Over a month ago an issue was announced with the State Don invitation system. As many of you already know we have been waiting for this to be fixed, so that those people who have worked to reach the prestigious rank of Legendary Don can have their reward in the form of promotion to State Don and beyond that, Nation Don. Those Legendary Dons must have a legendary amount of patience as this issue has still not been fixed. But why is this such a big deal? So what, you cannot rank anymore, what's the problem? The answer is that State and Nation Don are the two most powerful ranks on the game and being one of these ranks allows you to manipulate the game in your favour to become the most notorious player of the round.
This being such an important part of the game and, as we have been told by various Moderators in the game forum topic, a relatively simple one to fix I would have expected this to be resolved by now. Indeed, it is my belief that the problems, which stops the game functioning correctly, should have the highest priority on the fix list. We have been told that the Blackjack will be the next casino to undergo an update (due presently) but this casino, whilst not holding a lot of value, did still function. Beyond the Blackjack update we have heard that the Crews will receive a welcome update and the FAQ but we are still to receive any official update of the state of the issue regarding State and Nation Dons.
It is, of course, easy to sit here and question the running of Bootleggers and we don't have all the facts, but the underlying theme is that BSF2000 does not have the assistance he needs by way of Admins. His caution of appointing a new Admin is not unfounded as he has been let down in the past. The progression that most players would like to see has not been present and many are losing faith in the game. If there is one thing that Bootleggers has which other games such as this do not have is a very loyal community who stand by the game throughout all of these problems.
Mika kindly granted me an interview with the State Don Issue at the heart of it.
"So Mika, is there any development in the State Don Issue or even an estimation of when it might be fixed?"
"None of which I am aware" replied Mika. "If we go by what BSF wrote in his column it will be addressed after the Blackjack has been updated. I am doing this off the top of my head, however, so don't pin me on that one."
"And what would you say to those who believe that the State Don issue should have been resolved before the Blackjack was updated instead of a delay of over a month?" I asked.
"I would say that I understand that they would prefer to see the bug fixed prior to the revamp. I do not know how complex the issue is, but I cannot imagine it being too difficult (mind you, I have no knowledge of the script or the problem). With that thought in mind I would also prefer seeing the bug getting fixed myself before seeing anything new."
I agree with Mika about this and I asked my final question: "And what of those criticisms of BSF for not making the announcement himself and barely talking to the community apart from in his, now, monthly column?"
"I share them. On the subject of communication with both staff and players there is a lot that could be improved upon." answered Mika.
It is clear that not even the Moderators are fully sure what the situation is. Do not misunderstand me however, I have a great deal of respect for BSF2000 and the game he has created but there are things that I'm sure many people would like to see happen to improve the game, increase the community and make certain the Bootleggers is the best multiplayer mafia game on the net.
With thanks to Mika for his interview, until next time and happy ranking (for some)!
