We all have fond memories of our first crew, of the entirely new experience of being part of a smaller group, of having secretive discussions on crew forums accessible only to members, of waging wars and broking peace. Crew names have always inspired us, motivated us and sometimes even humored us while we played the game. Perhaps crew names have always been a way of letting the outside 2013 world into the 1920’s world we all live in within the site.
General opinion is that crew names have evolved over the years,they have become more generic in nature. While in previous rounds, crew names were based on famous gangs, novels or even characters, names based on music albums and other obscure reasons now rule the stats page. Moderator Sky agreed that there were many differences to be observed over the years. “It's certainly true, previously crews had arguably traditional names such as The Gambino Family, Winter Hill Gang, The Regulators, The Revolutionary Front. Now we've got more obscure names such as Axteze, Sapentia, La Onda, Padrino's Palace etc.” Sky said.
So what prompted the move from The Regulators to La Onda? R2D2 from The Phoenix Rebellion says, “I would like to think that crew names are always getting more creative and innovative over the years of playing. I have been here since 2004 and no crew names can compare to the legendary crew names we had from 04-06,” R2D2 has been in crews like J.A.I.L., The Usual Suspects, The Legends, The Legion, The Vanguard and The Deadly Alliance over the years. It is true, simple gang names are just not sufficient enough for attracting the attention of players now. Names now need to have that ‘something extra’ or so opines ITIGERQUEEN who is the current boss of Padrinos Palace. “Padrino is Italian and Palace is English so it should have been Padrinos Pallazo but palace sounded better,” she said. Apart from Padrinos Palace, ITIGERQUEEN loves the names The Order and Winter Hill Gang.
While most crews tend to have serious sounding names over the years, there have also been a fair share of humourous crew names. How many of you remember The Scummie Crew, Save The Whales, The Knights Who Say Ekki Ekki? For Moderator Mika, the l33t horny bitches is the funniest crew name.
To sum it up, as the resets go by, crew names are being inspired more by names of movies or music albums as compared to earlier times when famous gangs in books or characters. Crocifixio, whose name is derived from ‘The Last Don’, a book by Mario Puzo, rates The Clericuzio as one of his all time favourite crews. The crew name is again derived from a mafia family of the same name in the book. “I personally think that crew names back in the day were more creatively thought off and were more beautiful than now days,” he opined. Crocifixio’s current crew, Enemy of the State, is again based on a movie by the same name starring Will Smith. Mika adds, “Crews no longer appear to be named after actual crime mafias as happened in the past (save for a few old crews that are still around) but are more original as in that crews use names the players came up with in some other form.” Mika’s current crew, the Elite Guard derives its name from the Star Craft in which a Terran faction in the game is called Elite Guard. Administrator BSF2000 was in a clan on this shooter name and that it just stuck on in Bootleggers as well. Mika feels that along with the names, the attitudes of crews now have changed as well. “Whereas in the past you had statistics crews that had actual firepower and underground members for any shooting that was required, as well as general members outside the crew who could be accepted in times of need, crews nowadays appear to be mainly passive when they are on the statistics,” he said.
Even though names might change, SNAAK from La Onda feels that the people will remain the same. “Crew names are not that different, crews come and go. Names change people stay the same,” SNAAK said.In this writers opinion, while most of the initial names might have stemmed from traditional crime families and mafioso roots, crew bosses are getting more bold with the way names are chosen. This might be a good thing as the names get more personal and actually mean something to the crew members as they are handpicked instead of mere names which are taken from somewhere else.
