Hey guys, So me and a poker buddy are in Berlin for a couple nights. As I understand it, there are two locations of the Spielbank Berlin Casino: one in Alexanderplatz, and the other in Potsdam Platz.
According to their website, the stakes of the former start at 1€/1€, and have only 2 cash tables, while the latter starts at 2€/2€ with heaps more tables.
How is the action at either of these locations? I’d prefer to play the lower stakes, so do those two tables fill up on a weekday night?

Trade Republics Pläne sind klar: Der Copyshop aus Berlin will jedem Europäer ermöglichen mit KOs und Optionsscheinen das schmale Ersparte zu verzocken während Casinos usw. zu sind.

Aussichten

Mit der Expansion nach Frankreich öffnet sich ein riesiger Markt, die Registrierungswarteschlagen sind lang. Für die, die in der Schule nicht aufgepasst haben: Die EU hat fast 150 Mio. mehr Einwohner als die USA, das dortige Pendant Robinhood hat eine Bewertung von über 10 Mrd. USD und ist dort mit 13 Millionen Nutzern bereits in aller Munde. Trade Republic ist im Vergleich dazu mit 150.000 Usern nach eigener Aussage noch winzig, diese Zahl geht aber weiterhin täglich steil nach oben.
Wie kann man davon profitieren? Die Trade Republic Bank GmbH bietet dem dahergelaufenen Autisten keine direkte Möglichkeit der Beteiligung, ein IPO steht zwar immer mal wieder im Raum, ist aber wohl noch eine Weile hin. Mit diesen zwei Unternehmen kommt ihr aber trotzdem übers Hintertürchen rein, und wie wir wissen ist dass eh der beste Weg.

sino AG / WKN 576550

• Hauptsitz: Düsseldorf
• Aktueller Kurs: 28,00€
• Marktkapitalisierung: 64,98 Mio. €
• ATH: 31,00€ (08.01.21)
• Wertentwicklung 1J: 409,1%

Die sino AG ist ein Finanzdienstleister mit nur 33 Mitarbeitern aus Düsseldorf. Die Bude hat ihr Hauptgeschäft im Wertpapierhandel für reiche Boomer und Technologie für die Finanzindustrie. Kerntätigkeit schön und gut, 5 Mio. € Umsatz 2019, waren auch schon mal 6.
sino AG kennt der ein oder andere aber vielleicht schon als einen der ersten und größten Investoren bei Trade Republic. Die Firma investierte 2017 als größter Anteilseigner in ein kleines Startup namens Neon GmbH welches später zur Handelsrepublik wurde. Das damalige 3 Mio. € Investment ermöglichte den beiden Gründern mithilfe des sino-CEOs Ingo Hillen, der als Geschäftsführer in das Startup einstieg, die Firma aufzubauen. Mit Ingos Hilfe kam HSBC an Bord, ohne ihn hätten die uns mit ihren Derivaten heute nicht abzocken können. Weil Ingo n fauler Sack ist und frische Kohle ranmusste verkaufte er im Zuge einer Finanzierungsrunde einen Teil seiner Anteile im Wert von 10 Mio. € an neue Investoren, auch Peter Thiel der alte Ficker kam dann über den Teich und schmiss TR Mulah in den Rachen.
Die Beteiligung von sino schrumpfte damit auf 16%, trotzdem sind sie nach den Gründern der größte Gesellschafter, diese Anteile sind mittlerweile schon 22% los. Mit der Kohle aus dem Anteilsverkauft ist Ingo aktuell auf der Jagd nach weiteren Fintech-Startups zum Aufbau (habe gehört eine kleine Bude namens Wirecard aus München braucht im Moment etwas Kohle...)
Trade Republic ist aktuell noch nicht profitabel, ist aber auf gutem Weg dorthin, spätestens dann fließt bei sino richtig die Kohle rein. Auch von einem IPO der TR würde sino zweifelsohne profitieren, die letzte Bewertungsrunde ergab einen Wert von 240 Mio. €, das wird bei einem IPO wohl deutlich höher werden.
Die Aktie dümpelte lange im nichts rum und machte was deutsche Aktien am besten können: seitwärts gehen. Zuletzt wurde das Jetpack aufgezogen und Anfang dieses Jahres zu einem AZH von 31€ geflogen, von diesem Hoch ist es wieder etwas gedippt. Technische Analyse ist eh schwarze Magie aber für die, die es mögen habe ich hier mal n paar Linien zu Papier gebracht:
https://www.tradingview.com/x/rlF1ySXv/
sino gibt es zum Handeln auf der Handelsrepublik selbst, wem die Spreads dort zu hoch sind, dem sei die Börse Stuttgart ans Herz gelegt, die haben höheres Volumen und sind näher dran an den sexy Kurven.

Lang & Schwarz / WKN 645932

• Hauptsitz: Düsseldorf
• Aktueller Kurs: 90,00€
• Marktkapitalisierung: 243,5 Mio. €
• ATH: 90,00€ (heute)
• Wertentwicklung 1J: 549,4%

Wo wir bei Spreads sind, schauen wir uns doch direkt den Schlawiner an, der dafür verantwortlich ist dass unsere dummen Optionsscheine und KOs nie grün werden weil man sie mit 15% Spreads ins Depot holt und die Gurkenscheine das nicht rausholen: Lang & Schwarz. Ich könnte die ganzen folgenden Absätze mit Witzen über den Namen füllen, mach ich auch.
So einen Ständer in der Wertentwicklung kann eine kartofellige Alman-Aktie mit Bildschirmbräune natürlich nicht hinlegen, Lang & Schwarz hingegen kriegt das hin. Neben der Funktion als Emittent von jährlich über 30.000 faulen Derivaten hat Lang & Schwarz mit dem Trade Center auch einen eigenen Handelsplatz. Die LS-X oder LS-TC ist ein Handelsblatt den fast alle deutschen Broker im Programm haben, anders als die Autistenrepublik setzen die anderen aber eher auf ne Gruppenszene statt ne 1-Mann-Vorstellung. Trade Republic und LS arbeiten bereits seit Beginn zusammen, auch die Froschfresser kriegen nur schwarzes Fleisch auf den Teller. Die Mathematik ist einfach: Je mehr Orders ihr macht, desto mehr Kohle verdienen die Jungs bei Lang & Schwarz. Von der Kohle geben sie zwar nichts in Form von Dividenden wieder her aber sein wir mal ehrlich: Dividendenaktien sind was für Finanzen.
Zur Erinnerung: Der Euro den ihr für euren eine Stunde später wertlosen Goldturbos hinlegt geht komplett rüber zu denen, die Handelsrepublik wird von denen im Gegenzug mit ein paar Cents pro Order beteiligt. Geiler Deal für beide, die Geier kriegen aber anders als die Gegenüber beim "Film"-dreh den Hals nicht voll und haben regelmäßig geisteskranke Spreads für alle Lebenslagen. Komplett autistisch aber wir lassens ja mit uns machen. Das Prinzip ist also klar: mehr Autisten europaweit -> mehr Orders für TR -> die landen bei L+S -> Stonks.
Aktuell steht die Aktie auf einem Allzeithoch, also eigentlich der perfekte msw-Einstiegspunkt:
https://www.tradingview.com/x/0523F5Ph/
Wer auf einen Dip warten möchte der nie kommt weil die Raketen vollgetankt sind und die Startsequenz den Point of no Return überschritten hat, dem sei vielleicht eher der A1JX52 ans Herz gelegt. Ich saß letztes Jahr bei Tesla an der Seite und hab irgendwann gemerkt, dass ich da lange warten kann, wenns scheiße läuft. Also rein in die Olga 🚀🚀🚀
Der Haken an L+S ist dass mans nicht bei LS-X kaufen kann, ihr seid also auf einen anderen Broker angewiesen. Jeder andere größere deutsche Handelsplatz hat die aber am Start.

