golden promotions not so golden

I'm actually getting a little tired of these golden and milestone promotions now. I would like to see Zynga make some changes, by allowing us to post the milestone promotions to the news feed, and by increasing the frequency of decent level-up rewards actually worth publishing.
 

Milestones are usually more worth publishing for bragging rights, but we can't do that. You're only allowed to post milestones on the walls of Facebook friends - and even then, you can't actually post it on any friend's wall that you'd really want to share the promotion with, because it only shows the names of inactive or brand-new players.

Or, as in Sudesh's case, you might not even have THAT option. On his milestone promotions, he doesn't get a list of friends to ever show, so he can't share it with anyone.

The +1 attack and defense are nice options. And since players are limited to collected 3 bonuses a day from level-up posts, it's not like anyone can exploit them. But it's pretty infrequently that we get those to even share with our friends.

More often we get junk like chain vipers or mystery shipments. I don't even post those, because I don't want to post rewards for my friends that aren't worth anything to anyone.

Secret Drop gift link Issue with Link-a-Nator

So there is a recurring issue after 3 days with Secret Drops shortened links when generated using Spockholm's Link-a-Nator. Anyone who is claiming them will be getting Blue Mystery Bags instead of the expected Secret Drop.

As you can see from the screenshot above, from the Link-a-Nator, what should be a Secret Drop is listed as a Blue Mystery Bag in the raw link form. In other words it is not matching and therefore one would get a Blue Mystery Bag.

Pulling the raw link from Gift ID #400 manually, you can see from the screenshot below that this link when shortened will produce a true Secret Drop when clicked.

So until Spockholm can get a fix on this, please be aware that when you are trying to get your daily 5 Secret Drops may get you a Blue Mystery Bag instead (if the link producer used Link-a-Nator) which will go against your daily 200 gift limit. On the bright side, those that know how to manually extract a link or are using MWADDOn will not have this issue and their shorten Secret Drop links will be valid.

Game News now links to Mafia Wars blog

I'm not sure when this was changed, but if you click on Game News from the drop-down Account menu in Mafia Wars, you will now be directed to the Mafia Wars blog. Provided Zynga maintains or even increases its pace of recent blog posts, I think this is an excellent change. I know I've seen Jen say several times that there needed to be a link to the blog in the game, so she will be happy about this :0)

Creds to Leonard at Mafia Wars Maniac for the find. Had I not seen his post, I probably never would have noticed this!

fight Secret Stashes, may they rest in peace

I've had the new fighting system since June 1st. A couple days later, I realized something: there are no secret stashes in the new fight module!!!!

Now several days since the initial release, I've still yet to see a single secret stash, and others are starting to notice the same.

There are now at least 3 "stash" variations in the game, but most players think most commonly of the controversial secret stashes that are posted from fight result screens, directly onto your mafia member's wall.

Sadly, since their introduction well over a year ago, those secret stashes have returned a number of errors, issues, bugs, mysteries, and controversies.

Even more sadly, the wording and persistence of these error messages created some serious rifts between players. At some point, the website Gamers Unite came to be touted as the source of a terrible, cheating tool called the Snag Bar. Rumors began circulating that the Snag Bar was somehow stealing the loot contained in those Secret Stashes posted to an individual player's wall. Status message rumors flew. Players started attacking each other. It goes on to this day, with multiple websites, Facebook groups, and fan pages dedicated to the views of one side or the other.


I cannot possibly describe how much I will not miss the fight secret stashes. They rarely worked and caused a metric a$s ton of controversy. Good riddance.

If anyone has seen otherwise, please let me know.
mistyfiedmafiawars@gmail.com

more fighting update rollouts

More players are going to be rolled into the new fight system tonight, according to this forum announcement. Of more interest to me, it's said this will be accompanied by 'speed and performance updates'. Sounds good, bring it!

send free gifts from Fight List page

Another find from Sudesh, a button has been added to the fight list to "Send Boost". Not only is it a good reminder to send fight boosts to your friends, 

it's actually a quicker way to access the Free Gifts page in general!

NEW: A Family Affair Mission Event

 EDIT: yep, just got it in my game. Same ole, same ole. A Family Affair mission event. I don't normally bother with mission events that much due to the volume of other things going on in the game, but I might do this one. The loot item just looks cool.

