Frinzell [1776252] —
Original article
In this week's edition of Faction Focus, we take a look at a young faction who are gaining a reputation for training crack squads of political assassins.
The Organised Crime (OC) Political Assassination (PA) is the pinnacle of criminal achievement for any faction. If you can form a team of four outstanding criminals, successful PA's can earn your faction up to $300,000,000 and 300 respect in just over a week. And in addition to a share of the proceeds, the criminals involved also gain valuable crime experience (CE); this CE gain is the highest skill gain presently possible in Torn.
Every faction would like to be able to perform this crime successfully on a regular basis, but few manage to do so, and those who do are often older and quite experienced. In Evolution, we are now able to perform 10 or more successful Political Assassinations per week just one year after our formation. In this faction focus article, I, Frinzell, will tell you how we achieved this, what our leader T-Max has to say, and how younger players and factions can follow in our footsteps.
Three hundred and sixty-five days ago an established faction named Evolution was purchased by T-Max, and the seeds of a great faction were planted. T-Max and friends (including Rosie) moved into the faction and began the transformation. Their aim was to form a peaceful relaxed faction with good training facilities, rare voluntary chains, competitions and most importantly a strong criminal focus.
May 2018. Our ambitious first attempt at a Political Assassination (PA) attempt ends in failure.
During May, Rosie said she couldn't live without me (I wish), so I (Frinzell) followed her to Evolution, where I soon found myself appointed as the OC planner. All Organised Crime teams change every cycle, but the objectives of these activities are to help all faction members to improve their crime skill, share the loot and use all players to their full potential. T-Max was in a Law firm at the time, and this was useful as one of its specials improves OC success rates. This perk, coupled with my arrival (a solid PA #2), meant we were now able to complete our faction's first successful PA.
At the time, our faction contained several members who had a natural nerve bar (NNB) of 60 - the highest value currently possible. Now we were up and running, Rosie offered all 60NNB players a guaranteed PA success, one at a time, if they were interested. This is something our faction continues to offer such players, and it is one of the main draws of Evolution today - because Rosie's Political Assassinations always succeed.
June, July 2018. Two PA's per week.
We upped the ante by doubling our rate of political assassinations, but any decent faction has more than one iron in the fire. Evolution was placed in Sector 4 on the map at this time; close enough to earn a reasonable amount of daily respect, but far from the high respect battlegrounds in Sectors 1 and 2. Good relations and peaceful cooperation was established with neighbouring factions, which meant we could set our sights elsewhere. Another aspect of safety is limited voluntary chaining, as this allows faction members to spend all their energy on training. On the 15th of August 2018, I participated in my first chain at Evo (100 chain).
August 2018. Three, then four PA's at a time.
T-Max is an avid recruiter; all sorts of players arrived in August, many of whom were not aware of their own skill. We also acquired some true PA leaders at this time, alongside others with varying degrees of skill. Some lasted a day, some a week. Most stayed. I think those who remained did so because our leader, T-Max, has a certain way with players. He manages the faction and its members with a light supportive hand. And unusually for leaders, he seems to listen.
September 2018. Six PA's together, all successful! Euphoria!
This run of six consecutive successful PA's was followed by a mixed period where three of the next six operations failed. It was at this time that some good leaders left Evolution too. No journey is without pitfalls, but we took deep breaths and kept on building our crime skill regardless.
Are we as laid back as we seem? Not quite. During August we lost a good player whose only fault was being constantly farmed for respect. Other players who had very low activity, team spirit and participation were removed to make way for active players. Evolution's standards had to be met.
October 2018. The team grows.
In October, we managed to increase our faction's tally of 60NNB players to 43. To complement these fine criminals, we also had six players who had successfully led Political Assassinations, and a further three who were considered solid PA leaders.
A solid PA leader is one that can lead a team of average PA members successfully and reliably. The better the leader, the less support they need. Often players get a chance to lead by giving them a strong supporting team (including other weak leaders). Selecting PA teams is an art.
November 2018. The team grows further.
Within a month we added 15 60NNB players to our total, giving us 58 altogether. We also had two more players lead our PA teams to success and two further players who were now considered solid PA leaders. This was both a result of our members' skills increasing, and some new PA leaders joining our team.
January 2019. Can competition.
