Free Gifts Issues

Hi!
Before I write about , I only want to say that Italy is open fro shiny members of Loyalty Points Program!I notice this when I see lots of Gold & Platinum members already have access to Italy.. It's one of the privilege!

New Layouts For Secret Mission

If you click on the mafia name (for example : "Lileana" with yellow text on the screenshot above), it will take you to her Mafia Wars Profile.You have to use "Switch" bookmarklets to go to her FaceBook Profile if you want to send her a message, let's say if there is an idle person on the mission.
Below screenshot also show the same thing... You can click on the mafia name of the Host, it will take you to his Profile..

New York Extra Money

We have one strange bug here..
One friend has more than New York money held in bank more than he can!Please check on the screenshot below...

Triple Old City Mastery

As some readers have noted, Mafia Wars is giving players a reason to go back and complete levels in New York, Cuba, Moscow, and Bangkok, with the Triple Old City Mastery feature:


This has advantages for both old and new players: If you were just starting this game, you would NEVER sludge through New York (yes, sludge - I live there) to get your coveted 4-attack Armored Truck.

You *certainly* would never endure the Mafia Wars equivalent of childbirth to scratch out enough Baht, little by little, plus the 4,900 necessary Satellite phones, to progress through Bangkok. Instead, you would jump right into Las Vegas... and then Italy, where the loot is 20x better - and you can speed through the opening levels.

If you're a veteran with unfinished jobs/levels, you also want to focus all your Energy and Stamina in Italy as it opens, rather than the Avtoritet Level in Moscow.



So the Triple Mastery program (coupled with the occasional 2x Mastery bonus gift you can get/receive when doing jobs) will give you the incentive to get through those top tier jobs (where you're getting 1% or 2% mastery otherwise) AND pile up some Baht to but whatever's still worth buying in the Faction Store.

Nice move by Mafia Wars here.


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The Informant PodCast

(1)The MarketPlace(54)The Pasta Collection(1)The Prized Pigs(6)Thera Attacet(1)Tiger Loots(1)Tiger Unleashed(3)Tips n Tricks(172)Title(3)Toolbox Crates(1)Top Mafia(21)Top Mafia Forum(23)Trading(2)Trading Corner(1)Travel(1)Treasure Chest(10)Treasure Isle Game(11)Triad(1)Twitter(1)Underwater Crates(1)Urban Crates(1)Valentine's Day Collection(1)Valentine's Day Event(5)Vampire Wars Promotion(4)Vault(17)Vault Items(9)Vegas Best Loots(1)Vegas Chips(2)Vegas Jobs(1)Vegas Materials(1)Vehicles(115)Vern's Mafia Wars Tools(6)Vicious Crates(1)Victory Tokens(8)Video(4)VIP Access(1)Vory(4)Warning(20)Warstorm promo(1)Weapon Parts(3)Weapons(139)Weapons Depot(11)Widget(1)Wiki Wishlist Adder(3)Wild West Crates(1)Wishlist(28)Wishlist Links(24)Wishlister(3)Woodsman Crates(1)Yakuza Crates(1)Z Lotto(5)Zynga(98)Zynga 8-Game Challenge(1)Zynga Forum(25)Zynga Game Cards(1)Zynga Message Center(5)Zynga Poker(14)Zynga Promo(9)Zynga's Definition of Abuse(2)

Atlantic City - Open For Some Servers

The brand new Atlantic City is open now for some servers only.. You can try to play using your computer and go to this site :
m.mafiawars.com
If your server has this city already, you will see this :

Support HDSA's Team Hope

Link : http://blog.mafiawars.com/2010/10/buy-a-war-wagon-to-help-annihilate-huntingtons-disease.html
You can go to the Marketplace to see this item..

Release Notes 9

Jori T.said...

One new thing too :

OLD CITY BONUS:
I still have Moscow unfinished so I noticed this nifty thing...

