Mark Pincus – The Comedian

I was reading through my E-Mails when I came across something interesting. It was an E-Mail update from seekingalpha.com. Within the contents of the E-Mail I read “CEO Mark Pincus at the D10 conference isn't enough to keep his company from making new lows.”

I just had to find out more so I followed some links and came across an article on allthingsd.com that was written by Tricia Duryee and it was titled;

Zynga’s Mark Pincus Talks About His Management Style, Acquisitions and Mobile

Basically the article is an interview with Mark Pincus being interviewed by someone named Kara.

At first it seemed like your A-typical boring interview with planned responses from pre-scheduled questions. Then I came across some responses of Mark Pincus that just made me bust a nut. Here’s what cracked a rip in my britches;

Kara: The “potential”? I assume that most of your business will shift to mobile.

Mark: Let’s not forget the opportunity on PCs. A lot of the traffic happens when people are at work, on boring conference calls.

The three drivers of our business and market: Games becoming more free, accessible and social.

Just building audience brings revenue, though.

 

Final question: How do you lessen your attachment with Facebook?

Mark: There’s nothing stopping us from putting our games in other places. I have a 90-10 rule. When a platform can get you millions of daily active users, then that’s when you invest. Facebook has done that for some time, and now iOS and Android are just getting to that point. I think people have a latent interest in playing, and we will go anywhere where we can make it free, accessible and social.

Since nearly every feature in Mafia Wars requires some sort of demand or requirement for the purchase of RP’s, I don’t see it.

Ok, yes it is true that I can log into the game for free without having to buy a membership. Yes, I can click a few buttons that give an illusion that I am accomplishing something. Yes, I can participate in all the in-game events and tasks.

What I can’t do is keep up. I spend priceless amounts of my time trying to play this game while trying to get the tasks completed before a countdown clock reaches 0. I do not get to complete every mission in a timely manner. Since the Limited Time Properties have been modified to have 15 levels I haven’t completed a single property to its maximum level. My mission bar still has 2 active missions that are seemingly just sitting there. In fact, the Extreme Mission had to be changed since Zynga closed Italy. I can’t compete with those who do spend money – the ‘VIP’ members. I just ain’t important to Zynga!

And then what did you say about “building an audience bringing in revenue?” I can clearly see how that works in the above image. That is, chase everyone away from the game until only those who spend money for a slight advantage are left. Is that right? Co-bull-u-shit-gh Co-bull-u-shit-gh!

Now that Zynga (ZNGA) hit an all-time low with the cost per share of its stocks and is now worth $4.5 billion you might want to consider trying to find that audience that will bring you that revenue.

Thanks for the laugh Mr. Pincus.

Auld Lang Syne Sale

The Auld Lang Syne Sale Is Open.

Auld Lang Syne Sale is here!

Mobsters,

Auld Lang Syne Sale is here!

Purchase any 15 qualifying items* in the Marketplace to earn yourself an Amish Goon (203/118)*

Sale items also include 4 limited items, including Jousting Lance (182/105), Cloak of Mail (105/182),V for Vintage (183/104) and Bone Awl (104/183). 

Auld Lang Syne sale ends at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time) on 3rd June 2012, after which these exclusive items will no longer be available.

*Only items selling in the Marketplace are eligible for this reward. However, items selling for less than 5RP, Treasure Chest items and Skill Point Reallocation are not eligible for the prize.

Get these items today!

-The Mafia Wars Team

Auld Lang Syne has many uses although it has become most recognized as the traditional signature song/poem that marks the ringing out of the old and bringing in of the new.

"Auld Lang Syne"

wikipedia

(Scots pronunciation: [ˈɔːl(d) lɑŋˈsəin]: note "s" rather than "z") is a Scots poem written by Robert Burnsin 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294). It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations and as a farewell or ending to other occasions.

As well as celebrating the New Year, Auld Lang Syne is very widely used to symbolise other "endings/new beginnings" – including farewells, funerals, graduations, the end of a (non-New Year) party or a Boy Scout gathering, the election of a new government, the last lowering of the Union Jack as a British Colony achieves independence and even the closing of a retail store. The melody is also widely used for other words, especially the songs of sporting and other clubs, and even national anthems. In Scotland and other parts of Britain, in particular, it is associated with celebrations and memorials of Robert Burns.

A more modern version of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ was released in 1980 and sung by the late, great, singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg. Fogelbergs version was titled ‘Same Old Lang Syne’. 