The event is Family-themed, but don't worry, you won't be forced to join a Family. I'm LOLing over this, but you'll be fighting the PMP Family for part of the mission, it seems. 

Several players are seeing a new mission in their games. I don't have it yet, but I'm told it's a regular mission event containing a series of missions. Looks like we will have 10 days to complete it.

*Thank you Sudesh for the screen shots

Ferry Passes back on free gift page

Those of you still trying to finish Staten Island were pretty ticked off when it was discovered Ferry Passes were removed from the free gift page. Whatever reason they were removed to begin with, I don't know - but now they are back!

fight list issues

I'm seeing many people now saying that the fight list isn't working correctly, saying that the fight list isn't refreshing. I've seen it said in a few chat rooms that I'm in, and there's also a forum thread about it. My fight list does appear to be refreshing, but if yours isn't, it seems you're not alone.

how to leave a Family

The ZMC icons for Family requests have been changed so as to be more recognizable, but it's still easy to accidentally click on them, especially if you're fast-clicking to clear gifts. As a result, many players are ending up in Families that they did not have any desire to actually join.

One of the more common questions I've been getting lately is "I didn't mean to join this family, how can I leave?"

Don't worry, it's actually very easy, although perhaps not obvious if you don't know what to look for.

 

In Mafia Wars, click on the My Mafia tab on the upper right of your Mafia Wars page. Then you will see the new Families tab; click that next.

 

Scroll down until you find yourself in the member list, and click the little red X.

 You'll be prompted to confirm the action.

You'll then get the message "You have left the family."

chickens on the fight list!

I lmfao when I first saw some screen shots of this earlier today. Chickens on the fight list! I'm told it's some sort of bug with MWAP. I haven't used that script in a long while, but I had to dust it off to see for myself. Sure enough! With MWAP enabled, this is what my fight list looks like. Too funny!!

Families: updated request icons, new ad

By popular demand, the Family icons have been changed in the ZMC. You should see the above icon, instead of the one that looked like a Brazil crew request.

You'll probably also be seeing this ad on your Mafia Wars home page soon.

Families: early release CLOSED

The sign-up for clan leaders to participate in pre-release of the Families module has been closed. Zynga has the list, and those clan leaders who signed up for early release should start looking for the Families module under the My Mafia tab in your Mafia War game. General release be will taking place tonight, provided there are no hold-ups.

new Brazil districts: sneak peek

 

The Mafia Wars blog has posted an update, which includes a few images from the upcoming new districts in Brazil. 

District 6 will be called Rocinha, District 7 will be Copacabana, and District 8 will be Taubate Prison. There will be 8 new jobs on each tier, and mastery items for completing the tiers, of course. 

See the graphics here, or check out the Mafia Wars blog here.

Staten Island: extended through Sunday

The Staten Island challenge has been extended through Sunday, according to this post on the forum by CM. Many players have been complaining about difficulty acquiring all the Ferry Passes needed, plus there were the "outages" last night. Oh and not to mention all the issues with Facebook request the past several days. Many players will be happy about this.

This just means I have to look at it in Mafia Wars for another few days :-/

I haven't touched this one. There was too much else going on in the game when it started, and I really don't like the mini cities, so I opted out.

Thanks Lisa for posting the thread :)

Families module name change issue

Those joining the new Families module are finding there are still some issues with it, which is to be expected. This is definitely beta, please remember that. Additionally, contacting Customer Support about Families issues will not get you anywhere. As this is beta, Customer Support probably has very little information about it. Myself and many other alpha testers have been doing our best to answer questions and forward bugs and issues.

Here is one bug that has been an issue for at least one player I know personally. Read on to see how you can avoid it when you join a Family.

After being accepted into a Mafia Wars Family, players will find a Families tab added under the My Mafia tab in the game. The first time you visit, you'll notice you have the option to change your name for free.

The reason for this is, many players already have their family tags in their character name. When joining a Family from within the game, that family tag will be automatically applied to your character name - in red, resulting in duplicate tags. I've seen a lot of people asking about what the red tags are, now you know :)

*Although before you remove your family tag from your character name, be aware that the Family tags are NOT currently showing up on Facebook posts such as ices. I imagine that will likely be fixed, but for now when posting to Facebook, it's only picking up the character name and not the red Family tag.* As a result, some players are choosing to keep both tags for now.

