More On The PAC

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The players who are part of the Players Advisory Committee have been home a few days now and are starting to hear from the community. Many players want answers and want to see in game changes immediately if not sooner. I hope I can express that a committee is a group and represents a voice. The voice in this case is us the players and Zynga opened a door for it to be heard. Zynga also has a voice and we need to hear theirs from objective ears. Things will happen as a result of this communication but they aren't going to happen overnight. I've posted a few things about the weekend on this blog but there seems to be a need and a desire to hear more. What exactly certain groups are looking for is not clear. I'm not withholding anything and have a few more posts to make regarding what we learned at the PAC. Here is a great forum thread to help you understand better (1).  Some are not satisfied with the "results" but those are yet to be seen or determined. Lynn Deanne, Mafia Wars Guide Master and fellow PAC member, summed it up very nicely and addressed some of the accusations that we were on a drunken vacation. Honestly, I didn't see too much drinking and party central was the hotel lobby that consisted of a bunch of Mafia Wars addicts glued to their laptops and iPads!

#27       Today, 03:09 AM

LynnDeanne  Mafia Wars Guide Master Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 331

Preliminary PAC report I'm still in San Francisco (on my own dime, now) and still recovering from the intensive PAC meeting. I know that everyone will be reporting in the coming days, but wanted to respond to this post with a quick update: * The official Zynga portion ran from 7-10ish Friday night and from 8 am to 8:30ish Saturday night. That's why you're not hearing much from anyone yet -- we are tired! * People were arriving all day Friday and there were informal MW conversations going on virtually from arrival Friday through check out Sunday. * Yes, there was alcohol. I haven't listened to the whole Podcast, but I did hear part of it being recorded late Saturday night -- in the bar. I think everyone was really happy to finally meet in person and a lot of the enthusiasm you hear comes out of that excitement. * I thought it was a good mix of players. Heavy on long-time heavily engaged players, but some newer and more casual players were included too. Bloggers, podcasters, forum posters, clan leaders, traders, and scripters were heavily represented as well. There were some big credit card players, but I'd say there were more light credit card users, along with players who have not and will not spend money. Players from Europe and Australia were included. * I'd categorize this event as an organizing meeting. Committee members met Zynga staff and each other. Most of the formal content was about communication -- from Zynga to us and from committee members to each other. Sessions included discussions about customer service, security, community, blog & fan page, and who to talk to about what. * Did Zynga work to put their best foot forward? Absolutely, and they would have been stupid not to. But, I don't think that any of us felt that we were being fed Kool-aid or spun. Partly because much of what we discussed was process, more than specific features. * There are a few specific messages that PAC members felt we should communicate back to the community. That's what you'll be seeing over the next few days. (i.e. The Dark Knight, Customer Support procedures, and the dangers of trading game cards for loot.) We all know how to reach customer support, but you'd be surprised by how many people don't. (And, I say that from personal experience -- when I answer questions here on the forum I often talk to people who don't even know CS exists.) * Right now, PAC members are actively engaged in working out how we will communicate with each other, and on what we want to communicate to Zynga. I'd say that many, if not most, of the committee members came with long lists of issues they want to pass on to Zynga. We're talking now about how best to consolidate our concerns, and how the PAC can advocate for players moving forward. This was not a group of sheep. For the most part, it was highly opinionated hard core players who have no illusions about the game. We know there are problems and we were not shy about asking questions and raising issues. I believe that the people there felt a serious responsibility to advocate for all players. At the same time, we all want to see the game improve and continue, which is why we were willing to invest our personal time into these intensive and tiring meetings. Most people flew in Friday and out Sunday, so this was not a vacation. I know I will be writing some guides about basic stuff -- again, aimed at people less informed than daily forum participants. You'll continue to see some blog posts about the key points mentioned above. But, I can assure you that the PAC members are not wearing rose-colored glasses, were drunk from alcohol not kool-aid, and view this as the first step towards creating a player advocacy channel. __________________ Need a bigger mafia? My mafia is full up at the moment, but my husband is actively building his mafia. Add my husband.

FiaonaWG, Mafia Wars Moderator and fellow PAC member, also chimed into this thread (she has the best shoes!).

#38       Today, 04:18 AM

FionaWG  Mafia Wars Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bugging CM in Mod Lounge :P Posts: 10,198

I, for one, am very glad I attended the PAC meetings and it's been very interesting to meet quite a diverse group of people who were some of the "big names" in the MW Community and also people who were beginner type of players, forum posters who posted once in a while on Forums, those who may not have even heard of Forums but are active elsewhere in the Community. Scripters, Bloggers, all kinds of people who applied and were picked because of their interest in Mafia Wars. A very opinionated bunch, I'll tell you, but it's been great to hear from every side and many views regarding the game of Mafia Wars. Not everyone is comfortable posting on Forums or publicly voicing what they think with honesty about what they think of the game but they've done it. I may not have agreed with some things, but I was very interested in what everyone had to say. Since it's been a long weekend of meetings and then with traveling, we're not all done yet to send out information of what we've learned from PAC. Admittedly, some of this information I already knew since I am a Moderator but I was very happy to see that the Zynga staff took the time and effort to communicate with everyone involved with PAC. And all this will be and have already been posted about elsewhere. I am going to leave it at that. I'm very happy to meet all the people I have met at PAC and I'd do it again. This was something I didn't want to miss out on and am very, very happy to have participated in. __________________ Play Mafia Wars Now! Privacy Support/QuestionToS Why Am I Being Attacked Avoid Trouble W/Mods Click HERE

The committee is still going strong and we have all talked a lot since getting home. We are a unified team and there should be no question that we are letting Zynga know what the problems are. They are listening to us and only time will tell what the final outcome will be. This was a sign of faith on Zyngas end and shows that they do care. If it was a PR stunt, I doubt they would have selected the players that they did. Nobody in this group would go along with it. Sure people will doubt and criticize but in my opinion the PAC beats the alternative which would be nothing at all. For those who feel the forum voices were not included, I just showed you 2 members that know the forums well and would be at the front line to bring things to the attention of Zynga and the PAC. Now we all know and love or hate Mr.Simy0. He has provided some great information to this blog and is a forum regular. I couldn't ignore the video he posted on YouTube.  Obviously this is a spoof and does not represent what actually happened or what the PAC was about.

Warning:  There are a lot of "F" words in this video and it's very long.

Article written by Jennifer Patterson, Creator of the MW Loot Lady Blog, The Mafia Wars Loot Lady Facebook Fan Page and Co-Host of The Informant Podcast. All material is protected by copyright law