Writer's Mystery Bag 11/30

Writer's Mystery Bag will be a lot like Vacay Mystery Bags and Athlete's Mystery Bags collect up to 20 per day. Limited Time Only, so send them now!

The Special Loot Item for these bags is a Biographer, henchmen [133/179]

Collect up to three Biographer per day.

New Mystery Bag Theme ~ Disco

Looks like new "Disco Collection" Mystery Bags are out.  

I tested 3, and here's what I got:

1. Hobo Lookout
2. Stamina Boost
3. Skill Point

So, go check them out and see if you get lucky and collect something nice.

Zynga: FIX THE GIFT RETURN ISSUE

At least one person has told me that the issue with blue mystery bags being the only item returned was "fixed", and this was also reported by another site. This is most definitely not the case for me, as tested on two accounts. Well, that makes me mad.Why can't Zynga ever finish a job once started??

I posted on the forums, although I don't really expect any worthwhile response, although I'm sure one of trolls will provide some sound advice. I did, however, reach a chat customer support agent who told me that this issue would be fixed "before the weekend". So, fingers crossed. 

Mitzi S.: The Studio Team is aware of this , and it's working to get this solved as soonest as possible most of the players are experiencing this, but don't worry, we hope this will be fix before the weekend.

I then gave her a piece of my mind about how this was apparently fixed for some, but not the rest of us. ...but I was sorta nice about it. It's rare enough that you get a direct answer from customer support. But dammit, this crap better be fixed. "Before the weekend" only leaves tomorrow. 

Another ZMC update

There has been another update to how the ZMC accepts gifts. Formerly, due to the lack of testing and foresight on Zynga's part, we had no idea what was in our Mystery Bags, because as soon as we clicked on "Accept Gift and Thank", it disappeared with no notice of what was IN the Mystery Bag.

Now, you will see a message and graphic of what the Mystery Bag contained, which will disappear after several seconds.

Ok Zynga, that's good. Now fix this issue of ONLY returning Mystery Bags. Mystery Bags are mostly useless and I do NOT want them returned to me when what I actually posted a gift link for was Carpenter Nails or Special Parts, etc.

You can haz NO mummy!

If you thought you were getting away with murder by adding the Mummy to your wish list and then opening Mystery Bags, Zynga may have something to say about that. One of our admins who had obtained a Mummy just got this message when he logged back into Mafia Wars.

Thai Baht in my Mystery Bag

Gee, there's a useful Mystery Bag item! We've been told that Zynga is aware of this, however nothing has changed yet obviously. I'm still getting it, and I've seen others saying the same as of just a few minutes ago. It'd be awesome if Zynga pulled Thai Baht and any other outdated items from Mystery Bags. It would've been Mo' Awesomer had they thought to do that in the first place!

Gold Mystery Bag Loot

whatyaget?

I saw this golden gifticle... and couldn't wait to see what was inside...

Attack points are always good!

I could have opened it from the Facebook gift area...

Like any gift it shows up there too...

Reward Points help too!

And lest I spend the weekend on Admin KP duty...

These are easy to send back too... what did your golden bag give you today?

Flop a Pair of Poker Achievements through Gifts

Have you looked down your achievement list lately... did you think there were 2 Mafia Wars Poker cross promotions... but now you only see one?

The Pocket Rocket achievement is still there... it's just hidden.

We'll let you in on a little secret... you don't have to actually play poker to get either of these achievements!

Both the Pocket Rocket and the Ace Up the Sleeve are giftable... and WishListable...

Thanks to the Mystery Bag hunting of Sisty... and the amazing loot collection of Mr Wizard... I now have both completed...

Wander over to your profile and check your achievement list... all you have to do is "borrow" either of these items from a collector in your family and you'll have 2 more skill points... and 2 less achievements to complete!

Mafia Wars Live: Episode 7 (Recap)

Percues asked: Why are the loot drops in Italy so bad? Roman Legions may be giftable, but it is almost impossible to loot them from Italy and even worse when trying to get it from, a Mystery Bag.

All loot is not created equal. Some of the more powerful loot are made with a lower drop rate than the less powerful items.

Igtenos asked: How concerned are you about the power creep -- the phenomenon where loot values increase over time?

Power creep is something that we are actively monitoring. We have everything on a slow steady track. Part of monitoring power creep is to also creep giftable item power.

