Hello all,

It is great pleasure that I introduce the next chapter of the Crack Den – one that is focused on building on the deep lore and rivalries that created the kind of character development, intricate scenes, and weaved complex relationships as the streets of Hathian fell victim to… the rise of gangs.

In a series of new features, staff updates, and evolution of guidelines, we will be reimagining the concept of creating gangs and their purpose in the Den. As the balance between law enforcement and crime remains critically paramount, we have an opportunity now to create more drama and conflict to breed the kind of fiction that makes the Crack Den so sticky. It will require the community to step up with ideas and commitment, but I know we can do it together.

To better understand this new world of gangs in the Crack Den, please read the following:

Staff Update

As one of the active lieutenants of the Police Department and long time OOC lead of the community, I have asked Craig Hamilton (paulburkowski) to join the admin team alongside Perina and Blue with a focus on cultivating new gangs and maintaining the delicate balance between them and the police department. Craig has been a long time leader of the community and he has the motivation and drive that I believe can help usher in this new era of role-play opportunities.

Following this update, I will work the admin team to also review our current staff and leads to make sure we have the kind of coverage across timezones.

Gang Tagging (Graffiti)

Players who maintain active roster status for official gangs will have the ability to accrue cred and spend it on cans of spray paint. These cans can then be used on taggable walls around the city as a means of the following:

• Mark gang turf – the more tags around the city, the greater the control the gang has on the streets.
• Not all turfs are equal – the most valuable taggable walls are those in high traffic areas. Gangs can tag over each other as they attempt to retain control… and they will know who sprayed over who.
• The cans of spray paint can be considered a commodity – each unique and can be transferred to other gang characters (players) via their inventory. Horde them, use them up instantly, or barter for favors.
• Tagged walls serve as promotion for gangs – any player can click on them to know the gang’s reputation and objective.

Gang Hideout

Each approved gang will have a dedicated hideout and indirect turf to help nurture their stories. A place to allow a group to rally and be accessible to other players is important as part of this overhaul.

• There will be 8-10 designated turfs available to gangs – so long as the group remains active, they will retain their home.
• At the center of the turf will be a hideout – a hidden skybox placed under or within buildings.
• Each hideout will have an allowance for décor to each lead.
• The roster safe will be located in each hideout – used to maintain recruits and active gang members so they can use the features outlined above.

HUD Updates

There are many new features being rolled out in the next generation of the HUD, but the first set will be focused on gangs.

• Active gang members will have a new spray paint indicator to show the progression of cred they have earned. Once the indicator is “full”, players can then use it to cash in for spray cans at the hardware store.
• RP between players on CD sims will emerge as the dominant factor in accruing cred.
• More features benefiting all players to be released shortly.

In Conclusion

I have been inspired the past few months with the escalated stories between the police and crime factions of Hathian – I really think this was an area worth focusing on. I’m excited to roll these out and look forward to you all taking part of this new chapter of the Den.

You can learn more about these various features here:

• Gang Listing
• Gang Tagging Guide
• Gang Turf Map