Zu lang (höhö) nicht gelesen (TL;DR)

sino AG: größter externer Gesellschafter von TR, CEO hat den Laden groß gemacht, sucht weitere Fintechstartups 🚀🚀🚀🚀
Lang & Schwarz: geiler Name, muss ich noch mehr sagen? Na gut: TRs einziger Handelsplatz, profitiert an euren autistischen Geschäften 🚀🚀🚀🚀

Schlussworte / Disclaimer

Der Herr, dies ist keine Finanzberatung sondern ein Burger King (cooles neues Logo btw). Ich bin bei beiden Unternehmen an Bord, zu meiner Seite ist aber noch Platz in der Rakete, kommt rein ist auch klimatisiert.
Meine Recherche basiert auf öffentlich zugänglichen Informationen, googlt doch selber wenn es euch interessiert.

Throughout its first 25 years, Major League Soccer has seen players from all different corners of the globe, each with their own career story. Whether it be a guy like Tim Melia or Chris Wondolowski who were scrappy guys that came out of nowhere to be stars in this league, or world famous names such as Zlatan, Beckham, and Henry, the league's history of big names is as diverse as they come.
Let's take a look at the best player from each country around the globe. This will be based on national team allegiance. Today, we'll be leading with Europe!
Please note that this is my opinion, and in some cases the decisions were tough; I'll be sure to add in honorable mentions where I can, or add notes.
Albania: Shkëlzen Gashi ( COL 2016-18)
Short list to pick from here, as Gashi's only competition is Jahmir Hyka and Hamdi Salihi. Gashi gets the nod, if nothing else, for his huge 2016 season, where he scored 10 regular season goals (one of which was that year's Goal of the Year) as the Rapids damn near won the Shield. The madlad then went and one-upped that with his absurd equalizer in the playoffs against the Galaxy.
His last two years weren't as fruitful, but man, when he was on he could pull something out of nowhere.
Armenia: Yura Movsisyan ( KC 2006-07, RSL 2007-09 & 2016-18, CHI 2018)
Four choices here, although in the end it's Movsisyan winning out over Harut Karapetyan, who played a couple seasons in the 90s for the Galaxy, San Jose, and Tampa Bay. The fourth pick in a strong 2006 MLS SuperDraft out of Pasadena City College, Movsisyan is mostly associated with RSL, who acquired him in a 2007 trade. With the Claret and Cobalt, he would tally 15 goals in 53 regular season appearances, and in 2009 he'd hoist the club's first MLS Cup. That'd be his last game with RSL until 2016 after some time in Europe with Randers, Krasnodar, and Spartak Moscow (even sharing the Russian PL Golden Boot in 2012/13 with Wanderson). He'd put up a similar clip of 16 in 57 before being waived and finishing his MLS career with four scoreless games with Chicago.
Austria: Daniel Royer ( NYRB 2016-pres.)
The choice here was largely Royer vs. Andreas Ivanschitz, who was a regular starter for Seattle's first MLS Cup, but I can't say no to a man with over 100 MLS matches played and three straight 10-goal seasons. In all comps, the former Austria Vienna man is just two goals behind Thierry Henry for third on the Red Bulls' all time goal scoring list.
Belarus: Sasha Gotsmanov ( COL 2005)
Gotsmanov qualifies by default as the only Belarusian player in MLS history. The Minsk native (and son of former Soviet and Belarusian international Sergei Gotsmanov) played one (1) single game for Colorado in October 2005, against RSL.
Belgium: Laurent Ciman ( MTL 2015-17, LAFC 2018, TFC 2019-pres.)
Shouts to Roland Lamah, who had his moments in Dallas, and Jelle van Damme, who played a season and a half for the Galaxy, but Ciman is the obvious choice. While he's fallen off a cliff as he's gotten older, he's a three-time All-Star and won Defender of the Year in his first MLS season; in his second, he played for Belgium at Euro 2016. At 35, he's lost a step and probably should only be used in emergencies, but at his best he was an elite MLS center back that could also be deployed at right back.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Haris Medunjanin ( PHI 2017-19, CIN 2020-pres.)
The first one where I'm not totally confident in my pick, as Baggio Hušidić made this tricky (and as a Union fan I'm afraid of bias). But at his best, Haris is an assist machine (30 in four MLS seasons so far), and a threat on set pieces; the madlad even scored an Olimpico this year. His left foot is probably the best the Union have ever had. While his commitment to defense was nonexistent, give him the ball and he could spray a pass anywhere.
Bulgaria: Hristo Stoichkov ( CHI 2000-02, DC 2003)
One of three former Ballon d'Or winners to play in MLS (the others being Lothar Matthaus and Kaka, although "playing" is generous for the former), Stoichkov spent the last four seasons of his career in MLS, scoring 22 goals in 72 regular season matches for Chicago and DC. In his first season, a 9 goal in 18 match outing for the Fire, he also won the US Open Cup, scoring the opening goal of the final, a 2-1 win over Miami. (The winning goal, by the way, was scored by our old friend Owen Goal.)
Croatia: Damir Kreilach ( RSL 2018-pres.)
Mr. Miyagi's favorite MLS player for his crane kick equalizer in the playoffs, the former Rijeka and Union Berlin man has proven to be an excellent utility piece and core part of RSL throughout his time there, scoring 26 goals and chipping in 14 assists in 86 regular season matches and playing all over the damn place (naturally a central midfielder, he's probably still RSL's best forward). At 31, he still has a lot to give.
MLS has seen a huge influx of Croats lately, though; before Kreilach's 2018 signing there had only been four Croatian players in MLS history, two of whom barely played. Currently, there are five on active rosters.
Czechia: Luboš Kubík ( CHI 1998-2001, DAL 2001)
Czech players have had a good hit rate in MLS. In his lone MLS season, Bořek Dočkal led the league in assists, and Zdeněk Ondrášek was a very solid piece for Dallas, albeit one whose MLS time was brief.
But no. We have to go with Kubik. The sweeper was Best XI twice, in 1998 and 1999, and won Defender of the Year in 1998 helping Chicago to a MLS Cup-Open Cup double. He'd win another Open Cup two years later, before being traded to Dallas in 2001 and retiring due to injury.
So many lethal counterattacks started on the foot of this man, and he is rightfully seen as one of the greatest defenders the league has ever seen.
Denmark: Jimmy Nielsen ( KC 2010-13)
I debated going WAYYYYYYY off the board here and throwing out Miklos Molnar. His time in MLS was brief, just the 2000 season before he retired, but the man was the best attacking piece on a Cup winner. He could have balled out if he didn't retire early.
But nah. We're going with Casino Jimmy, one of the keys towards Kansas City's early 2010s turnaround. A two time All-Star, Nielsen was Goalkeeper of the Year in 2012, a year that also saw him win the Open Cup with the Wiz (on penalties, because KC and penalties, name a more iconic duo at this point). In 2013, he capped off his career by winning MLS Cup, again on penalties, while playing with broken ribs.
England: Bradley Wright-Phillips ( 2013-2019, LAFC 2020)
This league, man.
The list of English players to have represented in MLS is a long one, full of iconic names. Ashley Cole. David Beckham. Frank Lampard. Steven Gerrard. Jermain Defoe. Wayne Rooney. Hell, even Bradley's brother Shaun.
But nope. Many of those guys are the butt of many MLS jokes. BWP, on the other hand, is one of the greatest goal scorers the league has ever seen, with two Golden Boots to his name and well over a century of league goals. He was a part of 3 Shield winning teams, and made CONCACAF's Best XI in 2018.
And it all started with a quiet trial in 2013 after Charlton dumped him. This. League.
And This. Man. Even as a fan of Philly who doesn't care much for the Red Bulls, I respect this dude and everything he's done. I hope he gets another year after winning Comeback Player of the Year this year.
Estonia: Joel Lindpere ( NYRB 2010-12, CHI 2013)
The only other option here was Erik Sorga, who could dethrone Lindpere as he came to MLS at a very young age. But it's unlikely, as Lindpere was quietly very solid for the Red Bulls during his time. The Tallinn native was a two-time All-Star, and in 2010 he was named the Red Bulls' team MVP.
Finland: Alex Ring ( NYC 2017-2020, AUS pres.)
T O P I C A L
There's a few fairly talented Finns in MLS right now that could make this interesting (I really like Robin Lod's game, and Lassi Lappelainen would be excellent for Montreal if he'd stop getting hurt). Ring however has proven his worth across 4 seasons, including time as NYC's captain. Over 10,000 MLS minutes, mostly for good teams, as a defensive anchor, he will be a fantastic tone-setter for the new Austin team.
France: Thierry Henry ( NYRB 2010-14)
Oh man, as an Ireland fan I wanted to give this to literally anyone else. I am still bitter, dammit.
His best competition is probably Aurelien Collin, who has a closetful of trophies (including a Best XI and MLS Cup MVP). But no...it's Henry.
When a big name comes to MLS, what people want to see is someone who treats the league with respect. Henry did that. Not only was he dominant on the pitch, a three-time Best XI nomination, he also respected the history of the club he played for and gave 100%, even though he was getting up there in the years. He's a Red Bulls and MLS legend...as much as I curse that godforsaken hand
Georgia: Valeri "Vako" Qazaishvili ( SJ 2017-20)
It looks like the San Jose chapter of Vako's career is done and dusted. While the former Vitesse man struggled for consistency, he did put up 26 goals and 13 assists across four MLS seasons for the Quakes, including 10 while being coached by Mikael Stahre, which should probably get him and Wondo some sort of award.
We'll see what's next for him, if he leaves MLS or goes back to Europe. His only competition was Quakes teammate Guram Kashia.
Germany: Bastian Schweinsteiger ( CHI 2017-19)
