Family Boss Fight: Delayed

Family Boss Fight: Delayed

The Official Mafia Wars Blog indicated that there was a Family Boss Fight on the schedule for this week (1).

Epic Family Boss Fights
Some epic bosses are on their way and it's going to take the collaborative strength of your family to defeat them!

I just found out that we will not see the Family Boss Fight this week. There is something big coming out next week and the Boss Fight was put on hold. To learn more about this upcoming feature and what's in store for the community, tune in tomorrow to the Informant Podcast.  Blue Eyed Nate says his final good bye to the Mafia Wars community and Ben tells us what's ahead. Episode 89 will be available tomorrow at 3pm PDT.

The Argument Of Bots Vs Players And The Impact On Mafia Wars

Today, 08:56 PM

FionaWG  Lovable Addict Join Date: May 2009 Location: Yelling "Allez Cuisine!" Posts: 12,631

Franky, you forgot to include the link for Terms of Service that people can actually look it up for themselves. http://www.zynga.com/about/terms-of-service.php Now it's a long page to be reading through and to scan through the legal jargon to sort through what point you were trying to make, but here's a few screenshots of ToS that people need to understand that Zynga actually says it. Quote: Originally Posted by Franky C  CHEATING AND HACKING - You agree that you will not, under any circumstances: d. Use cheats, exploits, automation software, bots, hacks, mods or any unauthorized third-party software designed to modify or interfere with the Service, any Zynga Game or any Zynga game experience; 1.9. License Limitations Quote: Originally Posted by Franky C  Yes it is clearly defined in the TOS 1.10. Suspension and Termination of Account and Service WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OTHER REMEDIES, ZYNGA MAY LIMIT, SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE ACCOUNTS OR ACCESS TO ZYNGA SERVICES OR PORTIONS THEREOF IF YOU ARE, OR ZYNGA SUSPECTS THAT YOU ARE, FAILING TO COMPLY WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF SERVICE Quote: Originally Posted by Calder12  1. Bots aren't cheating. 2. Bots aren't bad for the servers. 3. Bots are good for Zynga's profits. Conclusion. No one cares, least of all Zynga. 1. Now, sayings Bots aren't cheating isn't entirely accurate. Bots are simply computer programs to play the game for you. It's people who are cheating. 2. Yes it can be bad for the servers, it places demands on the servers to keep up with the speed of bots. It also states in ToS as I have shown in screenshot above and I will quote it below. g. Disrupt, overburden, or aid or assist in the disruption or overburdening of (1) any computer or server used to offer or support the Service or any Zynga game environment (each a "Server"); or (2) the enjoyment of the Service or any Zynga game by any other person; 3. How are BOTS good for Zynga's profits? Last I checked, it's people using bots and they are the ones paying out of their own pocket to pay to play this game. Bots have nothing to do with it in regards Zynga's profits. Conclusion: People care very much about what is going on with this game, thus many threads about this subject on forums. Zynga is not going to come flat out and say that Bots are bad, or good or it's allowed or whatever. As Nate has said in Live Chats in the past, it's use at your own risk. Zynga knows bots are used in the game. As for anything done about them, behind the scenes, who knows. __________________ Welcome to the SHARK TANK!!!! Why am I being attacked by levels 1000's higher than me?(Updated) Get Satisfaction:http://getsatisfaction.com/mafia_wars

#27       Today, 08:58 PM

FionaWG  Lovable Addict Join Date: May 2009 Location: Yelling "Allez Cuisine!" Posts: 12,631

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex1987  I would ask, why not use the bot that everyone is using? i mean surely you have "better things to do" than to go searching for other bots? Just because everyone is using them doesn't mean that I have to. This game can be played without using bots. If you are going to be using bots to play the game for you, why are you even "playing" at all? You aren't. Soon this game will be bots vs. bots instead of player vs. player.  __________________ Welcome to the SHARK TANK!!!! Why am I being attacked by levels 1000's higher than me?(Updated) Get Satisfaction:http://getsatisfaction.com/mafia_wars

Many People May Find It Difficult To Win Wars, Help In Wars, Complete Missions And Even Level Up As Fast As Others. Those Who Seem To Have It Easier May Find Themselves Being Accused Of Cheating. The Fact Is That Many Are Not Cheating. 

