Oct 14, 2014

Platinum Purchase Program Shutdown: October 31, 2014

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About 4 years ago we told you about the elusive Platinum Purchase Program [1]. This program offers players better rate on reward points if they spend $500-$30,000 on a wire transfer. It’s never been advertised and it seems that Zynga has always kept it on the down low. I suspect they haven’t paid Facebook 30% of this revenue and that is probably the reason for all the secrecy. Today we learn that the Platinum Purchase Program is shutting down on October 31st. According to an anonymous player who uses this program there hasn’t been any information provided as to why the program is shutting down. The general feeling among the big spenders is concern. Is this move a sign that the game will soon be shutting down as well?  Years ago it became apparent that it’s not the metrics that keeps Mafia Wars alive [1]. If it were the game would have been shutdown a long time ago. The spenders are keeping it going and if Zynga doesn’t want them to assume the worst than they may want to provide more information as to why the Platinum Purchase Program is shutting down in a few weeks. The full message players now get when attempting to make purchases is shown below. No matter what your opinion on spending money to play Mafia Wars, this is not good.

We would like to inform you that our Platinum Purchase Program is coming to an end on October 31, 2014. You can still make a wire purchase before the said date.
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Hello XXXX,

Congratulations on your decision to participate in our Wire Transfer Platinum Purchase Program.

We would like to inform you that our Platinum Purchase Program is coming to an end on October 31, 2014. You can still make a wire purchase before the said date.

As a participant in the Platinum Purchase Program, we are pleased to extend to you an award rate of 12 Reward points to the dollar. You will find that this is a significant savings as the best package deal for points in game is currently 5.5 points to the dollar.

Please note that purchases made under this program are non-refundable and subject to the terms listed below:

All wires must be bank-to-bank wire transfers. Electronic checks (ACH transfers), Western Union or any other money transfer services will be rejected. In the event that a wire is rejected any associated fees are your responsibility.

All wire transfers are final, non-refundable and must be made in U.S. Dollars. Any wire transfer fees and/or exchange fees incurred are your responsibility. In addition, you agree that any and all funds that are received in amounts greater than the agreed upon transfer amount will automatically be applied to the designated player’s account at the agreed upon point per dollar rate. Should a promotional rate be offered within the succeeding 30 days of the completion of your wire transfer, the difference between the point per dollar rate of your completed wire transfer and the promotional point per dollar rate will be credited to your account.

There is a minimum purchase of $500 USD to participate in the Platinum Purchase Program, and a maximum daily limit of $30,000.00 per participating individual.
Each wire transfer must contain a unique Zynga generated Wire Transfer ID number (WID) which we will provide to you. Each WID may only be used once and is non-transferable. WID's will expire 7 days after they have been issued.

*****Wires received by Zynga containing an expired WID, a used WID or missing its WID will be rejected and subject to any and all fees associated with its rejection. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule.

*****Incoming wire transfers must be from an individual or private account. Wire transfers will NOT be accepted from business or corporate accounts. *****In addition to the required WID, each incoming wire transfer MUST contain the name of the individual who has requested the wire transfer.

*****Points will be granted within 3-5 business days of our receipt of a valid wire transfer. 

*****These Terms are subject to change.
You must be at least 18 years of age to participate in the Platinum Purchase Program. If you wish to proceed with a Platinum Purchase please review the Terms of Service link below and respond with the following text:

***Zynga Terms of Service http://www.zynga.com/about/terms-of-service.php 

"I agree to these Terms and the Zynga Terms of Service, I wish to purchase X dollars in points. I understand that in addition to the fees charged me by my bank to send a wire transfer, intermediary banks through which my wire travels may also register fees against my wire that neither I nor Zynga can predict. In the event that an intermediary bank charges a fee against my wire causing the amount received by Zynga to be less than the above agreed upon amount, I authorize Zynga to grant points on the total amount received. I also agree that any amount received in an amount greater than what was agreed to will be credited to my account at the set point per dollar rate. In addition, I hereby confirm that I am at least 18 years of age and have read and understand the Zynga Terms of Service as they have been presented through the URL link provided in this agreement.”

