Line #7 Headscratchers/MafiaIII


1	* Why is Lincoln the one who stays behind to distract the cops during the Mardi Gras heist? He's the biggest and most capable of carrying Danny, and he's also the easiest of them to identify should the cops get a good look at him.
2	** Giorgi was intending to [[spoiler:betray his allies and needed to get the money to his father at any cost]], therefore he wouldn't risk it. Given his demonstrated lack of notable skills, Ellis trying to distract the police would probably only end with him having several artificial orifices in short time which Lincoln is most likely aware of.
3	** But on that note... Giorgi's dad has all the police in the city in his pocket. If the cops bumped into him, in a non-firefight setting, would they risk incurring the mob boss' wrath by messing with his son?
4	** there’s only so much that dirty cops will tolerate, robbing a Federal reserve, which would bring about the involvement of the FBI and possibly cost them their jobs, is not one of those things.
5	* So where's security when Donovan starts [[spoiler: shooting Senator Blake?]] I know TheGuardsMustBeCrazy, but it's a little puzzling how they seem not to ''exist at all''.
6	** TruthInTelevision, before the JFK assassination government security was mainly for banks.
7	* Why do Lincoln's underlings give him side missions to do? Since when do employees hand assignments to their boss?
8	** Vito explicitly asks nothing more than a favour, Cassandra tells him what to do, but Lincoln only takes the mission after she appeals to his feeling towards his fellow black men. Burke was going to handle his stuff on his own with Lincoln only taking over to make sure he isn't distracted from the main goal of their mob.
9	* New Orleans was named after the Duke of Orleans, who was the de facto ruler of France at the time. Since New Orleans is replaced with New Bordeaux in this universe, are we to assume there's been some kind of AlternateHistory where the events of the French Regency departed radically from what we know?
10	** Although New Bordeaux is a stand-in for New Orleans, it is not synonymous with this city. New Orleans is mentioned several times on the radio in-game, making it clear that New Bordeaux is a separate city in the state of Louisiana.
11	* I get that, as far as Sal knows, everyone involved in the Fed heist needs to be whacked, so they can't blab to the Commission about his casino. Okay. But it sounds like he plans to openly, publicly run this casino. Gambling becomes legal in New Bordeaux, then suddenly a casino (already in construction before the law passed!) pops up across the lake. The Commission is obviously going to put two and two together. He must have some plan to weasel out of the consequences, but what possible plan that he couldn't have put into action ''without'' trying to kill Vito and the Black Mob?
12	** Sal's plan is that he is going to open a casino/hotel and buy his way out of the mafia lifestyle while not only preserving his existing fortune but vastly increasing it. He's not so much worried about the Commisssion finding out as he is them taking over. By the time that it is up and running, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney Sal presumably plans to have enough money to make sure they let him leave without issue.]] Killing the other heist members is also just so he can have an extra four million to do this.
13	* Vito's "favor" missions... killing everyone who sold out or refused to help Joe. I don't get how they all wound up in New Bordeaux at the same time. I know this is Lampshaded; Lincoln asks Vito that same question. But Vito's answer just doesn't make sense to me. He says something about "the Commission sends some boys Sal's way and he doesn't ask questions". Why would the Commission send everyone involved with Joe out to New Bordeaux almost a decade after the fact?
14	** To also keep tabs on Vito? Evidently these thugs knew Joe to some extent, so it's not a stretch that they'd know Vito or were at least informed. It's also a warning to Vito, to let him know what happens if he steps out of line, and Vito can't do anything to avenge Joe while Marcano is looking for any excuse to get rid of him. By the time Greco oversteps his bounds, Vito's got nothing left to lose by finally killing them, thinking they'd side with Marcano.
15	** Alternatively, if you believe Leo is [[spoiler: secretly on Vito's side and keeping Joe alive]], he may have sent them Vito's way fully expecting them to die.
16	** New Orleans was actually a secondary capital of the American mafia during the 1960s in RL. It's not entirely impossible that they would be there beyond ContrivedCoincidence.
17	* "Most of the cops in this town are in Sal's pocket. They see you fighting Sal's goons, they're coming after you." As [[https://youtu.be/YVo6AXDWnec?t=7m20s this guy]] points out, if Marcano controls the police to that extent, it seems strange that they were such an issue during the Federal Reserve robbery, especially since that Marcano's son was helping rob the place.
18	** The answer is in the name: Federal. Employees of the federal government are harder to bribe than dirty cops who are more interested in keeping the racial status-quo. Furthermore, there is a limit to what cops on the take will tolerate. Becoming accessory to counterfeiting is not something they won't do, because that brings the FBI to town. And the South really hated the feds coming down to their states to poke around and go carpetbagging.
19	* Why did Sal Marcano betray all three of the major crime organizations who were either his allies or underlings, Sammy's Mob included, when he could have just had a meeting with all three, picked a successor, made them the new boss, and go legit?
20	** The answer, of course, is that the Italian Mafia doesn't really accept retirement from it's members just to go legit (they could always turn state's evidence in to the FBI), but when you see how well the capos of Lincoln Clay "get along," it makes just as much sense that Sal took his capos and allies out as well to replace them with capos who A: would be fine with his plans and B: would be more likely to work together. Burke's a volatile drunk who's more than happy to scratch your back if you scratch his, but his ties to the IRA and his alcoholism make him unpredictable and ready to pick a fight when he feels snubbed. Sammy was looking to firmly establish the Black Mob as the sole rulers of Delray Hollow (just listen to the post-heist speech). And Vito had the Commission hanging over his head like a hangman's noose at the time; no way he'd take the stupid risk of letting Sal go legit and getting caught up in the underworld fallout. By removing these three big players from the board and replacing them with the Dixie Mob, Southern Union, and local branch of the Italian Mob (who clearly now have gone native and have sentiments that blend with the previous two organizations) willing to go along with his plans, there's less likelihood of the city becoming a sudden gang warzone of factions competing for power and the ultimate seat at the top beneath the Commission. After all, that'd really negatively impact his new casino's business, damaging his attempt at going straight and defeating the purpose entirely.
21	** This is a mistaken view: Sal was never intending to go legit. The Fed Heist was not to about the money (though they certainly wanted it), it was to get the printing plates to set up the counterfeiting operation, and the Casino was the long-term cover for 'that'.

Context Headscratchers / MafiaIII