Yardies as the Second Family

[Jackal]

Yardies as a family? It's more likely then you think.

What are families exactly? Well, in theory a family is a large and powerful group who oversee and influence the world around them through money and power. They stand in the background, puppet masters. They give birth to new gangs, get them on their feet, spark violence and friendships through subtle diplomatic motions.

Now, let's look at the families we have.

The Mafia:

The Mafia has been violent as of late, yes. It has gone from neutral to outright warring, although certainly with good reason. They were pulled into the war, and have accepted ceasefires a number of times, only for them to be broken. So at the moment they are at war, yes, but let's ignore that for a moment.

The Mafia roleplays their part well. They are the spitting image of a crime syndicate. They have metagangs within their gangs, such as the slick and awesome Bratva (the Russians, who often work together as a form of task force) and other brotherhoods of the Italian and Irish members. They often travel in limo caravans, flaunt themselves appropriately and have always carried themselves with a certain flare.

The Mafia supports smaller gangs. They get them started, fund them, help them make their break in the world. The mafia aided the Hobos, a very beloved gang, instrumentally in their founding. They have always been there to assist both current gangs, and help the formation of new gangs, putting their wealth and power to the appropriate use.

The mafia (were) neutral. They preferred to reap the benefits of others wars. They provided wealth, weaponry and drugs, but never engaged directly. They sat up in their hills, watching the city below and collecting the profit and power that would come from it.

This is how a family should work.

The Yakuza:

The Yakuza poopsock like freaking mad. They have 30+ million dollars that is spent on nothing. They don't use it for anything. It just sits in their bank. They don't even make use of /contract in the slightest. They are, and always been very hands on. Engaging in point battles and squabbling first hand, serving more as an infantry force than any kind of general. They are their own army, not leader of others.

They act in incredibly poor conduct such as chicken running, katana exploiting and hiding in a helicopter for hours upon hours. They'll rush in and deny it but who cares? We all know, we all see it happen every day.

They are supposed to be an example setter. You'll have others acting retarded, and when questioned “While that's how the Yakuza do it!” Of course, they are one of the two families, they are super rich and powerful. Who wouldn't model themselves after them? It's ridiculous.

RP? A few of their members do. Ken is a good Rper, E. Honda was a fantastic rper. Over all? Yeah, no. Yaks will jump up on squad cars and stripper dance, they will act like idiots, hopping around and saying retarded things. They will abuse alt + tab and be general douchenozzles in any kind of combat situation.

A family is supposed to be a manipulating, overseeing force, and yet the Yakuza really don't do anything. They contribute nothing to the game world what so ever. They are simply their own big zerg force. That's all that there is to them.

The only decent thing I could say about them is that one of their subgangs is the Northie Hooligans, which are a very RP interesting gang, and have a lot of fun potential, but is this because of the Yakuza? No, it's because E. Honda leads it. E. Honda is like that great Yakuza exception.

The Yardies

Here is a group that is as RP capable as fuck. They are all sensible, well known (and experienced) players. They provide a far better rival for the Mafia, as well. Right now we essentially have two Mafias (Rply speaking) where as we would have the Mafia, an organized syndicate, and the Yardies, a group of powerful Jamaican crime lords.

They are such a polar opposite to the Mafia that they would provide a fantastic dynamic to the game world. Also, considering the Yardies and the Mafia's players know each other very well, we could have wars, battles and rivalries without it degrading into OOC bitch fests because of deep rooted hatred. (Grrr, -random yak-!)

The families system can work fine as long as the people in those slots fit the bill. Other gangs will model themselves after their family, the families have the money and power to set an example for all others. Do we really want the Yakuza setting the conduct example for new players? I know I certainly don't.

The Yardies should take the second family spot, I think it would be a great change for the better.

WALL OF TEXT

[Juke]

Yardies aren't that large, but if we had the second family slot we would get a definite sub-gang going to guide. Right now, we're not nearly as large as Mafia but I think we could hold our own if we needed to.

I'm totally fine with Grove taking over as the second family if people don't want Yardies up there. Grove definitely has the numbers.

What I'm worried about is Jon Do is an "all out war" kind of guy, he's said it himself on many occasions. His goal is to make wars so unbearable that people quit. If Grove got involved in wars with this mindset, people would deservedly whine about war, and it would really hinder getting any meaningful conflict going. Other than that, I think Grove would make a great second family.

