Aug 4, 2010

More Changes In Gifting

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 UPDATE:  Arun, the creator of The Chucker and Arun's Mafia Helpers states that "if BHEL is not wishlist addable then the only way to send them would be thru the chucker and Zynga may be on the lookout for such activity and not all gifting activity."  It is recommended that you don't use The Chucker to send BHEL to your mafia members until the items can be added to your wishlist.

Bangkok loot excluding consumables and collection items can not be added to your wishlist.  It's still unknown as to what this all about but it has caused quite a stir in the trading community.  I found a discussion thread titled "Can't add any items to wl" and Al Catraz, Super Moderater, reports that he is looking into it.

I tested this out on my account and found that I was unable to add Bangkok loot items that drop while fighting, robbing, and doing jobs but could add Bangkok consumables, Thai Envelopes of Bhat, and
Collection items.  I cleared my wishlist and used the Mafia Wars Wiki Wishlist Adder.
Vacant Wishlist 
 Bangkok Loot Items
"This item is not a valid selection"
Consumable, Envelopes of Bhat, and Collection Items
"You requested for your Mafia to gift you items on your wishlist"
Although these items can't be added to your wishlist, they can still be gifted by using The Chucker.  I sent Evil Ed from The Evil Ed Podcast 5 of the top 8 giftable Bangkok loot items.  He also got 10 Mugatis for helping me out.  He assured me that all items were received.
This has been viewed as another slap in the face to the trading community.  In early June, Zynga imposed a  delay between gifting intervals (1). This change had a negative impact on the trading community as well as those who provide loot collecting services.  Eventually all of those effected got used to it and went about their business.  Bossy Don of TopMafia.Info provided a nice statistical analysis of this change in her picture posted below.  I circled her commentary.  (click on image to enlarge)
The next thing Zynga did was to make the best loot nongiftable.  None of the High End Fighting Loot is giftable (1) and the status of most of the new Las Vegas Loot that was giftable was changed to nongiftable (1).  These game changes irritated many players but things went on.
Before Gifting Status Change 
After Gifting Status Change
 
The next thing that happened is Zynga banned certain accounts from gifting and fighting(1) and adjusted the statistics on some accounts, to include the number of loot items (1).
All of these changes have the entire Mafia Wars community in a uproar and there are so many false rumors going around.  Some think the reason Bangkok Loot can't be added to the wishlist but can be gifted via The Chucker is so that Zynga can figure out who is using The Chucker and ban all of these accounts.  This seems a little extreme to me.  Who doesn't use The Chucker?  Unless you have never heard it or haven't figured out how to use it, then odds are you use it everyday.  It's highly unlikely that this is what's going on.  I'm not worried about using any scripts and will continue to do so until I see some type of evidence that accounts are indeed getting banned.  Yes it's a TOS violation to use any third party scripts and we use them at our own risk.  They are used by hundreds of thousands people a day and there has yet to be a case of an account getting shut down because of them.  Zynga has to respond to all questions regarding script use that it is not allowed , a TOS violation, and use at your own risk.  My life is at risk when I get on an airplane but that doesn't stop me from traveling.  I view script use in the same light.
"Before anyone starts spreading more ridiculous rumors and using certain scripts, Lets all get the facts straight first. Huge trading accounts and accounts proven to have "sold" items for "real monies" were suspended from gifting and fightin...g. No one else got the suspension and no one else will get the suspension, it was a one time roll out. End of story. Zynga changed the game to "prevent" this kind of activity in the future, that is all, that's it, that's the big kahuna. NO ONE in the history of mafia wars has been out right banned or suspended from using scripts. Don't you think my account would have, being they threatened to sue me for a few scripts I wrote, OMG! Think people! This will soon fade out, like the 100's of infamous "get your bangkok passport here" pages"/Arch-Angel Nemesis, Third Party Script Writer

