. I personally owe everything I have on this game to Lorrie because she was the first and only person to approach me. I also prefer if someone approaches a newer player, because that new player has no knowledge on the game and therefore has no idea who to talk to, whereas if their approached first at least they get to know some friendly people. Fair enough it does give off the impression of not having to do anything to get noticed but does that really matter? No. Why? Because its a F****** game....

Are you too dumb to just decline that invitation if you don't appreciate it?
Personally I think Lorrie is a great person, who just tries to help new players.

Maybe it is indeed a miscommunication and she forgot to send you a mail as well, but you could also mail her and ask what she wants, instead of creating this pointless thread.

Ok I wasnt going to grace this with a comment but since it has turned into a full blown, lorrie is whoring every member of MR both in and out of this thread here is what i have to say.

First of all, Yes I did send this guy an invite, I regret doing so. No not because I whored him ( if he looks at his received mail like I have been doing for the last hr he will see that we clearly did have a discussion before the invite was sent) but because I clearly misjudged his character and feel I now must reasess my judgment on people.

Secondly, I would like to please know from all of you who have mailed me, how I am clearly the big bad lorrie but this is acceptable.

To: OOFda From: _Petra_ Sent: Aug 31, '09 22:12 Subject:

because, we like your style. It's too bad you're in lorrie's crew. she's a great crew though. If you ever wish to switch, just mail me and I could talk with her and buy you out. ------------------------------------- To: _Petra_ From: OOFda Subject:

Who is we? And why? ------------------------------------- To: OOFda From: _Petra_ Subject:

AHahahaha, we saw your profile quote and laughed so hard.

Fair enough...

In my eyes this is more unaceptable than whoring in the first place, and if mail has been sent to this member offering to help buy out then who else has had mails like this, i will be asking each member of my crew if they have received simmalar messages as this is in my opinion far wose than the actuall whoring of members as you may call it.

Thirdly, I notice a lack of a few names here, now i will not be naming names but lets just all take a look at the new members and see who they have joined and how long they have been active, i suspect if my aproach is not acceptable then maybee some people should not be throwing stones in glass houses.this is by no means me disrespecting the people who are recruiting this is in general and directed towards the author of my mail.

If someone would like to come and see me to please explain exactly how they would like me to conduct myself, something i actually take alot of time and effort over then they are most welcome to do so. I for one will not be apologising for my actions as in my opinion, and by the way i was taught this was correct.

The point I was making regarding referencing several months ago is that this situation should not occur. The fact that many of you think this is acceptable behaviour evidences just how worrying our handholding culture has become.

Just because this has become allowable of late doesn't mean it should be. The people who know need to educate those who don't and make them actually practice what they preach. Most of you are immediately indoctrinated with important words like 'respect', 'honour', 'power' and 'family' without ever realising what they mean in a practical sense rather than the dictionary definition. Talking a good game about role-playing and having an RP in the streets for your chums to act out a scenario is fine and dandy, but if you back this up by failing to actually role-play a mob character then you're failing on every level you should rate yourself on. It is a responsibility for each crew to educate those who come through their HQ doors.

I'm glad that you've said that lorrie has helped you so much, this is a good sign. I would likely put this down to someone, and keep in mind I know for certain she isn't the only one, who genuinely did not realise they were doing something unacceptable.

Just so you are all aware why this is unacceptable imagine this scene:

I am the head/captain of the Tallien Crime Syndicate.

I see a random thug walking along. He walks past me in the street.

I offer him an invite to be part of my Crime Syndicate.

What's wrong with this picture? I'm far too important to be doing this. The risks that should present themselves to me from this situation should have alarm bells ringing. What do I know about this person? They could be anyone actively pursuing any sort of agenda. I employ minions to insulate myself from the various nefarious activities my organization in involved in lest I potentially make myself liable and connected to any of the acts. From this basic role-play point of view it should become obvious that I shouldn't hand out invitations to join a mafia organization willy nilly. Do you think real mafia organizations did this?

Please note just because people say "Hold on, this shouldn't be happening" doesn't mean they take this game too seriously. In this instance, it means they know what they are talking about. Whilst it is a game, it is one that explores a world revolving around power and dominance (in theory) and we shouldn't just go "lolz it's a game, do whatever you want." It is an RP game where you emulate a mobster.