But we need some sort of a change. Yakuza aren't policing their own members, let alone any of the gangs they work with. We need somebody who can provide guidance to newbies instead of handing them money and guns. I'm fine with Yakuza taking a gang slot and remaining independent but Ken hasn't shown he's doing any good for the server with his gang slot. There's no conflict and people are getting bored as the server is stuck in a rut.

[Jackal]

I like Grove and I'm a friend of Jon_Do, but they shouldn't be a family. They are a street gang RPly, and do their job very well. If Yaks were just a normal gang, they'd be (in principal, not conduct) fine too. Large numbers, brute force, combat oriented. Yardies may not be big, but I'm sure they could expand over time. Size isn't all that important, I wouldn't think. The mafia used to be not that large, if I recall.

[Ari_Papadopoulos]

I'd be happy with Yardies being a family assuming they're up for the challenge.

[Juke]

I'd be happy with Yardies being a family assuming they're up for the challenge.

The whole reason we went to war with Yakuza is we were trying to bully them into giving up the family slot. We knew they were doing nothing with it and it was hurting the server. Then we realized Ken is pretty stubborn and wouldn't give up. You can't really force somebody into doing anything in this game unless they're reasonable. Now that he's gone (even temporarily,) we actually have a chance of getting it.

It would definitely bring us back in full force if we got that slot.

[Mickey]

I'd be happy with Yardies being a family assuming they're up for the challenge.

The whole reason we went to war with Yakuza is we were trying to bully them into giving up the family slot. We knew they were doing nothing with it and it was hurting the server. Then we realized Ken is pretty stubborn and wouldn't give up. You can't really force somebody into doing anything in this game unless they're reasonable. Now that he's gone (even temporarily,) we actually have a chance of getting it.

It would definitely bring us back in full force if we got that slot.

Fer farks sake, man, then do it. Take it. You've got my full support and the full support of the Hooligans. Yardies ftw.

[Sammut]

Yeah, amount of players doesnt matter much. I remember everybody in the mafia was so proud 2-3 months ago that we had 5 people on at once. Now we have 10+ on at almost all times and 15+ on at good times and we get flooded with new recruits. After having that family spot for a month, amount of members probably wouldn't be a problem.

I think the Yardies should get the spot.

[Thesoldier]

Coming from a Law Enforcement perspective, and not a gang perspective. The Yakuza are a fucking joke and don't deserve to be a family. Within the week that I've returned, the conduct the Yakuza present themselves is disgusting. The Mafia would never jump on a LSPD patrol car and start stripping unless there was some wacky event going on, and even when the Yakuza are arrested they just cry and bitch like little girls, where the Mafia accept their punishment or at least make an attempt to break out its members.

The Yakuza are a street gang now. At least when Bowerbank was running the Yakuza (Even though you all hated Bowerbank), the Yakuza still had a somewhat small ounce of respect, and weren't the twats that they are now.

Give the Yardies the Family slot, or make the Yakuza clean their act up.

[Mackenzie]

Leave him banned, his OOC life is really needing him.
End the misery of his lousy leadership of the yakuza- Under Ken's leadership, I recall him constantly barking orders to people, demanding hunts,interrupting general play for personal vendettas, a piss-poor attempt to emulate the yakuza traditions (Drinking sake when a member becomes yakuza), promoting the killing of people in a DM fashion (it's bad when the cops say... when you kill, TRY not to make it look like DMing)

I used to say my loyalties are with the yakuza, but it just kept getting worse under Ken "power-tripper" Nomura
Where did Walmart, Zac, and Nikola go?

I would post but Jacia put it so nicely!

[Jackal]

Adding some ideas that are coming into IRC...

Firstly, with Yakuza gone, the Mafia would cut down their member number quite a bit, becoming small and neutral again.

The two families (Mafia and Yardies) would be the only source of crack and cheap weaponry (through mats) and thus using that to keep hold of their power, as opposed to the need of a meat army.

Others, add on to all this crap. It's good stuff. Particularly the stuff John is dreaming up.