The accounts being targeted are those who have an abnormally high amount of certain loot items, gifts sent, and jobs or fights performed.  It appears that Zynga would like to put a stop to those who proved loot collection services.  Because of all the various legal disclaimers that the loot service providers use, there isn't much from a legal stand point that Zynga can do.  James Neil of MW Top Loot has dealt with the Zynga Legal Team.  Read all about it in his note titled TERMS OF SERVICE!!!.  As more and more players have gotten to levels enabling them to acquire a lot of loot, there has been a significant increase in the number of loot service providers.  Because Zynga can't stop them legally, they are making changes in the game and aggressively going after accounts which they feel are violating the integrity of the game.  What we are seeing is a result of this and not because of normal day to day script use on normal accounts.  Why are we seeing this now?  I gave my reasons in the article I posted last night called Mafia Wars Statistics.  It's obvious to me that Zynga is hiding behind their massive increase of players due to the launch of Las Vegas.  These changes will probably cause many players to quit the game.  If they leave or stop playing now, it won't be noticed by those who review the Mafia Wars Application Statistics (ie.Advertisers).

As you can imagine, The Trading Community has suffered the most.  David Reedy of Kingpin Trading Market created an event called No Click, Play or Trade.  The goal is to get as many players to not play Mafia Wars during the week end of August 14th and 15th.  David has done a lot in the trading community and has been very patient with Zynga.  Todays changes seem to be the last straw.  I think a lot of people will participate in this event and show Zynga that the players are not happy.

 
 
Zynga has finally gone too far and we need to stand up for ourselves.

The legitimate trader is being continually screwed in order for Zynga to
continue its witch hunt against those who would sell loot for real money.

Accounts are being suspended and disabled for gifting.
Vegas loot and consumables removed from gifting.
Bangkok loot removed from gifting.
Animals are STILL not giftable.
Communications have come to a stand still.
They talk “support” and “understanding” and stab us in the back.

It’s time that the legitimate trader had a voice.
It’s time to show Zynga that we will NOT be trifled with.
It’s time to show them that we are STRONG and UNITED.
It’s time to support one another in our fight.

The Trade Site Administrators ask you to join us as we boycott
Zynga and Mafia Wars for the weekend of August 14-15, 2010.
We will close the trade site doors.
We will not play, click or trade ANYTHING Zynga related.

We need YOUR support to make this effective.
We need them to know that we are strong and united.
We need them to know that we’re pissed off and we won’t stand for their tactics anymore.
We need them to give us back OUR game.

Spend the weekend flooding their mailbox with complaints
http://zynga.custhelp.com/app/ask

PLEASE spread the word and join us as we put a stop to Zynga.
NO PLAY, CLICK OR TRADE. August 14-15, 2010

16 comments:

  1. great post ... thanks Jennifer

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  2. HEy Jen so its safe to use the chucker or not?

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  3. Thanks, Jen... We can always count on you!

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. Who ever is making comments that have nothing to do with my articles or Mafia Wars, please stop. I delete them as soon as they are posted and don't find them amusing. If this continues, I will have to moderate all comments and approve them before they are published. Thank you.

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  7. Bangkok job loot is no longer giftable.

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  8. Let me clear a few things up for you on a nicely written post.

    1) The first ban cycle in LV was for scripts who were spamming the gold level job and gaining 2K to 4K XP plus all the loot.

    2) The second ban cycle in LV was for people who were sending them to other accounts.

    3) The third ban cycle in LV was for those people who had district 6 LV vegas loot and were gifting it to other accounts

    4) Lotto scan and ban....If you had over a X amount but under another X amount you lost all your lotto but if you exceeded what they thought was "X amount" you were banned.

    5) Boost scan and ban....same as 4...

    I do agree on somethings you have to say. Like if they were going to crack down on scripting they would have closed out Stottlebot and company. Since he has over 600 bots and attacks people with no mercy for months on end. Yet he still plays daily and his bots are right along side of him. He was slapped on the wrist for 3 days long ago and has never been messed with sense. Even though he even he used too and still may sell loot on his site.