I'm...actually not sure about this one. I actually changed this while writing, as I very nearly chose Julian Gressel; the former Rookie of the Year has two 10-assist seasons under his belt, and Kai Wagner has also been one of the league's better fullbacks for Philadelphia; Schweinsteiger was solid enough for Chicago in his advanced age for some very frustrating teams (and even moved positions to center back!)...but man, I don't know.
Germany is weird. For a country with such a great footballing tradition, the pickings are fairly slim. Arne Friedrich had one good year for Chicago before injuries claimed his career. Lottar Matthaus was as committed to this league as Schalke are to winning football matches. Stefan Aigner was stifled by Anthony Hudson going galaxy brain. Torsten Frings...existed.
I dunno.
Greece: Alexandros Tabakis ( ATL 2017)
The only Greek in MLS history...and our second one game wonder. Atlanta's FOURTH string keeper in 2017, he managed to sneak into a game against Minnesota with Brad Guzan on international duty, Alec Kann injured, and Kyle Reynish sent off during the match.
Atlanta lost 3-2. He's now in USL.
Hungary: Nemanja Nikolić ( CHI 2017-19)
Dániel Sallói and Krisztián Németh had their moments, but the winner is Nikolić, who came to MLS from the Ekstraklasa and immediately won the Golden Boot. His totals diminished in the three seasons he spent with Chicago, but 51 goals in 96 appearances isn't too shabby at all - it's second in Fire history behind Ante Razov.
Iceland - Guðmundur Þórarinsson ( NYC 2020-pres.)
Not much choice, 3 guys, all of whom were mostly bench guys. I almost went with Kristinn Steindorsson here on the merits of "he didn't have a penalty saved by Rodrigo Schlegel."
Israel: Gadi Kinda ( SKC 2020-pres.)
It was either him or Dedi Ben Dayan, really. And I nearly went with the former Colorado left back, but nah, Kinda is very much the superior player. The midfielder born in Ethiopia, Kinda shone brightly in his first season in KC, with 6 goals and 4 assists in his debut season. He'll be a DP next season.
Italy: Sebastian Giovinco ( TOR 2015-18)
A signing that changed an entire club.
Before Giovinco, the Reds were a laughingstock. He came in, won a Golden Boot and MVP right away, led the league in assists, made Best XI three years in a row, led them to their first playoff game, their first MLS Cup final, their first MLS Cup win, and a historic treble. And they damn near won CCL too.
The Atomic Ant was must-see from Day 1. It's not just because of him that Toronto is now one of MLS's elite...but he was a huge part of changing that culture. 83 goals in 142 games in all comps. And he dished out his fair share of assists too, with a telepathic partnership with Jozy.
Latvia: Raivis Hščanovičs ( TOR 2010)
Not much to write about here. 14 games for a bad Reds team. Gets in by default with no other Latvian MLS players.
Liechtenstein: Nicholas Hasler ( TOR 2017-18, CHI 2018-19, SKC 2019)
Another one by default. 66 games as a utilityman. Won MLS Cup and the Shield, though.
Lithuania: Vytautas Andriuškevičius ( POR 2016-18, DC 2018)
Only other choice was Edgaras Jankauskas, a forward who played 14 games for the Revs. Vytas played 37 for Portland and zero for DC.
Luxembourg: Maxime Chanot ( NYC 2016-pres.)
Another one by default but this one's an actually really solid player that finished fourth in Defender of the Year voting in 2019. We take those.
Malta: Etienne Barbera ( VAN 2012)
2 games in 2012. Only Maltese player in MLS.
Montenegro: Branko Bošković ( DC 2010-12)
Pretty much every other Montenegrin player played less than 20 games in MLS. Bošković played 43 before returning to Europe for family reasons. 7 assists in his final season though, which is technically something.
Netherlands: Johan Kappelhof ( CHI 2016-pres.)
Much like Germany, bright footballing tradition, very shaky MLS history. Which is weird because the Eredivisie exports a lot of guys to MLS.
Also, I'm excluding Kelvin Leerdam, as he is probably changing his international allegiance to Suriname.
So I'm going with 2017 All-Star Kappelhof, who I think is still fairly solid.
But really the choices aren't great. Dave van den Burgh? Roland Alberg scored a hat trick once I guess? Danny Koevermans was decent but injured all the time?
Maybe it's a hot take. It probably is.
North Macedonia: Oka Nikolov ( PHI 2013)
Never actually played, only in a friendly. Watch this space though as North Macedonia is apparently courting LAFC's Danny Musovski.
Northern Ireland: Johnny Steele ( RSL 2012, NYRB 2013-14)
Another case of shaky opposition, it was either Steele or Steve Morrow, who played 41 games for Dallas in the aughts.
Steele played regularly for a Shield winner, the 2013 Red Bulls. Easy peasy.
Norway: Vadim Demidov Ola Kamara ( CLB 2016-17, LAG 2018, DC 2019-pres.)
Adama Diomande is the main competition here. Kamara's first stint in MLS was a smashing success, scoring 48 goals in 90 regular season matches for Columbus and the Galaxy (he was traded for Gyasi Zardes before 2018). A brief foray to China followed, and while he's back in MLS with DC he hasn't quite been the same.
Still a good player on his day, maybe just the Bennyball effect.
Poland: Piotr Nowak ( CHI 1998-2002)
When I think of early Chicago, Nowak and the earlier-mentioned Kubik are the first two names that come to mind. Kubik held down the back while Nowak was the chief creator in the midfield. Three-time best XI, three-time All-Star, and MLS Cup MVP.
...can I drink my water now?
Portugal: José Gonçalves ( NE 2013-16)
Gonçalves fell off a cliff in his latter years, but in his first MLS season he won Defender of the Year and in his second he was a key part of a team that made the MLS Cup final and damn near won the thing.
Runner up here is Nani who is probably closing in.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention Pedro Santos, thanks to the Crew fans who pointed that one out. I still think Gonçalves pips him for his 2013 if nothing else, but Santos is probably closer than Nani.
Republic of Ireland: Robbie Keane ( LAG 2011-16)
A LOT closer than you think; Time Person of the Century Juventus legend Ronnie O'Brien was two-time best XI himself.
But nonono. This is Robbie freaking Keane. When we see these big name Euro guys interested in MLS, this is the man we want them to be.
Hypercompetitive and holding guys accountable on and off the pitch, and scoring for fun. 83 goals in 125 MLS regular season appearances. Best XI four times. 2014 MVP. MLS Cup MVP in 2014. A closetful of team awards including 3 MLS Cups.
This man was a baller, and frankly his departure was the beginning of the Galaxy decline into irrelevance, but that's a story for another time.
Romania: Alexandru Mitriță ( NYC 2019-pres.?)
Question mark because he's on loan and I have no idea if it'll be permanent, but he was punted out by the Pigeons just as he was really starting to break out. He scored 12 goals in his debut season last year but filled in nicely this year while Maxi Moralez was injured. EDIT: NYC fans have informed me he wasn't punted out, but was loaned out to be closer to his pregnant wife. My apologies.
Honorable mention: Alex Zotincă, who played for the Wizards and Chivas USA in the aughts. Brave man.
Russia: Igor Simutenkov ( KC 2002-04)
Not a lot to pick from here either. 49 games, 12 goals for this forward from Moscow, who now serves as an assistant coach at Zenit.
Scotland: John Spencer ( COL, 2001-04)
Give Johnny Russell another few years and he'll pass Spencer, but for now I'm leaning the latter. Spencer as a coach was frustrating as hell, but as a player he was Best XI twice and an MVP finalist once. Dude could score goals despite battling injuries in his time in MLS.
Just don't let him sign Kris Boyd. Then you lose to Cal FC. No one wants that.
Serbia: Aleksandar Katai ( 2018-19, 2020)
FROM A SPORTING PERSPECTIVE.
And mostly due to a weak pool. Runner up was probably someone like Miloš Kocić.
18 goals in 62 games for Chicago before getting yeeted back to Serbia for Bad People Reasons
Slovakia: Albert Rusnák ( RSL 2017-pres.)
He has tenure on Ján Greguš, who's the closest competitor, but Rusnák is also good. He followed up a 14-assist debut season (4th in the league) with back to back 10 goal seasons before struggling this year with injury.
Slovenia: Robert Berić ( CHI 2020-pres.)
Once he got acclimated to MLS, the goals came, and Chicago has its successor to Nikolić up top. He finished with 12 goals in his debut season, tied for second in the league with Ruidiaz and Zardes.
Also, from what I saw early on, seems like he's a dark-arts type of guy that gets in your head. That's fun.
Spain: David Villa ( NYC 2015-18)
I really didn't want to put him here due to recent allegations, and the fact that Pozuelo has already matched his MVP and two Best XI performances....
77 goals in 117 games though, that's tough to pass on.
Sweden: Zlatan Ibrahimović ( LAG 2018-19)
It's Zlatan.
He pretty much dragged a sorry LA organization to something resembling competitiveness.
What the hell did you expect?
(Anton Tinnerholm made this hard, though)
EDIT: Forgot Gustav Svensson as well in my honorable mentions.
Switzerland: Stefan Frei ( TOR 2009-13, SEA 2014-pres.)
Pretty self-explanatory, one of the most accomplished keepers in MLS history and with a closetful of hardware. And all it took Seattle to get him was a late first round pick that pinged around so much that it was eventually traded for a coach.
Turkey: Sercan Güvenışık ( SJ 2012)
5 games that year. No one else has flown the Turkish flag in MLS.
Ukraine: Dema Kovalenko ( CHI 1999-2002, DC 2002-05, NYRB 2006-08, RSL 2008, LAG 2008-10)
I'm afraid he'd break my legs if I didn't. One of the most physical and downright dirty players the league has ever seen. Made nearly 300 appearances though, and has one each of the 3 major US trophies (MLS Cup, USOC, Shield), all with a different team.
Wales: Andy Dorman ( NE 2004-07, 2013-15)
Dorman was a key part of that real good Revs team from the mid-aughts, and just beats out Carl Robinson. He made 112 appearances in his first stint, and played in 3 MLS Cup finals, though they famously lost all three. The Revs brought him back in 2013 after some time in Scotland and England, and was playing semipro in the area as recently as 2018.

