TsuDhoNimh well I don’t see where you are taking this either. No one wants to keep associates in their crew if they are not happy.  If the associate approaches the Crew Leader and are in good standards they are usually allowed to leave.

The rules states

From now on, associates will have the option to move to other crews.

Crew hopping might not be an option for some Crew Leaders.

Surely you don’t want associates thinking they have the option to leave a crew at will and surely you don’t think the Crew Leader is obligated to let them leave because of this rule. 

Associates should be encouraged to do their best to become a Made Man.  With every recruit an investment is made.

If a Crew Leader thinks the investment was too great or the associate was disrespectful, how will you enforce this rule?

It's a family matter.

I'm not sure if you're intentionally being obtuse or are genuinely confused here? 

I'll assume it's the latter for the moment...

Crew hopping might not be an option for some Crew Leaders. - You seem confused. This rule has been put in place by the leaders.

This isn't a referendum on the topic, it's letting people know. Ignoring the rules isn't an option for anyone running a family, whether they might agree with a specific rule or not. Anything else, especially an individual's personal feelings on it, is pretty much irrelevant. Having said that, I think it's a great rule so I'll keep chatting away about it. 

As for any thoughts that it will lead to idiots being allowed to freely crew hop, I'd suggest paying a little more attention to the transcripts of the opening speech. Leaders have the option of tweaking this rule as they see fit for their family. It's there in black and white, clearly. If they make good tweaks to it, that will look great for them. If they make bad tweaks or intentionally go against the spirit of the rule it will reflect badly on them. It's quite simple.

Even without making a tweak, even just the financial compensation element which is integral to the rule would be enough to prevent this scenario. The means to avoid this, which is all but a non-issue already, are well built into the rule already.

Surely you don’t want associates thinking they have the option to leave a crew at will and surely you don’t think the Crew Leader is obligated to let them leave because of this rule. - There's no "at will" involved. They approach their leader, they speak to them and they are set the criteria under which they would be allowed to leave the family. This isn't new, it's how things have pretty much always worked for the vast majority. This rule just gives leaders the framework under which that discussion should be held and assists in nudging newer leaders, who might not be aware of the situation, in the right direction. 

These are all associates, still on the outside of the family. They haven't sworn any oaths and they shouldn't have been made aware of any of the internal secrets a family may wish to keep secret. Until they've made those oaths, they are free to move. Back in the old country associates did jobs for multiple families openly without it ever being an issue. Yes, they might have to provide some compensation depending on the specifics, but this rule clearly states that they can move as long as they get their leaders blessing. Again, nothing new or ground breaking involved here.

The bigger change here, which hasn't been mentioned once oddly, is the restrictions being placed on button men not jumping around like lemmings and completely ignoring their oaths.   

Associates should be encouraged to do their best to become a Made Man.  With every recruit an investment is made. - Yes. I agree 100%. That should happen. Sadly, it doesn't always.

Our world has seen shit leaders in the past and it will see shit leaders in the future. When we're actively using and promoting open cities with the New Frontier the barrier to entry is even lower here. That's exactly why this rule is being put down here. It's here so that shit leaders, that don't care or invest in their members, don't end up with members feeling they're trapped and with no recourse in what they can do other than taking their own life. This clearly outlines some potential options and makes it clear to those in leadership that if they're not doing a good job it will quickly become visible for everyone around them to see. It forces those that currently aren't putting in sufficient effort to reach that bar that you, mistakingly, seem to believe all reach without fail. I wish you were right there, but sadly I'm far too well aware it's a flawed view.

If a Crew Leader thinks the investment was too great or the associate was disrespectful, how will you enforce this rule? - In the two circumstances you mention, enforcement would be irrelevant.

In the first, that's the rule working as intended. A leader is welcome to price their investment as they see fit. An issue would only arise if a leader was continually found to have members looking to leave, red flag number one, and was setting exorbitant fees to allow this, red flag number two. That leader will quickly end up with an extremely unhappy family, as they're now aware that they should be facilitated in a more reasonable fashion, and extremely unhappy peers, as the other leaders won't be too happy having a shitter (a Fitz technical term) happy to trap members rather than embracing them. 

In the second scenario, the member would quickly be dead.