If you get 5% progress from an mission you will get extra 10% as "Old City Bonus".. So total 15%

4%

Masked Robbery - Third Mask

Hints :If you open Mafia Wars and accept a mask there in the request pop-up, you can accept the same mask from the facebook request page.

PS : Thanks to Hayden for the info. Congratulations!
Thanks to Stefiman for the hint!

Posted byMafia Wars Maniacat6:20 AM

Multi-Gift Chucker bETA Testing

I got this info from Leonard... this is about the new Multi-Gifting feature.. Because Zynga has slightly release this new feature to some players...Arun has made one tool for it too.. Still in beta version but you can try it..

Please check it here on Mafia Task Force.

Zynga ToolBar Is Hacked?

If you have installed Zynga Mafia Wars Toolbar, you will see one changing.. I notice it happens if you use Internet Explorer and FireFox.
This is my toolbar now.. so Zynga's Toolbar is hacked!

My Gold Treasure Chests

Thanks God, the Gold Treasure Chest Key is still dropping from this feature.. otherwise we have to buy it from the Marketplace using some Reward Points!One of our friend is opening his chests and got these items.. Woot! What a plenty of gold chests!

Vegas Rare Collections - Dropping From Jobs

Forgot to post about this.. This is start happening last week..
We can get Vegas Collections dropping from doing jobs.. and they are not the common ones.. we can also got the rare collections!
On the screenshot below, I am using RepeatJob Vegas tool from Spockholm.. Got 2x Planet Bollywood which is one of the RARE collection item in Vegas!

Limited Time Offer

Yeah, it's a reminder or a suggestion for you to buy more Reward Points to increase your Loyaly Points.. so then you are able to upgrade your membership in Loyalty Points Program!
Still, lots of friends complaining to see why they don't get the upgrade membership although they have bough some Reward Points. They are hoping to see the bar meter raising and they got the congratulations message!But nope... they just have to wait and wait...
Now, if you want to buy some Reward Points, please just do that and don't pay attention on the bar meter.. otherwise you will be attempted to buy more and more and still wondering when the new level comes!
That's it about this .. hope you can use the Reward Points wisely..

Treasure Island - Stamina Refill For Today

Ok, another link for Stamina Refill from Treasure Isle game promotion..

http://bit.ly/aDw2qD
This link is still working by the time I check and got this screenshot..

No Gifting?

I have just checked on my account... No loot is giftable at the moment!
If you go to your Inventory page, you can not see add to wishlist button, nor sending as gift!

Mafia Wars - "Italy Trailer"

Thanks to VaibhaV for kindly share this info..If you don't have Italy yet, you might want to check this trailer..


You can go to YouTube to watch it... Go here, please...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

Mafia Wars - Bugs On Our Game

If you are in hurry, you won't notice when the game suggesting you to refill your Energy.. while you still have tons of it! Just go to another page and you will see your Energy back to normal... Still, it's annoying..

This is the screenshot where our friend, Param, has 2 Moscow city on the Travel list..

Atlantic City Bug

Some friends gave me info that there seems to be a bug with the new Atlantic City missions where the jobs are charging 0 energy, but also not giving out experience or V$. This was happening a few hours ago.
So I was checking the m.mafiawars.com website and discovered that the jobs didn't require any energy!LucasHere is the screenshot..

Mafia Wars Hall of Shame Pt.1

With all of the new and interesting features lately, you might think that I'm a Zynga employee who wrestled this blog from Colin to promote Mafia Wars 24/7. Not the case. As promised in September, this blog was not revived to serve as a Zynga cheerleading squad. And tonight, I am putting my pom poms down.



If you're reading a Mafia Wars blog, you're likely a dedicated player - and it makes no sense to simply complain all the time about a free game that gives us all... something (an addiction? an OCD fix? I'll speak for myself).

It's only fair to give Mafia Wars praise and criticism on balance, as developments warrant. Having praised Mafia Wars for some truly innovative developments, it's time to mention a few things that need a fix. So tonight will be the debut of the Mafia Wars Hall of Shame, a feature I will run on occasion to highlight some... lacking... aspects of the game.

