Hello all, this week I'll be writing about something which caught my eye multiple times throughout Bootleggers history, but something I've never experienced myself. I can't be the only one who looks at people's profile to suddenly realise that they are just visiting the crew they are currently a part of. I have always wondered about this and the reasons one could have to be visiting another crew.
Bootleggers is a role-playing game which is based on the mafia in real life. Crews and gangs aren't something made up and really do exist in real life. If you would compare this to Bootleggers do you think a mafia family would accept a visitor of another family into their midst? Of course not! It would be a disgrace to bring someone of another family into their own family, not even for one or two weeks to have a short visit. Not even for a day! They could never be trusted as one of their own. I've had a talk with Mika about my article and told him that 'visiting crews' isn't something you would see in real life, and therefor I couldn't see it having any use on here. Mika stated: "You are right that it is not really like the real like mafia. However, I do feel that the current crew system of Bootleggers encourages it in certain situations. Say you know a State Don and they are willing to visit you. Allowing them in will mean that your crew is a lot harder to wipe, and thus allowing that player to visit will give your crew strength (in a certain sense), which makes it a logical thing to do. This applies for any high rank, but for State and Nation Dons in particular. Of course I would agree that it is very unlike the real mafia when it concerns random people who just hop from one crew to the next. But there you should not forget to take into account that crews on Bootleggers offer a social aspect to meet friends as well, unlike the real mafia where a crew would be more about business, making money, and maybe in the lower ranks about preventing that the boss thinks you are useless and decides to have you whacked."
Bootleggers hasn't been the same for the last couple of years. It isn't a mafia game anymore with the only goal you could have is to become the most powerful mobster around, or to own/be a part of the most powerful crew which ever walked the digital world of Bootleggers. No, it has also become a social network where people from all over the world interact with each other in numerous ways imaginable! This is what I call the social media side of Bootleggers and in my personal opinion I believe that the social side of it is one of the main reasons the game is still alive and kicking, without it it would/could have been 'dead' a long time ago.
To visit another crew, an allied or just a friendly crew, is something which finds its origin on the social side of Bootleggers. The reason why one would visit another crew for a short period of time is usually because of friends on the other side who would like to see you whore their crew forum to get a change of scenery. However, a crew visit can also have a business aspect. For example when a crew is in danger and needs help from high ranked friends so it would be harder to wipe them out, or another example is to infiltrate a crew so the crewspot can be dropped to them if all other higher ranks are shot down.
I've also had a talk with Alan89 since he was stating on his profile that he was visiting The Phoenix Rebellion. Alan89 is a loyal player part of Padrinos Palace and at the time I contacted him about his visit to another crew, he was already back home where he belonged. However he still gladly accepted to sit down with me and talk about the reason of his visit and the opinion about where it came from. Alan89's visit from Padrinos Palace to The Phoenix Rebellion lasted about two weeks and was according to him a strictly personal visit just so he could be closer to some of his friends. His friends in The Phoenix Rebellion invited him into their midst so he could come in and abuse their crew forum. The visit was requested and accepted by both crew bosses and before Alan89 could've blinked his eyes he was among those in The Phoenix Rebellion instead of his fellow Padrinos at Padrinos Palace. The time he spent there was a time well spent, he enjoyed his visit and made some new friends along the way and this is exactly the point of such a visit according to him so it was a great success.
The knife can cut on both sides; It could just be a friendly visit with as main objective having a good time and possibly making new friends. But it could also be a business visit to make a crew stronger for the time being and possibly saving their butts from getting wiped. Always be on the look out for people wanting to visit which can't be 100% trusted, for all you know you'll accept someone in your midst with main the objective to hurt your crew and take over the crew spot from the inside!
I would like to thank Alan89 and Mika for their input and hope you enjoyed reading. Cheers!
