Hello and welcome to a brand new innovative article, brought to you by the Buzz! The idea stems from contributions made by Jonno, in a recent Buzz related topic in the forum. In this article, we will look to, on a weekly basis, establish the opinions and feelings of related and hot topics in the Bootleggers community of a selected user. We will delve into the Forums and Statistics to ask the questions that matter, in order to see what you in the community feel about such things! Being the main contributor to this idea, we saw it as only fitting that Jonno would be the first interviewee in this new article, which has been casually dubbed, The Chat!
So, we kicked off our chat with Jonno, by asking what his view was on one of the most complained and talked about topics of late, domination. A subject covered in several varying articles by the Buzz and one which sees hoards of players killed as crews such as Asura and The Family go about their goals of game domination. He had this to say, "It's apart of the game. Most serious crews etc desire to dominate parts of the game. It's as simple as that. I don't feel that it's been more of a talking point this round than others." Indeed in rounds gone by it must be said, that there has always been an overall domineering party in one form or another. Whether this be through legitimate means or not, is questionable, but it is no new concept for the game to be ruled by a single crew or group. Jonno went on to address this point, saying, "Some shootings are done by legit players. Players who work for their wealth and rank legitimately." Continuing, "But there's an obvious problem with crews/players cheating. I think we're in our right to complain about or even boycotting to actually play the game because of it." Making his feelings clear on the matter there, in no uncertain terms Jonno feels there is clear issues with illegal and illegitimate practices being carried out within the game. However following numerous chats with the Elite Guard on this matter, who continually play down any potential issues, it is left up to the user what and whom they chose to believe.
We continued along the line of the Elite Guard, asking Jonno how he felt community relations with the crew who boss the game currently stand. Jonno was bullish in his answer, leaving no doubt as to his feeling on the matter, saying, "Very poor. Worst thing would be the lies, promises and lack of care towards the BL community. This is aimed at BSF2000 personally. There are one or maybe two moderators that I'm very happy with." This of course refers in part to recent promises made regarding potential updates, and the multiple missed deadlines and promises which followed these. Jonno went on to say, "The rest are basically his (BSF2000) tools and they sure live up to it. All BSF2000 care about is verifying points." A frank and very opinionated assessment of the current Elite Guard team, it has to be said. However in part it may of course be felt that this is completely justified, with the lack of care displayed towards the users of the game in given examples. We continued to quiz Jonno on this matter, and he went on to tell us, "It's not something that surprises me. It has gotten to the point where it's like a joke among the community. BSF2000 letting us down yet again, not new." It has to be said this is a sad but true reflection of the general community feel towards the games administrator. Many predicted the late coming of updates and indeed that there would be unforeseen circumstances that everyone but BSF2000 foresaw that would lead to delays in their coming. This of course is due to a largely self-inflicted reputation brought about by past broken promises.
To criticise is often all too easy, whereas to be constructive and actually formulate solutions to problems is another matter entirely. We asked Jonno what he felt where the current main issues with the game that required change. His answer showed little differentiation from the answer given by many to this question this round, as he told us, "As many have pointed out for a long time now, the crew feature needs to be fixed. It's useless now. The only thing it's good for nowadays are a private forum. Other advantages are pretty useless in the big picture." A view shared by the vast majority of users who have had this question put to them along with those who haven't! Crew spots are in a desperate state of affairs, in terms of the lack of general benefit that comes from owning or being apart of one, which can be highlighted by drawing such lack of benefit up against the impairments and difficulties faced with ownership of a spot. Jonno went on to tell us, "There should be huge advantages of owning a crew spot and we should be fighting for them. I would also like some casino updates. But I'm not creative enough to suggest anything really." Again Jonno's opinions seemed to construe that of the community, as we have seen cries for both crew and casino updates flood the forums this round. Whether such updates will materialize within our own time on the game is yet to be seen however.
Jonno also spoke of a topic previously covered by the Buzz, that of ranking. He said, "It's also pretty fucked up that we've only had 1-2(can't remember) state dons as of today. Maybe making ranking easier. But the cheating that's going on also play a big part of that." It has to be said that ranking in past weeks seems to of re-established something of a norm, with general amounts of users reaching higher ranks. However, the greater round-long issue of a lack of potential to promote to the highest ranks due to the form the game has taken is one which might be addressed. It could be a potential solution to change rank requirements, even if that be at the top of the chain, in order to see a greater influx of accounts ranked Respectable Don and above. However when previously questioned on this, the community did not respond positively, as they feel rank requirements, as much as they may be steep at points, are fair across the board and therefore changes would not result in any great change of direction in terms of gameplay.
As we began to draw a close to our time with Jonno, we asked his opinion on puppet crews. By this we of course mean those crews set up on the Statistics page as fronts for larger underground organisations, such as Most Wanted or The Family. This is not a new concept, but one which has drawn more of a spotlight of late. Jonno told us his view on the topic, saying, "Well I don't think any of that is new. That's been going on for rounds. But it's happening this round too and it seems to be working well for the most part." Going on to, in part, commend these crews, saying, "I don't mind it. And if the crews openly admit to doing it, have at it hoss. I respect that. They're taking a risk sure, but those crews don't really care about the consequences anyway. Some of the crews doing it are unaware some of the members might be UG and getting ready to shoot though." Indeed there is only so much crews can do when it comes to recruitment to sift out potential underground accounts. Checks can be made but if the user is thorough in the covering of their previous tracks, accounts always have the potential of hiding within established crews. As for crews which are nothing more than front, this is very well in Jonno's eyes, as long as they are prepared to be honest about it. Crews which deny things which may prove to be true however, claiming they are a fully legitimate operation without the intervention of other crews, are another matter entirely.
We concluded our interview by asking Jonno what he saw as the short and long term future of the game. It has to be said little has changed over time in terms of deliverance of updates, dominance and the such like. However the user-base of the game is in constant decline and with little being done to combat this, other than an improvement in the games appearance in search engines, it surely can only go one way from here with such little intervention occuring? Jonno said, "I've been missing drama within the game play. Crew wars and more drama!" It has to be said that crew 'wars' of late usually consist of one shooting, followed by the shot crew dissolving to nothing as oppose to the old retaliation times. Jonno went on to say, "It's all up to BSF2000 how this round is gonna improve. It could go either way. But I hope it picks up soon." I believe it is fair to say users have a right to be sceptical whenever anything falls upon BSF2000's shoulders to improve. However things can and often do change, so we will have to wait and see.
That saw the conclusion of this weeks 'The Chat', we would like to thank Jonno once again for his time and answers. If you would like to feature in next weeks edition of the chat, to get your opinions on hot topics across, stay on the ball with all the current issues and remain active in the forums, and you might just get a chance!
