Jun 30, 2015

Why I Canceled my VIP Subscription

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The very first day that the VIP Membership Program was available, I signed up for it. I was a loyal subscriber and never thought I would cancel. Sadly today I did just that. The decision to do so wasn't easy but I made up my mind one night when I couldn't get the game to load. I'm tired of all the problems with the game and it makes me feel foolish for spending money on it. Zynga hasn't addressed the loading or feed issues with their players and to me this is worse than the problems themselves. They continue to ignore it while throwing too much content at us and enough is enough. Just because I cancelled my subscription doesn't mean I'm quitting the game. I'm just refusing to spend money on it until the major issues are fixed. I felt that continuing to spend money on Mafia Wars and making posts about the VIP Membership Program made me just as bad as Zynga. It will be interesting to play the game without the VIP benefits but it will also be an opportunity to see if it really was needed. I'm pretty sure I won't miss it and will be able to easily adjust to being just a regular player. I'm not asking anybody to cancel with me and the beauty of this game is we all can play the way we want. Right now this is how I choose to play.

21 comments:

  1. Good on you - we should all follow suit and cancel their crappy VIP membership. First of all, the problems and the errors and the fact that Zynga isn't addressing them should be reasons enough... however, add to this the monthly slap in the face when loot are refreshed and the fact that we already know we won't see any new benefits worth a damn before April 2016 (at the earliest) And I will bet my kidneys that IF the game is still here by then and we get past Elite Black tier, the next Elite tier will be JUST as laughable as the previous one. Zynga is hell bound on NOT making any VIP tier a benefit - and the incentive to stay subscribed is at this point non-existent. Addiction only is keeping people subscribed at this point... Zynga just doesn't care... when enough people cancel and their money flow goes below a certain point... they won't wake up and finally start fixing issues... they will just shut the game down then... the game is done for and is running on fumes supplied by the VIP members (mostly) and a few hard core whalers

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  2. If all you fools cancel the VIP membership, say bye bye to mafia wars... recently I see so many people complaining about all the issues but just be thankful the game is still alive 7 years later, after all most of us expected it to shutdown back in April.

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    1. fools for continuing to play, or continuing to pay?

      Zynga has shown complete contempt for its customers. As a company it doesn't deserve to survive. Its a testament to the game as originally devised that it has so many loyal followers who are prepared to stick with it whatever crap they throw at us. I think the tenacity of the remaining players has surprised even Zynga themselves. And yes, I think they are on a mission to drive away more players so they can justify shutting it down completely with as little pain as possible. 50,000 players shouting about closure will be negligible compared to the outcry that would have been generated even 6 months ago.

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    2. so, you, smartass, stay VIP....you'll be our hero

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    3. Stop using whatever drug it is you're using, mate... it's not healthy for you!

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    4. 1. I'm not on any drugs
      2. Are you mad? I can't afford the VIP membership or anything that requires payment, but I need you people to keep paying so we can keep playing.

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  3. I hear you Jen. Why should Zynga expect anyone to support them when they continue to ignore all the issues? Its not as though its a new problem, we've had performance issues almost all the time I've been playing.

    I cancelled in April & I don't miss the benefits. It took about a month for the loss of the loot benefit to be made up - that's how little it is really worth. I never needed the timer extensions for properties or missions. I don't miss the extra VIP-only events because I have far too many other things to do in the game.

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  4. Mafia Wars will end in September...see you there!

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  5. My way of playing the game has been the challenge of building my game character. But I always measured that not in the mere numbers of the stats, but in how a stronger character made the game easier. Doing more jobs with the E pool, more robberies with the S pool and so on. Instead, MW decided that I needed to be punished for building my character by making the game harder for me than players with similar stats. Since the game rules are now changeable at their whim, I see no reason to give them money when I don't have to in order to play .

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    1. I couldn't agree with you more. What is the point in building any stat when Zynga is just going to randomly punish you for having done so? It'a absolutely asinine to make things harder for people with higher stats. Isn't the whole point of building stats is that it's supposed to make you a stronger player? Nope, not with Zynga.

