Game Card Clarification

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Yesterday I wrote about a post on the Mafia Wars Fan Page which told us that there was an increase in the number of Reward Points you can get with each game card.  I checked out the game card link and saw that there was more variety in the dollar increments you could buy and thought that was what they were trying to tell us (1).

Additional information became available on the Mafia Wars blog in a post titled Updated Game Cards.  The "more bang for your buck" statement sure makes it sound like you get more Reward Points from a game card than you would for making the same purchase through Facebook.

I followed the link to buy a game card so I could verify this information.  I was really excited to find out how many more Reward Points I could get and then disappointed when a glitch made it impossible for me to buy one. Here is what the screen should look like when you purchase a gift card on line.

This is what happened when I tried to use it.  I really wanted a game card and tried everything.  I tried this screen from 2 different accounts, 2 different browsers, and 3 different computers.  Each time, I was unable to purchase a game card.  You would think with them pushing this feature that it would work properly so people can actually buy them!

This wasn't a problem for Mike Nestor, so he purchased a $10 game card on line.  The problem here was that it took forever to get his code.  It says that "Your Game Card will be emailed to you within 24 hours".

As Mike waited patiently, I decided to leave the house and get one at Best Buy.

I did that and went out to dinner as Mike sat next to his computer waiting the night away.  It took over 5 hours for him to get his e-mail code.

If you buy Reward Points from the Marketplace and they aren't on sale, $10 USD will get you 42 of them.

When they are offered to you at 30% off (which seems to be like 20 time a day!), 42 Reward Points cost $7.00.

Now the moment of truth.  I'll do the game card I purchased at Best Buy first. I typed in the code and was very eager to see how many more Reward Points I would get. It's always something for me today.

I took care of the issue above and then I was really bummed out because I only got 42 Reward Points.  I could have stayed on the couch and got the same amount by buying them from the Marketplace.

 I did get a loot item called a Boulder Breaker so it wasn't a total waste of my efforts.

Now on to Mike who had much better luck than me.  He got 60 Reward Points for spending the same amount of money.

He also got Loyalty Points.  I was never notified that I received any.

And he got the Boulder Breaker too!  I feel ripped off.  Mike definitely got the better deal.

I busted out the calculator and you'll never guess what the increased percentage of Reward Points 60 is compared to 42?  It's exactly 30%! Now where have I seen this before?

So in review, it's better to buy Reward Points from a virtual card on-line because you get a discounted rate and you get a loot item.  Maybe the gift cards purchased at stores will eventually have more Reward Points or maybe I just got a dud.  It's hard to say without trying a whole bunch of them. Zynga should fix the issue I had with trying to buy gift card and make them more instant so impulsive players would use this option too.  This would be a much better way to get Reward Points because anytime you buy them from the Marketplace, your financial information is stored in your Facebook account.  I don't think anybody wants that!