    What they may do though to see what percentage of people are using bots is called a "trigger". They change the MW code just a little bit so it still works with the auto scripts, but it send a flag protocol to the data base and a list is then made so they can get a running number.

    What they do from there it could be anyone's guess, but even the error prone zynga coders could handle that one. Would it give the right results? Thats the real question as they may ban everyone who doesn't use an auto script. So there are still some small worries.

    Now as far as you believing the DAU/MAU spike. I have to believe you were being sarcastic. Because if you do believe those numbers. I do have a great business deal for you. Those numbers were over elevated before they doubled. Realistic stats are close to 2.4 Million Daily Players and monthly players don't matter to zynga or us because they don't fill our fight lists.

    What it really breaks down to is at any time you have around 100,000 people playing at any time. We break that to 70/30 under and over level 451. So you have 30,000 people who are in our fight lists. Thats why the fight lists are so dead. I do feel this is a really good scale. Before the jump they were at 3.8 Million Daily players. I just took out the e-accounts and the loot sellers and the bots. Most people will agree at least 30 to 35% of daily players have an e account. That way they could gift to the main account.

    The question is really this...If they don't allow gifting. You can kiss about 1 Million people good bye. If Zynga doesnt realize this now. They soon will. You can look for that 2.4 Million actual daily players and not bots turn into a little more than 1 Million daily players.

    Think people complained about dead hit lists and being abused before. You can take it to the bank. Zynga needs to cater to everyone right now. That's if they want to save MW.

    You all also have to realize. That eventually all things come to an end. You might want to also look at what they have been doing.
    1) Reduction in crates
    2) Reduction in RP
    3) Reduction in stam
    4) Reduction in energy

    I could list more but you get the idea....Just some food for thought....
    Possible scenario Bleed the game dry of all spending then they can and slowly phase it out?

    So nice post overall. Just some of your information was less than accurate. Peace love and killing to all in MW. Hopefully Zynga wakes up before its to late as the final bell is fast approaching.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Before you "claim" to know what's going on. I suggest you get some real information.

    1) The first ban cycle in LV was for scripts who were spamming the gold level job and gaining 2K to 4K XP plus all the loot.

    2) The second ban cycle in LV was for people who were sending them to other accounts.

    3) The third ban cycle in LV was for those people who had district 6 LV vegas loot and were gifting it to other accounts

    4) Lotto scan and ban....If you had over a X amount but under another X amount you lost all your lotto but if you exceeded what they thought was "X amount" you were banned.

    5) Boost scan and ban....same as 4...

    I do agree on somethings you have to say. Like if they were going to crack down on scripting they would have closed out Stottlebot and company. Since he has over 600 bots and attacks people with no mercy for months on end. Yet he still plays daily and his bots are right along side of him. He was slapped on the wrist for 3 days long ago and has never been messed with sense. Even though he even he used too and still may sell loot on his site.

    What they may do though to see what percentage of people are using bots is called a "trigger". They change the MW code just a little bit so it still works with the auto scripts, but it send a flag protocol to the data base and a list is then made so they can get a running number.

    What they do from there it could be anyone's guess, but even the error prone zynga coders could handle that one. Would it give the right results? Thats the real question as they may ban everyone who doesn't use an auto script. So there are still some small worries.

    Now as far as you believing the DAU/MAU spike. I have to believe you were being sarcastic. Because if you do believe those numbers. I do have a great business deal for you. Those numbers were over elevated before they doubled. Realistic stats are close to 2.4 Million Daily Players and monthly players don't matter to zynga or us because they don't fill our fight lists.

    What it really breaks down to is at any time you have around 100,000 people playing at any time. We break that to 70/30 under and over level 451. So you have 30,000 people who are in our fight lists. Thats why the fight lists are so dead. I do feel this is a really good scale. Before the jump they were at 3.8 Million Daily players. I just took out the e-accounts and the loot sellers and the bots. Most people will agree at least 30 to 35% of daily players have an e account. That way they could gift to the main account.