Anyway, in the field where you are to enter your character name, DO NOT CLICK 'CHANGE' WITHOUT ENTERING YOUR CHARACTER NAME. Doing so will give you the mafia name "Enter New Name." I was able to duplicate this issue.

 

Obviously, the person that this happened to was not happy that he had to spend 15 points to re-change his name, and I don't blame him.

I have turned this issue in, I don't think it should let a player proceed with a name change without the player actually entering any text into that field. In the meantime, be aware of that and don't pre-maturely click Change :)

Families: Mistyfied

With the roll-out of the new Families module, I've been asked many times if there will be a Mistyfied family, and the answer is yes! I was a part of the initial release of the module and have already claimed my tag - I really just wanted the tag :)

Mistyfied is not a clan. But we are a family, in a sense. By no means do we represent each others' game play styles, ethics, or opinions, but we do share some important common views of the game. Most of us have been friends for a long time.

Some have also expressed interest in joining the Mistyfied Family tag. If you are a part of our network, I don't necessarily mind that, but you should aware that the game only supports one Family tag currently. If you are a member of an actual clan or family, you will probably want to wait to tag with them when your group leader is added to the Families module.

Contact an admin or Feature Contributor if you would like to get an invite ~ if you're in our network, then chances are  you know at least a few of us :0)

Mafia Wars: outages possible tonight

Super Moderator Cerulean Master has announced that around 8pm Zyngon time, here in a few minutes, we will start seeing "outages". He says they are updating their system to 'integrate with updates made by Facebook'.

new Brazil districts advertised

Players are seeing a new ad on their homepage modules now, announcing new Brazil districts "coming soon". Thanks Mike for the find!

Families: updated clan leader sign-up form

There were over 200 entries from clan and family leaders submitted for Phase 2 of the Families rollouts. It may take awhile to get everyone added, and obviously there will be delays as new issues and bugs are found and addressed.

The form to sign up for Phase 2 has already been turned in and is now closed, so rollouts will likely begin soon. If you are the Godfather/Godmother/leader of your group and you still want to be included so that you can claim your Family tag, please use THIS form to submit your information. We haven't been told how further rollouts will be handled yet.

Be aware that there will be a cost of RPs in order to first establish the Family tag. When you get the Families tab in your game, you will have the option to create your Family, and it's at that point that you would pay the RPs.

Group leaders are obviously not required to participate or sign up or use the feature at all. Participation is voluntary and there are still bugs and issues that are being ironed out. This is very beta at this point.

One reason that Zynga is reaching out to group leaders first is to reduce the occurrence of "tag stealing".

Families module enrollment form for Clan/Family heads/leaders

If you are the head of a clan or family, and would like to participate in the new Families module in Mafia Wars, they are getting ready to do a phase two rollout to another group of players. This is not an open enrollment currently, it is for existing families and clans. From what I understand, this round of enrollment will only be open for the next 2.5 hours, and will be turned in at approximately 2pm Pacific/Zyngon time. You can access the form HERE. 

loot drops seem ok to me

Late last night, a lot of players started saying that they weren't getting any loot drops from fighting at all, or very few, and this morning that was still being said. I just did a run of about 1500 stamina in Vegas, and I'm not seeing any reduction in drop rates for me.

new fighting boosts on Free Gifts page

The new fighting boosts are on the Free Gifts page currently, if you haven't noticed. I hadn't noticed! Feature Contributor Keith Yuzik noticed them earlier, and Mistyfied fan Sudesh Agrawal mentioned them to me a little while ago also. You guys are sharper than me!

FHEL drop rates "back to normal".....or are they?

A little while ago, FHEL and the new loot were dropping at a decent rate. More specifically, Brazil's Precious collection was dropping like mad. Now? Not so much. Methinks Zynga has over-corrected on this one, and if they want happy players, they may uncorrect it a little bit. Many players, like Sudesh Agrawal, are seeing ZERO drop rates currently.

Yep, that's an over-correction, Zynga. Fixie?

Precious robbing rates

ETA: It's already being reported by many that drop rates are back to what they where - almost nada. 

I don't often post about exploits, and there's a reason for that. This one, however, isn't really an exploit, per se, and seems to be becoming widely-known.

Robbing is _really_ good right now, especially pertaining to the drop rate of Precious gems in Brazil, or at least, that's the word on the street.


That's all I'm sayin' :)