The faction tree was switched around in a major uprooting to maximise our energy drink effect (voracity). Some great prizes were offered to faction members for drinking the most cans. Don't waste those Christmas Town cans, people!
February 2019. Chaining
On the 10th of February, we increased our chain length to 1,000 especially for the Valentine's Day event where attacks only cost 10 energy. Many of our members participated, and even on this busy chaining day, my list of dormant targets was more than sufficient.
March 2019. Seven PA's clean sweep.
On the 16th of March 2019, we had a clean sweep of seven successful Political Assassinations in one day - our best to date. Our success and the various faction wars boosted recruiting; our relaxed and tranquil faction is gaining popularity.
April 2019. Further growth.
Evolution was now home to 68 players with 60 Natural Nerve Bars. The faction's successful Political Assassinations have now been overseen by 13 different players, with 10 considered solid PA leaders.
June 2019. Ten and up.
With 71 players on 60 NNB and 11 players considered solid PA leaders, Evolution managed to complete ten successful PAs over two days, earning the faction 2,544 respect - 2,275 of which was earned in one day.
Present Day.
Evolution is currently ranked 43rd on respect, but to its members, we will always be ranked number one in Torn. At this point, I would like to acknowledge the wider members of the faction. I have purposefully limited the names of those referenced in this article to three, as to include all the important people would result in a list of 100 names! I am terrified of leaving anyone out, so to all present members new and old, and all past members of Evolution and all friends and neighbours, know that you have also contributed to the evolution of Evolution.
Evolution continues to evolve.
This novice reporter was honoured to arrange an exclusive interview with Evolution's leader T-Max, who will now shed some more light on the faction's origins, success and future.
Why did you start Evolution?
"I used to be in HOF factions pretty much all my time playing, and each faction chained frequently. Each chain demanded X amount of hits. This takes time, energy and dedication. I wanted to be in a faction focusing on crime, which had decent specials and where chaining wasn't mandatory. I couldn't find a single one!"
"So I messaged Nena who was running Evo at the time and enquired about the possible purchase of Evolution. I thought it was a long shot as Evo had 1.9m respect even though the faction itself wasn't that active. I was surprised to hear back from Nena that she would speak to JimmyJames who was the rightful owner of Evo and ask. JJ came back and said yes depending on the price. I made an offer and it was accepted."
"My main focus was making Evo a faction based on the criminality branch where chaining on a weekly basis wasn't on the agenda. So now here we are. A faction where we can aggressively train our stats and not continuously be forced into chains that last weeks."
What is the key to your success?
"My leadership/council members I have with me, without them Evo wouldn't be where it is today. I rely heavily on my backroom staff."
"Every faction member is important. Training hard, doing crimes, busting, playing Torn well. All these are significant contributions. Each player is different but all contribute. A joke in chat, an assist with a mission, graphics, running competitions, giving advice and more. All our faction contribute. Together we have made Evo a success, not me personally".
What do you think of your eccentric OC Planner (verbatim from chat, unsolicited)?
"... mate you've been running OC's here since I started Evo seriously and you've only failed a handful of OCs in that time. I have complete faith."
"...you have masterminded Evo since you joined. having 40/100 members all in PA teams is an amazing accomplishment you should be proud."
How do you get so many good recruits?
"This one isn't as easy as it sounds! It's not like I message players and they join up right away. It takes being a pain in their arse for them to give in and join. No just kidding! I wish it was that easy."
"Some members joined without recruiting because they were in the same boat I was. They looked for a faction that didn't demand chaining that lasts weeks. A place they can be paid PA money and train stats. Others joined for their own reasons."
"We are the only crime faction that offers every player who has 60nnb a chance to be in a PA team no matter how recently they got their 60nnb. (Thanks to Rosie and now also I-Am-biker-babe) We give them a chance they wouldn't usually get in their current faction. Other PA leaders I managed to recruit took some convincing and they have stayed with us."
Where do you see Evo in a year's time?
"This is hard to say. I'm happy at the level it is now. Maybe stretch to 12-15 PA teams and having 80% of the faction 60nnb. We have come a long way in less than a year. I look forward to seeing what the next year brings."
What do you like best about Evo?
"It's hard to pick just one thing. So I'd say the free time I have by not being demanded to chain 24/7 and the members we have here. Like I said before, without the members we have here at present it wouldn't be the same. We are like family."
