Zynga player survey: Back Alley Business, Brazil

Zynga has posted another survey, this one for the Back Alley Business, Brazil additional new secret district. Go HERE to take the survey. Since they seem capable of cranking out these surveys, it would be nice if they would also get back to cranking out the daily free points on their fan page and the This and Next Week blog posts every Friday. Slackers!

3x Brazil mastery ends tonight

I almost forgot about this. Also ending tonight is the 3x Brazil mastery event for Mafia Wars. Presumably this will end at 11:59PM Pacific time. Don't forget to activate your Strategist crew member in Brazil for additional mastery.

3x mastery in Brazil starts now!

It was never a secret that this mastery event for Brazil was coming to Mafia Wars players, as Zynga announced it a week ago. The only difference is it was initially announced as "double mastery", but it was later corrected, and it is indeed 3x mastery in our game, just like the 3x mastery event we had in Italy last week. Some players have already finished Brazil, but many of us have been looking forward to this as a way to further ourselves in Brazil, or maybe even complete it! Haha, I know I won't complete it, but I will make use of the extra mastery. I like these extra mastery events, I hope Zynga does them more often! So get crackin'--you've got through December 20th Pacific time to take advantage of it.

As with the previous Italy mastery event, you'll be able to loot a special event item during this Brazil mastery event, the Standing Jet Ski.

Activate your Strategist crew member in Brazil for even more mastery. Have fun!

NEW FIGHT LOOT: Coming Next Week

Notice that "the Don's Gift" seems to have gone missing? I kept watching for that yesterday, along with the Family properties. For next week, it didn't even make the list. I'm bummed that we have to wait for Family properties again...that was one I had looked forward to. Oh well, hopefully only a few more days :-/

This coming week looks to be rather busy, especially considering that Zynga rarely includes all the new updates in this "This and Next Week" posting. We have another Ice Season, another Secret District, another extra mastery event--this one for Brazil, at least, and:
::drum roll::

NEW FIGHT LOOT! I figured we were about due for new fight loot, and I've seen lots of random comments asking when the next generation would arrive. Now we know.

Coming Next Week*
*As far as currently scheduled, but things can change.

Family Properties
Ice Season: 13
Secret District: Lexington Hotel
Double Mastery: Brazil
New Fight Loot

Mafia Wars secret district: Snake Island not so hot

Some players are already finishing the Secret District, and I'm hearing that the ratios don't get much better. A few people say the best ratio without consumables is around 1.97 or 1.98. One person said 2.07, which, even at that rate, doesn't surpass other ratios currently available in the game. I busted out my old E-ho account, but didn't get far before the job costs caused me to lose interest and headway. If you have info, please share, we'd love to hear it.

Ya know, these Secret Districts were aight when they first started coming. Even after the initial nerfs, the job ratios were slightly better than existing jobs. This secret district and the last one, even the decent job ratios are a thing of the past. I'm not sure why Zynga feels they can keep getting away with this. I'm not sure why Zynga continually seeks to one-up their players, rather than sustaining the few things that keep the game interesting.

From what I've seen, I don't think I'll be bothering with this district. Not only is it cost-prohibitive for players who aren't willing to spend reward points for the Brazilian Real currency, but the ratios again suck.

No thanks, Zynga. Try again. Maybe try engaging the players next time, instead of working against them.

Brazil Secret District: El Dorado

The new Secret District in Brazil is now open, and you can finally put those Jungle Maps to use!

 You'll first find El Dorado on your Mafia Wars home page banner, as per usual.

Or simply travel to Brazil. The Secret Districts button is back, and one click opens El Dorado.

The ratios came pre-nerfed this time, as predicted :0) But they're still pretty decent ratios, all things considered.

Don't forget to collect Jungle Maps, as those are required consumables for this secret district. Trainspotter already told you how to get them, and you can now send them from the Free Gifts page - and I believe they were added to Link-a-nator a few days ago.

Good luck!

