A big controversy exists in the Mafia Wars Community over the use of bookmarklet programs and other scripts. There is a dichotomy of views from players on this subject. This blog was created to answer questions about anything Mafia Wars related. At one time, I replied to every inbox question I received from players in my mafia. The most common questions were related to script use. There is a huge demand for these scripts and if you choose to use them, you are not alone. It's very important that you know the views and possible consequences of script use put out by Zynga. Please visit the Mafia Wars Wiki Bookmarklet Page to learn more about this. Here are the highlights taken from this page:
"Some people in the Mafia Wars community feel that using bookmarklets is a form of cheating. Zynga appears to agree with this position. Bookmarklet users argue that the use of these tools is not cheating because they don't allow you to do anything you wouldn't have been able to do on your own.
One of the more controversial bookmarklets is AttackX which allows a player to use X amount of Stamina attacking a certain player. The bookmarklet automates the task of attacking and healing at the hospital. For players with a large stamina pool, this tool is extremely valuable because of the amount of real life time it takes to use 200+ points of stamina.
Bookmarklet opponents argue that tools like AttackX are cheating because of the automated play. Users simply believe that it eliminates a repetitive task and makes having a large stamina pool practical. Other tools — such as ExpEnergy — provide no automated play and are simply informative.
There has been little evidence of any players having accounts disabled for using bookmarklets. However, given Zynga's stance on bookmarklets, users should be forewarned that they could take steps to ban or disable accounts they deem to be abusive."
As many of us also have energy accounts, I need to point out that creating a fake Facebook account for the purpose of having a second Mafia Wars account is a Facebook TOS violation. If you have an energy account that you would hate to lose over this, I recommend you use an identity of a family member or friend who does not use Facebook. It's also not a good idea to give your energy account an obviously fake or celebrity name as this is also a Facebook TOS violation. While Alabama Thunderpants a Level 4533 may be a cool account to have, you will not be happy when some random jackass reports it as being a fake profile. You're going to have a hard time proving to Facebook that Alabama Thunderpants is a real person and could lose the account. You can't get around this problem by creating a second account using your own name either. It's also a Facebook TOS violation to have more than one account. If Facebook determines that you have multiple accounts, you could be at risk of losing all of them.
If you're in a clan, you should also check and make sure it's not a violation of your clans policies to use scripts. Some clans consider script use a form of cheating and will kick you out or reject your application to join if they suspect you are using them. They take this issue very seriously and even post links to accounts showing statistical evidence of script use on their war pages for all members of the clan to attack. I respect the fighting clans and what they stand for. I will take a few icings if they want to add my link to their list.
I used to be very careful with using scripts on my main account and mainly used them on my energy accounts. With all the game changes and clicking demands of Mafia Wars, I decided I no longer care and will use these programs as much as possible. I have a lot of free time and I'm not able to perform all the available actions in this game anymore. If Zynga temporarily suspends or disables my account for using scripts, then I will get a much needed vacation from the full-time job Mafia Wars has become. Zynga, Bring it on!!!! After all, it's only a game and there are plenty of other non-Zynga games out there. I feel liberated that I no longer live in fear of losing my account. If you want to see my favorite Mafia Wars parody video, click HERE .
On a more serious note, the Facebook and Zynga TOS can be found in their entirety at the top of this blog. Happy reading.
Bookmarklets are a grey area, seeing as most are useful and informative, however, there are some out there that are about exploiting the game. While I don't support most of these, I do use the more informative ones, such as the EXP/Energy to help plan out my game. Also the chucker is a great one so I can multigift in a few minutes, instead of clicking "send gift" 100 times.
ReplyDeleteThe exploiting ones are the ones we need to watch out using, as Zynga WILL give out TOS violations, but I find they might let the useful ones slide.
ok well now I am thoroughly confused. It is a simple question that I have yet to find an answer to, is using an autoplayer to do what you would be doing anyway a violation of the TOS? Because as far as my acct is concerned it is just as useful as a glorified mouseclicker program which I have also. Is there any chance of a clarification on this?
ReplyDeleteThere is no simple yes or no answer and I wish I could find more information. Just like many game aspects, there are no defined rules. All we can do is follow the fan pages and keep up with what the script writers tell us. They are the experts.
ReplyDeleteThis gifting screen now lets you gift up to 50 at a time. You can only choose the number to gift from the drop-down. That alleviates some of the pain.
ReplyDeleteI don't use anything except linkanator every once in a while but keep getting a warning when fighting and I'm only manual clicking!
ReplyDelete