Although, you are right, people do take this game far too seriously.

~T~

I can only point you to the above example and ask you to imagine this situation occurring in the real mafia at the period in order to demonstrate that your opinion on this is off the mark and you've been taught incorrectly.

I'd take issue with someone actively trying to recruit my members as well.

~T~

who fcking cares if they just sent you an invite, you can talk to them after you join or before you join, its called sending a message, i love being in lorries crew, shes a fun and great leader and if any of you have a problem then GOOD FOR YOU!!! congratulations ya fck heads, just shut the fck up already if you have a problem, no one really gives a shit, if you have a problem then talk with that person, dont go and make a thread about, man up and stop being a dick about things, i dnt wanna sound mean but thats the truth and i beleive that nothing but the truth should come out of my mouth

sorry for cursing but i just feel really strong about this subject

Clearly you have yet to learn the nuances of this game.

You should always bare in mind your own position, who you may be addressing when you call people 'fck heads' and who could potentially be offended enough to shoot you for this.

~T~

Yeah, I'd keep your mouth closed unless you know what you're talking about.

I'm surprised at this. Even if Miss Lorrie didn't randomly send out an invite, I'm quite appalled at how many respected members of the community find it ok to do so. Sure, you have no-one to blame but yourself if you randomly invite someone and they go ahead and start popping off at people. But other people will also blame you for your haphazard recruiting tactics when their own people fall to someone who could have been monitored or introduced better.I too remember a time when there would be a significant amount of face-shooting for such an offence, and now someone potentially brings it to our attention and we all berate them?

I'll have to make a note on "How to get more members with little effort" for the next time I find myself with an authed character...

I think the reason we are berating them is that it's not being brought to our attention for the betterment of the game; or for any valid reason other than, as Tallien pointed out, to cause trouble.

Still, it's still a very valid point that's being discussed, even if it's being approached the wrong way.

Forgive my late entrance into this thread Ms. lorrie, but I just now noticed your profile reads:

HQ Status: open...We are selectively recruiting

Your RHM's profile reads:

HQ open for well thought out applications - one liners will be filed in box 13

Your RHM later says in the thread:

I know 100% that lorrie welcomes every unsponsered -48 on the list & offers her help if they have any questions. All this, well before an invite is sent.

Reply by: Lilly at Sep 01, '09 05:02

There are currently three members in your family with 0 posts, 0 messages, and 0 threads: lavon, nicke73, and yofetti.

If your profiles read that you are "selectively recruiting" and your HQ is "open for well thought out applications" then why bother slinging invites to every Joe Schmo (or Joe Blogg) under the facade of "helping new players." As pointed out several times in the thread, this clearly looks like an attempt to quickly build up an HQ either for the sheer power of numbers or to guarantee yourself a few crew IA's for the taking. You have basically admitted to being a walking contradiction through the initial creation of and your presence in this thread. I think this was brought up poorly by the original user in question, but the underlying point is relatively valid.

I don't agree with member-whoring, but it infuriates me when it happens and the guilty parties simply won't own up to doing it.

I agree with Rourke, as always. I'm too ignorant to have my own opinion.

I don't want to pick an argument.. but sure she invited some people at random.. but is that 3..?
And i can tell you all right now that there are more people than just lorrie that do it..
Im not naming people.. which i should if its that much of a problem.. But lorrie isn't the 1st person to do it.. and nor will she be the last.. not by a long shot..
Were all human and only human.. we all make mistakes. if its that much of a fuckin problem.. we'll drop them.. and if its so much of a problem to OOfda.. just don't fuckin accept the invite.. It's not rocket science.. i don't see what all the fuss is about.. I did it a few times.. i know to many others that have dont it and this is the 1st time someone has caused a comotion about it.. so whats different to anyone else doing it.. why is lorrie so different to everyone that she deserves you all to rip into her like she's a bad person..
She doesn't deserve this and your a fool if you think she does..
Why single out one person when i bet 3/4 of the CL's on the game do it..

I agree 100% with Rourke.

I am RHM for quite a new family, and I refuse to mail a new member asking if they wish to join me. The new player should read up on what to do and start sending mails, I could go back to quoting things said before but what is the point?

I personally will not send out an invite to anyone who hasnt approached this family, it is an honour for a member to be granted a spot in our crew, I refuse to tarnish that by letting any random person join.