As with any beauty pageant, we go in reverse order:


Coming in third today is Fight Club and its Victory Coins. As fully detailed by Colin when Fight Club debuted, you'd need to win thousands upon thousands of fights to get to Fight Club levels where the loot even approximates something that drops in any random Vegas job.


Lately, Mafia Wars gives you the option of sharing Victory Coins when you win fights. For the most part, however, I suspect people are watching their Fight Club levels and Victory Coins rise as a by-product of their normal fighting - and not as a primary goal. This could be fixed if Mafia Wars would update the loot so that the early-level stats are comparable with what's already out there - not worse.
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Tonight's Mafia Wars runner-up feature for this edition of Hall of Shame is the recent Loyalty Program, with its Emerald, Gold, and Platinum levels.


The rewards at Emerald level - which everyone starts at - are almost useless. You can get a Health Refill by using your Rubles and Pesos at any time, and a 22/35 Armor piece is not likely going to move you up in the ranks.


The one decent item available at Emerald level - the 58/29 Executor Pistol - is not actually available until you get enough Loyalty Points. Don't be fooled by the "Purchase Now" button - click it, and you will be asked to... purchase Reward Points.

This program reminds of how airlines, credit cards, and hotels encourage you to stick to one company...the difference being, I don't have another choice of where to play Mafia Wars OTHER than Zynga. Where else would I direct my Mafia Wars loyalty??

The benefits for moving up to Gold and Platinum levels are very attractive loot items, shown below - but then again, you can buy many of these items (like Crates) with your existing RPs in the Marketplace, or buy RPs just to get the items. Adding levels AND Loyalty Points... a bit much.

I understand that Zynga is a corporation. A hugely successful corporation, in fact, and good for them - their marketing and innovative games made them over $250 million in revenues in 2009, and has the company valued at $1.2 billion dollars, according to public reports.

Zynga has every right to encourage players to purchase Reward Points. In fact, the recent promotion that would subsidize the cost of new schools in earthquake-ravaged Haiti was undeniably commendable and puts Zynga on the map with other socially conscious companies. But there has to be a better hook than the Loyalty Program.
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My #1 offender in this debut edition of the Mafia Wars Hall of Shame is the Crime Spree feature:

First of all, what exactly merits the NEW logo here? This was last updated in July or so, when it already had been useless for months prior. Mafia Wars rebooted it with a promise of a new loot item at each level.

That worked for me exactly ONCE. I was at Level 31 and - upon reaching Level 32 - got the awesome Trouble Maker weapon with 55/46 stats. I imagined loading up an arsenal of Trouble Makers. Yet upon reaching level 33... nothing. 34? Nada. 35? Zilch. And so on.

The prospect of a significant loot item at each level was necessary because of the mediocrity of the loot you typically get when some one participates in the Crime Spree feature. Here are two representative examples:

These two items, with (30/10) and (17/25) stats, won't possibly make your top 501 items in any fashion.

Crime Spree IS useful for one and one thing only: when some one sends YOU a Crime Spree request, you can cash it in for 50 Energy points or 40 Stamina points - but only 5x a day, and only once a day per Mafia member.

Given that no one is using Crime Spree because of the lack of decent loot, even this aspect has dried up - though I do see people on their feeds asking "some one send me a Crime Spree please!" - and you know it's not to earn another Sumotori Fighter with 17 attack points.
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Mafia Wars rolled out great new features in September and October: Challenge Mission: Dublin; Declare War!; Secret Drops; and Secret Missions, to name the highlights. If they could make these existing features worthwhile, the game would be at an all-time peak.