The leader would only face issue there if the member in questions next of kin started knocking up a fuss, in which case the leader would quickly slap them down with a truthful account of what actually happened. A single unhappy member making false or inaccurate claims is nothing new in this world of ours and won't end up with the leaders of this thing of ours suddenly making uncharacteristic poor decisions.

If a leader was genuinely breaching the rules, rather than poor examples that aren't breaking the rules, I'd fully expect them to meet with the business end of a shotgun relatively quickly. There are lots of people looking for a shot. There are lots of people capable of doing great things. I very much doubt if those in positions of power will sit by and let some idiots flout their rules when they can quickly and easily remove the issue and replace them with someone with far greater potential, better decision making, and a whole lot less idiocy.  

It's a family matter. - It very much is.

And each family is welcome to put their own spin on things, as long as it meets the basic criteria laid out here. The rule just ensures we don't end up with terrible families having flawed rules that hurt the growth of this thing of ours across the cities.

TsuDhoNimh it seems that I have overstepped my bounds and sincerely apologized. I misread the rule as From now on, associates will have the option to move to other crews.  I let the hard felt believe that an associate must prove himself to the family and take the oath of Omerta overshadow what’s been said. 

 I should have instead placed it all together From now on, associates will have the option to move to other crews. However this does come at a cost and it's at each crew leader’s discretion. Which you and I both have clearly stated and has been the norm all along.

My concentration was on Sponsors like myself who take pride in taking in a new recruit.  We invest time in training, answering questions and giving associates a good foundation.  Our goal is to help them learn,   grow, enable them to prove themselves and to become Made. Then it’s all in vain because the associate is so freely to leave because a friend of theirs joined another family they wish to be with, they rather reside in LA instead of NY or they just fell off the face of the earth.

I thank you for sharing a different light on this subject. I never took into consideration

Our world has seen shit leaders in the past and it will see shit leaders in the future. When we're actively using and promoting open cities with the New Frontier the barrier to entry is even lower here. That's exactly why this rule is being put down here. It's here so that shit leaders, that don't care or invest in their members, don't end up with members feeling they're trapped and with no recourse in what they can do other than taking their own life

Though I felt the favour system would eliminate some of those circumstances but truly understand what you are saying.

So clearly I was out of line and now have a better understanding.

I feel bad for everybody that has a problem with this new policy.  Luckily for me, none of this applies to me and I'll hop around to whatever crew I please at whatever rank I am (by the way, my rank will be based solely on how many drugs I can carry, not "earnings" or "hard-work" or whatever you losers have to do to advance.  I just say "promote me loser" and bam-o I get my promotion).  Maybe if your dads were powerful Godfathers you could do what you please too, but you can't.  Because you suck.  Me on the other hand?  I just bat my eyes to my dad and he'll let me go to a different crew every day if I feel like it.

Hmmmm, I wonder what crew I want to join next.... all these leaders are such dorks it's hard to decide.  Oh well.  I don't care. 

sticks her tongue out at everybody and skips away to ask for money from FitzChivalry

Thee very young mobster Insane stands back to listen GF FitzChivarly. He listens with an open mind with hopes of absorbing knowledge. Known to be notoriously known for knowledge he maintains an open mind to everyone. After all, keeping an open mind is the key to any successful mobster who has lived the dream or desires such.

GF FitzChavly,  I thank you for your attempts to build up the economy which has been long over due as mentioned many times but sadly all attempts have failed miserably. Personally speaking, I  do not take kind to failures. And apparently you are on the same page. Regurgitating has been a disgusting proven failure when so much talent and brains is at ones finger tips.

I have one very important thought and question.  In my humble opinion and experience no leader should be told how to deal with associates. And who is to know if an associate is wired?

Kathyrn stifles a laugh at "FitzChavly".

"Although I'm certainly not FitzChivalry, I am curious about your question Insane. The Godfather's first line mentioned that this change happened after  "a recent meeting between some of the more influential figures within this thing of ours". Surely those who are higher up in the pyramid of our society have the power to run things however they'd like, no? Establishing policies and guidelines to try to improve our business is surely the purview of those in power, in my opinion.

Regarding your statement "And who is to know if an associate is wired?"... what? I understand the concept of being "wired", but I'm confused about how it applies to this particular topic.

Did anyone hear that dog bark?  Geesh we really ought to get these barkers under control.