The latest and greatest action by Zynga that is having a negative impact on Mafia Wars is Mafia Wars 2. This will soon be a reality and now that it's finally been confirmed by Zynga, players are freaking out and feel even more unsure of the stability of Mafia Wars.
Mafia Wars 2 will probably attract many of the players shown above. The noobs and beginner players may feel this is a better way to go as there will be a more even playing field. The players who constantly whine about getting attacked will probably prefer Mafia Wars 2 as well. On the surface this all sounds fine and dandy, who wants to deal with cry babies anyways? The problem is there won't be any lower players left and the focus of Mafia Wars will ultimately fall from sound strategies to whoever spends the most will win. This is already true but there are enough players to where the average strategic player can still excel. The release of Chicago isn't helping retain those who play for free. I don't see a problem with rewarding players who do spend money on the game but those who don't now feel that Zynga doesn't care about them or they aren't as valuable. I say ALL players are valuable and I don't want them to quit or go try another game. It looks like Zynga doesn't have the same view and I worry that soon only players who spend money will be left. Players who have spent money on the game are less likely to quit. Who wants to accept that fact that they foolishly spent money?
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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. |
I've been playing for nearly 3 years w/o spending. I have built my character to a strong fighting account from day 1 and do quite well in the tank handling many platinum accounts. Time or money, you choose. Through the years I've contemplated to spend money on this game to support Zynga but something always go wrong to damper my urges. When Chicago launched I was once again tempted and even pulled out my credit card ready to finally fold thinking there is hope now that a new city has launched. Well, then I saw the ad for MW2 and my credit card slipped back into my wallet and all hope is lost fearing the inevitable end...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure all players share the same feeling as one will pay for a game that they enjoy, not a hopeless, glitch-riddled, time-consuming game of begging and chores!
1st of all, love this blog :) but wtf, whine abt getting attacked, well not every person who plays mw has so damn high stats as many of u long time players.... and burn alot of rp's into the friggin game... now thats whining lol.. cheers
ReplyDeleteCouldnt agree more with u Jen!! u are absolutely right!!! i would also say that Zynga axed their own feet!!! Everybody knows this already!! Just look at what the game has become & what it used to be!!! i myself am a free player but have really worked hard to get so much done in the game like everybody else has done!! Including the paid players! But, Zynga has just made it a money-rinsing game... How would they attract new players or keep old players to a new destination like Chicago when its absolutely clear that we need 90 RPs to get in!! (that is buy 15 items from marketplace) the graphs will go down really fast & IMO MW might be closed :(
ReplyDeletethe badest idea about the whole new game is the name.
ReplyDeletedue to it zynga upsets the "mw1"-players specially the ones who spent thousands of hardly earned dollars into it.
but hey; zynga will milk the customers as long as possible...
If people are put off because players spend money then that's their problem. And it's not as if they'll never play in Chicago, just wait for it and get your stats up or finish off achievements. What's wrong with a little perk here and there for the money spenders... If you paid for a first class ticket on a train, where do you sit? Stop complaining and be patient!
ReplyDelete-Dioxin-
If MW is closed, then i did say bye-bye to Zynga, no more games for me. Seriously, what makes Zynga think the people will join MW2 when MW is already declining? BUt i guess they don't really care anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm off this game if this is something like those stupid cityville / frontierville...let them not call it as Mafia wars2..instead MafiaVille / underworldville...
ReplyDeleteZynga fuckers released Chicago to only a few set of accounts..then came up with a trick that If you want entry then you need to buy sale items & that too 15 of them..what crap..Let Zynga dig their own grave & bury themselves forever..this game is beginning to suck..I hate Zynga..I hate Mafiawars..
ReplyDeleteIf MW2 is a little character walking around following mouse clicks.(Like every other Zynga game, TI, Frontierville etc) Then I have zero interest in playing.
ReplyDeleteThat's same with all online browser games. You play till they have profit and interest then server is off.
ReplyDeletePeople can make screenshot of their profile page, to have for memory photo album.
In a while, Zynga will try to suck as much money as possible. Look at that collections 35rp each and they are putting it every day. What are that collections for? I got 2 items just for fun cause I like items but 35rp each pfff
ReplyDeleteMaybe game will not end very soon, but one day will end for sure.
And one more word from me: Winner is one who play for fun and enjoy the game.
ReplyDeletesorry to say this MW LL but i can not agree any more with what you said i have spent alot of money on MW and im anoyed with some of the thingz im a fool for spending so much on a free game but it also gave them initiative to make bad mistakes i might be one of those who gave them the initive to go out and start MW 2 but as i see it we can all keep playing mafia wars and mafia wars 2 also yes it will make a level plaing feld for pepz but also it will make there will be more newer things for the old also as they have said but hey thank you for saying what you have in this and i hope zinga read this as zinga needs to know what us people want and need thank you again for putting the good point forward
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Zynga single handedly has destroyed the social gaming experience, their revenue model, of Introducing a new game that you can play for free until the player get hooked on earning achievements and gaining levels is like a “new drug” {HL} but once you hit a certain level, that high, begins to fade and then to get the same rewarding feeling of achievements you need to spend money on the game. It work for Zynga for awhile now, but let’s face it, people have really caught on to Zynga game plan, and people are dropping all those types of games.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame, because lets also face some other facts. If Zynga was not so greedy and would have worked it out that each player would only need to spend a few bucks monthly, {let’s say 10-20 bucks), they would have most likely made even more money, instead of losing millions and millions of Players.