Like what you've seen so far? Want to do the same? Want a faction of great criminals? Here are a few ideas and opinions which I believe will be helpful in forming or joining a faction like Evolution.
Players
- Be active. Very active!
- Take nerve supplying drugs, refill nerve bar, drink beer or better.
- Old plan = Obtain all crime merits (except drug crime merits) - I did this.
- New plan = warehouse, warehouse and warehouse.
- Include busting in your daily regimen.
- Be in the best OC's you can by paying attention to your OC's. Ensure you are on time, healthy and considerate of teammates. Don't anger the OC planner!
- The best CE gain is from being in a PA! Continually increasing your personal crime skill will help get into PA's. It does take time.
Organised Crime Planning
- Involve all faction members.
- Plan the hardest OC's you can successfully achieve.
- If you frequently fail you are harming CE.
- If you never fail you are not pushing limits.
- Vary teams to help the whole faction improve; use players in different roles, sometimes helping weaker members, sometimes being helped.
- Initiate each OC, and pay attention to results and learn the skills of your faction members. This is the process that will identify PA-ready players.
- Over time frequent successful PA's will cause more PA leaders and stronger team members to evolve from your faction base.
PA's
- If you want to do PA's you need a team of good criminals.
- The team leader (#1) should have been the leader in many PA's. The few really top PA leaders can carry three other players who have 60NNB. Most #1's, however, require solid support from the other team members.
- Many of the top #1's have many busts, especially from pre-respo.
- If you can successfully recruit a #1, they will be able to tell you what support they require.
- Treat #1's like gods, they are invaluable.
- Lickdapoo said it all. https://www.torn.com/newspaper.php#!/articles/300
Factions
- A criminal faction will have all offshoots of the crime branch and voracity alcohol effect maximised.
- Clear faction goals.
- Leaders who support the stated goals, and one another, are a must.
- A pleasant, relaxed comfortable faction atmosphere. Helpfulness and cooperation encouraged and supported.
- Faction leaders need to listen, act, manage, work hard and lead. This is as difficult in Torn as it is in a real-life business.Sorry, there's no easy one-step plan to achieve what Evolution has done. But if you follow as many of these pointers as you can, there's no reason you can't build what we've built in a year.
Good luck to all in your endeavours and happy gaming.
This article would not have been possible without all Evolution faction members. editors, spell checkers, critics and friends. Thanks to you all.
Every faction would like to be able to perform this crime successfully on a regular basis, but few manage to do so, and those who do are often older and quite experienced. In Evolution, we are now able to perform 10 or more successful Political Assassinations per week just one year after our formation. In this faction focus article, I, Frinzell, will tell you how we achieved this, what our leader T-Max has to say, and how younger players and factions can follow in our footsteps.
Three hundred and sixty-five days ago an established faction named Evolution was purchased by T-Max, and the seeds of a great faction were planted. T-Max and friends (including Rosie) moved into the faction and began the transformation. Their aim was to form a peaceful relaxed faction with good training facilities, rare voluntary chains, competitions and most importantly a strong criminal focus.
May 2018. Our ambitious first attempt at a Political Assassination (PA) attempt ends in failure.
During May, Rosie said she couldn't live without me (I wish), so I (Frinzell) followed her to Evolution, where I soon found myself appointed as the OC planner. All Organised Crime teams change every cycle, but the objectives of these activities are to help all faction members to improve their crime skill, share the loot and use all players to their full potential. T-Max was in a Law firm at the time, and this was useful as one of its specials improves OC success rates. This perk, coupled with my arrival (a solid PA #2), meant we were now able to complete our faction's first successful PA.
At the time, our faction contained several members who had a natural nerve bar (NNB) of 60 - the highest value currently possible. Now we were up and running, Rosie offered all 60NNB players a guaranteed PA success, one at a time, if they were interested. This is something our faction continues to offer such players, and it is one of the main draws of Evolution today - because Rosie's Political Assassinations always succeed.
June, July 2018. Two PA's per week.
We upped the ante by doubling our rate of political assassinations, but any decent faction has more than one iron in the fire. Evolution was placed in Sector 4 on the map at this time; close enough to earn a reasonable amount of daily respect, but far from the high respect battlegrounds in Sectors 1 and 2. Good relations and peaceful cooperation was established with neighbouring factions, which meant we could set our sights elsewhere. Another aspect of safety is limited voluntary chaining, as this allows faction members to spend all their energy on training. On the 15th of August 2018, I participated in my first chain at Evo (100 chain).
