This Is How Zynga Do’s It

Are you ready for a Fairy Tale Twist? Players of the game ‘Fairy Tale Twist’ tried to log in to their games on January 26 only to find that they couldn’t. That was because Zynga was making a few changes to that game. Zynga subsequently made the following announcement;

Introducing Puzzle Charms!

Mon Jan 27 09:26:28 EST 2014

Hello Fellow Twisters!

The twists and turns of the game we all loved can only get better and charm-ier!

We're glad to announce to everyone that Fairy Tale Twist is now called Puzzle Charms! Feed the Rabbits and pass  through Puzzles with never-ending Charms as you go along and finish all the fun-tastic levels!

Don't forget to bookmark the new game link: https://apps.facebook.com/puzzlecharms/

And now, let's all continue to play and be charmed, by Puzzle charms!

source: Puzzle Charms Player Suport 

With the name change from ‘Fairy Tale Twist’ to ‘Puzzle Charms’ the DAU of the game now surpasses that of Mafia Wars.  

Fairy Tale Twist Game Name Change Increases DAU

Mafia Wars’ DAU Still Hovering Below 200,00

Although Mafia Wars may appear to have a little momentum in improving it’s Daily Users over the course of the past 2 weeks the game is far from where it once was. The next 2 graphics show how much Daily activity Mafia Wars has lost within the last year and 2 years (respectively).

DAU Change in last year:  -31%

Change in DAU between 2012 Q2 and 2014 Q1: -52%

We have expressed time and again how we believe Zynga is its own worst enemy with its business model. Others are now expressing similar thoughts. The following is a quote from Robert Weinstein who wrote an article on thestreet.com that questioned Zynga’s Customer Service.

“According to Zynga's filings, few users break out the credit card to spend real money. OK, that's not a surprise, but maybe the exact model it's using isn't the correct one.”

The problem with Zynga (within nearly ALL it's games) is that they have forgotten that their games are ‘supposed’ to be ‘freemium’ games. Mafia Wars is among several of Zynga’s games that have become money grubbing games that are nearly impossible to play (or to at least have the ability to complete many of the ‘in-game’ tasks and features) without the need of spending lots of cash.

Zynga made its billions 4 (+/-) years ago when its games were playable by everyone. Players used to spend $5 or $10 on a game card or other in-game purchase when they didn’t feel over-pressured by Zynga to do so. This is back when the in-game purchases either sped you through something or gave you a small perk over others (albeit only temporary).

The over-priced and high-pressure tactics of Microsoft WILL NOT work in a ‘Freemium’ atmosphere! Period. Those tactics will only chase players away from your services Zynga! Facebook is not like the X-Box.

Coming Soon To A Mafia-Wars Game Near You

D’ya wanna have some fun.

Let’s say that Mafia Wars made the following announcement of changes to Mafia Wars;

Coming soon to a Mafia-Wars game near you....... In the coming weeks there will be some changes made to the attack system. The most visible change will be the implementation of ammunition for guns. If you run out of ammunition, you will switch to a backup melee weapon, and NOT another gun. This means if you do not maintain your ammo stockpiles, you could be left bringing a knife (or other melee weapon) to a gun fight. This will potentially enable weaker players to beat stronger players that run out of ammo.

In the next couple of days you will see ammo appearing in the shops available for purchase. You will also find that the inventory page now indicates the type of ammo a given weapon uses. It is your responsibility to buy the proper ammo for your weapons, and there are going to be some similar ammo names. Don't buy .50 Caliber BMG ammo thinking it will work in your Desert Eagle, it won't work.

Another change that you will see is when mugging another player, you will now gain certain items on top of money. You will not be able to steal Support Packs, but other items may be available for theft. The exact items that will be available are still yet to be determined. Items preceded by an asterisk (*) in the inventory can be stolen when you are mugged, so you will have an idea of what you may lose if you get mugged.

Finally, when this change goes live, everyone will be credited with a certain amount of ammo for each type of gun in their inventory, so any inactive/infrequent players aren't at a disadvantage right away. But then again, if a player is inactive or does not come on very much, chances are they aren't going to be reading this before the change goes live, so we're not sure why we are announcing this.

If there are any questions, please direct them to a member of staff. Stay tuned for more updates. Same Bat time, same Bat channel. ~MW Staff

I would think that the announcement above, if true, would make Mafia Wars more like Mafia Wars 2.

 

What do you think? Would you like these changes to Mafia Wars?

Iceboard Top 25 – Must Be A Corliss Thing

On The Official Mafia Wars Blog Zynga has posted the Top 25 finishers in the Global Iceboard Clash (reprinted below);

Hi Mobsters,

Many of you suggested we mention the top 25 ranking players in the Global Iceboard going forward. We thought it was a great idea!

