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  1. RESULT: MARTORANO PYRRHIC VICTORY You have won, but at what cost? The gargantuan struggle between organized crime giants Gezalian, Manjikian, and Martorano has come to a conclusion with a whimper. With no crescendo, no final blow, and no absolute winner, both sides limp back to their corners to survey the ring. The war was long and bloody - launched a month ago, it has claimed the lives of thirty-seven underworld figures in the city of Los Santos. Gezalian and Manjikian launched the conflict with the hopes of wiping out their rebellious Jovanovic vassal, but Jovanovic's trick was their long-term business partners in the Los Santos Cosa Nostra, or at least those that pledge fealty to Martorano. In fighting Martorano, Wuying Meng of Chinatown took immediate interest - he had little to lose and much to gain in taking the Italians down a peg. The beginnings of the conflict saw both Gezalian and Manjikian away on business in their homeland Armenia while their vassals in Abramov pulled the trigger too soon. A botched burglary attempt alerted Martorano to the intentions of their Eurasian rival - three dead hitmen by the police, snitched on by the vaunted Ronald Ganisa. Omerta was certainly dead if it came to saving yourself from death, but Ganisa would meet his fate by a Fukien hitman while leaving Pillbox Hospital. If not by them, then likely in prison. The offensive party immediately lost the momentum. Now, it was Martorano's turn to strike. Martorano's first strike in the war came against their own. A scout on a rooftop was shot by mistake. These two events would set the trend for the month of violence. Senseless killing in the underworld of Los Santos was nothing new, but this was not just senseless. The trend would soon show recklessness. Gezalian had every intention of speeding back to the United States, or so the Eurasian organized crime circles say. Armenian news noted his capture by law enforcement authorities when he landed in France, some say it was related to an Interpol investigation into money laundering or arms trafficking. Whatever the case was, Gezalian was indisposed. Manjikian, knowing the war had begun and his partner-in-crime had just been seized chose to remain in Armenia, giving temporary command of the troops to the infamous Itay Waknine. Itay, however, soon came to be a lethargic commander. The Eurasian strategy was not unified, intelligence was sparse, and they had operated under the assumption that their success in the war fought only months earlier would lead to further success here. Rallying allies to their cause, they came into the conflict overconfident. However, their allies, promised firearms and intelligence, soon realized neither was forthcoming in the absence of Gezalian and Manjikian. Most chose to withdraw from the conflict. Soon, all that was left was their vassals. Their independent ally in Wuying Meng soon proved to be unreliable when a failed attempt on Wuying Meng's life forced him to flee the states. The offensive party was largely directionless. Martorano's strategy was simple: permit their associates to fight independently in crews while promoting fighting by the Serbs. Later on, the Albanians joined the fray on Martorano's side, much to the chagrin of the Eurasians, who had killed off two such crews in the past. The Albanians, ever resilient, chose to align themselves with Martorano and their Balkan enemy. To them, the Eurasians were a greater threat. The Eurasian vassals operated independently, much like chivalrous knights rallying to a crusade. Fighting piecemeal, each laid individual strikes against Martorano and Jovanovic. Martorano was not content to sit defensive at the beginning of the conflict, taking many kills for themselves. The beginnings of the war was slow, hit-for-hit, with some group killings interspersed. Infamous names soon were laid to rest on each side. The conflict's senseless brutality was illustrated in the Pacific Bluffs shootout, one of the largest organized-crime related shootings in the United States in recent memory. Harkening back to the gang shootouts of Prohibition, two hunting parties stumbled into combat. Spurred on by Meng's intelligence and a set-up, Mizrahi hitmen set upon Martorano. Soon, only one man escaped alive. Eleven dead, and within a week the lone survivor was killed in a drive-by. A large Martorano hunting party composed of button men lay dead, and the two Mizrahi brothers from Israel. Having pledged fealty to the Eurasians, Mizrahi served as a suicidal hit-squad with unmatched tenacity. They paid the ultimate price and will certainly be remembered in Eurasian organized crime circles. Law enforcement attention soon fell on the battles, but with little Eurasians hitmen left, most attention fell on the Serbs. The crosshairs of law enforcement extinguished any momentum either side had, save for a group-hit on Martorano hitmen. After that, once more, piecemeal hits were traded. Perhaps the most daring was conducted by one cunning Serb, lying in wait for three days in the den of the Chinese gangsters, killing an apartment manager with links to organized crime. His target had been Fang, Wuying's wife, but the target was wrong. Soon enough, war began to take a toll on business. Both sides traded arsons, burning down lucrative rackets. Both sides took deep hits to their wallets. Undeniably, their bottom lines were beginning to suffer. Both sides traded equal casualties, both sides lost important lynchpins. Neither side was winning anything. What was the point of all of this? If it was for wealth, their income was tanking. If it was for conquest, both sides lost more territory than they gained. In truth, the war was for status. Both sides viewed the war as a struggle for dominance over Los