This weeks edition of The Chat sees us interview current Help Desk Operator and crew-hopper R4tFaceRay. We got his opinions on all of the topics that we view to be the hot topics of the week in passing. What does he think about the dominance of the underground world? What would he change, given the opportunity? What does he make of the much talked about state of the game? Answers to all these questions and more can be found in this article covering our interview with him.
In my opinion, Help Desk Operators including R4tFaceRay take a lot of flack in areas where perhaps Moderators should be held more accountable. But, how does R4tFaceRay himself feel about the Elite Guard performances of late? Including the infamous missed (or forgotten?) deadlines, and the inactivity of Riserva, wait who? R4tFaceRay was largely supportive of the majority of the Elite Guard and perhaps rightly so, as he said, "I think that the Elite Guard has good people in it. Mika, Aldarion and Sky are the backbone of the Elite Guard. Each one has their own specialty. We know that Sky has a bit more than the other two with fixing bug and updating the game. Mika and Aldarion deal with the Bans and appeals. Riserva I really do not know why he is missing in action. BSF2000 does have a real job and does his best for the game. People think he is lazy and does not care about the game. But he does. Coding can be very hard, and he wants it done right the 1st time. Over all I think the Elite Guard is doing a very good job." A fair assessment of the current Elite Guard. Ironic though that the two senior members of the crew, in the view of R4tFaceRay and indeed many others, do not form part of the backbone of the Crew or the game as a whole. Perhaps he is also right about the care shown by BSF2000 for the game, however without there being any substantial show of care in terms of updates and a lack of conveyance of messages to his users, it's hard to agree with him on this opinion.
Maintain our lines surrounding the Elite Guard, we asked R4tFaceRay what he made of proposed updates and what he hoped they would bring the game, mainly referring to the Achievements and Crew updates. He told us, "The achievement to me is more of a token for the players. It is nice to get but will not keep/attracted people here." A fair analogy, going on to say, "The Crews need a major overhaul. Right now there is no incentive to have a stats crew. You are hanging out there for some to shoot the hell out of them. If BSF2000 does it right, the stat crews will have more power and will be able to defend itself against the underground crews. It should have a stake in a State just like the SDon and NDon do. Have the ability to hide their members. This would have a major effect on the game play, and would attract and keep players. The sooner BSF2000 get this update done the better for the game." So, R4tFaceRay knows what he would like to see from the proposed Crew updates. But what would you like to see? Do you agree with him, that crews should be able to hide their members? Personally I do not, as this could mean it is nearly impossible for a crew to be wiped at any given time. The idea of a crew taking a stake of a state is one in part which I feel already exists. If a crew member owns a casino, then the crew can set a percentage of profits that will be deposited directly to the crew bank, and should no members own properties they will not receive this benefit, so is having a stake in states without owning the properties there fair? Let us hear what you think!
But as we have always said here at the Buzz. Providing an opinion is well and good, but some suggestion as to a solution or change shows that you genuinely care rather than just want to whore. So what would R4tFaceRay change, given the chance? He said, "Short of saying I would not want to be in charge. But if I was, the 1st thing would be a massive advertising campaign on every social/gamer site. Also would have a referral system to where a player would be rewarded for bring other people to the game. Make OC and Crimes more profitable. Redesign the Swiss Bank that you do not have to access it every 14 days. Make the War Game a player held Casino. There are so many things that can and should be addressed." He also provided further suggestions of tweaks to the game rules, saying, "Maybe take a look at the game rules and tweak a few to protect the players. Such as Scamming could be a bannable offense. Abuse of staff could also be bannable." These suggestions are sure to divide opinion among users, but at least R4tFaceRay has an opinion he is not afraid of giving!
We moved on from all things Elite Guard to ask R4tFaceRay what his opinion was on the domination seen in this round and indeed rounds previous. He told us, "The current state of those that like to rule the game is what’s killing Bootleggers. Yes it is a Mafia game and people die. But by the hundreds, soon there will not be anyone left to play. And the ones left will be of low rank just as in previous round. This hurt the game more that BSF2000 missing the projected dead line for the new updates." There was once a time where the game was fueled by the aggressive and power-hungry players. There were few who didn't desire a slice of the Bootleggers wealth pie. But now, it is clearly the view of at least R4tFaceRay that is it killing the game. In my opinion, I would hope to see the shootings spark activity in the way which users begin fighting back. Yes there is of course the old argument that you can't fight what you cannot see. However, there are ways and means of fighting a corner beyond the obvious, and perhaps the fact that people would rather quit than attempt this is a reflection of them as individuals as oppose to a fault of those attempting to dominate a game which basis is that of the mafia, a brutal and no mercy society.
We concluded our interview with R4tFaceRay by asking his views on those crews who are shot and don't shoot. Perhaps they sit waiting for some sort of miracle rather than make any attempts to fight for the people they call members? He responded defiantly, saying, "Some crew that has been on the stats did not have outside shooters. What do the players expect these crews to shoot at? It is hard to shoot an underground crew. This is the problem one person can shoot a crew or two in the matter of 30+ mins. So the question is who do you shoot beside the shooter/s?" This is effectively the get-out clause used by many Crew Bosses who are either to weak, un-resourceful or lazy to fight for their members. It has been proven several times in the past weeks or months that it is possible to fight those who form the groups who look to dominate the game such as Asura or The Family. The choice that some Crew Bosses take to not even attempt to take up this fight, is in my opinion, an insult to the people who form the basis of their Crews. But then if they are willing to be a part of such a crew, may they live long, until they are shot again, and return once again hoping that perhaps Jesus might come and bestow great wealth upon them, or perhaps a protective force-field?