Don JImbo asked: Can you re-design the fight results page to display the defensive items that we used in a fight where we lost?

I dont think it fits there, when im attacking, i will always want to see my attack items, but i agree we should be a way to see those items other than asking a friend to attack you. Perhaps an option on the inventory page.

SmashedEngineer asked: One of my mafia members quit the game because you guys did nothing about the war glitches and script users. He is, was, a great player. Is that enough motivation for some steps or should I wait for my mafia members to thin more?

The declare war bug should be fixed tomorrow.

LeoWong asked: Is it possible to have events like Beat the Feds, San Juan Boss Fight back again? I kind of liking them and of course using Stamina like the old way. No Ammo on this one please.

We have gotten a lot of feedback for the return of stamina based boss fights. We are currently developing a system that incorperates both consumables and stamina attack options so players can pick how they want to play.

Markall42 asked: Why do the Stamina Packs not have a timer like the Energy Packs?

This was a beta test and we will be changing that up when and if we make it permanent.

Julez Antoine asked: Can the next stop be Australia? Melbourne and Sydney would be great... and then have mafia New Zealand.

We’ll keep it under consideration for the next challenge mission event.

BP1435 asked: Why has nothing been done with the Crime Spree? Once you hit level 10 the thing is basically useless except for the Stamina/Energy you get for helping.

Crime spree is a feature that I would like to see removed from the game. Players do like the energy/stamina buffs from it though, so untill we can find a place for that functionality, it will likely live on as is.

Miki077 asked: Can we remove items from profile pages? Whenever I view mine or someone elses, my computer freezes for a few seconds.

The profile page is in sore need of an update. I’ll see if we cant make the item lists into expandable lists that you can open and close; our UI people might be mad at me now, though.

Tstsharp asked: Would it be possible to ditch the ....send free gifts/open gifts pop ups at log on? Many times when I log on, I can see "war declared" in the background, but by the time the windows finally load and I can close them, I can't even ask for help before the war has ended.

I dont think it will go away, but i can look into having it blocked when loading in from a time sensitive link.

Lespoot asked: I thought the new Ice Season was fun. That is until it was almost impossible to fight. As soon as the screen refreshes everybody is iced. So it is almost impossible to ice a few players. Is there anything we can do about that?

We are currently testing some changes to the fight list that should make it more likely for you to find live targets which should help with the issue.

OneofOneZ asked: Why the emphasis on fighting now?

We want mafia wars to be a super fun, super social game. Between fighting and jobbing, fighting is a more fun/social part of the game, so we have been trying to make meaningful improvements to fighting.

Jennifer P asked: Are we going to get new Brazil Collections? We were told on June 17th via a Customer Support doc that 3 new collections would be added to Brazil. This information was removed from the Brazil FAQ on June 20th. There has been no official word on the status of these collections. Some players have been waiting to further master Brazil until the collections are out and it would be nice to know if we are waiting for something that isn't going to happen.

We are looking into why this happened and apologize that you were not notified

Eluniumman asked: When will Cuba and Moscow be back?

Cuba, Moscow, and soon to be Bangkok will be closed until we can give them a proper overhaul and re-release them, if we do so at all. one thing we don’t want to do is have 20 options in the travel menu, making it more difficult to collect all your properties, build all your properties, and so on. Only having 3 or 4 options seems a bit more reasonable.

JMWJ asked: Is there any way for us to be notified when Skill Point Reallocation is going on?

That seems like a good idea. Would an opt in email make sense?

Moogle asked: Since we are limited to 5 war loots per day, could an option to decline the loot be added? It's wrong that it hurts a player's build when they help their mafia in the lower tier wars.

Agreed. I’ll look into it

Brighty asked: What is Zyngas main aim in the next 6 months?

Doubling down of families. Making features that highlight and award your most active friends, more of the same.

BlackBolt1 asked: When will Loyalty Point Loot be updated?

No time soon. It will likely be part of a bigger reworking.

Mark_K555 asked: Is there any intention of making more items giftable that players are still using, or can use, that would reinvogorate the trading community?

We recently added several hundred items to the giftable list and are planning on rolling more out on a regular basis.

TheMightyOne asked: When is this loot design contest and can it be held on the forums?

Coming in August! Glad to see some excitement already building .

