In-Game Notifications And South Africa Survey

Zynga added an In-Game notification to the sticky bar at the top of the Mafia Wars game. It read as follows;

The notification has been changed and now links to a survey and reads as follows;

http://zynga.tm/mwsa

Mobsters,

Did you know you can earn up to 100 Skill Points per District by Mastering Jobs and Vaulting Collections in South Africa?

Each job in a District of South Africa can be mastered up to Ruby Tier and gives you Skill Points. All the available Districts have 10 jobs.

Bronze Tier: +1 Skill Point for each job (+ 10 Skill Points per District)
Silver Tier: +1 Skill Points for each job (+10 Skill Points per District)
Gold Tier: +2 Skill Points for each job (+20 Skill Points per District)
Ruby Tier: +3 Skill Points for each job (+30 Skill Points per District)
This adds up to a total of 70 Skill Points.

In addition to the above 70 Skill Points, you can Vault Collections and earn:

Rumble In The Docks Collection => Vault for 30 Energy
Diamond Dust Collection => Vault for 30 Stamina
Lethal Dose Collection =>Vault for 35 Health

Please share your Feedback on the new location here: http://zynga.tm/mwsa

Following the link takes you to the survey which asks these questions;

Personally, I do love the Map Interface and design. Graphically South Africa is gorgeous. The Artwork is superb.

The Enjoyment and Fun Factor leaves much to be desired. As does the Gam play. We already stated on the Mafia Spirit Facebook Fanpage;

Is this just another Zynga scam to get you to purchase a gazillion energy refills? South Africa's job energy costs and ratios S-U-C-K and are leaving players needing thousands of XP needed for their next level. It's more likely more will quit than to purchase the refills. JMO.

We understand that Zynga needs to slow the game down some. But, with all the requirements and features running simultaneously players have been groomed for a fast paced that has constant activity. Now, players are running into the thousands short of the necessary XP to level up and to continue their progression while attempting to progress in South Africa. As we stated before, we have to believe that this was intentional by Zynga to persuade players to purchase Energy Refills. This is upsetting to many.

Players are now stating, or developing the belief, that they should pump all their skills into energy. This may, at best, be only a short-term assist to the players who choose to do this. Why? Because the job energy/XP ratios in South Africa vary from player to player. In addition, the energy cost to complete the South Africa jobs also increase as players progress. In other words, players will have the same issues as they continue to progress through South Africa unless they purchase enough loots or energy skills to offset the shortfall of necessary XP to level.

By only adding to energy so you can complete South Africa (at least at a reasonable pace) you will be neglecting your other skill sets. This means that you could potentially find that winning fights and accruing ices may also become more difficult. It’s a vicious cycle.

Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m just over analyzing the game. Maybe this will help the game. We will find out in time the affects of the South Africa job energy cost to XP ratios.