I have been playing Bootleggers for a number of years now. When I first started, busting was something that I would always make the effort to try and do as much as possible as part of my ‘ranking routine’; but as the years have passed, my enthusiasm for busting has all but completely diminished. My current busting statistics make for poor reading, 1 success from 36 attempts, and as you can probably guess, that was from a mission.
To begin with, I used busting as a tool to help me rank faster, but as time has gone by I have realised that I can rank just as quickly (if not actually a little quicker) without busting. Less busting, for myself, has meant less time in jail, more time committing crimes, more time stealing cars and, more importantly than ever, more time improving my gymnasium statistics. Maybe if busting was worth noticeably more experience or was a little easier, I would be more inclined to have a go rather than ignore it almost completely.
But, for my lack of busting enthusiasm, there are players out there for whom busting is of utmost importance. Even though the average buster won’t get their first success until approximately 100 attempts, the busting post in the Game Forum has almost eight hundred posts at the time of writing and Illinois bust competitions seem common place. This week, the Buzz got in contact with some avid busters to get their opinion.
The first busters I spoke to were Castiel and SharpKnife.
Why do you bust?
Castiel- I bust because i love the rush of setting people free. When it says: "you set him or her free" its just a short addictive adrenaline rush. Also i like the busters community, most people that are active in busting tend to be nice people to talk too. Many of my friends on BL are fellow bust mates.
SharpKnife- I bust because it takes 2 minutes to wait for your crime, so you may as well wait while being in jail no? And it adds experience of course. But I also love busting, I enjoy the feeling of successfully busting and appreciate the thank yous.
Do people thank you any more?
Castiel- The percentage of people that thank me is lowering. Personally, i stopped thanking people after busting me. Since im in jail alot, i get busted a lot! Sending messages every single time gets annoying after a while. I think that is what most people do.
SharpKnife- I would say its about 50% of the time. But otherwise there kinda is a code between busters. I always bust other busters and instead of thanking each other, we tend to just keep busting each other back and forth to return the favor.
Do you join bust competitions?
Castiel- Yes i do! I tend to organize them sometimes too. Love them Its a gathering of good busters fighting for the prizes, but mostly for the pride of winning. I usually suck at the competitions, but i always have a great time joining and organizing.
SharpKnife- I do when I'm available, but more often than not I tend to just bust random's because busting is odd. Even those with the highest amount of busts wont win competitions and some guy who only has 200 successful busts will win. So I tend to just bust random.
An interesting viewpoint from Castiel, but not too different in comparison to other feedback I received from the busters that I spoke to.
Skeggi - Well I did start busting in the first week of last round when I signed up for the first time
and since then I have been busting. I don't bust for the EXP or to win prizes in comps, I bust cause it is fun and you meet a lot of great people while doing so. most of my mates here in BL I have met with busting.
joining bust comps is great fun also and I host around 1-3 per month. winning something is always good but beating other busters in comps is even better
I say thanks normally but when I am busy or the same person busts me a lot I skip it.
when I am thanked for a bust I always try to bust them again but I don't get pissed when people don't say "thanks" cause everyone play the game for different reasons and many think busting is useless
if not for busting, I would not be playing the game.
FlyingDeathSquirrel - Yes, I still bust, but not as actively as others. And yes, people do still thank me; it's actually quite rare to not be thanked. I'll do bust competitions sometimes, but I'm often pretty busy with rl stuff, so I can't stick around.
I like to bust because I think it's one of the very few in game actions you can do that doesn't even try to screw over anyone.
TH12 - Why do I bust? I just simply enjoy it. I've been a buster for majority of my years playing Bootleggers. I have also made countless friends just from busting...I enjoy the banter I get from other keen busters.
I get a few thank you's. The amount seems to be reducing the further we get into the round. I make a point of thanking those who thank me, but most importantly, I always attempt those who busted me, first before anyone else. I'd much rather someone returned the favour, rather than send me a thank you message.
I try to join as many bust competitions as possible, as it's a good way to increase your skills, win some money and have fun all at the same time.
So it seems that for most, busting is just another source of fun. It has been suggested by some that BSF2000 should make busting easier, but from the feedback I received, it looks like he has got it just right.
The thrill of getting the bust, the friends you can make from busting and the enjoyment of beating other busters in competitions all make it a valuable and thoroughly enjoyable feature.
Its a gathering of good busters fighting for the prizes, but mostly for the pride of winning. I usually suck at the competitions, but i always have a great time joining and organizing.