The Night Before The Raven

Twas the night before The Raven, when all through the house

Not a peripheral was stirring, not even my mouse.

The Mystery Bags were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that Stamina Refills soon would be there.

The Yakusa were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of Bloody Knuckles danced in their heads.

And mamma with her Master Chief, and I in my Skull Cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long Mafia War’s nap.

Sorry... this feels like a fairy tale from the Brother's Grimm... and I mean the original book version... not the cutsie cartoon version!

Tomorrow the Raven will appear "sometime" should I choose to go fighting... I have tried several Serial Level test runs... and think that I am now ready to try and defeat this beast without wasting a single unit of Stamina searching for a Sniper Shot!!

Here are all of the things that I have done to be ready for battle:

• Sent out Blue Mystery Bags to my entire mafia (using the Chrome Extension FGS) asking that they send one back in return.
• I have 6 Stamina Packs in my ZMC (Zynga Message Center) just in case I try and open one too early or any have expired.
• Accepted all gifts that are not Mystery Bags, Brazil Crew Requests, or Stamina Packs.

Here are the things I have not done today... or at least in the last 12 hours:

• Brazil crew slots are empty, 10 people wait to be added.
• I have not collected the Brazil properties since this morning
• It has been more than 24 hours since I used my last energy pack.
• I have not even visited the Marketplace so no Fight Club Energy Refill was used.
• I did not visit Atlantic City today.
• I did not open my e-mail bonus.
• I did not post for help with any jobs.
• I did not open a single mystery bag.

Soooo... now I am ready... I will post my game plan in the morning... as you can tell from the above list... Some options are solid full refills... some are small energy or stamina adds... some are dice rolls trying to get refills.

I have the house to myself all day... and except for puppy piddle duty I am ready to serial level and battle my best to not use a single RP or combo to defeat this goon!!!

What tips and tricks do you have to make it through the session with a Raven body in hand?

PS - If I had found more than 4 Sniper Shots per 10,000 stamina I honestly wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to avoid RP... but if you make me use every bit of time for 8 solid hours just searching for parts to TRY and play... I'll change from Checkers to Chess... not a problem!! The 3-D board is 10 ft away... we can go THERE too! This is supposed to be a game and a challenge... not an 8 hour job for a year for a single skill point. /rant

The Mystery Behind the Mystery Bonus

We have Red Mystery Bags, Blue Mystery Bags, Mystery Animals and yes, we have Mystery Bonuses. The Mystery Bonuses look exactly like a Red Mystery Bag in your ZMC with the exception that they say Mystery Bonus. It is easy to overlook if you are not reading what they are.

Typically they have better pay-outs than their Mystery cousins. If you haven't seen them while doing jobs or in your gifting area, don't get worried. They can only be found while doing Operations. Today I had to do a ton of operations to get one of these to drop.

If you have seen them while doing operations they are not Red Mystery Bags like you may originally think at first glance. I would send these out before sending Red Mystery Bags. I don't get them too often so I can expand upon what is inside them exactly. Keep your eyes out and try to send them when you can. Your Mafia will be grateful.

What's in a Name?

The other day I was going through my collections to see what I could re-vault and what I had to give to others and it struck me at how many times in the game names or titles of things have been essentially recycled. It may be nitpicky but I really thought it was interesting to look at.

Mystery Bag Collections have been around for a while now. There are three different sub-types but essentially they are all still Mystery Bag Collections.

Then we have our Slot Machines. These two often become confused with each other in conversations. The Lucky Stash requires RP to play, but you can get at least four free spins on it in a 24 hour period. The Las Vegas Slots are found on a player's profile. You can spin 20 friends' slots per day and it is linked to an Achievement.

Do you remember when the last set of new Operations came out? Zynga, in their infinite wisdom, named one Take Out A Rival, funny enough there was already one by that name. This caused a lot of confusion when players were looking for the new one in the feeds.

Of course I can't forget to mention Secret Stashes. The new Secret Stashes are found when doing your first job, fight or rob after midnight. This replaces the two old Secret Stashes where one type was found doing jobs and the other while fighting. The old type of Stashes caused so much confusion that I have to say it is a relief that we have the new type despite how nauseating it is to have to try to get friends to fill slots so you can get the loot. I'm just surprised that I am still seeing some people with the old fight Stashes being posted to walls.