August 2018. Three, then four PA's at a time.
T-Max is an avid recruiter; all sorts of players arrived in August, many of whom were not aware of their own skill. We also acquired some true PA leaders at this time, alongside others with varying degrees of skill. Some lasted a day, some a week. Most stayed. I think those who remained did so because our leader, T-Max, has a certain way with players. He manages the faction and its members with a light supportive hand. And unusually for leaders, he seems to listen.
September 2018. Six PA's together, all successful! Euphoria!
This run of six consecutive successful PA's was followed by a mixed period where three of the next six operations failed. It was at this time that some good leaders left Evolution too. No journey is without pitfalls, but we took deep breaths and kept on building our crime skill regardless.
Are we as laid back as we seem? Not quite. During August we lost a good player whose only fault was being constantly farmed for respect. Other players who had very low activity, team spirit and participation were removed to make way for active players. Evolution's standards had to be met.
October 2018. The team grows.
In October, we managed to increase our faction's tally of 60NNB players to 43. To complement these fine criminals, we also had six players who had successfully led Political Assassinations, and a further three who were considered solid PA leaders.
A solid PA leader is one that can lead a team of average PA members successfully and reliably. The better the leader, the less support they need. Often players get a chance to lead by giving them a strong supporting team (including other weak leaders). Selecting PA teams is an art.
November 2018. The team grows further.
Within a month we added 15 60NNB players to our total, giving us 58 altogether. We also had two more players lead our PA teams to success and two further players who were now considered solid PA leaders. This was both a result of our members' skills increasing, and some new PA leaders joining our team.
January 2019. Can competition.
The faction tree was switched around in a major uprooting to maximise our energy drink effect (voracity). Some great prizes were offered to faction members for drinking the most cans. Don't waste those Christmas Town cans, people!
February 2019. Chaining
On the 10th of February, we increased our chain length to 1,000 especially for the Valentine's Day event where attacks only cost 10 energy. Many of our members participated, and even on this busy chaining day, my list of dormant targets was more than sufficient.
March 2019. Seven PA's clean sweep.
On the 16th of March 2019, we had a clean sweep of seven successful Political Assassinations in one day - our best to date. Our success and the various faction wars boosted recruiting; our relaxed and tranquil faction is gaining popularity.
April 2019. Further growth.
Evolution was now home to 68 players with 60 Natural Nerve Bars. The faction's successful Political Assassinations have now been overseen by 13 different players, with 10 considered solid PA leaders.
June 2019. Ten and up.
With 71 players on 60 NNB and 11 players considered solid PA leaders, Evolution managed to complete ten successful PAs over two days, earning the faction 2,544 respect - 2,275 of which was earned in one day.
Present Day.
Evolution is currently ranked 43rd on respect, but to its members, we will always be ranked number one in Torn. At this point, I would like to acknowledge the wider members of the faction. I have purposefully limited the names of those referenced in this article to three, as to include all the important people would result in a list of 100 names! I am terrified of leaving anyone out, so to all present members new and old, and all past members of Evolution and all friends and neighbours, know that you have also contributed to the evolution of Evolution.
Evolution continues to evolve.
This novice reporter was honoured to arrange an exclusive interview with Evolution's leader T-Max, who will now shed some more light on the faction's origins, success and future.
Why did you start Evolution?
"I used to be in HOF factions pretty much all my time playing, and each faction chained frequently. Each chain demanded X amount of hits. This takes time, energy and dedication. I wanted to be in a faction focusing on crime, which had decent specials and where chaining wasn't mandatory. I couldn't find a single one!"
"So I messaged Nena who was running Evo at the time and enquired about the possible purchase of Evolution. I thought it was a long shot as Evo had 1.9m respect even though the faction itself wasn't that active. I was surprised to hear back from Nena that she would speak to JimmyJames who was the rightful owner of Evo and ask. JJ came back and said yes depending on the price. I made an offer and it was accepted."
"My main focus was making Evo a faction based on the criminality branch where chaining on a weekly basis wasn't on the agenda. So now here we are. A faction where we can aggressively train our stats and not continuously be forced into chains that last weeks."
