It’s no secret that I favored the gangs. Not in a manner that was unjust or unfair. What most people probably don’t realize is that I was envious. All I ever wanted out of SAMP was encapsulate into the gangs. I wanted possession, competition, and respect from my peers, a leadership position and influence over others. I sought war, mayhem, and violence. I desired the power to solve my own problems and the authority devoid of outside influence. Something earned and honored. The only way to establish such an atmosphere for the gangs I had to resolve to never, ever, become part of it myself. My involvement would only corrupt it and I couldn’t have that happen. You could say my role as the Don of Don’s I trumped everything. That’s exactly the problem. There was no journey to the position; there was no fight to achieve it. I had no enemies and no failures, therefore no allies and no victories. I simply was.

The gangs were a big source of pride for me. Not only was it a beautiful addition to the code but it was also such a great avenue for the players to express themselves. I loved watching and following the politics of it all. Seeing the rivalries and friendships born of it. I’d secretly peer over the shoulders of the Ganglords during meetings and I’d follow along with roving crews as they soldier through enemy turf to stir up trouble. On occasion I’d pay them visits and task them with various things to do such as rob banks or roll another crew.

Even with the bugs inherent in the various phases of the gang code players were pretty accepting. When I sensed things getting to easy for them I would focus on giving the police tools to combat them and make their lives challenging. I encouraged the police as much as I could to push them, to lean on them, to give them obstacles to overcome. It’s unfortunate there were quite a few gangs that missed the point of it all. Victory is nice and always the goal, but defeat, difficulty, and loss is how you better yourself. If you’re always winning you’re never challenging yourself. You will always learn more in defeat then you ever will in victory.

There were some that saw the obstacles thrown in front of them not as the opportunities that they were. Other gangs completely lost their place in the world; they forgot what they were doing and why they were there. What role they played in the grand scheme of things. The Goonies, the Diablos, the Grenades, the Hells Angels and many others. They got consumed by the numbers game and failed to see that it’s the experience that counts. You don’t go to the beach to collect sand, you go to feel the sun on your face, swim in the ocean, and take in the air. All the money and stats mean nothing without the people you depend on to interact with. On the flip side there were a lot of gangs that did it correctly. They got involved; they engaged in politics, they made friends and enemies alike. They enhanced the experiences of everyone around them. Basically, they helped me live vicariously though them by doing things how I would have done it.

Successful gangs were always a flight risk to our server. It was an unfortunate side effect to the atmosphere we created. We would empower these player leaders so much we would entice them right off the server. Nearly every splinter server created from ours was the product of a Ganglord. Our relationship was a lot like parasailing. While your up there its easy to get the impression that your flying. The guy on the boat will even tell you your flying. The second you cut that tow line, your going into the drink. So many times I've seen it happen and each time I wonder what the hell they were thinking. Why would you think you could fly without the very thing that makes it possible? I was always quick to attribute the success of a player to the player themselves and now I realize that I should have also stressed the fact that it was entirely possible thanks to CCNGTA. By humbling my efforts and the server's, I was in fact doing the player a disservice because I misguided them. They thought they were flying because thats exactly what I told them, I shouldn't have been surprised when they jumped off a cliff and dragged people with them.