Santos. But neither side recognized that in their brutality, in their struggle, their vassals wriggled out from under them and began to assert themselves. In the shadows, other organized crime groups began to prosper while famous Martorano or Eurasian clubs were closed because of arsons. Now, new names were being whispered. While they bled, their invisible rivals grew fat off of riches. The winds in the underworld of Los Santos were decisively changing. At the end of the day, organized crime fundamentally boils down to making money. The war reduced both side's ability to make money. But it was undeniable, in combat, that the Eurasians were bested - they had the offensive responsibility, and failed to capitalize. The Serbs maintained independence and Martorano was not dealt a decisive blow. But at the same time, Martorano did not capitalize on their momentum and finish the Eurasians off. Martorano's numbers dwindled, and now they are nothing more than a glorified crew. Much rebuilding must be done as a result of the war. Thus, the war ends with a tactical Martorano victory, but strategically neither side has clearly bested the other. Both sides have come to this realization on their own terms and will certainly not settle it any further in the streets, for doing so would mean certain arrest and RICO trials. Rumors already swirl of indictments. OOC CONCLUSION This was a very hectic and turbulent time period for IFM, and I take full responsibility for the disorganization of the conflict at the very beginning. Nobody steps into this role and knows how to manage a 100 vs 100 player deathmatch. Over time, with the help of IFM, we reigned the conflict in and set strict rules. There's plenty of things we're going to ensure we do if we ever permit another CK war. I won't go into specific details, but obviously... no mask use, strictly no metagaming, and more uniform enforcement of rules. I undertook waaaay too much responsibility in moderating the war alone at the beginning. I thought preparing a huge spreadsheet and detailed CK war rules would be enough for factions to self-moderate, but that soon spiraled out of control. Then, I got help from IFM members @harrison, @honey. and @Naeno, and thank God I did. Both sides engaged in plenty of slapfights with us in IFM, but some of the toxicity I witnessed by some of the illegal roleplayers involved reinforced that we need to clean up this community from play-to-win players. Some of the results below reflect that. I am out of patience with some of the players involved. I have no sympathy if you are upset with the ultimate outcome of the war. The conduct of some of the players involved has led IFM to our conclusions. I was absolutely disgusted by some of the comments made to members of the team helping to moderate this conflict. The people you were insulting are the same people who determined this outcome. You have nobody but yourselves to blame. I understand this is just a minority, though, and the vast majority of the people involved are willing to accept the outcome and were here to have fun. In total... ETOC is reduced to the Gezalian-Manjikian Organization and is in group status. ETOC and their vassals lose supplier status (there was more than one faction with supplier status). Their vassals are now independent and any CK permissions they had are now revoked on their vassals. Martorano retains official but may not refer to themselves as a crime family on an OOC basis until IFM determines suitable rebuilding has been done on an IC level - given the level of casualties they are in a rump, rebuilding state - IFM has set their OOC name to "Martorano Connection" but this may change dependent upon their request The Serbians are reduced to group status due to inactivity and arrests in addition to OOC punishments (only five members had an acceptable activity + numerous other internal IFM reasons communicated to leadership) Meng Shetou retains status as official but exits the war wounded due to the attempt on Wuying Meng, cannot demand concessions The Meng schismatics declare independence and any CK permissions Meng Shetou held on them are revoked Nothing changes for the Albanians - they escape relatively unscathed Neither side shall engage in a war or conflict of any type with the other side for a period of one year. Neither side shall be permitted to align themselves with parties in active opposition to a former enemy. This conclusion reflects the joint committee decision of IFM, approved by management. This ruling shall not be amended. This ruling cannot be disputed with the parties who issued it, and should be forwarded to @Nervous and @Shanks if there are disagreements. Regards, IFM
    57 points
  2. A huge thanks to everyone involved - be it the people who've lost their well-developed characters for the RP bought to the faction, our new wave of associates who've stuck around the faction despite being dragged into something you guys didn't expect, and of course, the IFM for handling this mess despite our disagreements. While we contested the reasons used to initiate the conflict and never wanted this, events unfolded as they did and we are where we are. Even while the war was underway, some of the RP and scenes we got to see on the thread were incredible. As we move on, we'll continue to roleplay as a defunct family working on it's way back to stability, but more than the victory, we're beyond proud of having a strong core of members who've stayed throughout. More than the win, we're happier to just go back what we're all here for - encouragement of your character's development over the faction, internal politics & cut-throat LCN RP all around. I'm nothing but hopeful of the upcoming wave of associates as well. That said, less talking and back to RP as usual. Watch this space in the coming weeks.