When responding with the above statement you must also include the City, State, and Country of your residence. Please also provide your social network User ID number.

Kind regards,
XXXX
Zynga Player Advocate

16 comments:

  1. Interesting article Loot Lady. I would be interested to hear from any big spenders on this site and what their opinion is about the current state of the game. Considering they are the ones keeping the game afloat their input would be interesting to hear.

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    1. Here is one (not the biggest tho). I have been using Platinum Purchase in the past. If they are going to quit PP on Oct 31 I don't regret having spent money, cause I have had great fun for 5 years and I have made a lot of friends. I will much probably leave the game but that's due to not having much fun any longer more than PP coming to an end. Although you could get 12 RP for 1USD you had to wire at least 500USD and that was quite an effort.

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    2. Thanks for your input. I played the game for years and only recently retired. Like you I met some great people who I still talk to every day. I spent some money in my time playing the game but nothing close to Platinum level. If you have the extra money and love the game I see nothing wrong with spending money on something you like to do. I switched my MW habit for PS3..lol To each his own.

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  2. Metrics might not matter to Zynga but they sure matter to players who spend big money to play the game. Even with the declining numbers the big money players could justify the spending because they could still be a big fish in a small pond. But when the pond becomes a puddle what's the point? Big spenders are leaving the game in droves because of the declining player base and Zynga's overall incompetence. Players can defend Zynga and deny reality all they want but the metrics don't lie. The game is done..

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    1. The pond became too small years ago, about the time we started seeing all the packs and bundles. Zynga was one step ahead of the spenders and it's pretty obvious what's going on. They got as much money as possible when they could. Now that the numbers are sinking in with the spenders it's only a matter of time before Zynga bails. We have been saying this for a while now. Metrics stopped mattering a very long time ago and just as Zynga hoped they still mattered to those in denial. I doubt anyone is defending Zynga, they got their money and did what they had to do to get it. The ones in denial were the ones who thought the metrics mattered. The game has been done for a long time now.

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    2. If you think the game is done then why in the world are you still putting your time and effort into it? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to the game Loot Lady. But I would move on to something else if I thought that was the case.

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    3. Well I, for one, am here until the bitter end. I've played this game for years now, and I'll quit playing when Zynga shuts it down.

      I suspect Loot Lady feels the same way. She has already said as much....

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    4. Like me I suspect the Loot Lady has some OCD in her that compels her to finish things...lol

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    5. MW was never a game to begin with and everyone knows it. True games take skill and hard work to become the best. MW takes your credit card info so you can leapfrog people in skills regardless of ability. It's pay to play. Then you start up a computer program to do all the work for you and go do laundry. So now you have a "game" run by credit cards and computer programs.Nothing wrong with it but call it like it is and don't act like it takes skill to do...

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  3. "We would like to inform you that our Platinum Purchase Program is coming to an end on October 31, 2014. You can still make a wire purchase before the said date."

    Translation: Go ahead and blow a few more thousand on this game before we shut it down for good...lol

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    1. I agree. No matter how you interpret this move, the end of the game now seems like it's not far off....

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  4. People actually spend that kind of money on a game?!

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    1. I was thinking the same thing...lol

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    2. Rumour had it that The Swede'a account cost about twice what my house cost ... and I know The Traveller when asked how come he could spend so much said "Easy, I just buy one less sports car a month" ... different worlds ;-)

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    3. I quit the game long ago but I still would be interested in hearing from the big money players once the game shuts down for good. Be cool to hear how the other half played the game..lol

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  5. Given that you can get up to 14Rp's per dollar on a game card, with 2x builds giving you a 1 for 1 on rp's to attack/def/stam/energy with additional loot - the 12 Skills per dollar offer is not as enticing. There are still plenty of spenders in the game. The revenue stream has shifted into their best way of promoting game skills/loot - not just skills alone. If you get your game cards on sale, the value goes even higher.

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