Save Mafia Wars
Opened on November 30, 2011
We are the real players of Mafia Wars. Zynga has continued to ruin this game by changing the rules mid-stream to compensate for one bad decision after another. Players have invested collectively millions of dollars into this high stakes fighting game, only to see the value of their investment diminished by changes in fundamantal game play rules. The latest change regarding heal timers, is the equivalent of extending the clock on a football game to let the other team have a chance to win. This significantly devalues the investment players made in health skill points.
Part of this move is also to combat botting in the form of autohealers and fighting tools. These tools have become so fundatmental to high end game play that they are a necessity to keep the game going. Zynga's next move is aimed to put an end to such programs that have been part of the game since the beginning. Tools from Spockholms, Playerscripts, UnlockedMW, and others have made the game playable and enjoyable for the remaining users. Zynga's attempts to combat these types of tools is destroying the game and will alienate the remaining players that depend on these tools. The analytics data from the various tools providers proves that the vast majority of players use automation so they can better focus on the social aspects of the game that make it enjoyable.
We ask Zynga for the following:
1. Restore the heal timer to its original configuration
2. Work with the script authors to modify the terms of service to allow 3rd party tools and set reasonable limits to the actions these tools can perform.
UPDATE: We had a very constructive conversation with the Mafia Wars team. They explained that the problem with excess health has created a scenario where a significantly large population (thousands of users) was simply no longer able to be iced (using autohelaers or manually, it didn't matter). The change to the heal timer was made to make it possible (but still difficult) to ice such high health players. The game quickly becomes no fun if all anyone can do is dump their stamina on a target and never get any sort of progress toward defeating it, esentailly shooting tons of bullets into invincible gods. Clan play really depends on each side being able to claim ices on the other side, so this change was necessary to restore the balance.
We also discussed the use of 3rd party scripts. Officially 3rd party scripts are against the Terms of Service, however Zynga knows that they are widely used. What is imporant to Zynga is that 3rd Party scripts do not give users an unfair advantage over users that choose to play manually. Zynga is currently experiencing issues with very high server loads, which is potentially related to some 3rd Party script. If Zynga determines that UnlockedMW is causing this, we will modify UnlockedMW to help alleivate the issue. We would expect that the other big name script providers such as Spockholms or Playerscipts would be willing to make any modifications required as well. Perhaps someday will come when the script authors and Zynga can come to a formal agreement, until then we will have to continue working informally.
Regards,
Alex - CEO UnlockedMW.com
P.S. The Mafia Wars team is reading this petition, so feel free to sign it and add your comments. It's a great way to provide them feedback in an uncensored way that is not allowed on their forums.
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We also discussed the use of 3rd party scripts. Officially 3rd party scripts are against the Terms of Service, however Zynga knows that they are widely used. What is imporant to Zynga is that 3rd Party scripts do not give users an unfair advantage over users that choose to play manually. Zynga is currently experiencing issues with very high server loads, which is potentially related to some 3rd Party script. If Zynga determines that UnlockedMW is causing this, we will modify UnlockedMW to help alleivate the issue. We would expect that the other big name script providers such as Spockholms or Playerscipts would be willing to make any modifications required as well. Perhaps someday will come when the script authors and Zynga can come to a formal agreement, until then we will have to continue working informally.
Regards,
Alex - CEO UnlockedMW.com
P.S. The Mafia Wars team is reading this petition, so feel free to sign it and add your comments. It's a great way to provide them feedback in an uncensored way that is not allowed on their forums.
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We are the real players of Mafia Wars. Zynga has continued to ruin this game by changing the rules mid-stream to compensate for one bad decision after another. Players have invested collectively millions of dollars into this high stakes fighting game, only to see the value of their investment diminished by changes in fundamantal game play rules. The latest change regarding heal timers, is the equivalent of extending the clock on a football game to let the other team have a chance to win. This significantly devalues the investment players made in health skill points.
Part of this move is also to combat botting in the form of autohealers and fighting tools. These tools have become so fundatmental to high end game play that they are a necessity to keep the game going. Zynga's next move is aimed to put an end to such programs that have been part of the game since the beginning. Tools from Spockholms, Playerscripts, UnlockedMW, and others have made the game playable and enjoyable for the remaining users. Zynga's attempts to combat these types of tools is destroying the game and will alienate the remaining players that depend on these tools. The analytics data from the various tools providers proves that the vast majority of players use automation so they can better focus on the social aspects of the game that make it enjoyable.
We ask Zynga for the following:
1. Restore the heal timer to its original configuration
2. Work with the script authors to modify the terms of service to allow 3rd party tools and set reasonable limits to the actions these tools can perform.
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