Brazil Jungle Map consumable

As mentioned on this week's MW livecast, sometime next week we will be seeing a new Brazil mission that will segue into another Brazil Secret District, titled "Eldorado". Now the only way to find your way to Eldorado will require some navigation by using a Jungle Map. So further digging around Inventory uncovered it.

As you can tell from the above pix, the Jungle Map is a consumable item with 0/0 stats.

You can start sending them out as gifts to your mafia by clicking on the link below, if you are so inclined.

http://bit.ly/MsendJungleMap

Of course use the link *at your own risk*. There is really no way of telling if the Big Brother Z will let you keep what you have for Jungle Maps when Eldorado finally does get released. So really don't come crying back to us if they do indeed get the rollback treatment. Ya 'ave been warned...

Mission: Get a Grip Walk Through

Time to grip the rope and climb up to the new district in Brazil... 


Don't : Declare war, 
        Craft anything in New York, or Italian Port
        Activate any slots in Brazil


Do: Have your energy packs and Leveling guide ready... the end is steep... even though it starts off really really really easy...


1. Nerve of some People


    4D 06:00 20 - Chase Away Thugs (20 energy)
    4D 05:30 1 - Declare War


2. Worse Than Expected


    4D 05:30 5 War Assists (I used wars in Family Chat)
    4D 04:30 1 Weapon Depot Build
    4D 04:00 1 Armory Build


DON'T BUILD IN THE CHOP SHOP - that is coming!


It took me 37 minutes to assist in 5 wars... all of them declared on family memebers who were off line.


Click the family chat out into a second window... leave MW open and idle in Brazil... if people loose when they hit you it could bring your more $$.


Then go about your Facebooking doing just about anything else... when you see a war click the link and the MW tab will refresh to the war and *cheesy poof* one less assist.


3. Out of Control


     4D 03:30 6 begging backpacks
     4D 03:00 40 fights - must be in NY
     4D 02:30 1 Chop Shop Build (see :-o)


4. Bait and Switch


     4D 02:00 Travel to Italy
     4D 02:00 10 - Replace the Doc Workers (1620 energy on Ruby)
     4D 01:30 1 Port Build


5. Source of Discomfort
    
     4D 01:00 1 Declare War (do first... will have to do again later)
     4D 00:30 12 fights - Spies (70 stamina)


6. City Tracking


     4D 00:00 Travel to Brazil
     3D 23:30 20 - Ask an Informant About Locak Crime Activity (1620 Energy on Ruby)
     3D 23:00 8 - Brazil Crew Activations


7. Smuggler's Haven


     3D 22:30 20 fights - Smugglers (160 stamina)
     3D 22:00 8 Begging Gift Requests
     3D 21:30 15 - Take Over a Shipyard (11,340 Energy on Ruby)


8. A Long Conversation


     3D 21:00 27 - Robs in Brazil
     3D 20:00 5 - War Assists
     3D 16:00 1 - Win War


Because this gains access to the limited time region I *MAY* use RP for that last war... I am leveling +20 times a week now... and I don't want to miss out on the new adventrues... 


That's Quite a carrot for them to dangle... isn't it!

New Inventory - Brazil Coming Attractions

Some coming attractions for Brazil are starting to show in the inventory:

The next Grand Prize appears to be gripping:

We may need to save each other from stat inflation after looking at this progression... good thing there is a life  saver (consumable? begging event?) to keep us afloat:

My Mafia War prayer for the night is that this mastery item brings a server stability bonus and a new mini game of shooting RBD off the screen!

What are you hoping to find in the new region(s) we explore in Brazil?

Mission: Wild Things Walk Through

Keep your energy refills close and your mystery bags closer!  The sound you hear is the roar of a mouse sucking down the clicks in Brazil.

Not too tricky... lots of time... if you have the energy!

Brazil is the suggested fighting location for all of the Zoo parts looting... some people are having good luck with fighting in other cities and having the loot count towards the mission... others are not... be careful and be ready to change your tactic.

Using the Mercenary slot for Brazil Crew you will get 50 free fights.  I did get credit for the Bird Cages in other cities... but it only took 35 fights to get 12 cages... in Brazil it would have been free :-)!

