For the first time since I started playing Bootleggers back in 2000 and something, I've been taking part in Bust Parties, and you know what I've found? They are actually a lot of fun! From the thrill of breaking past your minus twenty eight bust streak and getting that beautiful green sign confirming your bust, to the cash prize at the end of the busting campaign. There is truly a whole section of Bootleggers that I’ve been missing out on for all this time! So in this week’s article, I’m going to delve right into Bust Parties, examining everything from who are the main figureheads involved in organising Bust Parties and why they do it, to what Bust Parties mean to other members of the Bootleggers community! Through a series of interviews with known Bust Parties organisers SneakBiteV10 and Phrosty, I have come to understand the reasoning behind the large scale giveaways and what they mean to these individuals. I have also contacted Aldarion, who has given me an insight into his thoughts on Bust Parties and where he sees them going in the future. I have also included an interview with former Jailbreak Paradise member UltimateDonSnoeren, just for the full picture of the jail breaking community!
Bust Parties, to those of you who don’t know (there might be some of you!), are competition of varying size where the organiser is repeatedly thrown into jail. However, members of the Bootleggers community, have the task of busting the organiser out of jail, each time being marked on the forum topic for the Bust Party. Prizes for Bust Parties can be varied, from a cash prize for each time you bust the organiser out of jail, to separate prizes for the user who busts the most or the lowest ranked buster! There is also a small amount of experience gained for each time you bust an inmate out of jail, so it isn’t all cash prizes! But what’s in it for the organiser I hear you ask? Other than being out of pocket with the initial $50,000 start-up cost, there doesn't seem to be much else involved for organisers! I asked Phrosty about this, and it turns out it just wastes time for him “while I wait for my gym timer to go down.” When Aldarion was asked why he enjoys organising Bust Parties, it was simple that he has “always appreciated busting as a feature of Bootleggers. It’s fun to do, and I made some great friends because of it in the past”. SneakbiteV10 was also asked the same question, to which he replied that “there aren't enough bust parties with a good pay-out, and I like to make difference to that. So more people will bust.” Very honorable indeed, a real leader of men (and lady folk) in the Busting community…the busting community….an interesting concept. A separate part of Bootleggers, who primarily are here because of Busting. We all remember Jailbreak Paradise, an entire crew dedicated to Busting people out of jail! Could it be, that there is a whole separate community?
It’s not entirely hard to believe though. If we can have a crew on the statistics fully dedicated to busting, why can’t there be a small community of them? Looking at those who take part in Bust Parties - it’s usually the same crowd. It’s also usually the same group of people who organise the bust parties. I managed to track down a member of Jailbreak Paradise, UltimateDonSnoeren, and I asked him what he thought of there being a sub-community. He had this to say: “I think, it's a big part of the game, some already call it Bustleggers! People like to participate in bust parties, you will earn guaranteed money with it, and it's good for your exp. and most people thinks it's fun. Also I think people like to be competitive…want to be the best in something on Bootleggers!” I then asked UltimateDonSnoeren whether he thought that there were members who came to Bootleggers primarily to join bust parties and bust in general, “Yes I think that's fair for a few out there…Some like to only gamble, some like to bust only…People are different. Just like I said before, some people like the prestige of being the best at something they like. So why should they do something else what they don't like?”
It’s understandable that I’ve grown to enjoy Bust Parties so rapidly after first starting them, seeing I started at the rank of Godfather. It’s a commonly known fact that the higher up the rank table you are, the better you’re likely to be upon starting! I asked SneakbiteV10 what rank he thinks would be the best time to start Busting, to which he replied “I did my first bust competition when I was a Respectable Boss (ThunderGuyIsBusting), after that I got addicted to busting again. But at Don your bust stats will increase a lot!” With this in mind, I did find it curious as to why there were so many low ranked players attempting to take part in Busting, surely they could see that the more likely “winners” of the competition would be the higher ranked players? Phrosty however, disagrees with this, stating that the best rank to start busting on would be Scum, “Because I personally do not do crimes really ever. So why not just spend most of your time in jail? Most competitions have a bonus for the lowest rank buster, so why not go for it?”
So where is the future of Bust Parties going? I’ve heard from many of you about what you’d like to see in a possible Bust Party update, and let me just say...some of the responses were as mad as a box of frogs and some others were utterly brilliant! From having an option to buy a getaway car (much like an Organised Crimes driver), which drastically increases your chances of busting your selected inmate, to being able to organise a multi-state/national Busting Party! Picture this: you failed to bust your target in a state prison, you get send to jail…you try busting out of there but fail, which lands you in the national prison! Once there, it’s much harder to bust out of, but awards double the experience if you do! Rather than the national prison idea, another suggestion thrown out was a multi-prison bust party; organised by multiple users each in a different state. Whomever you bust from the organisers, it marks you up as one bust. This could allow for a much larger amount of participants!
My personal favourite suggestion from more than one of you, was game funded payments for busting. Put an in game character in jail at all times, the difficulty of breaking out raises with your rank. Each time you break said character out of jail you get a small payment! It would sure make starting up a new account much easier, and a nice way to make money and practice busting! However, Aldarion’s opinion on whether he considered an update to Bust Parties being on the horizon, it was a simple “Not specifically, no.” response from the Moderator.
So in conclusion, I massively suggest you get out there and try your hand at busting! Whether you want to start as a Scum or wait until you’re a Don, organise them for the community or take part for financial and experience gain, perhaps you just want to be the king or queen of busting on Bootleggers. Give it a go and see if you can bust all the members of the Buzz out next time you see us in there!
A special thanks to:
SneakBiteV10 Phrosty UltimateDonSnoeren
and to all of you who suggested update ideas in the forums!
