After several conversations with new arrivals at the docks, Disorder had been concerned by the seemingly automatic readiness of young civilians and thugs, to jump blindly into just about any organisation that asked them. The lemming-like willingness to leap into the abyss of the unknown was pretty startling and Disorder felt compelled to discuss it. Climbing up on a couple of packing crates he had a good view of the lines of new arrivals and a great vantage point from which to be heard. Drawing his pistol, he let off a round into the air. The sound echoed around the docks and got everyone's attention.

"Hello all. I won't take up too much of your time, I just think its important that any of you who are new to these shores, understand a few things."

Looking around to ensure he had everyone's undivided, he continued.

"You will have no doubt noticed that the moment you set foot on the docks, shady people are trying to befriend you and push you into joining their operation. I understand how it is. Before you even stop swaying from the boat, you are being pressured into making a decision you know nothing about. The pressure seems very real, some will even be unreasonable about it. Here's the thing. Don't say yes. To anyone!

As much as all these hoods might have you believe you are in grave danger and are unlikely to make into town without being buggered, you are perfectly safe. The gods and mob enforced laws of the land ensure you have an abundance of time to consider your position and find all the information you need to make a clear and informed decision. You have a coupe of days at minimum! Take your breath and take that time. Every considered moment now, will enrich your quality of life ten-fold down the road.

There are a lot of families and all have their own way of doing things. Some are extremely strict with very regimented structure and procedure. This can be very helpful for some people in their development. Some have a more loving approach, with emphasis on family and everyone treating each other as brothers and sisters. Equally, this can be very reassuring for some shaken by immigration and isolated from distant families back home. Some families emphasize earning, with a focus on crime and exploitation, others focus on assassination, others extortion, some act like spies, others are industrious entrepreneurs. Anything you can think of really."

He thought to himself and then chuckled. 

"Not every family will be to your taste! Our family for example, isn't a conventional one. In fact it can be quite alarming for people new through the doors. Just the other day, young Bold joined our ranks and walked right into a stand up row between LuciusSweet and GlennCullen, each furiously insisting that the other was to blame for their gambling misfortune and the lack of friendly dealers at the casino. Both men saw the new arrival and in an unspoken attempt to resolve their differences, they united their ire and directed it at the young thug. After being informed that he was highly unlikely to succeed and would almost certainly be subjected to brutal bouts of molestation during his life here, I dragged him away and upstairs into the offices.

As we passed an open door, he was greeted by the sight of Scipio and Orange clutching fists full of money and shouting encouragement to Camp and HighPitchEric who appeared to be entangled in some competitive act of depraved sexual contortion. I was used to the madness in the building but even I stopped and winced. I pulled Bold away and down the hall, we saw MonsterHair being his typical dark self rubbing his hands and looming suspiciously around a very nervous looking Mrs_Doubtfire, who's wet eyes pleaded silently for help as we passed. Eventually we reached the office. I was hoping for some level of normality to greet us as the young thug met the boss for the first time. I should have known better. 

FitzChivalry roared a big hello and waved us in. He was lying flat out and naked, face down on his desk, drinking whiskey through a straw from a large vase on the floor. Anathema_Device and Isabella gleefully stuck long pins in his back and buttocks. I was going to ask if it was acupuncture but I thought it best not to find out the horrible truth. Fitz continued to take large slurps of whiskey and grinned a stained-tooth welcome of young Bold to the family. In all honesty I wasn't expecting his impressionable mind to survive the ordeal but survive it he has, and he's now flourishing in the new life he has here!"

Looking around he saw the startled look of bewilderment on a great many of the faces in the crowd. Realizing he'd gone off on a bit of a tangent he thought it best to pull things back on track.

"Anyway... My point is, there are a million approaches to this life. If you wander the streets you will find all kinds of speeches and discussion, by many mobsters from around the country. You can get a feel for how various families are and a better impression of your choices. Take your time, look at all the families and pick the family that is right for you! I'm sure there are plenty of representatives from other families that will haply stand up here and tell you a little more about their crew and the way they work."

Stepping down from the crates he hopes new arrivals begin to take a little more time to think before deciding their futures. 

Listening to what Disorder has to say Lancelot nods his head in agreement then proceeds to have a few words himself...

An interesting point you make here Disorder, it's seems very few if any new people to our shores are aware of just how things work and how much time they really do have to look around and find a suitable family for them to join.

For example I had this one chap mail me this morning, now I wont devulge his name as that would not be fair to him but I will put the question he asked out there:

Hello am i better off joining my hometown (you) or joining in las vegas please give me an unbiased response

As you can clearly see there seems to be a total lack of information for the newer members of our world to the extent they are not even aware they can choose a crew anywhere accross the six cities regrdless of what port they rolled into, let alone the fact they have a substantial amount of time to make an educated decision on where they want to go.