1. Breaking into Business
   7 D 10:00 4 - Mafia Support
   7 D 09:30 15 - Big Cages from fights
   7 D 09:00 12 Informants

Do Not - Build Items in the Black Market

Use Brazil Crew double loot slot, and use "Ask an Informant about Local Crime Activity" rather than the suggested job (Ruby Cost - 486 energy) to find the Informants.

2. A Change In Management
   7 D 08:30 Collect Brazil HQ (8 hours)
             7 D 08:30 4 - Ices
             7 D 08:00 15 - "Bribe a Police Commandant"
                                     (Ruby Cost - 5265 energy)
   7 D 00:00 Collect Brazil HQ

Do Not - Build Weapons in New York

3. Purrfect
   6 D 23:30 Build Item in Black Market (23 hours)
             6 D 23:00 16 - Fight Wins
             6 D 22:00 12 - Bird Cages from Fights
   5 D 23:30 Build Item in Black Market

4. House Cleaning
   5 D 23:00 18 - Property Robs
   5 D 22:30 12 - Aquariums from Robbing
   5 D 22:00 10 - Feed Troughs from "Burn Down a Slum Building"
                           (Ruby Cost - 5940 energy minimum)

Do - have 6 Brazil Crew slots open

5. Trespass
   5 D 21:30 Build 1 - Weapon (18 hours)
             5 D 21:30 5 - Containers from Mafia Begging
             5 D 21:00 12 - Rival Smugglers from Fighting (96 Stamina)
             5 D 20:30 20 - "Burn Down a Jungle Hideout"
                                     (Ruby Cost - 4860)
   4 D 21:30 Build 1 Weapon

6. Hostile Merger
   4 D 21:00 20 - Motion Sensors by Robbing in Brazil or
           "Intimidate the local Crime Ring"
           (Ruby Cost - 1890 energy minimum)
   4 D 20:30 30 - Fights
   4 D 20:00 12 - Terrariums from Fights

7. No One's Pet
   4 D 19:30 12 - Fat Cats from Fighting (132 Stamina)
   4 D 19:00 12 - "Escape a Police Pursuit"
                           (Ruby Cost - 7452 energy)

8. Supply and Demand
   4 D 18:30 Activate 5 Brazil Crew
   4 D 18:00 12 - Rob Private Zoos
   4 D 17:30 10 - Animal Feeds from Robbing

Having trouble finding Private Zoos in the robbing board? Picking someone off the fightlist and robbing the tiger snot out of their Zoo works... provided you can find one that is open to robbing.

Actual end time  (sans RP) - 5D 17 hours left in the mission clock.

Ruby Level Loot event survey

Zynga has a new survey for you to take, this one about the Ruby Level Loot event in Brazil, which wrapped up a couple of days ago.

There's only 3 questions, the first of which is did you even see the event? Yes, I did, unfortunately. Along with the 4 other events that were going on at the time.

They also wanted to know much you agree with statements that you enjoyed the feature, thought it was easy to use, and made your 'experience' more fun. As you can see, I very strongly disagreed with all of those statements. I hated this event, particularly since it came when there was so many other things going on in the game demanding my energy and stamina. F that.

The question actually gives you a text field to share any feedback that you may have about the event.

I know some people liked it and were able to benefit greatly from it, but I really couldn't. I only had Recife ruby mastered, so at most I was able to do like, two jobs per level. I ended up with all of ONE ruby level loot item.

Two thumbs down from me. Click HERE to take the survey and submit your own responses!

Mission: Ties to Bangkok

Mission: The Ties That Bind has now closed and tomorrow Mission: Betrayal in Bangkok will start. I enjoyed having the Ruby Loot event in the same city as the weekly mission... splitting my time between two cities I feel like I am missing out on one loot or the other.

Are you ready for the end of Bangkok? I sold off all of my loot long ago... and have used most of my Baht for healing during this past Ice Season... soooo... I may be in a Bangkok Baht Bind!

Here's hoping for a fun last fling as we start a week filled with Hummingbirds on ice.

