Throughout most of Round 6, people were giving and sharing. The Off Topic Forum was a sea of giveaways. Alas, the start of Round 7 has seen this change. Daily topics are posted "X is rankist, Y is a scammer and Don't OC with Z."
This got me thinking of possible causes of the various scams and apparent greed.
First of all I choose to address Rankism. Rankism is where the higher ranked players choose not to interact with lower ranks. In the situation of Organised Crimes, for example, a Boss hosts an OC, refusing to allow Scum ranks to enter. One belief is the Boss has worked hard at their account, why should they give lazy players an easy option? Another is people are racing to be the first Godfather, Don, State Don and Nation Don. By only commiting OCs with high ranks, the experience pay off is higher, making them more likely to be the first to these ranks.
The first reason I came to concerned health affecting crime percentages. I know you're thinking how does health affect greed? If you're not, I'm going to tell you anyway. Because this is a new round, Organised Crimes are more likely to fail at first as there are more lower ranks struggling to gain experience. A Gangster and 3 Thugs is less likely to succeed than a Boss and three Assassins. Failed Organised Crimes means the police are called and players end up injured, causing them to possibly lose health. Vet bills are expensive, so they're going to need that extra pay out to pay a nurse to stick her needle in various places.
The next possibility concerned the reset. The reset meant players entire Round 6 history was removed. All their crimes, cars and cash. Everybody needs to work their way up to have some money to retire on and as it is still early, Federal Bank interest is still not very high. Most players are still having to rely on Organised Crime pay out to gain substantial money to bank. With many players still not wanting to host, this means leaders can be selective as the demand for places in Organised Crimes is high, with the game being so active.
When browsing the classifieds sticky "Booze Prices" I realised the payout margin is generally slimmer than Round 6. This coupled with the timers being reset to 1 hour 30 to travel, means it now takes longer to make money on Booze, however, combined with the Gymnasium as players rank, they can carry more than in the previous round without risk of being caught, this might make up the gap none the less, it makes gaining money from Bootlegging as a lower rank more difficult.
Only time will tell if the removal of holders will affect stingy Organised Crime payouts and giveways. For players who die a lot, they are going to have to rely on the Swiss Bank or their crews. This could be disasterous in a crew wipe out situation. As we all know, the Swiss Bank can be accessed from multiple accounts, ideal if you die and want your money back. This privilage comes at a 30% interest cost though, so relying on this is going to hurt the wallet.
There has been an increase in topics claiming X offered $100 for $100,000 instead of 100 points for $100,000, though rarely backed up by screen shots. This scam has been around since the arrival of The Escrow. It is of my belief, if you fall for it, it is your own fault for not checking properly. You wouldn't pay for a glass of water when you asked for Coke.
My personal take is, this is a mafia game, not farmville. You help your friends, not your enemies. The game is active enough that there is more than one Organised Crime advertised at any given time. Still unhappy? Host your own or don't buy the equipment until the leader finalises payment. The game is about crime, we are not all allied to each other. Just because you're in an Organised Crime with somebody doesn't make you friends. The aim of an Organised Crime is to gain money and experience. If the participants are a higher rank than you, you are getting that experience, just hope you gain enough money to cover your costs.
This isn't saying giveaways do not happen, check the Off Topic Forum from time to time and you'll see a few topics directed at helping beginners. This sense of giving will help players new to Bootleggers start up with a sense of community and who knows, as Rankers rank and Bankers bank, they might give back.
