Torn City Times

IIIlusionist [253384] — The forums are a great place to engage in discussion and get annoyed, meet new people and create new enemies, voice your opinion and be ignored. I take on a backseat approach to the forums, looking at what goes on from afar rather than posting. There are, in my opinion, a few types of people that roam the forums. Lets start with my personal favourites, "Trolls". Trolls, for those of you that dont know, are people who prowl the forums looking for any chance to derail a thread and inspire chaos. Some find them annoying, while others enjoy the read; I myself am quite amused by their comments. One of the most famous trolls is Evil-Duck [1182047]. Even the name is enough to send shivers down your spine and move your cursor to the x button. However, the name is also enough to draw your eyes for a cheeky glance at his latest antics. Maybe his most famous troll was when he announced he would be planting a dirty bomb on a faction of his choosing. He had every...

IIIlusionist [253384] — The spotlight now turns to Milk and Cookies, MnC. There have been a fair few mergers throughout the years, most of which go on without a hitch. MnC is one faction that has shown just how much two factions can benefit from a well organised merger. Milk and Cookies is the result of the joining of Rockers and Secret Service, and took around three weeks to complete. Rockers had been around for nearly eight years, and were led, at the time of the merger, by Blexi [1458703]. Secret Service was led by HippoHugger [140306]. They were both active factions, but were in no position to even consider competing with any of the HoF factions. They all hopped over to Rockers, as it had better specials, and a vote was cast to choose a new name. The name was chosen because the new faction wanted to represent the two factions that merged. So the name Milk and Cookies was voted the best, and it is still undecided which of the factions is to be the milk, and which is to be the cook...

IIIlusionist [253384] — We rejoin the faction journey in 2008. The number of factions dwindled, and targets to war became harder to find, even with full beam lights. Then, in 2008, peaceful factions were introduced in an effort to increase the number of factions. Factions had the option to remain peaceful untill they declared on another faction. The hope was that factions could build up their respect and war when they were ready, it didn't work. According to an announcement made, out of 800 factions created only 4 decided to war, the rest choose the path of peace. In response, peaceful status was given for 3 months for new factions, after which anyone could declare on the faction. 2008 saw the arrivals of faction specials and in 2009 NAPs and peace treaties were added. Now we come to the 2009 and 2010 systems. Factions were put in to one of ten ranks or unranked. The idea was that you war factions within your own rank to get the best respect gains, warring a faction outside your...

IIIlusionist [253384] — (re-publish before part 2) There are over 2,500 factions in Torn, varying in size, strength and activity. Factions have seen many changes over the life span of the city. The ranking system wasn't in place at the beginning, there were less organised crimes, no armories and there were also different staff positions, such as third in command and treasurer. However, some of the biggest and most discussed changes are the different warring systems, which are what this article will focus on. Factions war for many reasons; for fun, pride, grudges and to cure their boredom. But most importantly is to gain respect. We will start at the beginning, or as close to it as possible. When factions first came about, there was no such thing as chaining, non-aggression packs or peace treaties. In fact, before Spring 2005 there was no such thing as factions. There was no faction headquarters like there is today, people would just put a "tag" in front of their name to...

IIIlusionist [253384] — So far, my reporting has taken me on a grand tour of the city, from Christmas markets to Abandoned Theatres. In my quest for information, I have been engaged in long enticing conversations with various leaders, with a cup of tea in one hand and my pen in the other. Other times, I prefer to take casual late night strolls through the cities safer neighborhood, which are few in number, looking for the next big news. But recently, I was inspired to step out of my comfort zone and be a tad bit more daring with my reporting. I braved the streets of Torn, and in the process, uncovered a hidden secret in our city. It all started when I received an anonymous tip from a "concerned citizen" - it read: "Dear IIIlusionist, I am writing to you as I don't know where else to turn. On the evening of 15th January 2015, while walking around the city, I happened to stumble by a strange building. I thought nothing of it at first, but as I was about to turn aw...

