I'm going to try to keep this brief, so I don't drone on forever. And before anyone says "This won't work"... it already does, as I've been running things solely with the sponsor/associate system for a while now.

My suggestion: Every made man+, including the CL/RHM/LHM has two invites at a time. And that's it. No more sending out 27 invites at once. Associates can only be added through the sponsor system.

The mafia didn't hire like a furniture store. A thug wouldn't walk up to the boss and say "HEY! I'd be a great addition to your criminal empire because I do well in school and I'm a hard worker!". If anything, these people would probably get shot in the face. (Which is why I changed the way my family is organized, but that discussion not the point of this thread.)

You get into a family by knowing someone. You don't walk up to the boss. You find someone who works for the Don, offer your services. You work hard and maybe you catch the eye of the Don, who decides with the sponsor whether to make you a made man.

Say someone gets authed. They send out two invites to their RHM and LHM. They send out their two invites. Made Man becomes the HUGELY important rank that it is, because only these people can invite in new associates. As the new associates become Made Men, the family continues to grow.

More realism, and better RP interaction between associates/sponsors.

Apologies if there are errors- I am fairly tired, but I certainly would have forgotten this if I'd waited 'til tomorrow.

At first read through, I'm liking it. One scenario I can think of in particular is when a CL dies and there are some homeless (either through being intentionally spared or through the mercy of the 'winners') that need to find homes. But basically, you're inviting people into your family that pledged their loyalties to another leader. So in order to find a new home, you have to find someone willing to put their neck on the line for you.

What do you propose for people made man and above who need to find a home? You'd need an invite function from the CL at least.

Perhaps a CL can extended any number of invitations to Made Men+, then. That way the Made Men would be assimilated into another family, as I would assume would happen if two happens worked closely together and one upper structure was wiped out. Then those Made Men, once they were part of this new organization, could bring in any homeless associates through the normal process.

While this idea does in fact seem excellent, how could we possibly continue to hold the hands of new players if it were implemented? God forbid we actually succeed in turning away people who lack the patience and intelligence to contemplate certain in game ramifications from a role playing perspective. People should expect to die by the hand of organised crime groups when they actively steal profits from them in their city. People without a sponsor are in effect doing this.

I think sometimes we get too carried away with realism on this and it starts to hinder the things that make the game work. Obviously a CL would not invite every member, but I really think this would just make things more difficult. When a new crew starts up, unless they have people already lined up, they are limited to 7 people until they have members reach Made Man - this assuming that their chosen RHM/LHM are also Made Man+. This would make them less than a Capo.

Perhaps if you was suggested as something that only affected Captains I could see the benefit, but I really don't think this would be a good move for the game and from a practical sense some things function better if they remain simple.

~T~

When a new crew starts up, unless they have people already lined up, they are limited to 7 people until they have members reach Made Man - this assuming that their chosen RHM/LHM are also Made Man+.

I don't think this would be a bad thing. To begin with, it doesn't take that long for a dedicated player to reach the rank of Made Man. It's hardly the multiple week ordeal that it used to be. I don't think many crews that currently start from scratch rocket up to dozens of members in their very first week, so it wouldn't be that much of a disadvantage. And if they had a few Made Men that joined their family, essentially nothing would change.

With regards to "assuming that their chosen RHM/LHM are also Made Man+", I also don't see it as an issue... if anything, I see it as a positive thing. While I steadfastly believe that a CL should choose whoever they have the most faith and trust in to be their RHM and LHM, it's certainly more realistic to believe that the person who holds these positions of honor would actually be initiated into this thing and not merely be a common criminal. So if anything, this is encouraging... but not requiring... CLs to choose a RHM/LHM that is Made+, which I don't believe is a bad thing.

And by limited the number of invitations and decreasing supply from "infinite" to "somewhere between the 5-7 range and 100" you're inherently raising the value of that invitation. Perhaps it would lead to more scrutinization of invite requests to sponsors and a higher standard.

Perhaps if you was suggested as something that only affected Captains I could see the benefit, but I really don't think this would be a good move for the game and from a practical sense some things function better if they remain simple.

An interesting thought, sir- perhaps if Boss CLs/Captain CLs were coded differently, then this could be a defining difference, with Bosses having an infinite number of invites and Captains being limited to only the two that each Made Man+ would hold? I think I'd prefer to see my original suggestion adopted universally rather than this due to the disadvantage against Captains, but it's interesting nevertheless.

I assumed that would be the response and I can only repeat what I said originally. From a realism point of view, you're probably right and a new way would be more realistic. I just think we're trying to be realistic for the sake of it. Is anyone going to be put off because a CL/RHM/LHM can invite everyone directly? I really doubt it. Therefore if it makes the game that much easier to operate, I don't think it is such a bad thing.

I've never cared if people put a Thug as their RHM they became disadvantaged by not being able to invite people of a higher or equivalent rank. I'm surprised (or missed it if it has been) that nobody has suggested that only a Made Man+ can be appointed RHM/LHM position.

Captains are virtually irrelevant and any difference between them and actual family heads is extremely limited. Anything that makes the distinction more apparent would have my support.

I think my dislike of this is not particularly based on the suggestion itself, because I can see the logic behind it. I think it is more to do with the direction the game seems to be going in and compromising practically for the sake of it.

~T~