But the truth of the matter is, Zynga made hundreds of millions of dollars, and once any game loses it appeal Zynga just puts out a “new drug” and we try it. Zynga does not care about any player, payers and players the like, they just don’t care, Zynga makes as much money as they can, as quick as they can, and move on to the next, you can see that in everything they do, via: support, publications, time frame to fix issues, and basically just how bad the games has gotten over the last 8 months. They don’t care, and they are moving on.
So if the players want Zynga’s Mafia wars to stay, Someone would need to purchase it from Zynga, and turn it into a game people could continue to play for free, and or pay to play for a long term game, not a smash and grab type.
Just my opinion
Evad
P.S. Will there even be a ZYnga once the SEC get done with them?????
I do not give a damn about the money , but WTH about the time and energy spent on the game. I am a free player and worked too hard to reach where i am today. And now they are starting another game WTH Zynga!!
ReplyDeletei don't believe there are many non-CC players left in the game today, except for the mini's/energy accts owned by the CC players.
ReplyDeletethe beginning of the decline was led by non-CC players who either got bored with the game or got frustrated about not being able to compete with CC-players. now, the exodus is including CC-players who can no longer keep up with all the changes.
what made this game so popular in the beginning was that it capitalized on people's egoes and OCD-ness. however, by the same token, once you are no longer able to keep up (with the cities,missions,gifting events,family events, etc.) and/or cannot beat others without spending unreal amounts of $$, the game is abandoned.
i think the beginning of the decline
A sequel usually means the beginning of the end for the original as they'll probably try to include all their great new ideas and designs into the "fresh new game" now that the original increasingly represents the old, overloaded and bloated has-been.
ReplyDeleteAs you keep pointing out, MW is full of features that are halfheartedly implemented, broken or just plain abandoned and instead of fixing and streamlining it, their only idea is to just create ANOTHER game, which btw. I think is Zynga's main modus operandi anyway.
All these hip young employees with their zen massages, stylish haircuts and laissez faire attitude to work are probably great at brainstorming fun new ideas but apparently not so much at seeing a project through and perfecting it.
I say if you spent the money as you would in a casino and see it as entertainment only, then you got your money's worth. IF you spent money as an investment, then you made a very bad investment and at the end of the day Zynga just iced you. One thing that everyone paid with was something far more valuable, and that's your time. Mine is to valuable to give in their next installment, and I will be retiring MW1 and using my time more wisely and everyone would be better off doing the same. There are still going to be those ADD type individuals who act as "Lemmings" and will still fall into their trap. I will end with this. "Fool me once, shame on you Zynga, But Fool me twice... I dont think so, C-ya!"
ReplyDelete"I don't want them to quit or go try another game." -Well said. I felt like that for a long time. Now, unfortunately, it just all feels like a sinking ship.
ReplyDeleteLook on the bright side: as the numbers dwindle at least they won't be rolling out so much new content anymore.
ReplyDeleteI haven't spent a fortune on the game, but have spent an awful ammount of time to get to a decent level!
ReplyDeleteStill enjoy new zones and missions when they are released and used to enjoy a bit of trading, before everything that was tradable became useless - I don't need another Lotto set thanks!
However there isn't a cat in hells chance that I would start again in number 2 - we have done the "hard yards" to get our loot and levels - why would we want to?
Please Zynga stabalize and improve your current tried and tested product, which already has a massive fan base!!!
a lot of people spend a lot of money foolishly...the more money you have the more you foolishly spend...any penny spent on MW is a bad idea, imagine those thousands of dollars that go out for those tiny pictures on men, weapons, etc. could do if they went to charity for example...
ReplyDeleteI see plenty of missconceptions running around, two being crucial; first, that Zynga is making crap load of money and secondly that a bulk of users are spending money like there's no tomorrow on MW/FV etc. Well, that couldn't be more wrong.
ReplyDeleteRemember while ago when they wanted to do an IPO - and collect those hard earned billions - just to delay it due to unfavourable "economic condition"? Well, their IPO prospectus was more than clear that only tiny group of people is responsible for most of their income. Those are the crazy momo-chasers that max out their credit cards to get those ridiculous collection items, finish the missions first among their friends etc. If you have a trouble picturing that, think out those crazy people in Las Vegas that spend most of their days in the casino on "entertainment" while wasting their monthly salary.
Oh, and Zyngas ballance sheet looks like shit as well - at least for a high flying dot-com bubble (version2) company waiting to make a killing.
What you see with all those missions and challenges in MW that force you to spend reward points is their last chance to squeze out a few bucks from their clients, before they dump the company on someone else. Be sure to expect more of the same crap from Zynga. Well, at least until they do an IPO and blow up in a year or two.
Cheers!