In the past, Chris Hedges has forecast the fall of America by 2030. Perhaps, perhaps not. Almost undoubtedly there will be a United States of America come January 1st, 2030 -- barring some nuclear holocaust. But what it is has been so hollowed out by decades of grift and corporate self-interest, it will be about as recognizable as Imperial Rome was to the Roman Republic. Institutional forms merely carried forward as but a facade.
But it has become clear to me 2020 has been America's last great Hurrah. By Hurrah, I mean the artificial propping up of the stock market and the upper middle class crowded around it like an enclave of apes around a monolith they worship but fundamentally don't understand, entranced to madness while the elites pull the levers of the enigmatic machine. What started as an actual economic tool, had been transformed into a retirement fund like houses for a privileged generation or two, and now is merely a casino where the house always wins -- although the ones playing seem wholly oblivious to the fact unlike in Las Vegas.
Others are cheering on Joe Biden as the next savior, much as Obama should have been. His cabinet picks show a man trying to reconstruct 2016 BAU. The man himself seems primed to be the next Jimmy Carter. For those too young to remember, that nice guy was as useful as using cat's whiskers to push a car. Mr President-Elect is a gerontocrat from another era well past his prime, the boomer's last gasp and grasp at maintaining power. It's already quite evident his administration will likely be run by teams of underlings in a multi-sided tug of war with each other, no one at the helm. This is not unique, Reagan was somewhat the same way and before him Woodrow Wilson after a stroke. But the illusion of the President being someone with his hand on the wheel was maintained, who knows what will occur when that public perception is shattered? Weekend at Bernies was fun and games when it was a random rich guy that had no fundamental power over a nation.
Today I was at possibly the last institution of American greatness, one thing most citizen's loved and could agree on. The Post Office. Established by Ben Franklin. Semi-privatized by Reagan. Stifled by Congress. Stopped neither by snow, rain, heat nor gloom of night -- it has finally been brought to its knees these last six months. Not Corona. But by a Trump desperate to win an election and decades long Republican yearning to privatize yet another public service, one that is largely self-funded but to a small fraction of what it costs to keep the military. Avowed corporatists dreaming of bringing the "free market" to streamline and inevitably force private monopolized pricing, especially on rural America. Elderly with drugs. Those running small businesses. Communities out in boondocks that will never get UPS/Fedex service, the PO being their single lifeline out into the greater world. America's last great institution has fallen. Sorting machines scrapped. Its upper tier fired or shuffled. Immense delays never seen in the past so systematically. Corona conveniently blamed.
The regionalism of the Hunger Games was an inspired bit of foreshadowing from fiction to where we're headed in the near future. In all likelihood, an increasingly autocratic North-East Corridor tail wagging the rest of the dog just as Goldman Sachs & Friends dictated $9T bailout the NYSE casino. No ideology is at play, nor any greater political theory other than The Rich Make the Rules, So Let the Rich Get Richer. Merely through disparate wealth and power and connections. In a sense, America has always centered this way regionally dating from the original Colonies and cemented in the 19th Century. It's just merely never been explicitly formalized.
Decades from now, when people ask when the peak of the US came and some may expect to hear 2020 or 2030ish perhaps. Corona or some other clear delineation like the fall of the Berlin Wall may exist. But those are just visual symptoms. The actual answer by most metrics will be 1945 and the immediate postwar. A result of a culmination of moves from early 19th Century towards hemispherical hegemony and empire. The rest of the industrialized world devastated, it served as uncontested factory and Superpower to the world. Exports were at max. Unemployment was low, wages were high. Its Universities had been bolstered by Europe's top talent since the early 1930s. It had exclusive access to the Atom Bomb. And was at the very cusp of computing which would pay major dividends later. By most metrics, America dominated everyone else.
"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
What we have left is just an afterimage placed over a husk that hasn't been dispelled quite yet. Like a major corporate stock too many bet on long after the company has slumped in reality because they remember the good times which feeds their hopium. YHOO. Sears. USA. Company or nation, the story of once-dominant interests mostly repeat as human nature stays the same.
Enjoy your 2021. A delirious "Return to the Mean" will be the main theme in most people's minds. Use that tidbit as you wish.