    The question is really this...If they don't allow gifting. You can kiss about 1 Million people good bye. If Zynga doesnt realize this now. They soon will. You can look for that 2.4 Million actual daily players and not bots turn into a little more than 1 Million daily players.

    Think people complained about dead hit lists and being abused before. You can take it to the bank. Zynga needs to cater to everyone right now. That's if they want to save MW.

    You all also have to realize. That eventually all things come to an end. You might want to also look at what they have been doing.
    1) Reduction in crates
    2) Reduction in RP
    3) Reduction in stam
    4) Reduction in energy

    I could list more but you get the idea....Just some food for thought....
    Possible scenario Bleed the game dry of all spending then they can and slowly phase it out?

    So nice post overall. Just some of your information was less than accurate. Peace love and killing to all in MW. Hopefully Zynga wakes up before its to late as the final bell is fast approaching.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So.... How often do you wonder what it's like to have a life? Honestly, you people are pathetic. I like playing mafia wars, but I'm a much bigger fan of the outdoors, friends and family. Some of you act like this is the end of the world. OH NO! You can no longer send thousands of gifts through some nerdy program you've downloaded/ devised. Jeez..... There is more to life than clicking a mouse and typing on a keyboard.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Anonymous #3 and #4 (you appear to be the same person). Let me clear something up on your nicely written comment. I DON'T claim to know what's going on. This is a blog, so I express my views at the time which may or may not be accurate. I provide the information I find when looking for answers to questions that many players have. Your information sounds great but you leave no sources (to include your own identity) or explain how you came to these conclusions. I stated in my article regarding the statistics that I used data provided another source to come up with my theories. I spent many years in the field of medicine and you can't just spew off numbers and/or facts without explaining where they came from. This is the approach I use in this blog. What I say regarding my own personal views are just that. Nobody should take my words to be 100% fact without looking into the sources of the information I used to deduct them.

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Anonymous #5, I'm currently in a 12 step program for a bad Mafia Wars addiction. I'd rather download "nerdy programs" then go outside (it's really hot in Las Vegas). I have 5,000 friends and they are all in my Facebook account, it's great!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, it's not clear what this is all about, Zynga has created a lot of problems over the months, and maybe there is no idea behind it, we just have to wait and see.
    The comment of anonymous 3 and 4 that they just want to let this game bleed dry seems ridiculous, why putting so much effort in Las Vegas if they wanted to do that? They still seem to be making money on this game ...

    ReplyDelete
  14. The first priority for Zynga is making money. They depend on those addicts who pull out that credit card. This is easily tracked. Of course they don't care about the occasional player. But they do care about anything that cuts their gains. Advertisers want a tally of profit for the games to put their name on them. Ergo, traders are a threat to their pocketbook.

    ReplyDelete
  15. hi i was directed here for information on scripts and you sure did it and thanks to all...... i also am a mafia addict (one year and counting)
    zynga appear to have the cure though. so im scared of all the hype and have stopped trading more or less completely.
    i want to know if the use of wiki is also under zynga firing line. this i cant stand as wiki always helped the newbs those that didnt have any items. once i got all the items in mafia i looked to my own group and gifted all my lower items and still continue to do so. removing wiki only hurts zyngas own pockets as without items at an early stage people just may put down the clicker and think the games too hard. these views need to be expressed to zynga, they need to think of the harm they are doing to there own game with things like this. If we dont look after the newbs the game ends... simple.... or am i wrong???? thoughts plz

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm not sure why I care if I have the ability to "chuck" stuff I don't need. It doesn't hurt anything to just sit there. I'm also not sure I care if I could trade stuff - I'm not sure why I would want to do that either.

    The more I learn about the ways people pad their cash, equipment, and stats makes me wonder what the point is of trying to just go as far as you can through normal gameplay.

    ReplyDelete

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