So on popular demand, here's the list of the top 25 players in the Global Leaderboard!

Sl. No.	Name	No. of Ices
1	Fiona Clark	684481
2	Aby Corliss	620763
3	Elina Khetagurova	542304
4	Asha MW Corliss	501825
5	Yuki Day	479780
6	Stewart Bridgman	468615
7	George War	452825
8	Zilli Max	451342
9	Kevin Portman	450016
10	Xena Harley	444307
11	Alice MW Corliss	441495
12	Mervyn Rutherford	432529
13	Kizza Kizzic	420551
14	Amber Corliss	418804
15	Zander Corliss	418683
16	Aaron Porritt	418606
17	Jan de Souter	405109
18	Steve A Smith Sr.	402804
19	Robert Reuser	382476
20	Fred Palmer	377481
21	Joseph Corliss	372526
22	Karen Malone	371770
23	Tom Porritt	370217
24	Ian Wilson	367998
25	Abuzuttin Muttalip	362492

Please note that ONLY the top three ranks globally and the top three ranks in your Mafia will receive the following prizes.

These rewards are applicable for the Iceboard season that ended on Jan 22, 2014. All winners need to log in to the game and redeem their reward by on Jan 26, 2014.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Keep playing Mafia Wars!

-The Mafia Wars Team

As we highlighted in the Top 25 list you will notice 6 players with the last name ‘Corliss’. That equates to 24% of the Top 25. With so many players with the same last name who finished among the top 25 it doesn’t bode well in considering these events legitimate. One must question as to whether all 6 of these Corliss’s are different players or are they all the same player?

Obviously scripts were used by ALL those who finished in the Top 25. These types of events have succeeded at nothing more than promoting the use of scripts and cheating. The players who do finish at the top of these types of events are rewarded for their cheating efforts and do NOT even deserve bragging rights.

Many players don’t even bother trying in these types of events because we know we can’t compete and Zynga continues to widen the gap in the playing field by rewarding these players more and more.

The DAU has not seen 200,000 since November 15, 2013. That’s more than 2 months ago. Need we ask why? These types of events and the use of scripts along with Zynga’s relentless pushes for purchases of RP are culminating the demise of this once reward winning game. Zynga needs to give ALL players a reason to continue playing Mafia Wars. They might find that if they did Zynga might actually generate a positive in revenue and NOT another decline. JMO.

Zynga to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results on February 6, 2014

 

 

January 21, 2014

Zynga to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results on February 6, 2014 Via Webcast

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga Inc. (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, will hold a conference call to discuss financial results for its fourth quarter and full year 2013 on Thursday, February 6, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time), following the release of its financial results after the close of market.

The live webcast of Zynga's earnings conference call can be accessed at investor.zynga.com. Following the call, a replay of the webcast will be available through the website. 

Forward-Looking Statements

The conference call and webcast will contain forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, our financial expectations and business prospects, our future operational and strategic plans, upcoming games, features and technologies, and the success of our games and network generally. Our actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of our future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, our relationship with Facebook or changes in the Facebook platform or to our agreements with Facebook, attrition and declines in our existing games, our ability to launch new games in a timely manner and monetize these games effectively on the web and on mobile, our ability to control and reduce expenses, our exposure to illegitimate credit card activity and other security risks, our ability to anticipate and address technical challenges that may arise, competition, the changing interests of players, intellectual property disputes or other litigation, asset impairment charges, our ability to retain key employees, acquisitions by us and changes in corporate strategy or management.

Source: Zynga Inc.

ZNGA  has been on a very slow incline over the course of the past year. Investors have been hopeful that Don Mattrick would revive ZNGA back to, at least, the levels of ZNGA’s IPO. Since Q2‘12  Zynga’s revenues have been on a steady decline.

Zynga no longer boasts a top 10 Facebook App.

The direction of the company is clearly uncertain. One can only speculate what will be announced regarding Zynga’s financials on Feb 6, 2014. We fear more of the same. 

 

 

When the mornin' comes You'll know by my shoes I've been out walking If I don't return You'll know I've found something to believe in, to believe in Waiting for the sun My heart will surely break if it starts raining It's the oasis I seek 'Cause the sand of the desert makes me thirsty, makes me thirsty Down, down we all go down 'Round, 'round we all go 'round Down, down we all go down We all go down-down-down-down If I learn to fly You know I'll go places never been before If I reach a star You know I will dwell on it forever, forever There are mysteries My children have rhymes with hidden meanings If I learn the truth I'm sure that the end will leave me crying, leave me crying