Torn City Times

Moguai [423015] — Torn's jail has long been known as the laughing stock of the city, with inmates often only finding themselves in jail for seconds, whilst others are frantically trying to bust or bail them out. People may be wondering, why are people frantically bailing and busting inmates? Well, there are merits for bailing people out of jail, and others are trying to rack up thousands of busts to become a suitable candidate for the faction organized crime, Political Assassination. A number of changes brought to Torn's jail system have made it harder to escape, whether it's from a bust or bail. Criminals caught have been landed with much longer jail sentences, which have made busting much harder, as criminals with longer jail times find themselves in max security prisons. This also means bail fees have rocketed with prisoners serving longer sentences, and has found citizens scrambling all over the city for a Lawyers Business Card. There was also a significant change to ...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Jumping away from the dizzying heights of HT, we come to the crazy world of Little Stompers. Little Stompers are one of those factions that even at a low rank made a huge ruckus, and it wasn't just from them stamping their feet and making a mess (although from what this reporter gathers from members, TheCheesinater [1629870] does a lot of that). This reporter was also impressed as soon as he started interviewing them, as they were the only faction he interviewed that remember the exact day that the faction was created: 7 June 2013. TheCheesinater created the faction and when he and other members were interviewed about how the name was chosen, he gave two different answers. The first is the marketable version: The name is kind of representative of what we stand for. We're small in stature but, somehow, manage to throw our weight around. Then there is the, well, lets say 'lackluster' version: It was a simple online generator which gave us the nam...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Torn was created in the year 2003 and since its creation it has seen many changes and additions to the game. Torn has come a long way since being created. This article will look at some of the game mechanics and features that have been revolutionised over the years. We will begin by looking at Energy and Nerve, which are the two things that the game revolves around. Energy has many different uses; training, attacking, reviving and searching, and it is up to each player to decide what they want to do with it. Till recently, nerve had one use only, which was to commit crimes. Now busting has started consuming nerve rather than energy. As frequent fliers may know, energy used to be called Awake. This was because at the time Torn started Awake was a common name used in text based games. "I later thought it made more sense to use energy. I saw it used on a mech-bot type game in the machine sense, and thought it'd work a lot better here in terms of the bodi...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Most of Torn are either in a faction or have been in one before, and factions add a huge amount to Torn life. It is in factions where members work together, fight together and grow together. Over the coming months, I will be trying to piece together the history of some of the great and upcoming factions in Torn today, starting with HT. Hattrick, more commonly known as HT, is a long standing faction and its current leader, HT-Supermikk [108922], has shed light on some of the key goings on at HT over the years. The name Hattrick originates from a soccer manager game that a lot of the HT members played before coming to Torn. It was from this game that around 200 guys, and maybe one girl, came and started playing Torn City. 201 people joining a game together as companions is quite impressive on its own, and must have had Chedburn [1] ecstatic at the sight of 201 people joining his new game. However, the 201 isn’t what I find most interesting, it is the fact that t...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Wealth disparity is a global topic. The rich will see it as a matter of little concern, whilst this very divide is what the less fortunate will battle against. While having a little inequality can promote investments at a national level, too big a rift is certain to be destructive. The divide between rich and poor in Torn is plain to see. The poor in society have become disenchanted because they are caught in what seems like an inescapable bubble of poverty. Hyperinflation is a worry with even a measly brick costing upwards of $1000 in many shops. Everyone starts with very little, and by noting that the average player holds only $7,731,192, we can see making money in this city is not easy. As your time spent in the city increases, so does the amount of funds at your disposal, generally. Although not an impossible task, to those living in shacks, gathering enough money to own a private island is a daunting prospect. But is that enough? The divide between those ...

IIIlusionist [253384] — One of the great things about games, like Torn, is that there are many different playing styles. A previous article has touched on just a few of these. Within this article I will reveal my journey, from joining Torn 3087 days ago, to the present day. People started the game in many different ways. Some introduced by friends and some stumbled into the city by accident. I started playing when two of my cousins introduced me to the game. Torn wasn't the first crime game I took an interest in, but it was the only one that kept it for more than a week. So what captured my gamer side? Well it is hard to recall, as Torn was very different back then, but it was still, in my opinion, a well worked game that had a whole host of different features. Above all else I liked how you could buy a donator pack with in game money, meaning that players who didn't/couldn't spend real money still had the chance to enjoy the perks of being a donator. I started competing...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Over the past few days city inhabitants received the seasonal newsletter. Its pages reveal some of the changes that came with the RESPO update, and some of the upcoming changes and fixes to roll out in the near future. The newsletter provided much insight into the happenings and plans for the city. From things already implemented, like racing 2.0, to changes that are coming in the future, such as Black Jack. However, amongst the changes taking place, attacking and the Busting Nerf piqued the public’s interest the most. The new attacking system, as we're told, will revolutionise how we assault each other in the streets of Torn, and will no doubt make beating fellow citizens to the ground much more exciting and invigorating. Group attacking may see some of those that were previously unbeatable, beaten, and being able to see others who are attacking the same victim will hopefully lead to more interesting battles and outcomes. The second is the “Busting Nerf”....

CatHead [1581564] — Torn, much like any city, attracts all kinds of people. People from different parts of the world, people of different ages, people who each have different experiences and a different outlook on life to anyone who shares their breathing space. Life in the city goes on at a different pace for each of its residents. Some play a slow game, doing crimes as and when they like. Some live at a frantic rate; setting alarms to train, do crimes, wage wars, fly, race and play poker; taking the most from what’s available in town. Most people have goals shared by thousands of others and they work at their own pace to achieve them (or not, as the case may be). On the other hand, there are people who live life in their own style. They move against the crowd and refuse to be weighed down by what might be considered a normal life for a crime lord. These, possibly eccentric, people are the ones this article concerns itself with. Torn is a place packed with crime. The hospital in the...

Anarkioflite [1816936] — What’s the REAL cause of the recent stock market’s decline? Is it simply the normal correction of a market due to the laws of supply and demand? Or is it something more? Something manipulated, something deliberate – something designed to become a financial black hole that will attract the unsuspecting Torn investor with the allure of low share prices, yet may be designed to devastate the Torn City economic landscape by bankrupting thousands of Torn City players in a precipitous market bloodbath. Such an idea is not as farfetched as some might believe. A careful analysis of overall stock ticker prices at each 15 minute interval has some people claiming that a pattern is emerging that could spell disaster for Torn shareholders. One long time Torn player, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims to have discovered a message to “insiders” that is embedded into a numerical code found in the 15 minute stock prices. These numbers are published for everyone to see, bu...

Wulfric [1767972] — One of the interesting changes under RESPO is that we no longer get city finds arriving directly into our events schedule. Instead, to get those finds you have to make an active effort, scanning through the map of Torn, walking those mean streets and keeping your eyes open for the slightest sign of an item. Obviously, this is a huge change from the previous system, and it has worried people throughout the city. Many of us have spent merits on awareness, and have seen others picking up the goods. So... do those awareness merits count for anything? Under old Torn, awareness was a passive ability. Items appeared without any rhyme or reason, and you only found out after the event appeared. Now, awareness is an active ability; apparently a full 10/10 merit bar not only increases the spawn rate by 70%, but it also improves the quality of those finds. Of course, there is more you can do to increase your chances of finding those dumbells and parachutes. By popular underst...