What is the key to your success?
"My leadership/council members I have with me, without them Evo wouldn't be where it is today. I rely heavily on my backroom staff."
"Every faction member is important. Training hard, doing crimes, busting, playing Torn well. All these are significant contributions. Each player is different but all contribute. A joke in chat, an assist with a mission, graphics, running competitions, giving advice and more. All our faction contribute. Together we have made Evo a success, not me personally".
What do you think of your eccentric OC Planner (verbatim from chat, unsolicited)?
"... mate you've been running OC's here since I started Evo seriously and you've only failed a handful of OCs in that time. I have complete faith."
"...you have masterminded Evo since you joined. having 40/100 members all in PA teams is an amazing accomplishment you should be proud."
How do you get so many good recruits?
"This one isn't as easy as it sounds! It's not like I message players and they join up right away. It takes being a pain in their arse for them to give in and join. No just kidding! I wish it was that easy."
"Some members joined without recruiting because they were in the same boat I was. They looked for a faction that didn't demand chaining that lasts weeks. A place they can be paid PA money and train stats. Others joined for their own reasons."
"We are the only crime faction that offers every player who has 60nnb a chance to be in a PA team no matter how recently they got their 60nnb. (Thanks to Rosie and now also I-Am-biker-babe) We give them a chance they wouldn't usually get in their current faction. Other PA leaders I managed to recruit took some convincing and they have stayed with us."
Where do you see Evo in a year's time?
"This is hard to say. I'm happy at the level it is now. Maybe stretch to 12-15 PA teams and having 80% of the faction 60nnb. We have come a long way in less than a year. I look forward to seeing what the next year brings."
What do you like best about Evo?
"It's hard to pick just one thing. So I'd say the free time I have by not being demanded to chain 24/7 and the members we have here. Like I said before, without the members we have here at present it wouldn't be the same. We are like family."
Like what you've seen so far? Want to do the same? Want a faction of great criminals? Here are a few ideas and opinions which I believe will be helpful in forming or joining a faction like Evolution.
Players
- Be active. Very active!
- Take nerve supplying drugs, refill nerve bar, drink beer or better.
- Old plan = Obtain all crime merits (except drug crime merits) - I did this.
- New plan = warehouse, warehouse and warehouse.
- Include busting in your daily regimen.
- Be in the best OC's you can by paying attention to your OC's. Ensure you are on time, healthy and considerate of teammates. Don't anger the OC planner!
- The best CE gain is from being in a PA! Continually increasing your personal crime skill will help get into PA's. It does take time.
Organised Crime Planning
- Involve all faction members.
- Plan the hardest OC's you can successfully achieve.
- If you frequently fail you are harming CE.
- If you never fail you are not pushing limits.
- Vary teams to help the whole faction improve; use players in different roles, sometimes helping weaker members, sometimes being helped.
- Initiate each OC, and pay attention to results and learn the skills of your faction members. This is the process that will identify PA-ready players.
- Over time frequent successful PA's will cause more PA leaders and stronger team members to evolve from your faction base.
PA's
- If you want to do PA's you need a team of good criminals.
- The team leader (#1) should have been the leader in many PA's. The few really top PA leaders can carry three other players who have 60NNB. Most #1's, however, require solid support from the other team members.
- Many of the top #1's have many busts, especially from pre-respo.
- If you can successfully recruit a #1, they will be able to tell you what support they require.
- Treat #1's like gods, they are invaluable.
- Lickdapoo said it all. https://www.torn.com/newspaper.php#!/articles/300
Factions
- A criminal faction will have all offshoots of the crime branch and voracity alcohol effect maximised.
- Clear faction goals.
- Leaders who support the stated goals, and one another, are a must.
- A pleasant, relaxed comfortable faction atmosphere. Helpfulness and cooperation encouraged and supported.
- Faction leaders need to listen, act, manage, work hard and lead. This is as difficult in Torn as it is in a real-life business.Sorry, there's no easy one-step plan to achieve what Evolution has done. But if you follow as many of these pointers as you can, there's no reason you can't build what we've built in a year.
Good luck to all in your endeavours and happy gaming.
This article would not have been possible without all Evolution faction members. editors, spell checkers, critics and friends. Thanks to you all.
Original article
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