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    2. If they had messed with another other stat besides the energy one, there would be complete and total outrage, and demands to make things right. What they did to those who actively added to energy was despicable, and even more so for those who have actually paid for skill points that went in to energy. I expect that those who have paid for skill points that went in to energy would have a very good case against zynga.

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  6. I gotta cancel. I have two accts, one is VIP both are fighters. I relied on stream scanner to network helpers and avoid having fruitless begs all over my wall. Sam my non VIP is Around 1000 lower than my VIP and there really was not much difference between the two when it came to icing, Sam would often be getting better stats. Now the Spockholm toolbar keeps dropping out, sick of reloading it clearing caches etc etc ad nauseum. At the same time the game is running like a drunken dog on its last legs, so play time is dropping off as less frustrating, easier to load stuff takes my attention. I hope they sort it before alot of us just don't care anymore

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  7. What I find hilarious about this situation is that I stopped spending money on the game because of all the issues THREE YEARS AGO!!!

    As a computer programmer myself, I have to say I find the continual issues to be rather puzzling. How hard can it be? I do know from experience, though, that sometimes software problems are just unsolvable. Some issues are inherent to the overall design, and nothing short of a complete rewrite will solve them.

    Anyway, don't hold your breath....

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  8. Welcome the non-VIP world. Honestly, its not that bad, you may not notice any difference

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  9. I cancelled my VIP months ago, the VIP loot is useless and I do not need the reward points. I still play like I used to , but if I do not finish an event, so what? It is obvious that Zynga is just placating just a certain percentage of the daily players. If the revenue falls below a certain target, I am sure that the game will get cancelled or maybe they are basing the decisions of the numbers of active accounts. I have my 6 alternative accounts so I will do my part in keeping the game going.

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  10. I stopped supporting Zynga financially for the same reasons you have cited. In particular, for the fact they keep ignoring the countless players who have told them they are releasing too many events.

    When they were releasing them one after the other, that was bad enough, because you didn't have time to breathe without another 8 hour event coming out, right after one ended, but now they're releasing 2 - 3 or more events at a time, and still not giving players a breather between them, before they release 2 - 3 more. Do they expect players to choose between playing the game and working? It seems that way, but they need working players to buy their product, don't they, and those are the ones they're screwing over by making it impossible to keep up with the game. They don't seem to get it, though, so let them get themselves in a mess when they can't drag enough people in to the VIP plan, they have no choice but to close the game, and those who have spent tens of thousands freak out on them for closing.

    I still enjoy playing, but I will be almost relieved when the game is shut down. I won't have to schedule my life around limited time properties or those stupid, hateful 8 hour job missions any more.

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  11. I also ended my VIP plan after 25 months the hell with zynga once and for all. So many auto players now anyway. The game has changed for the worse over 7 years big time

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  12. Been telling people LONG TIME AGO not to sign up for VIP.Zynga will juice the game for as much as they can, then shut it down. That's how Zynga been, even in the past with their other games. I tried to give this game a chance just the other day, guess what? Loading issues as I expected. Didn't even try to load it again. I just went and played a different game.

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  13. 288,686 - June 2, 2015 Monthly active users
    263,181 - July 2, 2015 Monthly active users
    Every time there is a new event there is a small surge as people bring online their remaining minis to help. Then the event ends and the number of mau drops a few thousand lower than it was before. They are struggling to keep the VIP players from dropping, there are rumors of more lay-offs planned, rumors that the leadership doesn't seem to have a clear view of the game and not providing direction, has to be frustrating as hell for the guys whose jobs are on the line.

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  14. This is how Zynga did with the 2 of the other Zynga games I played. They started throwing so many things at us and then announced the game was closing. I fully expect to see it as one of the games to go in their next round/

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  15. Stopped playing about a year ago and havent missed it at all. I was there at the beginning and it was a good run but when demon came out and every account was running 5-10 mini accounts it just became ridiculous. Plus, Zynga started doing so many jobs/tasks that it just took way to much of my time. Now I just post gameplay on youtube and get paid for it.

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