The Non-Player Characters of Mafia Blackjack

Thanks to 11 days worth of extensions, there is a new found enthusiasm, tolerance or hatred of Mafia Blackjack. Early on I had planned to make a post about the non-player characters featured in the event but since most of us were disgusted that we wouldn’t be able to finish I decided against it. Although the cards seem rigged this really isn’t a bad event as we don’t need to beg, nothing is based on skill sets and it doesn’t require energy or stamina to play (except for what’s used to get Chips). In our last progress update, Willie Coleman was on his way to defeating the 4th Boss but sadly he was going to run out of time [1]. The good news is that he got there and the screen shot below is from his account. In honor of this accomplishment a game history of the primary and some shady secondary characters is shown below.

Boss #1: Dino 'Diamond' Armondo

Dino ‘Diamond’ Armondo was introduced to the game when some new players got a destination called Manhattan. Players who got this destination did not get New York and it was short lived. There were too many bugs and exploits affecting these players and Zynga eventually stopped using it and offered to convert accounts. There are/were 8 Districts in Manhattan and Zynga continues to use all 8 bosses in many of their events. Dino Armondo is the boss of District 8 which is the Financial District.

Dino also showed up for the Thanksgiving 2010 and 2011 Don’s Dinner and Save Don’s Dinner events and the Double Agent Marketplace Promotion.

I think we just figured out what Dino likes to do in his spare time! If Frank Carver isn’t his alias then the two must be related!

Boss #2: Kayla Ross

Kayla Ross is/was the boss of Manhattan District 6, Union Square.

Kayla has shown up in the Made In Manhattan Operations Event and the Black Friday Vengeance Marketplace Promotion of 2012.

Boss #3: The Philanthropist

The Philanthropist is a special character because he was modeled after Joel Willeby of the Riot Family. He made his first appearance in the Bulletproof Heart Limited Time Mission and many were thrilled to see him in another event. Zynga could really drum up new found interest in the game if they would feature more players in their events and we could learn more about the members of our community. Joel is the perfect example of how well it works as the Bulletproof Heart Mission wasn’t exciting to us because of all those daunting tasks. If we could see the metrics I wouldn’t be surprised if more players than normal completed this Mission.

Boss #4: Michelle Paulis

Michelle Paulis is one of the more over used characters in Mafia Wars. She first appeared in many of the Contract Missions which were released in December of 2010.

In addition to seeing her on a ad banner every 3-5 days a week she has also hosted 6 Limited Time Missions and...

…got more face time in the Cutting Edge Marketplace Promotion and made a small cameo in the It’s Reigning Women Marketplace Promotion. With all the money Zynga is paying her you would think she would buy more shirts.

You will also encounter other NPCs on the face cards. They play a lesser role in the game and were also used in Mafia Poker and come from Manhattan, Missions and Las Vegas. 3 of the 4 Bosses are also seen on the cards. What cracks me up about Zynga is that Dino 'Diamond' Armondo is the King of Hearts! Why wouldn't they make him the King of Diamonds?

King of Spades	Alex Nash	Manhattan District 1
King of Diamonds	Guy D'Meeno	Manhattan District 5
King of Clubs	Sam Hadwick	Contract Missions
King of Hearts	Dino Armondo	Manhattan District 8
Queen of Spades	Rosario Dominguez	Contract Missions
Queen of Diamonds	Michelle Paulis	Contract Missions
Queen of Clubs	Auria Wilson	Contract Missions
Queen of Hearts	Kyla Ross	Manhattan District 6
Jack of Spades	Victor Lil' Loco Alves	Las Vegas D1 Boss
Jack of Diamonds	John Yun	Manhattan District 3
Jack of Clubs	Vince Giorgio	City Missions: Italy
Jack of Hearts	Lucas Sousa	City Missions: Brazil

To many players, the unsung hereos of Mafia Blackjack are David Cabrera from the Mafia Wars AddOn and Martin, Pete, Eike and Brandon from Spockholm Mafia Tools. Without them many of us wouldn’t have the patience to play Blackjack the Zynga way.