Families: old idea and -- player requested!

The introduction of the Families module this past week seems to have created a lot of debate, maybe not unsurprisingly. I've heard some pretty wild claims  and conspiracy theories about the origin of the mere idea, but the fact is, it seems that Zynga really was just listening to the players about this one.

Don't like the ingame tags? Blame mrsimy ;) He, along with I'm sure many others, suggested ingame tags way more than a year ago in this forum thread. I would hazard a guess that such an idea had been floated many times previously, so maybe you better not blame mrsimy.

In fact, official tagging came up more than once in that thread.

Don't like the limit of 100 members to an ingame Family? This player actually liked the idea of exclusivity.

Although in that vein, players have made it abundantly clear that 100 is WAY too low, and I agree. Due to the amount of feedback on that subject, I would really be surprised if Zynga didn't raise the group limit in the near future, so I would hold off on creating a second Family group for now.

For all the suggestions in that thread, there were also several players saying that Zynga had no business meddling with the clans. Kind of like they are now.

As the Families tags are an optional feature, I can only say that perhaps it's not for everybody. Legitimate concerns have been raised, but at the same time, these features have been specifically requested long before now. Also, the in-game Family group and tags are features that have had some success in other games as well. With the emergence of Mafia Wars clans, why wouldn't they have eventually looked at doing this, especially if it was being requested by players?

It boils down to a catch-22; if you don't like it, there is no obligation or requirement for you to use it. For those who wanted this feature, now you've got it, and Zynga has been very communicative about bugs and issues as they are worked on. If you didn't want the feature, there's no requirement for you to use it, and at least for right now you're not missing out on any real advantages.

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".