I am a Baritone Opera singer whose been working towards a professional career from day one. I have been through every trial, from low level chorus work all the way through to principal work. I have spent twenty of the best years of my life, and earned both my bachelors and masters of music, in order to pursue my professional goals. I wanted to make the most of my ability to sing opera, by applying for representation, so that I could travel and perform professionally.
I have also faced a great deal of disappointment, however. great enough to make me think that I’ve lost that meaning to my life. I’ve faced being sexually assaulted, being barred from roles because of my eye and hair coloweight, being ostracized by entire groups of singers for no good reason, even being told that my military service was a detriment to my ability to sing. Worst of all, instead of support and alternatives, I’ve dealt with everybody giving “excuses” for the perpetrators of these wrongs.... I’ve never given excuse, I worked for a fair opportunity.
This last year was supposed to be that golden opportunity. you know where you have all your ducks in a row and you’ve done your diligence and You’ve made yourself ready for anything? Well I didn’t pass it up! This last February I was supposed to be in Berlin for an agent audition. In the summer of ‘19, I earned my masters, and went on to a young artist program for a production of “Don Giovanni“. It was an amazing show and I prepared and performed Masetto Until I didn’t even know who I was. But while I was there, I linked up with an agent. I got to sing for him, he was extremely nice, and invited me back for an official audition for his Roster (I had shown that I had what it takes, That all those years of hard work were worth it!!!). So after leaving Germany that summer, I returned home and took a job at a casino to make the money to return, and in the meantime I spent the next six months preparing and studying my music for a real professional audition. When I had achieved the money, I contacted the agency and asked to audition, and they said yes. I Purchased my airline tickets, my mandatory travel insurance, my lodgings, my overseas cellular data plan, And even budgeted for food every day I was to be there, as well as coaching in Frankfurt with a top of the line musician to prepare myself! I had all my ducks in a row and this was supposed to be that one big shot....
The company, CICADA Kunstler Agentur reneged on the audition, on the agreed time and date, and not Far enough back before I was supposed to fly for me to change my itinerary, so that the agent could somehow go to Spain that week instead! I was stranded in Berlin for that entire week! My coach decided to shirk out on me So I couldn’t travel to Frankfurt. I spent the week trying to find other opportunities in Germany. I was stranded, and out €3000 with nothing…
I contacted other agencies, other companies which had opportunities listed for both principal and chorus roles. I contacted Facebook groups for opera singers I was in to see if they had any opportunities available, Especially since I had seen several posts of people looking for opportunities, and the community being open and helpful in what they could find. I even tried to tap in to my veteran ties, and reach out to the army field band at Graffenwoher air base, To see if they had any connections in the music scene at Germany to whom I might be redirected… I got the cold shoulder from everybody. The few companies in Germany who responded told me they were not looking. Everybody on the Facebook groups started giving the agency excuses and asking Against me, Wondering what I somehow did wrong and discouraging me from pressing for recompense. And instead of opportunities like they had for others, they didn’t offer me or suggest anything, nobody was looking for me. It was as though I had worked for everything myself, and when it all fell through my fingers, nobody wanted to be there to help me back up, and nobody still wants to be there to help!
That being said, my last audition was put off Until November of this year because everybody jumped on Covid, so even though I’ve been broken I tried as best I could to prepare or NYIOP. But then my father had a heart attack about a week and a half before I was supposed to sing. The strain of saving his life, along with how my older brother shrugged it off and disrespected me for the effort, left me now with clinical depression, post traumatic stress syndrome...NYIOP Made its excuse, and rejected me as well. I fucked up on the language in my condition, and when I couldn’t make excuse to them, they made excuse to me and rejected me with it...
I am asking if there is any hope, because Opera Music over the years has become the meaning to my life. It has given meaning to my life. And now that I’m older, I don’t think I could continue living, if that opportunity I’ve worked for passes me up because it was taken away, both by bad luck and by covid. I’ve tried to exist as best I could. I tried taking up the courses in computer programming As an alternate skill... but I’m nowhere near as happy as I was whenever I was on the stage. I’m asking if anyone here knows of any real professional opportunities left for me. It’s not like I haven’t been on YapTracker or Audition Oracle, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking. Please 😭 I’m begging you!

Have any of you actually been inside one of them? What's the deal?

Note: The particularly important details and music artist names are in bold text. Licensed music track names are in italics.
The year is 1973, five years after the events of the Mafia III, and 22 years since Vito Scaletta’s seen or heard from his old friend Joe Barbaro. The canon ending of Mafia III with this Mafia IV story is Vito taking over the city after Lincoln skipped town, however Cassandra and Burke are left alive and loyal to both Vito and Lincoln still. Burke was able to survive his liver cancer by getting a black market liver transplant in Mexico, like he did in his ending, except with Vito running the city. On Vito and Lincoln’s behalf, Burke and Cassandra agree to stay behind in New Bordeaux and keep the city locked down, incase Leo Galante and the Commission try anything.
The beginning cutscene is Vito answering his telephone after getting up in the morning in his new penthouse, on the top floor of the New Bordeaux casino he finished that was once Sal Marcano's, and grabbing a cup of coffee. It's Alma with some urgent news. Lincoln Clay came down to the cigar warehouse to visit her after 5 years of silence, and he has big news.
Joe is alive in Empire Bay and has been this entire time. However, as punishment for his actions, he's become Leo Galante's personal driver against his will and is forbidden from contacting Vito ever again, or else him and Vito will be killed. Alma then tells Vito to meet Lincoln at the airport to learn more, as he's already there awaiting Vito's arrival. When they're away from anyone who could listen in on their conversation, Lincoln tells Vito he has a friend named John Donovan he's going to introduce him to, hiding in the outskirts of Empire Bay, ready to help Vito and Lincoln with their new mission
Vito gets dressed in one of his signature trench coats with a suit and tie, ready to rain down hell on the Vinci crime family and their allies, and finally be reunited with his lifelong friend he previously thought was dead, Joe Barbaro.
Here is my idea for the kill list, all related to the Commission in Empire Bay and their allies.

• Leo Galante - Top target on the list, Vinci family consigliere who's in with the Commission and the man you thought put Joe in the ground for the past 22 years. Bury this wrinkly old cocksucker.
• Johnny Galante - Vinci family capo and younger relative of Leo's mentioned in Cassandra's ending, possibly Leo's cousin even. John Donovan knows that the two are close, and that Johnny's a valuable asset to Leo's organization. Kill him both to hurt Leo's earn and influence, and to hit him straight in the heart by taking away his family and everyone he loves
• Michele Galante Jr. - Another Vinci family capo, and Leo Galante’s youngest brother. Killing Leo’s little brother will both take away one of his most reliable allies, and leave him stricken with grief and enraged, and more prone to making mistakes.
• Nunzio Galante - Leo’s seasoned older brother by 3 years, and yet another Vinci family capo. He knows enough about smuggling that he worked out an ingenious plan for smuggling military grade weapons into the city. He pays off corrupt officials at Empire Bay International Airport, to allow guns to be loaded inside the walls and floors of planes, unknown to everyone onboard save for the palms the Galantes and Frank Vinci have greased to cooperate and keep quiet. The time has come to put this crafty old bastard in the ground.
• Don Frank Vinci - Frank Vinci is the boss of the Vinci crime family, the family Leo's been a consigliere of for decades, and a lifelong friend of his. Kill Frank, and Leo loses more ground than he could ever imagine, and will be forced to deal with both the loss of his boss, and the loss of his lifelong childhood friend.
• Don Ennio Salieri - Longtime close friend of both Frank Vinci and Leo Galante, Don of the Salieri crime family, and a third party Frank and Leo call in to crush Vito's uprising, when it becomes too big of an issue for Vinci alone to handle. Salieri was eventually able to grease enough palms while behind bars to have his life sentence overturned, and he got released from prison on good behavior in 1953, after he served 15 years of his sentence. He’s since relocated to his main operations to Empire Bay, having already had connections and men present there while he was in prison, backed by the Commission and the Vinci crime family. He's seasoned, but he’s nothing Mr. Scaletta can't handle. Give this tired old fuck the gangland ending he's had coming.
• Isaac - Isaac is the personal assistant to an influential loan shark named Bruno Levine, who handles the money of the Commission, including the Vinci crime family and the Salieri crime family. He does anything from serve his boss coffee, to count incoming and outgoing money for Bruno. Because of his duties, he's aware of Bruno's location at all times. You’ll need to get to Isaac to get information on his boss out of him, and dispose of him afterwards if you want to get to Bruno.
• Bruno Levine - Bruno is a Jewish-American loan shark who kicks up all of his earn to both Frank Vinci and Ennio Salieri, and the Commission in Empire Bay. Killing him kills a lot of earn for the Commission, and they loses a valuable asset. In addition to getting rid of him being practical, to add insult to injury, he gave your father that loan. It's about time to put this asshole out of business.
• Mr. Chu & Mr. Chu Jr. - This old man has been leading the Empire Bay Triads with an iron fist since before you were even born. The bastard has a son too, who eventually went on to become his underboss. The Empire Bay Triads became a close ally of the Vinci crime family, the Salieri crime family, and the Commission shortly after Vito killed Don Carlo Falcone in 1951, forming a lucrative partnership with the Commission. Mr. Chu and his eldest son are valuable assets for Leo Galante who give him extra reach. Melt their iron fists and show these two pricks just who they fucked with.
• Eddie Scarpa - This cocksucker used to be Carlo Falcone's underboss for as long as you could remember. After you whacked Falcone in the fall of 1951, he decided to throw in with Vinci to save his own skin. He took over the smuggling and dock union extortion that fat fuck Derek Pappalardo used to run. You know all too well how to deal with this sorry fuckin' rat.

