Aug 5, 2011

Loyalty Program Review

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Whenever I move up a tier in the so called "Loyalty Program", I get a popup. Zynga tells me that I'm a Rock Star but in my mind I read it a little differently.
What is the point of this Loyalty Program? A far as I can see, I don't get any benefits from it. I currently have 21,323 Loyalty Points but they are totally worthless.
As a Platinum Player, I'm able to purchase the three best loot items of the Loyalty Program from the Marketplace. I could buy a Power Armor Claw with stats of 91/49 (don't let the name fool you, it's an attack weapon) for 2,000 Loyalty Points.
It would be a stupid move because I'm maxed out on a much better attack weapon, the Bolt Pistol, which I got just for fighting.
I won't even bother comparing the other 2 Platinum Loyalty items.  The stats alone are enough to get the point across and possibly a laugh or two.
Here are three items from the Loyalty Program that you can't get in the game anymore so maybe these will be useful.
Maybe not, unless I enjoy crafting crappy vehicles without special abilities.
Here are some boosts I could purchase. That might be worth it.
Too bad I can get a lot of them for free just by accepting Mystery Boost Packs.
Other than useless loot, car parts and boosts that are readily available in the game, I could buy items to upgrade my Chop Shop (or Brazil Holdout). I doubt there are any Platinum Players out there who aren't fully upgraded.  These items are giftable and most players have an abundance of them.
So now that we know Loyalty Points are useless, lets look at some of the other "perks" of the Loyalty Program. Looks like Platinum Players get a lot more Loyalty Points and get can get more of those "exclusive" rewards shown above.
This Platinum Customer Service sounds promising.
The problem is, it doesn't exist. When I click on the Platinum Customer Service link, I get the same Customer Support page (without the Live Chat feature active) as everybody else.
Invites to Mafia Wars Events sounds cool. The last big Mafia Wars Event (not counting those world wide Meetups) that I was invited to (as well as everybody else) was Mafia Wars: Made in Las Vegas.
We all know how that turned out! It was "postponed" on Sept 24, 2010 and we haven't heard a word about  since (1).
The only saving grace of the Loyalty Program is the "Exclusive Items". When you reach Platinum status, you get a Little Dog with stats of 190/160. Unless they update the stats as the in game loot gets better and better, it won't be such a bonus down the road. For now it's my best attack weapon.
There is a flaw for those who value their privacy and don't want other players to know they spend money on the game. Some players view spending money on the game as pseudo-cheating and "credit card players" get some flack over it. Loyalty Program items show up on your Profile Page and any player can see what status of the Loyalty Program you have achieved whether you adjusted your settings to "Private" or not.
The Loyalty Program is a classic example of how Zynga likes to run things. They come up with a great concept, implement it and then ignore it until it becomes outdated. They either need to start updating this feature or remove it as it does nothing but confuse players. Currently it's about as useful as a dead target on the fightlist.

Thanks to Mike Nestor for helping with the screen shots.

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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

2 comments:

  1. i can agree with first picture...your what pic says.
    spending that much money for a stupid game which have bugs more then half of other browser games combine..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your think your an idiot, Platinum 171
    Your Loyalty Points: [Loyalty Points] 150,054

    I never used them

    ReplyDelete

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