Big Fat Ostrich

I truly, honestly, really was not going to write about Mafia Wars anymore. I swear. In fact, I was starting to distance myself from the game since I’d seen just about all there was to see once I got to level 90. But they’re crafty over there at Zynga, oh yes they are, and they just keep reeling you in. So welcome to a little post about the latest Mafia Wars expansion: Cuba

After doing most of the jobs in the original New York tier, many of us started to wonder what would be next. After all, you can’t just do the same old jobs over and over again. There isn’t a lot of fun in just getting experience. The fun is in how you get there. So, like most role playing games, an expansion was in order. Mafia Wars has had occasional add ons, like Robbing, and special loot. With Cuba, this is the biggest expansion I’ve seen in my time playing the game. It’s like, Mafia Wars x 2.

Without going into a huge amount of detail (yeah, I know 4 blogs on the subject already), let’s just say that Cuba offers a whole new range of jobs to do, new Cuba-centric weapons and loot, as well as new collections like tropical drinks, fruit, and beards! Yes, I said beards. There really is a Beards collection which is perfectly logical since cool beards go hand in hand with revolutionaries and badasses. I mean, just saying the word ‘Cuba’ conjures up images of Fidel pensively stroking his pubic beard while sucking on a Perfecto.

Mafia Wars Cuba also offers Businesses to ‘take over’, which you’ll need in order to generate some income. The income in Cuba is in Cuban Pesos too, which are kept in a separate bank from your Yankee dollars.

These businesses function differently from the New York properties in that they produce a product, whether it’s Sugar Cane, or Tobacco. Once you take over a business, you can invest in it so that it produces more output, which you can then cash out into cold hard worthless pesos. Like New York, you’ll need the cash to buy items for jobs. The jobs in Cuba require items not found in New York, so save your pesos for that CM Venga.

With this expansion, I think that interest in the game is somewhat renewed. I can only guess at future expansions like Mafia Wars Monaco, Las Vegas, Sicily, or Japan. Hmm…Yakuza Wars anyone? Zynga should totally hire me as an idea man.

P.S. Since this was first posted, Mafia Wars expansions have included Moscow and Bangkok (get your passport now!) with Las Vegas coming in 2010. New collections to vault have been added as well, including the ever elusive Money Laundering collection. Money Laundering is available in the New York tier and is dropped rarely. You’ll need to ask you Facebook friends for help looting it. Good luck.

Update – Achievements in Bangkok: When you fight against either the Yakuza or Triad factions, your status will increase with one, but decrease against the other. Now there are 3 new achievements related to this: Dead or Alive, Hard Boiled, and Bangkok Dangerous. You only need to concentrate on Bangkok Dangerous which is to gain Allied Status in both factions at the same time. Here’s a tip on how to get it:

When fighting, see saw your attacks between Yakuza and Triad. Since each attack is based on the simple formula of +2 points for the attacker and -1 point for the defender, simply alternate your faction attacks and your status will increase in parallel with both factions. Eventually, you’ll hit Allied Status for both Yakuza and Triad, at the same time. This way, you can get all three achievements around the same time.

This is my last post about Zynga’s Mafia Wars on Facebook. You can check them all out here if you want. But man, there’s a lot to say on the subject. Hopefully with this post, I think I’ve covered it all, for now (note the non-committal tone).

Ah…the good old Mafia Wars Hitlist: the sole place where fighting match-ups are at their most unfair. Where else but the Hitlist can you (under normal gameplay) pit a level 15 Street Thug against a level 327 Master Boss? That place is indeed The Hitlist.

I love The Hitlist and I’ll tell you why in a minute. It’s true that there are a couple of reasons to hate it, but honestly, the worst thing is a bruised ego. But it’s a game, so even that should be a minor point.

Why it may suck to be on the hitlist:

• You’re at a low level and someone keeps putting you there, where you die.
• You lose uh…6 experience.

Like I said in my previous Mafia Wars post you’ll end up on the hitlist if you attack somebody over and over again, day after day. One word of advice here: If someone puts you on the hitlist, the best way to retaliate is to do nothing. Ignore them and eventually, they’ll move on. Sure, they might be persistent and keep at you, but as you grow stronger (be patient, it will happen), you’ll soon be winning more fights than you lose, and the Hitlist will actually become a blessing in disguise.

Why you WANT to be put on the hitlist:

• To gain extra experience
• To get some extra cash

True story and ongoing saga.

A few weeks ago, I was playing my Mafia Wars dude, leveling up, doing some fights, etc. After you’ve done a few thousand fights, you kind of stop looking at your opponent’s name. You check out their level, and mafia size, attack them and move on.

Well I guess Don Copeland got insulted. It’s possible that I killed him in the fight, but I really don’t remember. All of a sudden, I’m being attacked. Over and over again, Don Copeland is putting me on the hitlist, where indeed, I die.  Remember: no matter how strong you get, there’ll always be someone bigger and stronger than you. If you’re on the hitlist, sooner or later, someone will claim the bounty.

Anyway, at first I was annoyed. Then I started counting how many people were attacking me each time a hit was put out on me. I was losing in the end, but overall, I was winning some of the fights before someone finally took me down. In Mafia Wars, you gain experience when you win a fight, and you lose 6 experience when you die.

Overall, I would lose 6 experience for dying on the hitlist, but gain around 8 for winning some of the fights. The difference is +2 experience, so I ended up coming out ahead. And since this is ongoing, being put on the hitlist starts being beneficial over time.  And at level 73, it also becomes easier and easier to win fights.

Counting up the day’s hitlist stats, what do we see? (Don Copeland put me on the list 4 times)

Experience lost: -24 (6 XP  x 4 times)
Experience gained: +41
Difference: +17
Money earned: $317,000
Cost to Don Copeland: $32,000 ($8,000 per bounty. I guess I’m not worth more than that )

So thanks, Don C! Highly generous of you for taking the time to remember me and prompt people to fight me. Maybe I’ll return the favor someday, but for now, I’ll take the free ride.

Coming soon: Thoughts and tips on the new Beta expansion – Mafia Wars Cuba!