UPDATED Gifting Insanity

****UPDATE: Zynga took action, probably too much action, and made many items back to being ungiftable.  Gold Treasure Chest keys being among them, and of course the items needed for the limited time events such as mafia poker.  Some of those are good to not be giftable. UNFORTUNATELY, Special Parts and Exotic Animal Feed are also among the items that are no longer giftable.  Zynga can't get it right to save their lives.  Morons. I RECOMMEND EVERYONE CONTACT CS AND DEMAND SPECIAL PARTS AND EXOTIC FEED BE MADE GIFTABLE AGAIN!****

Well, I am stunned by this recent gifting expansion by Zynga.  It is LONG overdue.  And it's also fraught with error.  Either by oversight or apathy, Zynga has created an unfair advantage for certain players.  Gold treasure Chest Keys are giftable.  The items needed for ALL 3 current limited time events are giftable....which really leaves me scratching my head.  The knob wrenches, the parts for Ripped Rims, AND Poker Cards are giftable....this is obviously a great thing for players with multiple accounts, and an even greater thing for people who have multiple accounts that actually get played often.

I am no judge of people with minis. I have several.  I think minis are one of a few reasons the game survives - they drive the DAU number up considerably.  I'd say AT LEAST half the DAU are mini accounts, if not more than half.  My judgement, as always, is reserved for the idiots at Zynga.

I am, however, excited about the new life this has breathed into the trading community, which was all but dead.  The trading community was a special part of Mafia Wars. Maybe some people who quit playing when trading died out will come back.  I know I will be compelled to do some trading to get my hands on some of these damned treasure chest keys.  I am also pumped that special parts and exotic animal feed are now giftable.

So my final thoughts are: I am saying "Way to go, Zynga" in two very different ways at the same time. One is very sincere, one is very sarcastic.

uh,

{ℳ} Қetąmῗиe Қῗd =Ʀ²Ƒ=

How to kill a game...and other stuff :P

Many of you know that Facebook went public last week, and given how over valued the company was, it is no surprise that the stock did not do well during its first couple days on the market.  But more interesting to me, and perhaps many of you is that another company suffered a massive decline in stock value the day of Facebook's IPO:  Zynga.  Forbes has an excellent article about all this¹, and I suggest you read it (I will provide a link at the end of this blog entry).  But I do wish to quote directly the last paragraph of the Forbes article:

"As for Zynga, now that they’ve begun to shift focus toward actually original titles, maybe they’ll turn a new leaf. Maybe, as Paul Tassi writes, they’ve realized that their terrible reputation has caught up with them. If that’s the case, it’s possible that the company will continue to grow. If not, I’d be hesitant to place too many eggs in your Zynga basket, with or without the Facebook IPO shaking things up."

You know what I think?  I think Zynga will never change.  I think that their reputation will only get worse, at least within the Mafia Wars community.  At this point it will take a corporate miracle to save this game.  All Mafia Wars is now to Zynga is a dying cash cow.   They have demonstrated having little to zero interest in what we as players actually want, and they feed into the addiction of the spenders like me.  They are not going to bring trading back.  They have not made any more loot giftable.  The number of events has steadily increased, not decreased. They increase the number of marketplace promotions and crate sales, knowing that idiots like myself, who at this point can hardly help themselves/myself, will spend hundreds of dollars buying crates.  We now have this VIP Subscription, which even many of the stingier players are coughing up $24.95 a month for.   And another m***** f******* limited time property is on the way.

What used to be one of the most incredible online gaming phenomena has now become a pitiful and shameless example of corporate greed.  And it is utterly SHAMELESS.  A game that millions upon millions of people used to play now has a mere three to four hundred thousand addicts remaining² -  and they are quitting everyday by the handfuls.

A long time mafia member of mine, who often shares, and possibly exceeds,  my cynical attitude towards Zynga and Mafia Wars, recently shared with me a list of 6 easy steps to kill a game:
     1.) Spam Wars
     2.) Bloat the game and run all but [the] supercomputuer owners away
     3.) Micromanage the game playing experience
     4.) Punish players for every mistake you make
     5.) Concentrate on making money instead of fixing game problems
     ‎6.) Keep changing the goalposts

I could not have said it better myself - {ℳ} ßrµ†µ§ =Ʀ²Ƒ=

¹ Forbes article entitled "Zynga Shares Plummet As Facebook Goes Public" can be found here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/18/zynga-shares-plummet-as-facebook-goes-public/ 

² Mafia Wars Metrics from AppData:
http://www.appdata.com/apps/facebook/10979261223-mafia-wars

Mafia Wars: An Introduction to Trading

Whilst no 'expert', I have been engaging in MW Trading since January 2010, not long after I started my current account. I hope to use this article to demystify and explain the basics of trading for those of you who may have been daunted by the idea of entering the market. I know of one person in particular who, always being too much of a wuss to trade herself, has always passed me her excess loot to trade with. Well, no more Read, no more!


What do I need and what have I got?

The first step is to identify what you need or want, and then to work out what you have which you could part with for it. You may need a Comic to complete your Superhero collection, or a Daily Chance item to finally vault for that +10% loot drop rate. Or maybe you want to get some top end loot items to increase your Mafia attack and defence? When dealing with loot, it is always good to have an idea of how many of the item you need to ‘max out’, so you don’t get carried away. This can be done by manually looking in your inventory page, or with the help of an item analyser such as Spockholm’s Item Analyzer.

