Sunday, May 30th, 2010
Issue: 30   Editor: HowlingMadMika


COLUMN: A History Lesson in Crew Tax Altro
During the forth round a long expected and anticipated feature returned to the game. Establishments were re-added with the option to build a safe house for you and possibly a few friends, but a very different system from what we currently recognise. The current incarnation of the feature adds an extra level of protection. However, the earlier versions provide full protection making it impossible to find targets and shoot. Prices for staying at the time were considerably cheaper than they are now. Land was snapped up in seconds and players began building their brand spanking new abodes, but it wasn’t long till the darkness fell. Bullet Factory owners entered weeks of protection with casino owners dipping in and out. The fever caught and crew owners followed suit, it soon became the ‘in thing’ to wipe a crew, take the spot and out of spite block the original owners from re-claiming. The feature of 40 crews was proclaimed a joke by users and members of the staff so the feature was dismantled returning once again to its status of “eagerly anticipated”.

The damage had already been done, owning a crew was no longer seen as respectable as it previously had been. Owners had the idea to hibernate (now called going on vacation) in order to save crews, which in itself promptly became a bannable offense. How could honour be restored, inactive crews harshly punished and order maintained for a return to the menu for establishments? Over a period of a year, the problem was tackled with three drastic changes to the structure of crews, establishments and hence the game. The first introduced in the dying days of round four was crew taxes. The bigger the crew, the higher the tax, and thus the harder to stay on the statistics. Yet, at the time the feature appeared whimsical, crews had plenty of money and while taxes were higher than they are today they were pennies in the grand scheme as a few users' on hand cash approached the $1 trillion mark. However, little were players to know at the time a reset was around the corner bringing the second change.

Players logged in at the start of round 5 to see a different game. Along with user statistics, price changes and reduced mission bullets came the lowering of the number of crews from 45 (raised from 40 in the last few months of round 4) down to 15. So many crews wanting to make a return, so few spots, the race was on. Promptly, two bullet factories fell into the hands of the Elite Guard with the addition of Illinois to the state owned factories which had previously just been Louisiana. No longer was it going to be a right to be in a crew, and no longer would crews receive guaranteed easy entry to the statistics page. Crews scrambled to rank to boss and make millions from organised crimes to gain first those bullet factories to fund money for crew spots. Rankers and gamblers for crews frantically worked day and night while shooters and bankers stood in the shadows slowly stocking for later in the round. Those crews that managed to gain certified crew standing were hit by crew tax, so many members to fit in to so small a crew that required every member to donate in order to stay afloat.

The crew tax system has several painful punishments for crews who are unwilling to pay. If the crew falls a week behind they are “suspended”, what was meant to be a badge of shame was more. Any member in a suspended crew can not shoot making them prime for the taking. This was amplified in the opening stages of round five with many crews failing to make the original 15. They circled like vultures looking for their chance to snap at the heels of falling crews. If a crew manages to stave off the hounds a further week without paying taxes they are disbanded, dropping for a new crew to take their place.

The third change came some months later, well in to round five, when once again Establishments were re-re-added to the game. The new version at the time only had one building, the garage, and it wasn’t till later in the round we saw the return of safe houses. A version however that did not provide full protection rather just added protection and on a sliding scale of prices. It was now more expensive to house a Don than a Thug. These two changes created an interesting dilemma, safe houses provided an extra level of protection for holders of crews and bullet factories but what was more profitable? Having a low rank in a safe house or a high rank outside?

The problem of crews losing respect and being untouchable was solved. Crew taxes, less crews and a change to safe houses brought the solution, but was it overkill? Crew taxes provided a solution to a different problem as well, inflation. During the earlier rounds (including round four) due to a combination of bugs, hacks and clever gaming the total money in the game was greater than the game could handle. Players complained that banking too much cash just made it disappear due to the games inability to cope. By introducing crew taxes the money taken out the game should help balance this out. With even the smallest crews taxed by several thousand a day in the early stages of round 5 it should have reduced the high impact that banking had on the game. It was now the underground crews that gained the power, being unhindered by the blight of the crew tax. We saw the rise of gamers such as DoctorZ who made their name by hitlisting with large amount, amounts that crews were unable to gain as easily.

At one point it had been from profitable to be in a crew than out, money wise. Crews could make a little money from train stations and save money on protection and guns which they could buy in crates for a 30% discount. This method did not just benefit the crew as an independent entity but all of its members by offsetting the risk of a bull’s-eye drawn on them for being on the statistics page. Crews were given new tools to help raise the cash. The crew holder could set the percentages taken from the winnings of casinos and a percentage of the money earned from bullet sales, a feature forcing active participation of a wider range of crew members.

Crew taxes and the reduction of crews gave crews respect in exchange for money and lives from members. The crews on the statistics obviously think it is worth the perks, many however do not. This is why we see crews with less than 15 members surviving for weeks when at a time they would have lasted mere hours. The changes were for the best however did crews get a raw deal? We’ll let you decide. 

Here endeth the lesson.