I'm thinking Vito and Joe work with Lincoln Clay and John Donovan to split up Empire Bay and distribute territory to three other factions not unlike what Lincoln did with New Bordeaux. This time though, this is a much larger city in a much, much different part of the United States. The empire building mechanics would be a lot smoother, more robust, and streamlined compared to Mafia III. They would work similarly a more modernized version of how the hit city sandbox game Scarface: The World Is Yours handled it's empire building and management mechanics, minus the whole switching to other characters lower on the ladder to do your bidding. This would be ideal for a story rich organized crime game in my opinion. Here are my ideas for those factions, all close allies of the up and coming Scaletta crime family.
The Cuban mob led by Alma Diaz. Vito goes way back with Alma, and she does not hesitate to answer him and Lincoln's calls to save Joe's life and royally fuck both Leo Galante and the Vinci family.
Conti crime family, led by Enzo Conti. This Conti crime family formed sometime in late 1968, months after Lincoln helped Enzo flee New Bordeaux and drop off of Sal Marcano's radar. It turns out he fled north to Empire Bay and finally formed his own family, having more than enough years of experience in the underworld to handle the job. Lincoln's tight with him and manages to recruit him to Vito and Joe's cause.
The Yakuza, based out of Empire Bay's Japantown. Longtime sworn enemies of the Empire Bay Triads, with bad blood going back decades. They would greatly enjoy seeing Mr. Chu and his son's heads mounted on pikes, along with whacking everyone who's ever supported their organization. You don't know them well, and they're known to be very unpredictable and ruthless. Use these traits to your advantage when taking on the Commission of Empire Bay and their friends.
I should mention as expected, this entire 1973 section where you play as Vito is much shorter than Mafia III. Vito's takeover is shown much more quickly over time than Lincoln's, and there's time skips during it, to keep it short and sweet, and to show onscreen only what's important. There is also no option for your underbosses to betray you, as to reduce confusion and keep the story consistently the same each playthrough, like the first two Mafia games.
However, unlike Mafia III, after all of these tasks are completed and every single assassination target on Vito’s kill list is dealt with, the game does not end. In fact, it's not even anywhere near close to being over yet. Vito's 1973 section was merely the beginning act. It was really a lead up to an entirely new Mafia story, centering around a newcomer to the American mob. Fast forward two years following Vito’s rampage that led to him taking over Empire Bay and the Commission, in the year 1975 him and Joe now rule Empire Bay, with Vito as the Don of the Scaletta Crime Family, and Joe working as his loyal underboss. You play the rest of the game as a young up and coming soldato named Louis in his 20’s, who’s a rising star in Vito’s organization. Do right by Mr. Scaletta and Mr. Barbaro, understand kid?
My basic idea for the character and his backstory is that he's a young Italian-Canadian mobster from Toronto, Ontario, or whatever Mafia's equivalent of it could be called. Let's call him Louis DeSimone. His family hails from Tuscany in Italy and moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1939, shortly after World War II broke out in Europe. Louis DeSimone was born in July 1952 in Toronto, and was raised in Toronto's Little Italy. Being northern Italian and hailing from Tuscany, Louis has blond hair and green eyes, making him visually very distinct from past series protagonists, who were all dark haired brunets with brown eyes. Louis fled south to Empire Bay when the feds started cracking down on his old family and put his boss in prison, and he ended up finding a new home with the Scaletta crime family. The first few missions playing as Louis DeSimone involve shooting your away out of an arrest by a Toronto Police Service SWAT team in Toronto in December 1974, seeing the rest of the members of your old crime family either get arrested or shot in front of you as you make your escape. You spend the next two missions fleeing Ontario through Quebec and upstate New York, before finally arriving in Empire Bay in early 1975, late January to be exact. Winter is in full force with snow everywhere, Louis' arrival to Empire Bay for the first time in his life mirroring Vito's return to Empire Bay in 1945 30 years earlier, except under far different much more dire circumstances. Louis' older brother and his father, both capos in his old crime family in Toronto, are shown to be arrested by the TPS SWAT team in his first mission, the same one that attempted to gun him down when he resisted arrested. Louis knows someone had to have ratted out his old crime family, and he wants to find out who someday. The thing is though, he doesn't just want to kill them. He wants to get out of them why they did it before he kills them. More than anything else, he just wants to find out why his crime family was betrayed and served up to the feds on a silver platter, having most of his biological family sent to prison in the process. He’s out to uncover the mystery of why his family fell apart, and he’s more than willing to help people like Don Vito Scaletta and his underboss Joe Barbaro to eventually get the answers he seeks. In the end, he’s not even after revenge primarily, more than that, he wants answers and information regarding the fare of his old crime family, and wants to know why his family fell apart. I came up with the idea for this character because I figured that playing as a fugitive from the law made sense for the mob life, and I'm surprised we haven't had a fugitive protagonist in the Mafia series yet.
In the 1975 chapters while playing as Louis, the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon’s resignation, and the official end to the Vietnam War are all discussed on the in-game radio during news segments. In the last 1979 chapter, the beginning of the Soviet-Afghan War is also the subject of a news segment on the radio.
The story eventually transitions into the 1980's as years pass, with the scenery, cars, and music changing accordingly, and historical events of the time discussed in the game. In the 1989 section of the game, the murder of the infamous former Sinclair Parish Sheriff Walter “Slim” Beaumont is mentioned on the in-game radio, as just over 21 years ago Slim and his corruption ring were the top headline of national news. the time the game ends, it's 1992, and significant historical events from the past few years at the time that are covered on the radio in-game include anything from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the 1992 L.A. riots. The rise of the internet and home computers are briefly touched upon during news segments on the in-game radio during the early 1990's section of the story, but not greatly delved into given their relative infancy in that time period. During this entire 1975-1992 stretch of the story, Vito is no longer playable, and Don Scaletta takes a backseat in the story as a main supporting character, similar to Don Salieri throughout Mafia: Definitive Edition. You now play as the Italian-Canadian Scaletta family soldato Louis DeSimone, who is later promoted to being a capo in 1985. At the end of the game in 1992, Louis is promoted to Consigliere of the Scaletta crime family, and it’s revealed in the epilogue that he became the don of the family in 2006 at the age of 54, and his now released from prison older brother serving as his underboss, and and Enzo Conti’s grandson Giovanni Conti serving as consigliere, taking over from Louis’ previous position which before that belonged to his father and Enzo’s only son, Lorenzo Conti from 1973-1992. It is worth noting that unlike Don Salieri, Don Scaletta has much more integrity, and has more genuine loyalty for his men and his associates. If you've beaten Mafia 1 or Mafia: Definitive Edition, you'll know this is something Salieri lacked in the end. Over time, Louis also goes from having a strictly business relationship with Vito and Joe, to bonding with them and becoming a genuinely close friend and trusted member of the family, seeing Vito as something of a second father, and coming to see Joe as the fun uncle he never had. Another major character development theme is Louis DeSimone adapting and assimilating into Italian-American culture in his new home in the Northeastern US, it seeming like something new mixed with the familiar Italian-Canadian culture he was raised in back in Ontario just north of the border.
The game will include a number of hit music from the 70’s that played on the radio back then, such as Bobby Womack’s Across 110th Street and Tony Christie’s (Is This the Way to) Amarillo, The Grateful Dead's Casey Jones and at least a few songs by the then new American rock band Cheap Trick, as well as popular songs from the 1960’s people still listened to at the time, such as Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ Wooly Bully, King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man, Zager and Evans' In the Year 2525, The Zombies' Time of the Season, and Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. When you progress through the game, especially after you switch to playing as Louis DeAngelo for the rest of the story, years change, and the music changes. Different songs start playing on the radio, such as Sylvester's You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), Randy Crawford's Street Life, and The Village People's Y.M.C.A., Cheryl Lynn's Got to Be Real, Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive, and the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive start playing in the 1979 portion of the game. After you've completed the 1975 section of the game, Foghat's Slow Ride starts playing on the radio. Starting in the 1977 section of the game, Cheap Trick's I Want You to Want Me and Heart's Barracuda start playing on the radio. In the 1980's portion of the game, Thomas Dolby's songs Hyperactive! and She Blinded Me with Science, in addition to Night Ranger's Sister Christian also start playing on the radio. If Hangar 13 can afford the licenses, I also think a few Michael Jackson and Madonna songs should definitely be on the radio during the 1980's portion of the story, given the immense popularity and regular radio airtime those two had in that decade. If this ended up being possible, I imagine that Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, Beat It, Bad, and Billie Jean being on the radio in the 80's sections would be a must, Smooth Criminal especially because of how well it suits the series. Madonna's Lucky Star, Burning Up, Like a Virgin, and Borderline would also be perfect for the 80's portion of the game to me. Also mentioned by NPCs and civilians in the game are topical events of the time period, such as the release of the groundbreaking 1973 horror film The Exorcist at the end of Vito's playable portion of the game.