What I vote for as the most confusingly named parts of the game Boss Fights. I understand that a Boss Fight is a Boss Fight and there really isn't any way around naming it the same, but just look at all the different ones we have! I can see why Customer Support gets easily confused when they are flooded with issues surrounding them. You could easily be talking about a City Boss, or a Mission Boss and they are thinking you are talking about one of the Limited Time Bosses.

I have to say I do hope that the powers that be over at Zynga try a bit harder to come up with names that make it easier to differentiate from what has already been or currently is. I think that might help the players, the developers and the Customer Support agents.

sending Secret Stash requests

If you have noticed that you're sending mystery bags instead of secret stash requests, you're not alone.

I found this thread about it on the forums, accompanied by the above image. I believe this is the screen you see when you fail to get a secret stash, but can then send requests to your friends to help you loot a different loot item. It seems that instead of sending out the request for help, it's sending Blue Mystery bags.

This is the first I've heard of it, so I'm guessing something get screwed up since they introduced the X-Men stuff yesterday.

There's also this thread about the same problem. It sounds like this is happening to a lot of people, going by the concurring responses on these threads.

Got leftover event items?

"You have accepted the maximum number of this particular item for the Terminator vs. Rambo event. Here is a Blue Mystery Bag."

The 411 wasn't entirely clear on this issue, but if you haven't yet finished this event, you'll be glad to know that once you're finished, you can continue accepting the items as MBs.

I know a lot of players have long since finished this event, but I just finished it this morning. I really wasn't in a hurry to complete it, especially when I saw that Zynga is going to continue shoving events down our throats.

what happened to wish list items from Mystery Bags??

Yesterday, we realized that a number of things had been severely nerfed and labeled as "improvements", among them, our mystery bag rewards. Up until yesterday-ish, the frequency of wish list items dropping from mystery bags was just over 5%. As far as I can tell, they are now well under 1%. Most players are not even getting a single wish list item from opening dozens of mystery bags.

I still blame this partially on the fact that information was published about how to send unlimited Mystery Bags in such a manner that prompted a higher return rate, and therefore a higher amount of wish list items. I was well aware of the "glitch", but refrained from publishing it, and even asked one of our Feature Contributors to hold off on posting the info when I was asked about it. We've seen in the past that when a glitch or trick or exploit is published, Zynga will find some way of plugging it, and that may very well have been the case here too.

But mostly, I just blame Zynga for being an as$ about it and crippling the entire mystery bag system and calling it an "improvement". Exactly WHO is it an improvement for? I find it quite a bit more frustrating, annoying, and useless, personally. The whole thing, nerfed, over a rather benign exploit. It's not like any of us were really making out like bandits on mystery bag wish list items, let's be real.

I also noticed last night that I was unable to help on anyone's crew requests, because apparently some genius decided that joining someone's crew was the same thing as accepting a free gift. I got the message "Sorry, you cannot open any more Free Gifts today...". I'd like to know how that even makes sense.

And probably what's going to happen now is, Zynga will raise the frequency of wish list items by just a notch, and then claim they were listening to player outcry, but it's going to be a far lower rate than it used to be --- in other words, still nerfed.

Mystery Bag/Free Gift Nerf(s)

Zynga Does It Again!!

 You cannot accept any more Free Gifts today. You can accept more in 11 hours.

It appears that the number of Free Gifts has been further throttled, allowing us to accept fewer Free Gifts per day. Which is extremely asinine, since we have to use our requests for all the various "exciting" "features" that Zynga keeps slogging at us.

Oh, but that's not all!

I've seen some people mentioning in my news feed that they haven't been getting wish list items from their Mystery Bags, so I opened up all that I could (until I had that idiotic limit). I did get one wish list item, but it seems Zynga has also reduced the frequency of this bonus occurring.

I rather suspect that this is at least partly the fault of recently spreading information that unlimited Mystery Bags can be sent. I hope you all enjoyed it while it lasted.

If, like me, you don't like these changes, I encourage you to go to the Mafia Wars fan page, access the Feedback tab, and tell them what you think, and also forward your feedback to "Customer Support".

Mystery Bags = more junk loot

A Big Six? Really? Past "Limited Edition" free gifts are NOT 

something I want to waste my time clicking on a Mystery Bag for. 

Maybe it's time to start pushing for an update to 

Mystery Bag loot. Ugh.