Another good question, from one of those who was picked to be the Associate (i.e., not picked for any special role):
Any way to climb the ladder of success?
Although it might seem like you're unimportant, trust me, you're really not. One single family member might mean the difference between victory and complete annihilation for your side; if that member is you, I can guarantee you'll be the hero.
Additionally, if a member of your Family has to take a break from E for awhile, they may appoint one of the Associates to fill in temporarily for them until they return. For example, if the Capo knows he or she is not going to have access to the net for a week, and lets me know, the Capo can choose (through the Don or Underboss) an Associate to take over for them temporarily as long as they're gone.
I intend to keep this game relatively fast-moving; the reason for this is that I don't want to have the entire game stalled for weeks and weeks while we wait on one person. There's going to be a time limit for the voting (two days for the "special" roles, three days for the general voting). I think that's a fair amount of time to wait on any one person. I don't want to seem like a Nazi, but in my experience, the best way to keep interest, and keep people from vanishing, is to keep things moving in a timely fashion.
I understand that things happen, that you may need to go on a vacation, business trip, just get away from the Net for awhile, etc. I only ask that if you know you're going to be AWOL, just shoot me a quick PM letting me know. I'll be more than happy to work around your schedule, and delegate your role temporarily to someone else if need be.
Thanks, everyone, for your patience and understanding.