[Mackenzie]

The only thing is, from a roleplay standpoint, do the Yardies make sense as the second major neutral family? They are good experienced players and roleplayers, but a ragtag group of Rastas really doesnt have the prestige of a major crime family like the Mafia and even Yakuza (in premise). No matter how good they are as players, in my mind they really fit well as a street gang. Maybe they would consider becoming the Triads, taking the Yakuza boss skin and a few other suited asians and going that route since in GTA SA they seem to be the only other classy, organized, larger family from my recollection. Anyway, just a thought

[Thesoldier]

The only thing is, from a roleplay standpoint, do the Yardies make sense as the second major neutral family? They are good experienced players and roleplayers, but a ragtag group of Rastas really doesnt have the prestige of a major crime family like the Mafia and even Yakuza (in premise).

Actually in Real Life, Jamacian organized crime is fucking powerful as hell. They are ruthless bastards who rule some parts of Jamacia with an Iron Fist and no one can stop them. We have them here in Florida, and they can do some serious crime and get away with it, I did an internship for one of my teachers who was the head of an Organized Crime for all of West Palm Beach. I've learned that the Jamacians Posses are just as powerful as the Russia Mob, and they can keep a low profile also. The only reason no one considers them Organized Crime, is because the Posses operate like street gangs.

[Jackal]

Yeah. Jamaican crime lords are hot shit in the ghettos. That's why they make such a good RP nemesis for the mafia. A big organized 'business' crime family competing with a group of powerful crime lords.

[Elroy_Jones]

I really wish I would have seen this thread earlier. I love the ideas Jerod has come up with. I think if Jon Do want to fight for the family position with the Yardies, he should have the chance to, I am sure the yardies would be up for some kind of battle to show who is superior.

I have said enough recently about the Yakuza that my opinion should be well known (ie; I agree with everyone in this thread) and I yearn for the day where the Mafia can cut some dead weight. I think the Yardies do some of the best roleplaying since the Hobos passed away and they can definitely fuck your day up if you cross them.

Best of luck to you Jamaican fellows if you are going for the top slot, I think we could have an endless supply of RP rivalry between our two groups.

[Mickey]

Adding some ideas that are coming into IRC...

Firstly, with Yakuza gone, the Mafia would cut down their member number quite a bit, becoming small and neutral again.

The two families (Mafia and Yardies) would be the only source of crack and cheap weaponry (through mats) and thus using that to keep hold of their power, as opposed to the need of a meat army.

Others, add on to all this crap. It's good stuff. Particularly the stuff John is dreaming up.

Yes, yes, and yes.

[Mickey]

Didn't even notice there was a second page. I agree that from an RP standpoint the Jamaican Crime Lords would be an excellent addition as a family slot, and anxiously await the return of the Yardies to take over. I like all of these ideas. Aditionally, here is another thread that Rask made that relates to this:

http://www.szrgta.com/szr/forum/viewtop ... f=29&t=888

[Sammut]

Cutting down on members for the mafia might be tough, but I think an LT could split off into a new gang and take some members with him. I would volunteer but it'd probably have to be a LT people really liked and would want to follow. But if we're going to cut down on members, it'd maybe be better not to throw people out but just transfer them.

[Mickey]

Of course, of course. I'm not trying to insinuate that you just delete a bunch of fools at all. I meant that they either go to different gangs or yea, maybe if someone like Elroy was down, started a new gang. It could probably be a particular, larger, perhaps "more violent/involved in the streets" sect of Italians or Russians, perhaps.

However, I think everyone can agree that SOME of the more pubbie Mafia people now may get kicked.

[Lockie_Fantico]

Yardies will probably be a good option for the second family assuming Grove st aren't running for it. Note that Mafia is now cutting down on members now that we don't have to match the Yakuza zerg swarm anymore.

[Jackal]

The Northie' Hooligans seem like such a perfect sub gang to start the Yardies off too. I really hope this happens. It'd be such a revitalization of things.

[Elroy_Jones]

The Northie' Hooligans seem like such a perfect sub gang to start the Yardies off too. I really hope this happens. It'd be such a revitalization of things.

100% Agree, I really hope this happens and soon at that.

[Rob]

Replacing the Zerg Force of Yakuza that has been prevalent for ages with a gang that is chillax, RPs, and actually makes use of their /contract would be great.

I mean come on, Ken, you had 38 million dollars. You could put more than a 20,000 dollar hit on Lockie.

[Juke]

Contracts are for sissies.

[Rob]

Considering how hard it was/is to take out any Yardie, I disagree.

[Jazz_Mesa]

Yardies are a great roleplaying group, I can fully expect them to take it and go through winning.