UrgentAlibi [1608246] — Left to its own devices, an economy is a fascinating beast. Torn's own economy is very lively and active. We players have the freedom, the liberty, to choose how and where to spend the money we earn in this city. For some that might involve taking a vacation, traveling abroad via the travel agency, while others might need to upgrade their weapons or refill ammo at Big Als gun shop. There are plenty of frivolous ways to part with your cash from gambling at the casino to buying plushies from the item market. Right now there are thousands of player-run and owned bazaars where items are listed often well below market value. This really allows for some fluid movement of cash and resources from player to player, in a way that negates some of the dangers often associated with personal trades. Some people seek to do business in the bright light of day; others prefer a shady back alley, or a cigar smoke-filled cellar. Torn accommodates for different styles of busin...

IIIlusionist [253384] — The beginning of 2014 was quite a quiet time for the City of Torn. There were no major updates or overhauls, just minor tweaks and bug fixes to ensure that the city ran smoothly. In contrast; the second half of 2014 represented a much busier period - many new implementations - and the blueprints used to upgrade the City's dating infrastructure with new and improved capabilities. These archetypes are known as the RESPO development program. The Mayor of Torn mentioned that a large-scale rework was aimed at improving the quality of life for the criminals looting the City. Some skeptics claimed that the updates would never arrive, but those naysayers were proven wrong when RESPO showed up on the 23rd of June. Great improvements were undertaken to build the City - streets were cleaner, buildings were higher and the intangible "feel" of Torn had truly been changed - even the air was different somehow. One obvious change to the City was that of the c...

IIIlusionist [253384] — The Plague group of factions represented some of the earliest factions in Torn. Known as "Plague Family," they were also the longest running dynasty in Torn. The Plague Family consisted of three factions: The main faction Engineered Plague (EP) and subfactions Infected Plague (IP) and Killer Plague (KP). The group set very clear stats and level requirements in order for members to have a "faction career path." Teammates would start in the weakest faction of the three, and as they levelled up, they also moved up until they reached EP. Engineered Plague was originally the name of a Guild (very similar to factions) in another game called Archmage, which is no longer around. A group of players joined Torn when it was in Beta and planned to create a version of their guild in Torn. Titan [227473] and Templar [1281415] were the driving force behind EP and led the group for a long time. regulator906 [79649], -KC [130919], Peachy [10474], shmiffy04 ...

UrgentAlibi [1608246] — Scrooge cancels Christmas for thousands! The infamous businessman, Scrooge [10], attempted to cancel Christmas once again for thousands of citizens in Torn. After the mayor of the city, Chedburn [1], called for a mass uprising against the public figure, hundreds of people rallied together in the streets of Torn in an attempt to bring the miser down. Snow was falling at the city gates. The forums were abuzz with Christmas competitions and gift exchanges. The entire Torn community seemed, on the whole, to be full of festive spirit and cheer. Ebenezer entered the city, taking residence in Torn's North Side (where most of the markets are located) a few days before Christmas Day. Rumours swirled and Number Ten was attacked before the public even knew of his presence - those in the know wanted Scrooge's infamous snow cannon for themselves. After several citizens turned up in hospital, brutally injured and covered in the dust of exploded snowballs, an offici...

IIIlusionist [253384] — As we have seen in previous articles, Torn's HOF factions have a remarkable and long history that date back many years. Out of the 2500+ factions in Torn today a huge, huge, portion of them will be filled with inactive members which have joined the slow road to deletion, others are peaceful and some used for keeping money safe. Take away these and you will see that there is just as much war mongering lower down the ranks, perhaps more so than in HOF these days. And so the lamp turns on Calculated. Purchased around two years ago by ghosty [1348728], Calculated have been shooting up the ranks ever since. As a rule of thumb most faction dont give away freebies, however HOF factions, with their rich owners and organised crime money, can more than provide supplies for wars. This was what inspired the name Calculated. They could not afford big cash prizes, points, drugs and FHCs that other factions could, but survived by carefully calculating, funnily enough the...