What does all this have to do with Mafia Wars? We don’t rightly know. Many are speculating that Zynga is sending us hidden messages that the game may be on it’s last leg. And it may very well be. But remember that ‘Auld Lang Syne’ can also represents the bringing in of the new. We, therefore, could just as easily speculate that changes may soon come to Mafia Wars. Remember back around April 10, 2012 Zynga had suggested Avatars as a possible feature for Mafia Wars. We will have to wait and see.

Skill Point Reallocation May 29, 2012

Skill Point Reallocation Is On Again, Finally. But Not Without Despair For Many Players.

What I Am Referring To Is That The Skill Point Reallocations Do Not Appear Very Often Since The VIP Program Began.

The VIP Players Get To Do A Skill Point Reallocation Almost At Their Leisure Now. And Now, When The Skill Point Reallocations Are Opened To Everyone The VIP Members Get To Purchase The Skill Point Reallocations Twice In The Same Day.

Really Zynga?? You Can’t Even Throw A Bone Once In A While To The Truly Loyal Players Who Sleep On Wool And Not Satin Sheets? It’s Like Not Even Worth It To Bother Since The End Result Is Null. The Free Players STILL Run The Chance Of Falling Behind Even When You Think That You’ve Thrown us A Bone!

There Are Reason Why You’ve Lost 70,000 Daily Players In Less Than A Month And The VIP Program And The Unfair, Uneven, Un-Balanced Game Play That It Causes Is A Major Contributor To The Current Mass Exodus.

Grab Bag – Pick Your Own Bundle

Run Forrest Run. Run and pick your own bundle of loots, crates, skill points, or any combination thereof 3.

As you can see in the above screen shot you can get 3 loot items for 72 RP. That averages out to 24 RP per loot. Yes, it is better than the normal 35 RP per loot item. Since the stats range from 175 Att/Def to 179 Att/Def I guess this option is ok.

You could opt to purchase 3 Three Classified Crates for 72 RP. This option gives you 9 loot items in total for an average of 8 RP per loot item.

As you can see in the above screen shot the classified crate loots range from 157 Att/def to 187 Att/def. Remember, the loots that you get from the crates is random from those 8 loot items. You have a chance to get better loot by purchasing this option over the guaranteed single loot option.

Therefore, If you are looking for loot stat scores this could be the better option.

Another option is to purchase, up to, 24 skill points for 57 RP. That equates to 2.375 RP per skill point.

Yes, this option is better than the Marketplace purchase of skill points which averages 3.5 RP per skill point.

But, you can do better. If you wait for the clock to tick down the amount of RP’s required to speed the build timer also decreases.

 

Many players wait for the ‘Build Now for X RP’ button to reach 6 RP before they speed the clock.

In The Weapons Depot this will give you up to 7 skill points if you are building for health and energy or stamina. That is if you build the Dirty Trick or the Electric Prod. If you speed these builds using 6 RP the average cost of RP is 0.86.

If you build the Hack Blade or Stun Knuckles then you can add 6 skill points to your Attack or Defense at a rate of 1.0 RP per skill point.

What many consider the best skill point purchase isn’t exactly a skill point purchase. I am referring to the reallocation of skill points.

The veteran Mafia Wars players already know how this works so this is for the Noobs.

This could be considered to be like a ‘Bait And Switch’ or a simple ‘Switcheroo’ of skill points. Most commonly players build the Warthog in the Private Zoo since it gives you +20 Health.

Then, If you are not a VIP member, you wait for the skill point reallocations to go on sale in the Marketplace. Which has only occurred 3 or 4 times since the VIP program began.

It generally costs 10 RP to reallocate 10 skill points or 50 RP to reallocate 50 skill points.

If you are a VIP member then you can purchase a skill point reallocation once a day (Great way to maintain an even playing field BTW).

Another way to use RP to buy skill points is through the rerelease of secret districts.

It costs 35 RP to buy your way into the secret districts upon any release of them after their debut release. You do acquire an additional skill point for each job you complete while doing the secret districts. If you completely master the secret districts you gain 36 skill points for an average of 0.972 RP per skill point. If you haven’t previously collected the bonus skill points for collecting 50 items you also acquire those skill points.

In summary, the Pick Your Own Bundle sales aren’t worth the use of RP on. That is unless you are a collector and there are items you don’t have yet. If you are looking for Mafia Attack and Defense Strengths then this can be beneficial but remember the skill points ultimately help you more. I would not recommend buying into this sale.