You see all the time people send out one message to someone and then an invite pretty much straight after, my question is this unless you have known the bloodline for quite sometime or it's a returning child to a recently deceased member, how the hell can you invite someone after just one message?, surely from a crewleader or sponsors point of view you would want to know a little something about the person you are inviting into your family, as no doubt the associate would like to know more about your own enterprise, so how the hell is that achieved through one message?, did you make it clear to the would be associate he or she has options?.

Of course you didn't otherwise you would have sent more than just the one mail and invite, too many people are too quick to fill up their crews, personally I would go for quality over quantity any day of the week, what's the point in filling up a crew with people that one you have no idea who they are, two you don't know whether they will need a little help and guidance and three whether or not they will even be an active member.

So who's to blame for the lack of information and everything I have just laid out? the answer is simple WE ARE!

Veronia listens to the speech and volunteers her answer soon after Consigliere Lancelot finished his take on the matter and decided to add in some supporting information aswell. 

This here is a very interesting subject indeed! Happen to have an experience like that earlier in the week! 

I was discussing and replying to a gentleman that was inquiring into the crew.. so i sent out him a correspondence mail and followed up with some extra information and advice because he really wanted a different style then what our Crew offered. So i had asked or inquired that perhaps you should ask around and get some more information.. or i could suggest you some other places to reply and get your start into crime at and as i do i referred him to the "Crew Listing" Posted on the board here by the docks and that there are many styles and types of Crews out there for you. 

Oddly enough soon after my second message ( which is approximately 3 mins from his last reply)  he had already joined a crew.. now from my standpoint.. thats amazing, awesome even that he had found a place! But the third message that was sent afterwards was more of a concern and seemed the Civilian didn't read or take what i had to say on a much more serious thought. He joined said crew.. and then wanted to inform me that he had mad a bad mistake in joining the crew.. he wanted to leave and then he as far as i knew.. proceeded to leave without any words or any information or knowledge that you had to talk and inform your CL before you can even think of such acts as its of ill intent and you will be harmed in the process! 

So he shortly after i didn't get to hear from his reply.. he was very sadly shot.  So not only did he not take or understand that he had time to make a choice, he blindly accepted and flew into the unknown without knowing the consequences. I would say that for him.. it was very naive and probably his kin would be too afraid to try back into this world. So there is definitely alot of choices and alot of possibility being thrown out the window in our society.

Definitely something to ponder and possibly change in all our recruitment methods Consigliere Disorder!
 

Veronia Ponders and whispers a bit low towards Disorder and some of the others.
Could help but then i had questions about getting the information out and which methods would be most effective.. but alas for a later date perhaps? Maybe there is a different approach we can take to keep this from happening? 

It's a great point, I think ideally we'd all like to see people come out and find a little more insight into what it is the leaders have to offer, although for the lazier mobster this is something that they will prefer to avoid and due to this the potential recruit only has the conversation between themselves and a CL/Hand/Sponsor and if people are just after another head in the crew then this can be a negative move for both parties, although ultimately the family who have recruited get to add another notch to the belt.

The other thing is, from a crew leader perspective you may notice that the mobster requesting an invite might not be the right fit for the family. I know in the past I have referred guys on to Tellurium as I was made aware she had a programme in place that assisted with newer mobsters to this walk of life. I knew that at that time I didn't have the capacity to take on any new blood that wasn't able to find their way around, so instead of bringing them in and possibly doing them a disservice, I figured I'd try and make sure they were guided to the right crew.

I think sometimes we need to think about what's best for everyone, not just ourselves. I know it's a difficult thing to do, people love to add those notches onto their guns and love to see a full crew, but if we made a conscious effort to signpost people to a family that fit their match then we might see more mobsters sticking around as opposed to becoming disinterested and eventually dropping off the radar.

Torak listens to the previous comments before stepping up and starting to tell his view on the subject.

"I agree that the genuine new people to our lands do not fully understand the choices that are available to them or that they have a reasonable amount of time to make that said choice"

"I'm also sure it could be quite easy to coerce someone into joining a crew by using fear or intimidation. I personally would never do that, in fact I'm quite the opposite and have probably lost out on some recruits as I tend to ask a fair few questions and guide them to look at the Crew board for information on other crews and also encourage them to talk to other crews. This way I know that anyone I have recruited has had all the facts and is fully aware of what and who they are joining"

"Its quite different for the returning Mafioso or member of a previous Mafioso's family, they would have a better understanding of our customs and would probably have more information on the crews available so could make quick decisions in who to join."

