Sunday, February 25th, 2007
Issue: 12   Editor: Nyx


Guide to a Successful UG Crew! Redgie999
After spending quite a bit of time on the forum recently, I began to notice a number of people speaking of new, pathetic underground crews, that were just out to get money. But this is just creating a stereotype which will permanently damage the appearance of such crews. So I thought I would try and help any of you budding bosses out there, on the road to creating a successful underground crew, that is recognized for all the right reasons. I have divided it into sections to make it easier to understand.

The Name
One of the most important things about a crew is its name. You can define a crew based on its name in seconds, from just those few words; you can decipher how serious they are, if it’s a joke name, if the owner isn’t serious about the crew, and many other things that can get you off to a bad start. But sometimes people manage to do this by accident, so here’s my top tip. Think up something meaningful! Family are always good in Bootleggers, take The Luciano Brothers for example, or Brotherhood of Honour. These kinds of names always give the impression of a serious crew, whose members are united together. It can tell people in seconds whether your crew is just a picture and some names, or a group of people, united together as friends and family, willing to die for each other, in their crew.

The Boss’ Profile
The Boss’ profile is another particularly important aspect; it can not only give valuable information away to possible members, but also to the current ones. Make sure your crew dominates your profile, or at least comes first on your profile. Make sure everybody will be able to see what you’re a part of the second they click your profile. Don’t put it right at the end, because then your members will begin to think that you consider the rest of your profile to be more important. And as well as this, don’t forget, your profile is like free advertising space, put your crew information at the top, and people will start to read it.

The Picture
The picture is one of the most important parts of the crew, simply because everybody will see it. Try not to have too many, or it’ll just get confusing for the members. But make sure your main picture is professionally made, or if you think your good with Adobe Photoshop, have a go yourself, but remember to let the crew vote on it if you have any members.

Recruiting
Of course the main thing a crew needs is members, or else it wouldn’t be much of a crew. Despite what most people say, just because your underground doesn’t mean your trying to hide, often it simply means your waiting to get onto the stats page, so don’t shy away form advertising in the classifieds. But remember to set a minimum and some times maximum, for example, if you’re a godfather, and you want to remain the most powerful in the crew, set the bar as Assassin - R.Boss, and don’t let anybody higher in until you change it. But also remember to set a wealth status, or you may just end up with a crew full of FSAs.

Crew Taxes
Crew Taxes are often a way to go to raise money for the crew, but I would advise not too bring them in at the start! You need to build up a trust with your members before you start to expect them tog I’ve you there money. I would advise a small $10,000 entrance fee for new members, as a way of making sure they’re generally interested, and not just looking for free protection. After a few weeks of establishing the future of your crew, then introduce a crew tax, and weed off those members, who are unwilling to contribute.

Hierarchy
I personally think it is important to have a hierarchy in order to give the member something to aim for, but too many spots, and your crew just begins to look silly. Have an ordered list, for example, boss, under boss, right hand man and left hand man, but there are also others, such as recruiter, shooter, and council member. But remember that if you’re going to post your best members, they will immediately become a target for your enemies. Bear that in mind when you’re writing your profile.

Forum
It’s important to keep your crew in touch constantly, and as MsBettyB said, “try to operate as much like a crew on the stats page as possible.” Crew forums can not only be the basis for crew wide communication, but also for organizing event, activities, and announcements. Most of them are free, so there not hard to get hold of!

Being Ready
It is my advice to get everything above sorted out before you start recruiting over 10 members, once it gets too that point, it will become to hard to change things as easily, so try and have everything sorted out before you get too big, so that people will prefer your crew over other, less organized crews.

Finally
I thought id catch up with MsBettyB, the Help Desk Operating Boss of Event Horizon, and she more or less emphasized what I have said, she stated that you should “Try to get your crew into an off site forum for communication.” And that operating like “a crew on the stats page” is a must do for all underground crews.

And so I’d like to wish you all the best of luck with your underground crews, and I hope they can become as successful as possible, and I’m sure if you follow my guidelines, they will be.