I've read the entire thread and I want this game.
In the first few pages of the thread people were talking about getting families and gangs, etc. I've been walking around with an idea for this a long time now but didn't get around starting it. I do think my idea can be a great addition for this game.
It's basically based around the mechanics of Crusader Kings by Paradox. There are 4 basic tiers for characters. Tier 0 are your courtiers and they have no real power. Tier 1 consists of counts, they hold land and produce income from that, they pay tribute to a higher tier (2 or 3). Tier 2 is the duke who holds land but also has vassals (tier 1) that pay tribute to them. Tier 3 is the king, he holds land but has tier 2 and 1 characters under him paying him tribute. Characters only have on liege so some counts report directly to a king while others report only to a duke, but not the duke's king.
I think this system can be perfectly adapted to an organized crime system for a game.
You basically have tier 0 characters who are not directly associated with an organization. They can be civilians, cops, journalists, petty criminals, unassociated hitmen, etc. Tier 1 would be the soldiers who hold a street corner to sell drugs, pimp out prostitutes, etc. They can have tier 0 people working for them on a salary basis to help him secure his corner etc, but the tier 0 people aren't part of the organization. Tier 1 pays a large part of their income towards tier 2 who would be the lieutenants or capo's. They can also have the street corners but are more likely into more advanced forms of crime, like the production or importation of drugs, extortion or whatever you can think of. They receive money from Tier 1 but have to pay Tier 3. Tier 3 is the boss who is more likely less busy with everyday crime but is making sure his organization is safe and is trying to expand.
This can also fit into the justice system. Tier 1 and 2 are likely targets for violent crime investigation while Tier 3 is likely a target for tax evasion, etc. Unless they can get tier 2 to flip on tier 3 (like in LCS). Tier 3 will probably pay lawyers for all his underlings to make sure they don't flip.
The player would probably start as a petty criminal on tier 0. It's also not known to the player who controls what. So he can get into trouble if he robs a business that is extorted by a powerful person. The player could rise in the ranks (and discover who's the boss where) by doing some jobs for the soldiers or capo's. For example a murder or the protection of a street corner.
I'm familiar with lua so if the consensus is that something like this should be in the game I'm more than ready to chip in. Also, tell me what you think about something like this.