Most Of This Illusion Boils Down To Skill Point Distribution. There Are Many Ways To Distribute Your Skill Points. You Can Apply Them Evenly, As I Do. Many Players Apply A Majority Of Their Skill Points To Attack And Stamina. Many Others Apply Their Skill Points To Energy. 

There Is Another Aspect Of The Game That Many Do Not Even Know About. That Aspect Is Skill Point Re-Allocation. This Has Been Explained Before. The Basics Are To Build Items In Your City Shops That Have Attached Health Skill Points. Players Then Save Up Rp's Or Purchase Game Cards, etc Then Wait For Zynga To Have A Sale That Allows You To Re-Allocate Your Skill Points. Those That Take Advantage Of This Sale Can Accrue 60 Skill Points A Day That Can Be Added To Attack, Defense, Energy, Or Stamina. The Reality Is That Nothing Has Been Re-Allocated. It Is, In Fact, A Built In Cheat For The Fortunate Ones Who Get To Take This Advantage.

Wars. I Have 1500+ Facebook Friends Where Most Are Daily Players. When I Post Wars To The Facebook Wall The War Is Over In Seconds. Since The Family Feature Started I Now Copy And Paste My Mafia Wars Profile In A Chat Group That Only Has My Family Members In The Group. If My Family Group Don't Help Fast Enough I Then Post The War To My Wall. In Either Case, The Wars Are Over In Under A Minute Or So. I Can See How Some May Think Bots And Scripts Are Being Used. The Fact Is That They Are Not. 

The Cold Hard Facts About Bots; I Can Rapid Fire With My Index Finger Faster On My Mouse Pad Than  Bot Can Attack A Player On The Fight Page. I Have Received Warning Message After Warning Message From Zynga About Having Irregular Activity Being Detected In My Account For Using My Index Finger Too Quickly. The Bots Actually Slow Fighting Down. They Do Not Guarantee A Fight Win. All They Do Is Save You From Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. 

The Internet Only Works As Fast As Your CPU Speed, Your Internet Connection Speed, The Speed Of the Servers And None Of These Are Instantaneous. The Bots Still Fall Within These Guidelines. You Truly Can't Tell  Who Is Or Isn't Using A Script Or Bot Just Because You Have Difficulty Winning Or Helping In A War Or Fight. 

My Suggestion For Those Who Want To Accuse Others Of Using Third Party Means To Play The Game Need To Either Change Their Tactics And The Way they Play Or Start Using The Scripts And Bots So You Find Out First Hand That There Truly Aren't Any Real Advantages To Using Them. 

High Voltage Crates

High Voltage Crates

There's a new Crate in town. Most won't care but keep in mind there are many collectors out there and these are a big deal. The latest and greatest is the High Voltage Crates.

Find them in the Marketplace under the Crates Tab. You can buy one High Voltage Crate for 12 Reward Points or save 1 Reward Point and buy three for 35.  The Space Crates are still available at the same price, just use the "View All" link to expand the Crate options.

The Space Crates are still available at the same price, just use the "View All" link to expand the Crate options.

To see the "Stunning New Items", click on the yellow help mark. Hove your mouse over each image to see the names and stats or keep reading.

Here is a closer look. The Common, Uncommon and Rare categories are not the item qualities and refer to to the probability of a particular item being in the Crate you purchase.

Common

Uncommon

Rare

New Unreleased Marketplace Loot Items

New Unreleased Marketplace Loot Items

The Inventory History bookmarklet by Team Spockholm picked up 4 unreleased Marketplace loot items. I have no idea how the collector's can keep up with Zynga.

Here is a closer look at each item.

Skill Point Reallocation Available Now

Skill Point Reallocation Available Now

Go get it! Look in the Marketplace under the Stats Items Tab. Go here if you have additional questions.