3x Mastery in Italy + Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

For the next four days, get 3x the job mastery when working in Italy! Additionally, Italy jobs will apparently sometimes drop the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, which carries stats of (86,86).

As the guys have mentioned before during Mafia Wars Live broadcasts, they like to have "two new cities". Currently the two newest locations are Italy and Brazil. We've seen many hints about the coming new city. The new city is rumored to be Chicago, but that is largely based on popular opinion and there has been no verification from Zynga to that effect. In fact, I have seen it said, "I wouldn't go with Chicago yet".

Thanks Jimmy for the head's up!

Brazil Limited Ruby Loot

Just as the title indicates there are 7 new Loot that drops from doing Brazil jobs at Ruby level. You can find the main from your Mission bar as the screenshot shows it is for a limited time, until July 22 (which kinda sucks in my opinion).

Not much else to say but good luck at trying to max out on these since the energy costs at Ruby is so high and 2x loot drops will not be enabled for these 7 loot items (again I think sucks).

Zynga's Q&A #15 - Why can't we have more than 100% stamina?

Nearing the end of the items listed in Zynga's recent 16 point Q&A blog, next up is the issue that means you are able to lose stamina when collecting from your Brazil properties.

15. Is it a bug that, unlike with energy, I can't get up to 125% stamina? It causes me to miss out on stamina points received via boosts in mystery bags and from stamina-producing Brazil properties?

It *is* a bug. We’ve been looking into this issue and have discovered challenges to implementing a fix within our code that will require more development resources than we can currently devote to the issue. It is definitely on our radar, but we do not yet know when a solution will become available.

Please share your feedback regarding Stamina Capped At 100%.

So really, until Zynga decide to fix this bug, all you can do is make sure that you have reduced your stamina to a low enough level before you collect your properties, so you don't end up losing any. Similarly, consider only opening mystery bags and collecting your Daily Take and Email Bonus when you have no stamina left, in case you get a stamina refill from them as well. I'm sure we've all experienced that "facepalm moment" when we've got one when we were already full to begin with..

consumables needed for Rocinha district

 If you've been wondering how many consumables you need to stock up on in order to complete the new Brazil districts, you are not alone. I found that the Mafia Wars Wiki has an updated list for the Rocinha district. Below are the consumables you'll need, and you can check the Wiki link for info on any other needed items to complete the new districts. 

Local Informant	Consumables	20	20	20	20	80
Radio Phone	Consumables	17	17	17	17	68
Gas Can	Consumables	17	17	17	17	68

If anyone has compiled a list of the number of consumables needed for the last two districts, please share the info on our fan page!

Brazil consumables on Free Gifts page

There's also a new home page ad, telling us to send Brazil gifts.

This just takes you to the free gift page, where a couple of Brazil consumables have been added. From what I'm hearing, which gifts are shown on the Free Gift page will vary for each player, and some players are even saying they've got Brazil property build parts on their Free Gifts screen.

New Brazil Achievements

There's a whole mess of new Brazil achievements!

• River Rider
  In Progress (2/3)
  Earned by looting 3 Dug Out Canoes
• 
  Brazilian Burglar
  In Progress (0/100)
  Earned by robbing 100 times in Brazil
• 
  Family Gathering
  In Progress (0/200)
  Earned by acquiring a total of 200 crew in Brazil
• 
  Like a Boss
  In Progress (0/65)
  Earned by finishing all of the Brazil Missions
• 
  Fala Serio! Bronze
  In Progress (5/8)
  Earned by completing the Bronze level Mastery of Districts 1-8 in Brazil
• 
  Fala Serio! Silver
  In Progress (1/8)
  Earned by completing the Silver level Mastery of Districts 1-8 in Brazil
• 
  Fala Serio! Gold
  In Progress (1/8)
  Earned by completing the Gold level Mastery of Districts 1-8 in Brazil
• 
  Fala Serio! Ruby
  In Progress (0/8)
  Earned by completing the Ruby level Mastery of Districts 1-8 in Brazil