Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Issue: 56   Editor: Nyxxinator


Underground Insight HolyMoly
This week the Buzz spoke to someone who has been lucky enough to own a crew spot in the past and is currently the boss of an underground crew. UnclesamFTW previously owned Team America and its crew spot. But after spending a short while on the stats page before its sale, the majority of members went their separate ways leaving Sam and the remaining members homeless. It was only a short time until Sam decided to start from scratch again with a complete new look; this time with the name The Rapture.


Q. In your opinion, do you see an underground crew as a stepping stone to acquiring an official crew spot or do you see yourselves more of a force while you are underground and therefore remain an unknown entity?
A. I think that every underground crew's goal is to get on the stats page, whether it is just wiping a crew just for the sake of it, or whether the goal is to remain on the stats for as long as possible. I think the most important part of having a underground crew is a good foundation first.

Q. Roughly how many members would you say is needed to structure a well prepared underground crew?
A. The amount of members does not matter at all, the amount of active members is what is really important. If your members do not pay the tax or are not active in the forum, they are useless to your crew.

Q. After having experience yourself in official crews would you say that you keep the setup very much the same in the terms of Council, recruiters and the basic structure ? Or would you say that every member has the same role?
A. We definitely have the same setup as a real crew. The underground crew is all part of the process of getting onto the stats. I want to know who I can depend on and who is willing to work for me.

Q. Does the crew provide weapons and protection for its members in the same way that an official crew would?
A. We do have a supply point through an alliance to buy guns and protection for a discounted price, but it is not as cheap as if we had our own crew but it is cheaper than buying the things through the usual channels.

Q. Concerning communications does The Rapture have a forum for its members? For them to socialize and have a base of operations?
A. We have a very elaborate forum at the moment, including a chat box where are members can talk in real time.

Q. Is the bullet buying process handled strictly within The Rapture, without a bullet factory surely it is much harder to obtain bullets for the crew?
A. It is quite hard to get bullets for an underground crew. It is greatly encouraged for TR members to buy bullets, but thats about the best we can do. We have competitions in which to win they must buy bullets, but basically at this time all we can do is hope that our members are buying them on a regular basis.

Q. Do you think that alliances with the official crews is an important factor for underground crews like yourselves or does it have little or no benefit for your crew or its members?
A. It helps the crew in terms of guns and protection as previously mentioned. When we do reach the stats page it will be a great help, members can be drafted in to give us a hand in holding the spot until we can get all of our members into the crew.

Q. With their being a lot less risk with insiders in underground crews than that associated with having an official crew do you think that people interested in joining would find the recruitment process easier to pass?
A. I think they would find it easier to pass, but staying in the crew is just as hard as an official crew. With my previous experience with crews I know what a member needs to have and do to stay in the crew, so if they are not up to standard they will be removed from the crew. Crew forum access denied and any previous privileges.

With there being so many Underground crews on Bootleggers and very few ever making it to the stats page due to the 10 crew limit it takes a very organized unit to carry out the task ahead. Many thanks to UnclesamFTW for giving us brief but interesting view behind the scenes at The Rapture.

Member Criteria
Rank: Boss+
Wealth: Rich+
1000+ Messages

If you fill the above criteria and feel you're an active player who thinks they may have something to offer you can find details of how to apply in The Rapture's recruitment topic in the Game Forum

Any underground crews who are interested in an interview or maybe you have a potential story please feel free to get in touch.