Other music of the 1980's segment when playing as Louis DeAngelo for the remainder of the game includes hits of the era such as Joe Jackson's Steppin' Out, The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star, Corey Hart's Sunglasses at Night, Laura Branigan's Self Control and Gloria, The Weather Girls' It's Raining Men, A-ha’s Take On Me, Men at Work's Down Under, Kim Wilde's Kids in America, The Gap Band's You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon, Michael Sembello’s Maniac, Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock and We're Not Gonna Take It, Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive and Bad Medicine, Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistible, Rick Astley’s Together Forever, Whenever You Need Somebody, and Never Gonna Give You Up, Cutting Crew’s [I Just] Died In Your Arms, Loverboy's Working for the Weekend, Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) and That's the Way (I Like It), Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now, Daryl Hall & John Oates' Maneater, Aneka's Japanese Boy, Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood, Girls, Girls, Girls and Kickstart My Heart, Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire, Huey Lewis And The News' Hip To Be Square, Bill Medley's (I've Had) The Time of My Life, The Police's Every Breath You Take, Whodini's Magic's Wand, Guns ‘N Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City, Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me, Regina's Baby Love, Nena's 99 Red Balloons, Earth, Wind, and Fire's Let's Groove and September, Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face and White Wedding, Rick James’ Give It To Me Baby, Olivia Newton-John’s Physical, The S.O.S. Band’s Take Your Time (Do It Right), Kenny Loggins’ Highway to the Danger Zone, Wham!’s Everything She Wants, George Michael's Careless Whisper, Toto's Hold the Line and Africa, Blondie's Heart of Glass and Atomic, and Mai Tai's History.
**Note that not every single year and moment of the 17 year 1975-1992 section playing as Louis DeAngelo is playable or chronicled. My idea is it would be handled similarly to how the time skips in Mafia 1/Mafia: Definitive Edition were handled. Time skips of two or more years, or in this case, even longer such as 4 years sometimes, the game skipping from 1979 to 1983. This is to keep the game and story length ideal, and not risk it getting boring or repetitive, or going on for too long. Repetition was a big problem in Mafia III even if I still thought it was a superb game, so I think it'd be best to learn from that for the next big entry. The games story will skip ahead and show onscreen only what's significant, similar to the first Mafia game and it's remake, as well as certain aspects of Mafia II. Louis starts his section as a 22 year old fugitive soldato who got picked up by another crew south of the Canadian border, and in the epilogue of the game in 1992, is promoted to the consigliere of the Scaletta crime family at the age of 40, being set to take over the family once Vito and Joe become too old to run the day to day on a regular basis. Louis DeSimone is promoted to don of the Scaletta crime family following Vito and Joe being officially retired as of 2006. They’re both still involved and paid huge amounts of money by Louis out of respect, but keep a much lower profile by then since they have handpicked successors and aren’t worried about where the business is going.
The years chronicled in the main gameplay segments are as follows:
1973
1975
1977
1979
1983
1985
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
Much more of the rural areas and countryside outside of Empire Bay are included than what was available in Mafia II. The way rural environments are handled for this hypothetical Mafia IV is akin to how Mafia: Definitive Edition and Mafia III handled their rural environments outside the main cities, except much larger in scale, given the increased power of the current new consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. This region is based off of upstate New York and the surrounding areas across multiple states in the Northeastern US, and includes forests, fields, mountains, rivers, lakes, beaches, and small towns. Also included are other cities and towns, based off of other large cities in New York like Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester, where other story missions, business activities, and side missions take place, along with smaller notable places like Ithaca, Binghamton, and Utica. The entire states of New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Delaware, Maryland, and Ohio are also included, including places based off of all of their major cities and most of their notable towns in between. Large portions of Pennsylvania are included as well, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton. All of the province of Nova Scotia including the city of Halifax, and Large portions of the eastern half of the Canadian province of Ontario are included as well, including cities based off of Toronto, Ottawa, and Niagara Falls. There's even a small portion of Quebec included, including Montreal and the surrounding countryside of the province outside that city, including a few small towns in southern Quebec. The player must pass a quick border patrol check when crossing the US-Canada border in a car or other ground vehicle.
Wildlife is present in the game, mostly to add to the background, scenery, and immersion in rural environments on the map. These are all animals native to the Northeastern US, ranging from white tailed deer, coyotes, bobcats, Canada lynxes, rabbits, hares, groundhogs, gophers, beavers, raccoons, opossums, bats, chipmunks, red and gray squirrels, mice, and rats to more formidable and potentially dangerous animals that may sometimes attack the player, such as grey wolves, black bears, mountain lions, and moose. These last four animals are known to spawn in the mountainous regions, especially in New York, Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Ontario, including the rural regions based off of the Catskills and the Adirondack mountains. Dogs are present in the cities, towns, and settlements where humans live and keep them as pets, being walked and sometimes found in people's yards. Some are used as guard dogs by enemies and are aggressive towards the player on sight. Domestic cats are also present in the background of residential areas, and both Louis and Vito own them as pets throughout the game in their safe houses, as well as other onscreen characters we see the homes of throughout the game.
Aircraft make their first usable appearance in the Mafia series too, from airplanes to helicopters. Vito cannot use planes or helicopters in his playable 1973 portion of the game, as he does not know how to pilot, being a paratrooper in World War II who never actually flew any of the planes himself. Aircraft are unlocked to use when Louis DeSimone gets his pilot’s certificate offscreen in 1977, and at the end of a chapter set that year, Louis has to fly Vito in a helicopter to a penthouse in Downtown Empire Bay acting as a family safe house, equipped with a helipad. Louis frequently serves as a personal driver and pilot for both Vito and Joe afterwards, having done a lot in his time serving the family to earn their trust and respect.
Melee weapons also make a return from Mafia: Definitive Edition, with even more variety this time. In their respective sections of the game, Vito and Louis may use anything from baseball bats, pipes, shovels, brass knuckles, golf clubs, police batons, switchblades, kitchen knives, bowie knives, ice picks, 2x4s, claw hammers, crowbars, tire irons, chain links, machetes, meat cleavers, pickaxes, hatchets, sledgehammers, to fire axes. This amount of melee weapons is so no matter what environment the player finds themselves in during a mission or any other game activity, there is usually a weapon of some sort nearby. If the player has obtained piano wire, you may also strangle an enemy to death with it from behind as a stealth kill, this being a classic assassination method infamous for being used by the Italian Mafia. Rope can also be found and used for similar strangulation stealth kills, appearing in the gameplay environments where piano wire can’t be found. There is a wide variety of new guns and explosives to use in this concept for Mafia IV, going with the new weapons of the time the game takes place that criminals quickly got their hands on. This includes the SPAS-12 combat shotgun, the Beretta 92 pistol, the AK-74 assault rifle, the mini uzi, the MAC-10 submachine gun, both suppressed and unsuppressed variants, the Beretta 92 pistol, the Taurus raging bull revolver, Glock handguns, the TEC-9 machine pistol, illegally modified to be full auto, the Ruger Mini-14 full auto variant, and even Vietnam war era flamethrowers, which I think is only natural given that as of Mafia III, we already have RPGs and grenade launchers. Late in the game from the 1989 section and onwards, the Benelli M3 combat shotgun becomes available. The Milkor MGL grenade launcher becomes available beginning in the 1983 portion of the game. Attached grenade launchers are also available for the AK-47, AK-74, and M16 assault rifles. More advanced rocket launchers of the 1970’s and 1980’s are naturally included as well.
Free ride makes a return in Mafia IV, with the player having the options to change the weather, time period, and an option to play as Louis, Vito, Joe, Lincoln, or John Donovan. Naturally, a multitude of new free ride missions are available as well.
I previously posted a much earlier and less detailed draft of this on the old Mafia3 subreddit 3 years ago back in 2017 as an idea for a hypothetical Mafia 3 expansion where you play as Vito, but have since updated and revamped it to a possible Mafia IV plot, and fixed any plot holes I noticed and made it much more fleshed out and in depth, and focus on more than just Vito in the end. You may view my original here if you so desire, to compare. https://www.reddit.com/Mafia3/comments/6sldhp/spoiler_mafia_iii_vito_dlc_basic_plot_idea/
Feel free to give me constructive criticism on this, as I encourage this discourse and believe it is integral to growing and improving, to build upon or improve these ideas I've come up with, or say whether or not you think something like this should happen in the future. Thank you for reading!