And to end on a high note, as I pick my Zynga pom-poms up from the ground, the Daily Chance Lotto Claim Prize feature indeed found its way back to a random number from 1 to 5 tonight:






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Treasure Isle Tiki Mask Promo

While I'm hesitant to get wrapped up in another Zynga game, this Treasure Isle promotion - and the promise of a potential Stamina refill every 16 hours is tempting. Plus, you can earn the Tiki Mask, a nice Armor item with 62 defense:

The Stamina refill was the big draw in the prior version of the Zynga Poker promotion. If you time your refill correctly, it's easy to level up frequently, even with the lower XP-to-energy and XP-to-stamina ratios.

If you try it out, let us know how it works for you!


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Mafia Wars: Italy

On your Travel menu tonight, you will see the next Mafia Wars location: Italy. Seems like a good pick and nicely paced on the heels of Las Vegas. More information about Italy will likely be unveiled at next weekend's MADE event at the Palms in Las Vegas, but the screen shot below is a great teaser.




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The Wishlist Police

Today we have a riddle - and discussion about a recent Mafia Wars development - best read while listening to a standout track from Pearl Jam's 1999 album, Yield, entitled... WISHLIST.


Here's the riddle. What do these items:


have in common with THESE items?
If you answered, "They are all drop Loot from Las Vegas," you are right... so far.

Now what do the items above have in common with THESE items?
Many of these items are NOT from Vegas - one is from Dublin and others are from the new Declare War or Secret Mission features. But what do they have in common, besides being impressive-stat Loot items?
Need another clue? Here are a couple more items - from the new levels of the Chop Shop and Weapons Depot - that have something in common with everything above:

Give up? Here's a screen shot that essentially answers this riddle, that is, what all of the above items have in common. Which of these items does NOT belong with the ones above?


The Special Part fits with the group above, whilethe Micro-Fission Cell does not. Why? Notice how you CANNOT gift, or add to your Wishlist, the Special Parts (needed for upper level Chop Shop and Weapons Depot items) but CAN trade the Micro-Fission Cell (used in the Armory)?

Why can't you put the high-end Vegas loot and the even better items that are dropping from missions and wars on your Wishlist? This phenomenon didn't start with Las Vegas items - even a Bangkok fight loot drop item - the Rhinoceros (54 defense) - can't be gifted or put on your Wishlist.


And here's why: I refer to this issue as the Wishlist Police. Just outside of Mafia Wars, all across Facebook and the Internet, are groups and sites dedicated to trading, buying, and selling Mafia Wars Loot and Collections items. (Full disclosure: one is a sponsor of this blog and, like Zynga, has every right to compete in the open market).

Some of this you can do right on Mafia Wars while instant messaging with a Mafia buddy. "Can you send me a Rivet? I'll send you back a Hammer." But other trades are more voluminous, or can't be done through deals with friends. Got an extra City Belt? Trade it for a 150 assorted Weapons Depot upgrades.



At some point, Zynga realized that if an item can be put on your Wishlist, or sent as a gift, it can also be traded or sold. Some one at a high level could get 501 Dreacht Capalls and 501 of every top attack and defense Weapon, Armor, Vehicle, and Animal, and be unbeatable. Railguns, Chain Vipers, and Hunters would be worthless if people could trade Black Irishes, Dreacht Capalls, and Ballista Missile Launchers. You'd have players with near-200,000-level attack and defense stats.



Some one call the Wishlist Police!

From one perspective, the prohibition on being able to Wishlist - and trade - high-end loot is a good thing - it evens the playing field so that a Plasma Rifles and Mugati (items that even beginning-level players can obtain) still have meaning in the game.

On the other hand, it is Zynga's attempt at gaming-socialism, making sure that no one gets too far ahead or fall too far behind. I'm not opposed to socialism in all forms, but Mafia Wars IS a competitive game where the goal is to get to higher levels, harder jobs, and bigger rewards. So what's with the guiding hand?

I think the answer has little to do with Zynga's concern about players falling behind or getting ahead, and more (everything) to do with Zynga realizing that it has to impede the trading boards and selling sites if it wants players to purchase Reward Points and high-end items from Zynga.