"Perhaps to help those in genuine need of assistance when they first come to our shores maybe the Crew leaders and there hands, also maybe the Gods themselves could come up with a notice board, Mail drop leaflet that gives the person that extra needed advice that could help them make a much more informed decision"

"I thank you for listening"

"Some good points there. Veronia, you mentioned something that happens to me a lot; I'll be standing there, trying to help a new arrival and they'll ask me for some information. I'm happy to help so I get out my notepad and start writing down general info on where to find various things around town. By the time I look up just a few moments later, they are wearing the suit of one family or another and off down the street. Without a care in the world or concern for the fact they've been all but kidnapped by someone who could have barely said hello before whisking them away.

Like you Lancelot, I sometimes stand and wonder about both sides of that arrangement. The new arrival clearly has no idea what they are doing and has accepted the first packet of sweets placed in their hand. More concerning is the shit-box idiot who fires invitations at people without more than a 'Hello! oh look I pulled your pants down'. I usually draw calm from knowing that neither side of the equation can have been especially bright if they are willing to make such rash decisions with less than thirty seconds (and it is often less than that) interaction."

Shaking his head, he can't write the whole situation off so simply.

"It would be great if things were entirely black and white but they aren't. Sometimes the fool that accepts the invite thrust into their hand without a second thought, could become a great mobster through diligent work and education on the part of the sponsor. Sadly the kind of fuckwits that recruit in this way, are only ever going to give the most one-dimensional and often blinkered view of our rich and diverse culture. And then, the chances are that any genuinely new arrival, won't see our world for what it is. They will never fall in love with it and stay, generation after generation the way so many of us have."

I think you have a prevalent question here; I dont think its an issue as such, more a learning curve for all involved. You're correct though, we have a multitude of different styles of person here, each person requires a different way of teaching and a different way of learning, thats what makes this place the beast that it is. For those bloodlines that are genuinely new to this world, it can be a daunting prospect when stepping off that boat and trying to figure out their next set of moves.  I think we always overlook the importance of picking the right person or set of peoples to start a life of crime with.

There is one underlying question for me; Are we too worried about getting numbers into our HQ's That we overlook the need for correct man management? 

What do i mean by this, well, do we recruit people just to build the numbers of a HQ up. Just go through the motions to make our organisation look bigger than it is. You know, recruiting everyone and everything just for the sake of doing? 

Personally i think sometimes i will fall into the category above, i think with all the will in the world, there is nobody that cant say they are not guilty of it. Sometimes we are so caught up in just getting bums on seat than we getting the correct bums on seats. 

From a recruiting POV and being a Crew Leader that does actively recruit i can tell you that i try to offer all sides of the coins when talking to those that are new to our world. Of course i offer my spiel and who i am and what my organisation offers. I obvious try to sell what we do. I also explain the importance of picking the correct organisation away from what im even offering and i truly believe that if someone picks another organisation way from mine they have do so because it suits their needs better than what i can and thats fine, thats exactly how it should be. I have no hard feelings towards that person. 

Im sitting in my HQ with half of my seats full and thats OK, im happy with that. I am happy with who i have on board and i can and will be selective on who i recruit going forward, using the exact same methods i always do. 

You left out the part new or not, you are not up for savvy questions even if they were one of the top earners.

In response to your questions Space, yes for the most part people are interested in filling out the HQ's. The phrase quantity over quality seems to ring true in this day and age, as people are quick to jump at anyone who's done any kind of work for them and offer them an invitation to their family and in some cases we'll see people frantically waving invitations at people who are fresh off the boat without them ever having said a word to anyone.

Of course, it's natural that people feel the need to push for a bigger family, it means more income to the leader and it also means that if the guys they've recruited turn out to be something they don't want, they can always discard them for another notch on the gun. It really is a win/win for leaders but it's not always what works out for the little guy.

This is why it's so important for them to have a look around and as leaders I think we should encourage that more if we want to retain the number of mobsters currently around.

If I'm honest I find it difficult to feel the need to prove myself to a lowly thug, the other day I was asked what I can offer somebody that might attract them to work for us. I felt that it was a little like pitching a sale and I explained that I wasn't prepared to do that, not because I didn't want the guy to join but because I don't feel like I should have to. There's enough information about my family and I if people take their time to look around and if they join and find they dislike it, then they can always look at joining another organisation, depending on the circumstances.

In essence what Disorder is announcing unless one has walked these shores for 13 years or longer the "thug" does not stand a chance in his Syndicate.

Thanks for clarifying.

In essence what Disorder is announcing unless one has walked these shores for 13 years or longer the "thug" does not stand a chance in his Syndicate.

Quite how you came to that conclussion Frosty is beyond me, would you care to ellaborate a little on that?, firstly now forgive me if I am wrong here but I could have sworn the syndicate Disorder currently works for is that of FitzChivalry, and secondly not once have I heard Disorder say or even suggest such a thing, so how the hell did you come to such a ridiculous conclussion?