LETS KEEP THIS UP TO DATE (Updated 01/01/21)
A question we see multiple times a week in this thread...It's heartbreak for all of us. We itch and ache for something to fill that void in our lives after Gomorrah...Like addicts looking for our next hit. There's nothing exactly like it, but there are similar shows of similar quality. To hopefully avoid seeing this question in the future I went ahead and made a list with my personal show and movie suggestions...and then also a list with the most commonly mentioned when this question pops up.
If there's something you think I should add, just comment and I'll update this thread every day to keep our Mafia world engine running.
Please stick to the general "organized crime" theme for suggestions you may have. Not to be mistaken with the "police" theme.
WHERE TO WATCH (google these streaming sites)
Actvid (way less ads, if any. 1st choice by far. Especially to nube pirates)
FShareTV
Europixhd
Gustatv
Putlockers
FMovies
LosMovies
MOST POPULAR SUGGESTIONS (from other redditors)
Your Honor- Bryan Cranston, New Orleans, Mafia.
Love/Hate (Ireland)- Next on the watchlist.
Warrior- Wow...Just heard of it...just started...It's an Asian American "Banshee"...So ya. It's flipping awesome.
Suburra Blood on Rome
Romanzo Criminale
Mafia UnderCover (Solo)
1992 (Trilogy 1992, 1993, 1994)
The Last Panthers (Currently Watching 1st time)
4 blocks
Umbre
Sopranos
The wire
Mob City
McMafia
Top Boy
Dogs of Berlin
Gomorrah (Movie)
Snowfall
Undercover
Pusher Trilogy
Infernal Affairs Trilogy (Asian " The Departed")
Cocaine Coast
El Chapo
Black Souls
Outrage (Asian)
The Last Narc (Kiki Camarena Documentary)
New World (Asian)
Banshee- best hand to hand action show...ever?
The Ozarks
Aranyelet
Cocaine Coast
Surviving Escobar (Alias JJ)
OZ (HBO)
A Ciambre
Cannabis
MY SUGGESTIONS (Faster paced, modern, dark)
Boardwalk Empire - I would hope everyone has seen boardwalk by now. This is the closest you'll come to scratching that Gomorrah itch and a phenomenal show overall.
Narcos & Narcos Mexico - my number 1. One of only 2 shows I enjoyed more than Gomorrah
Zero Zero Zero -Ive gathered we've all seen it...lol.
Gangs of London - Could have been better, but the Gareth Evans fight sequences and overall direction of the show is solid.
Bad Blood - loosely based on Canada's most powerful crime family, the Rizzutos.
Giri/Haji - 10/10...but it's slow. Just a warning. An "episode a night" kind of show.
Peaky Blinders - British Gangs, British History, Tom Hardy, and Cillian Murphy?! Grab a pint you wanker.
The Ruthless -loosely based on Giuseppe Morabito's rise in the Ndranghata.
The Traitor - Thomaso Buscetta biopic and my own personal favorite mafia movie of all time.
Operation Odessa- One of the most entertaining and wildest documentaries I've ever seen.
Gotti (1996). The HBO movie is solid as hell. It pisses and takes a shit on John Travolta's Gotti.
Fear City: New York and the Mafia - incredible documentary detailing the fall of the 5 family bosses of the 80-90's.
Il Capo De Capi (Corleone)- a 6 part show that follows Salvatore Riina from the time he's a boy, to his demise.
Gangs of Wasseypur - my oddball pick and the only Indian movie I've ever seen. Indian coal gangs man...Shits intense and violent as hell. Warning...It's long as shit.
Piranhas - Rise of the new generation of young Camorra's. Great coming of age story.
A Prophet- Best Picture calibre foreign gangster gem.
Nameless Gangster (Korea) - It's one of those you just gotta try it if you're skeptical on Asian movies. Take a leap of faith.
Additional movies: Donnie Brasco, The Irishman, Casino, Departed, City of God, American Gangster, Triad Election.

Multiple scenarios
Win Condition: Their opponent must be confirmed dead.
1.
Set in the entire city of Berlin, Germany
Jason: unarmed
John Wick: armed with silenced pistol
Mid-day
John has been given the contract to find and kill Jason Bourne for his life to return to normal. He's tracked Jason to Berlin Germany but the contract expires after today. Today is his only shot. Jason is unaware John is contracted to kill him

Set in the entire city of Paris, France
Jason: Armed with a pistol
John: Unarmed
Mid-day
John Wick killed Jason's love interest about a week ago. Jason is now out for blood. He's tracked John to Paris, France. He's heard the stories of John and has seen videos of him in action. John is unaware Jason is coming to kill him

Set in Central Park
Jason: Armed with a pistol
John: Armed with a pistol
Rainy day
Jason and John have both been summoned. Jason is told he will be left alone and allowed to live life with his girl should he kill John Wick. John is told he can live life in solitude with his dog should he kill Jason. They must fight one on one with no tricks or sneaky moves. Neither can call for help

Same as 3. But both are unarmed
Bonus Round:
John is contracted to kill James Bond (Daniel Craig version during Casino Royale) and Jason is after James as James is sent to kill him for MI6. Who kills James first? (And who would do it more efficiently).