Facebook App Ticker: What it is and how to get rid of it

Facebook App Ticker: What it is and how to get rid of it

In early July, Facebook started beta testing a side bar feature that they termed the Happening Now Side Bar. Those who were unfortunate enough to get it found it very irritating. I told you about the feature here. Now that it's mainstream to most players, the questions are pouring in and the annoying factor has increased. Before we get to how to remove the thing, let's take a closer look at what it is and what it's designed to do. Facebook is now calling it the App Ticker. You will only see it when you are using one of your Facebook Apps. It serves a few purposes. One is to present the applications you most commonly use and have them as bookmarks so you can easily jump from one application to another. The next is to let you know what your friends are playing. It claims to be in real time but testing this proved not to be true.

The bookmarks will also show how many game requests you currently have by a little red number in the upper right corner. This information is also not accurate and didn't come close to matching how many pending requests I had in Mafia Wars.

The "real time" news flashes will say "Joe Blow is playing Mafia Wars". I know, how give a flip. If you want more detailed information about what your friends are up to, hover you mouse over the application bookmark you are interested in and you will see what they are doing in Mafia Wars.  Wow, I just found out that some of my mafia members want me to be part of their Brazil Crew. How exciting!

If you missed some of your ticker reports, have no fear because you can hover your mouse to the far right and a scroll bar will appear.

If you want to remove one of the applications from appearing on the ticker, in theory, you can do that too. The trick is to get an X to appear. If you hover your mouse in the upper right corner of the post, it's suppose to appear. I was able to do this for some of the applications but I couldn't get the X to appear for Mafia Wars. Maybe you need to be playing a different game. I'm not 100% sure. Anyways, look for the X and click on it.

That will remove the application from appearing in your ticker and Facebook wants to know why you removed it. There is no "It's irritating the crap out of me" option.

You will also notice that there are sponsored adds in your ticker. Here is one letting me know that two of my friends used the Marketplace. Obviously Zynga is paying for this. I knew one of these players and he told me that he hasn't purchased Reward Points in over 7 months. I'm sure just visiting the Marketplace will trigger this.

Now the big concern for many players is they don't want others to know when they are playing Mafia Wars. Let's face it, most of us are freaks when it comes to this game and it wouldn't look cool to our real life friends to see we continue to waste our time. There is a solution. Go to you Application Settings from the Account Drop Bar.

Now choose Applications located in the upper left hand corner of the page.

Go to the application you don't want people to see in their tickers and click "Edit".

 Now scroll down to "App privacy" and click on the drop down menu.

Open it up and select "Customize".

Now open up another drop down menu under the heading "Make this visible to".

Select "Only Me" and then "Save Setting". You will no longer appear in any tickers except your own. If you use other applications, you will need to do this for each one.

Facebook does answer some of the questions you may have about what this thing is and how to manage it. Here are three common questions and Facebook's responses.
What's new in the right column for games and apps?

How does the app ticker work?

How do I control which of my information shows up in the app ticker?

Many players really hate this thing and find it annoying. Some people with medical conditions such as epilepsy find it dangerous. There are ways to get rid of it. I will go over several workarounds starting from the most basic to the most sophisticated. Susan Wells of THX suggested throwing a towel over the right side of your screen. This wasn't a good option because the towel kept falling off and often interfered with my key strokes.

Zynga Customer Support is recommending that players go to mafiawars.com to play. This is a good solution but I always forget to go there and just enter through Facebook. You won't see the app ticker but you will see their advertisements. You would think they could sell their own ads and not need to use Google Ad Sense.

The next and most practical option is to just play the game unframed. This is the one I use as I always play unframed anyways. The app ticker hasn't really gotten on my nerves.

There are a few scripts out there that will remove the app ticker. The easiest one is a Chrome Extension. Go here to try it out. Thanks to Peta from [AMEX] for finding this.

It worked great for me and the app ticker along with all my ads were removed from the Facebook page.

Manage it like any other extension. Use the little wrench in the upper right corner of your screen and select "Tool" and then "Extensions". You can turn it on or off as you choose by using the Disable and Enable links.

For Fire Fox users there is also an Add-On here.  I haven't tested this one out as I can't stand to use FireFox.

Special Thanks To

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.