    16 points
  3. Philip Martorano, First of His Name, Lord of Rockford Hills, King of Mission Row and Protector of This Thing of Ours
    12 points
  4. 8 points
  5. We live in Brazil and you will like it. Thanks IFM!
    6 points
  6. 6'10", 300 lbs pure muscle, 22 year old ex general of the united states marine corps and i am skilled in 35 languages, accents, I know sign language, i have a ccw, I wear cat ears and i am androgynous (whatever the fuck that means)
    5 points
  7. 4 points
  8. why do people cry about the obnoxiously high crime rate when i personally never got robbed, kidnapped or attacked on any of my legal/illegal characters as someone that barely ever does interior rp? ive only ever been killed once off duty and that was because i had a hit on me. maybe you guys are too unaware and just really easy targets? i can agree with the fact that yes, there are a lot of goofy ass illegal rpers going about with little to no character development sticking people up, but the crime rate really isnt as high as people claim it is lol. in fact, its one of the main reasons why im starting to get bored of the server personally, because as an leo rper, having next to no crime happen makes the whole experience EXTREMELY tedious and boring. we should encourage criminal rp because its hurting right now, not inhibit it further and further just to allow people to erp and e-date more easily.
    4 points
  9. how long were you made for...? this thing'a ours...
    4 points
  10. 4 points
  11. Short description: Add the already existing male deer and Cougars to the roster of animals. Detailed description: As of right now, every deer in the server is a doe (female). This isn't a huge problem, but the base game already features buck (male) models that are readily available. Adding bucks also adds the possibility of creating another layer to the hunting economy in the form of their antlers having a range of possible sizes that would sell for different amounts. At the same time, I'd like to see cougars/mountain lions spawn naturally in more remote areas of the wilderness. These are also already in the base game. I'd say that cougars should have a strict number limitation, perhaps to maybe 2 in the whole map at any given point?, on a decently long respawn timer. They should be a rare (and dangerous) sight, but I think they'd add a whole new layer to hunting as well, be it out of the fear of being ambushed by a cougar, or rather trying to track a very elusive animal. I'd also love to see bears added, but I'm not going to get greedy here. Commands to add: None. Items to add: Cougar carcasses, buck carcasses, and possibly antlers. How would your suggestion improve the server? The way things are, right now hunting is very straighforward. It's a great hobby but we're missing some crucial pieces. I think that adding these creatures would be a step in more interest in hunting, and it'd give people like the Park Rangers, (especially the Animal Control Unit) more chances to interact with the public about calls about dangerous predator sightings.
    3 points
  12. Dangerous duo I Dangerous duo II Dangerous duo III
    3 points
  13. There is literally not a safe place on the map to be outside an interior alone. It really is that bad now. People constantly complain about PF warriors and CCW holders, but where is the realism when characters literally can't walk from their front door to their car without worry of being robbed and kidnapped I had this situation a long while back, where players were told by staff they weren't allowed to ransack my house without a break in request. They were angry OOC so for zero IC reason they took the char from Mirror Park to Paleto Bay and pushed them off a pier and left. People need to stop taking ooc frustrations IC. In general. If you can't take an L and keep going, you shouldn't RP. On a side note, another bug bear of mine. When we talk about a realistic response to being robbed/threatened. It's a realistic response for someone who lives in LS. Where the crime rate is higher than Wiz Khalifa. Tl;dr: Realism goes both ways, you don't get to create a city that is basically just ALL Davis now and expect people who aren't criminals to ignore the fact that they'd be safer in Syria.
    3 points
  14. HECTOR GONZALES, A FRIEND AND A BROTHER.
    2 points
  15. The true winners of the war, heh
    2 points
  16. Since he was just 9 years old, Kekai has been involved with the local Tongan Crip gang. He knows all too well the motto, "Live by the gun, die by the gun," after being shot six times four weeks ago after leaving a party in a rival gang neighborhood. "He thought I was flashing gang signs, you know, with the signs that I have [tattoos on his face], that he started pointing a gun at me with a red beam," he said, recalling the shooting. "All hell broke loose. He started shooting us. I got shot six times, in the stomach, in the thigh, the sides." Kekai, known to his friends as Pacman, has been arrested more than 50 times. His most serious offenses occurred in 2011, for battery with a weapon, in 2012, for aggravated assault with a weapon and possession of a firearm, and in 2015, for receipt of a stolen possession. "If you ain't got no job, you ain't got nowhere to go," he said. "After that, well, you're going to turn to the streets. The streets is calling you." Kekai currently lives with his wife and their two sons, age six and 16 months. Kekai never graduated high school and hopes his sons don't follow in his footsteps. "I'm going to have to watch every move they make," he said. "I had nothing to do, I had no guidance," he said. "So I was raised to be knocked on the streets, running around, looking at the older guys, what they had that I didn't have, and I wanted that." He tells his kids not to join a gang but instead, "go to school, try to be a president or something. Make something out of himself." In five years, he sees himself away from the gang lifestyle. He wants to be taking care of his wife and kids, perhaps working on his own. "Have a nice home, a nice area to live in and, hopefully, my son is going to be the president," he said. Full article.
    2 points
  17. Well deserved @MXVII, kanpai baby 🥂
    2 points
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