Otherwise, no one is going to use Reward Points to get an item like the one above, or buy Reward Points to be able to afford those items, if you can simply trade your Roulette Wheel or City Belt or Mountain Lion for an item with a 60+ attack.

What are your thoughts on the Wishlist Police?


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The Wishlist Elite Eight

If the last entry on The Wishlist Police was a downer, focus on the best items you CAN get on your Wishlist... and get as many of them as possible. Put them on your Wishlist and occasionally a Red Mystery Bag will deliver one, or a Mafia member you've helped in a war or mission will throw one your way.

Here are your Wishlist Elite Eight, broken down by category:

WEAPONS: Railgun (Weapons Depot) and Titanium Katar (Bangkok Ep. 7)


VEHICLES: Hunter 'Spy' XS (Chop Shop) and Mugati Sport (Chop Shop)



ARMOR: Ninja (Bangkok Ep. 6) and Royal Thai Marine (Bangkok Ep. 7)


None of the items from the Armory can be on your Wishlist, gifted, or traded. You can purchase better Armor in the Bangkok Faction Store with the Yakuza Assassin (50 attack) and Shaolin Bodyguard (51 defense).

ANIMALS: Chain Viper (Bangkok Ep. 7) and the Forest Scorpion (Bangkok Ep. 4).



You can purchase better Animals on attack and defense in the Bangkok Faction Store, with the Banded Krait (51 attack) and the Xiamen Tiger (52 defense)... and the Rhinoceros (54 defense) drops randomly from fights in Bangkok.


(There had been mention of an Animal Factory, to round out the Chop Shop, Weapons Depot, and Armory... but I shudder to think of what PARTS we would be collecting to build these super Animals).
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Fittingly enough, five of the Wishlist Elite Eight drop from Bangkok jobs, as the Wishlist Police arrived just as the Las Vegas loot was getting good. Fortunately, as you do jobs in Bangkok to obtain these items, you will earn the millions of Thai Baht (B$) necessary to purchase even better items from the Faction Store.


You should collect as many of these items as possible so that they become your LOWEST ranking loot in your top 501 in each category (especially the 5 that you can obtain from Bangkok jobs). The high end loot from Boss fights, Secret Missions, Declare War, Las Vegas, Dublin, and completed episodes from Cuba, Moscow, and Bangkok will be near the top.


Little by little, building the new, higher-level items in your Chop Shop, Weapons Depot, and Armory will round out the middle. (You can always check your top 501 attack items in each category by clicking the "Show All Items Used" link at the bottom of the screen after a fight in any city):While the drop Loot from Vegas Districts 6, 7, and 8 have better stats, and the jobs have a higher XP:Energy ratio, the Bangkok drop Loot has a much better drop rate. If you stayed on Bronze or Silver level in Vegas 6, 7, and/or 8 (as a wise blogger once suggested), you should load up on THOSE items instead of Bangkok items. But if you're done/almost done Vegas, make sure you round out your arsenal with the Bangkok drop loot.
If you have 501 Mafia members (and you should...), a reasonable goal is to get enough of the Elite Eight so that your Mafia's Attack and Defense numbers - without the Skill Point add-on -reaches 100,000.

I suspect once we arrive in Italy later this month, those numbers will get higher...


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Mafia Wars: Atlantic City

Within 36 hours of announcing the new location of Italy, Mafia Wars has added an Atlantic City challenge - for mobile phones only.

Some nice Loot pieces... and a clever joke in requiring players to be at Level 18 or over, presumably as a reference to New Jersey's legal gambling age (except that you must be 21 to go into a casino in Atlantic City).



A **very** nice weapon and vehicle as rewards...
Mafia Wars tried the mobile phone tie in previously with Achievements for doing jobs and fighting by pressing 'J' or 'F' as a text message each day... the results (for me) were spotty.