Such analyzers will often have a section which shows you what loot you have as inactive, which you can gift or trade away without affecting your Mafia attack or defence. This can also be checked relatively easily on the in-game Inventory page as well. Of course, you may also be willing to offer collection pieces for whatever it is you are looking for too. There may also be times when you are willing to part with loot that you are using to get that rare collection item, or a bulk quantity of loot to improve your overall stats.


Where do I go?

Before you start joining trading groups on Facebook, see if you can find a regular trader in your existing Mafia. It may be an idea to ‘cut your teeth’ with someone you have been playing with for a while, before starting to trade with strangers. You may have noticed such friends publishing their “Trade Notes” or making wall posts on trading groups that appear in your feed. If in doubt, post a status asking if anyone would like to pop your ‘trading cherry’ and see who responds.

Beyond that, there are a large number of Trading groups set up on Facebook which you can join. Searching for “mafia trading” in the Facebook search feature will bring back many results. Things to look out for are the number of members. The more members a group has, it’s fair to assume that it’s well established.

Each will have their own requirements and rules, covering such things as adding group Admins to your friend list before you post on the wall, setting up of trade notes, what can and can’t be traded (some groups may not allow Game Card trades for example) and other aspects. Always be sure to read , and follow, the requirements for any group you intend to trade in.


But how do I work out what stuff is worth?

Damn good question. Whilst the origin of trading ratios is something I myself am clueless about about (but intend to find out about at some point), most groups will have their own ratio guide, or point towards a universally used ratio guide. For the rest of this note, I will be referencing Elite Traders Club, and their ratio guide is shown below.

Half the struggle for many, and even myself sometimes, is reading these guides and not getting confused as to the value of things. Many abbreviations are used, and it is often an idea to familiarise yourself with these first. Most ratio pages will have a legend or breakdown somewhere of commonly used abbreviations, as shown above. It is also worth remembering that these are not set in stone. Quite often, a 10% tolerance either way is allowed.

In the example above, it is generally considered that a an offer of 5 IHEL1 items (Roman Legions, Holy Hand Grenades or Italian Porcupines) is worth 1 Daily Chance item. Similarly, for each 3 Sea Eagles I wanted, I would have to offer 11 items of Mission Loot 1 (New Years Resolutions or Z17 Micros). Bear in mind that not every item will have a direct conversion, so if you want item A and are offering item B, you may have to work out the ratio using a common item.

Some pages may also have a converter where you can select items and quantities from a dropdown. The image below shows the one available from the Elite pages, used to work out how many Sea Eagles I would need to offer up for a Dice from the Daily Chance collection.

It is also very important to remember that when a top loot item first becomes giftable, the price is usually very high for a few weeks afterwards, but will then drop. Ratios can also change daily, so always ensure you reference at least one ratio guide before posting a deal or taking up a trade offer.


So I know what I need, what I can offer, what next?

If you plan on trading regularly in the future, it is probably of benefit to create a ‘trading note’, so people can leave comments to show that you are trustworthy. This can either be in the form of a generic trade note, or an individual note for each trade site. Some sites officially only recognise a specific note relating to their own group, but I would imagine most traders would be happy to see any form of trade note with some positive feedback.

The reason for a trade note is that it is generally accepted practice that the person with the least references sends first in a trade. Having a note with references will sometimes put you in the position to receive your items first, reducing the chances of you being scammed.


I’m Ready To Trade!

So you’ve worked out what you need and what you can offer for it, you’ve added some admins from the group you’re going to trade in, and you’ve created a trade note because you maybe plan to trade some more in the future.

Your post should be clear and concise about what you’re offering and what you are looking for. Open offers, where you only state what you are looking for, are generally not allowed. You may want to state ‘firm’ if you aren’t willing to negotiate, and you can also post multiple deals in one post. Most groups prefer it if you only post once every 10/15 minutes, and only have so many lines of text per post. A typical example of an offer would be:

They are clearing stating what they are offering, what they are looking for, and also how many times they can do the deal (in brackets).

You are obliged to conclude the deal with the first person who matches your offer, as long as they too have fulfilled the group requirements (ie, added the necessary number of admins). In this case however, someone countered with a slightly lower offer. The original poster offered them a compromise, but needing an example for this article, I decided to jump in :)

Once both parties have received their goods, comments should be left in trade notes wherever they exist.

That concludes the trade. Bear in mind that often, a trade post is considered “closed” after 10 or 15 minutes, or the original poster may close at any point before a valid offer is made. When trading in a trade group, only ever trade on the wall. It is highly recommended not to accept offers made via inbox messages.


Summary Points

• Identify what you need, and what you can spare.
• Consider trading with someone already in your Mafia at first.
• Set up a trade note if you plan on trading regularly.
• Each trade group will have it’s own ratios and rules. Be sure to read them.
• You often have to add group Admins before posting a trade offer.
• Be clear in your post about what you want, and what you are looking for.
• Before dealing with someone, check they too have added admins too.
• Always trade on the group walls, don’t trade in inbox messages.
• Check ratios before posting or taking deals, and beware of unscrupulous traders.

I hope you’ve found this article useful, and may consider trading in the future if you’re in a position to. Any suggestions for additional information for correction to the content is also welcomed!