Torn City Times

IIIlusionist [253384] — RESPO updates have been rolling out for the past couple of months, from the new interactive city map to the more recent Medical 2.0 update. Company 2.0 is now rolling out and seems to be going smoothly so far, with developers aiming to update 5 new companies a week. However, with more than 15,926 players (approximately 94% of players) in factions, perhaps one of the more anticipated updates is Faction/Warring 2.0. At the moment, players feelings about factions and warring are rather mixed. Some are excited for the upcoming changes to the war system and can't wait until it is implemented. On the other hand, other players hover over the "logout" button contemplating whether it will be for the last time. The current faction system seems to have been exhausted by many factions; the ranking system largely thought of as redundant or antiquated. In the current system, wars can last a mere few hours, and faction's respect keeps building up. However, ...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Back to HOF, and we will be looking at what used to be Merc Inc, before the merger with Subversive Alliance. Merc Inc was one of those factions that caught the attentions of many as they were climbing up the ranks. Think it was safe to say, with the members they had, they were going places. Coffindancer [253934] started the faction around 2 years ago. Some of the older players might remember a faction called Goodfellas, and it was from this faction that Coffindancer and a few others that ex-Goodfellas started Merc Inc -the name chosen to represent Goodfellas. Merc started off with only a few members, but the more they fought, the more attention they attracted, and it wasn't long before they attracted some more members. After they built up a strong member base, they started their journey to the Hall of Fame. In the early days, Merc Inc provided a lot for its members including drugs, points and even rehab fees. They wanted their members to grow and build the...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Today let's talk about faction wars. The most common mode of warring in Torn today is a one on one battle between two factions. A faction might fight multiple wars at once, but each against a single opposing force. On a rare occasion, however, multiple factions agree to all fight each other at the same time in one big fat war. The most grand and glorious war occurs when seven factions meet at once - the 7-way war. A 7-way war is no small feat to organize. Under the current warring system, each war base has a 500 member cap. Typically, this limits the larger factions (averaging 75 members) from warring with each other at the same time. Besides the most recent one, the last 7-way war took place in December 2013 and was between 39th Street Killers, Evolution, JFK, HT, Mercs Inc, PT-Family and Subversive Alliance. The terms were kept simple: - All wars should be ranked wars - Members over 3bil total will use Desert Eagle only. - Rosters locked after the war b...

IIIlusionist [253384] — My last adventure led me to discovering a seemingly abandoned building with some rather unusual stuff inside. Upon speculation, what I stumbled upon must be some sort of testing facility for the newly released blood bags. If perhaps the citizens can manage to figure out how to stick a needle into themselves correctly, I see this addition benefiting the city greatly, though I will wait a little longer before passing judgement. The good news is that it has nothing to do with vampires - though if they do indeed exist, I get a feeling Torn will become somewhat of a hot spot for them... My next adventure started when I was walking along the shores of the city, admiring the rather large collection of private islands and yachts. What I found unusual were the large number of red boats that were docked at the city. I had so many questions already; Why the sudden increase in red boats? Who owned them? Why now? Naturally I had to investigate - activate detective mode! I ...

IIIlusionist [253384] — For every top spot there is a number 2 waiting patiently to have their shot at over throwing the top dogs. During HTs very, very, long stay at the top of the mountain the faction InQuest set up camp not too far down the road. Before InQuest was formed, BodyBagger [99177] led a family of 7 factions known as the Zen Family. Another player, CHunger [78403], led a faction called The Brotherhood of NOD, which BodyBagger was later asked to take over and lead under the Zen banner, and the name InQuest was chosen for their newly joined faction. The name InQuest was chosen to signify the unifying of the two families and their motto was - "The verdict is always the same: wilful murder". Much like we saw with the Plague Family, InQuest/Zen had a number of factions that would separate members out depending on their experience, activity and battle stats. Beginners would work on their stats in Zen, intermediate would learn how to chain in Zen, and the polished fin...

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...