Just a short announcement this time! The beloved hit list will now be reflecting the following changes:

* All anonymous hits will now cost 50K multiplied by the targets rank. (50K X rank)

* Anonymous hits will NOT be removed from the hit list if the 'lister' themselves are killed.

Enjoy!
Jazz hands.

Jazz...hands?

She took her hands and moved them in a rainbow fashion while shaking her wrists Robert.
(Jazz hands)

I envision her doing this, whilst stepping off a stage, in a sort of half lean-walk.

Just using jazz hands to emphasize my excitement over life in general. Feel free to jazz hand with me! :D

Shakes his hands about and smacks Robert_Guiscard in the face

Ooops.. To far. Diablos smiles

Jazz hands = spirit fingers np.

Excellent change, I think it'll stop a few people from anonymously posting a hit :]

Alright, looks like someone wanted to make me a liar

* Anonymous hits will NOT be removed from the hit list if the 'lister' themselves are killed.

I'm not exactly sure about this but I thought in the mafia when someone puts a hit on another mobster's head, then that person who successfully kills the hit will get paid shortly after with some sort of evidence proving the murder. Sometimes the designated killer gets a portion of the money before the kill, and if the killer successfully kills the target, then the killer will get the rest of the payment afterwards. However, I never heard of someone in the mafia making a full payment before even someone could kill the target. This is what I'm pointing about the recent hit-list change where the anonymous hits will still exist even after the lister themselves are killed. Again, I never heard of this type of business in the mafia, because it's bad business.

CP has a point here. If you are dead you cannot pay someone for killing someone else. I don't think anyone would give their money to someone to hold in case they die so payment on the hit could still be made either.

It seems to me that the reason this change was put into affect is to spur some violent activity. I cannot see another reason for the change. If this isn't the case I'd be absolutely thrilled to hear an explanation. However, If this is the case then you all should thank the admins for catering more to needs of the game than making it completely realistic. If this creates wars then presumably it will make the game more exciting and more people will play. In short, if you've ever thought of this game as stagnant you should be in favor of this change.

Well, the general rule is half now, half later - I'm not much of a fan of letting hits linger even if the poster dies, though - the chances it won't be an anonymous hit are slim to none as it is - if you're going to continue down that road, you should make people pay for the luxury of privacy handsomely - as 50K per rank is far too low in my opinion.

It isn't a kneejerk reaction - there are astronomical prices for private flights which get you from point A to point B - the same should apply to anonymity. As for the half now half later rule, from a roleplay perspective, I wouldn't put up the entire fee before the hit was even completed - From the roleplay scenario you played out earlier, why would I pay a no name up front for a listing that may or may not happen? There's no way to call it off without paying double - and, well, if I die, that really should be the end of it. The non-named player has little reason to keep the hit active as he would just be able to hoard the money to himself now that the user is dead - no trail, no proof, nothing. Would any legitimate customer honestly invest the entire amount before someone decides to take up the hit and give it a whirl? I doubt it.

I'd probably push the anonimity fee further as well. If a non-name player wants an anonymous hit up, they can save a little. No big deal though, at least it's slightly more expensive now.

I'm not sure on the motivation behind leaving the hit up permanently though. Isn't this just closing off another potential (albeit small - ignoring this 50m silly money one) money sink? From the escrow service perspective, what's the motivation not to just keep the cash as opposed to going to the bother of maintaining the hit?

Ultimately, I'm not really bothered, the hitlist barely plays any part in the game and beyond the odd stunt like we've seen yesterday, it rarely gets attention.

I would guess this is an attempt to integrate the hitlist more into the game, something that I would be pleased to see achieved if possible.

Perhaps, as something of a compromise, after X amount of time of the hitlister being dead and the target still being alive, the hit is removed? This is more to remove hits that are lingering on for months on end when the hitlister has long since departed the world.

If that happened, the time for the hitlist to come down should be somewhat random so as to not then just go back in the obits and figure out who put up that hit.

I also suggest that hitlists depreciate over time, whether the lister stays alive or not. A smal percentage of the reward every week or so.

I also suggest that the lister has the choice of taking the hit down and getting half of the money back. ("Half now, half later").

Yeah, wouldn't argue with any of that really.

Nor would I argue with bringing the hitlist into the game a little more, if there was a suitable way to do it.