If the Atlantic City challenge - which is featured for iPhones and Droids - doesn't work on a Blackberry Curve 9930, then I'll be looking to our readers for feedback on the new locale. Good luck!
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P.S. - When I accessed the advertised site on both my Blackberry and iPod Touch, I got something similar to the graphics above, with the message, "Mafia Wars for mobile web is currently in beta testing. Come back soon." Then there is a button to click to go to the Mafia Wars mobile site. Make sure to bring your Hubble Telescope if you expect to play Mafia Wars on an iPhone, iPod Touch, Droid, or Blackberry...

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I Love New York (Targeted Robbing, Pt 1)

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I like New York better than any other city for robbing. Tonight I will unveil why, in the context of a 3-part series about Targeted Robbing - an option in Mafia Wars to rob the Properties of one individual, rather than the general properties thrown up on the screen for you when you click Robbing (Steal From Properties).

If this technique does not sound familiar, I encourage you to read this somewhat lengthy post (and the two shorter posts that will follow). Targeted Robbing will improve your stats, Loot, efficiency, and leveling strategy.
I Love New York - an obscure ad campaign from the late 1970s - is back with a bang in terms of Mafia Wars robbing because only in New York can you obtain extra Armor Parts and Weapons Parts (and Car Parts) for your Armory, Weapons Depot, and Chop Shop. With the new levels of each, you can't afford to build top items just on the amounts you get each day from your Property.

YOU NEED TO STEAL MORE!


One way to do that in New York is just to rob entire boards (getting the occasional Armory, Weapons Depot, or Chop Shop - and using a Burner if you fail), or robbing just those Properties and spending the 7, 8, or 9 Stamina points to get to the next Board once there are no Armories, Chop Shops, or Weapons Depots left to rob:
A more effective way - in some respects - is Targeted Robbing. Many players already know of and use the Targeted Robbing strategy to amass hundreds of extra Weapons Parts and Armor Parts without blowing through hundreds of Stamina points looking for the right Property. Read on if you don't know this trick...

SETTING UP FOR TARGETED ROBBING: On the main Robbing/Properties screen, you are looking for an Armory or Weapons Depot at EASY level. On the board below, there is an EASY level Armory in the upper right:

Click ROB and see how you fare:


If you rob that property successfully, AND notice a large disparity in your attack score versus the property owner's defense (above, it's about 18,000 to 11,000), OR see that the player is many levels beneath you (the one above is Level 608; I am about 1,300) - it's a good sign that Targeted Robbing MAY work here.

Why? Because (1) the Property itself is likely ready to be robbed, since it's up there on the main Robbing/Properties screen; (2) even if you both have 501 Mafia members, you are *likely* to beat a player of a much lower level, just like you would in a fight; and therefore (3) you have a good chance (NOT a guarantee) of winning successive robberies of the same property.

(Note: if a robbing attack or defense boost was used, put your mouse over the player's picture to see what level he or she is).

HOW TO START TARGETED ROBBING: Click on the player's name or picture in the square above of the Property you robbed. That will bring up the enemy's Wishlist... and a ROB option:


Once you click Rob, you will see this individual player's Properties - and you will learn which ones you can rob. The phrase "Targeted Robbing" is shorthand for robbing ONE PLAYER'S properties, rather than robbing whatever properties are thrown up on the 9-part Board you initially get under Robbing (Steal From Properties).

The most important thing about Targeted Robbing is knowing WHICH Properties you can rob. Unlike the main Robbing/Steal from Properties board, where all 9 properties are eligible to be robbed, the same is not true in Targeted Robbing.

RULE: You can only rob those properties that have a colored bar under them. If you see a red timer (or police tape), you cannot rob that property now. In the board below, you could NOT rob the Pawnshop or Tenement (timer) or the Armory (police tape). You CAN rob every other property.



If you keep robbing the Weapons Depot and hitting Refresh each time, you will compile a bunch of Weapons Parts at 11 Stamina apiece. No need to waste stamina going to new boards looking for new Weapons Depots (or Armories). Once you've found an easy Armory or Weapons Depot, the Targeted Robbing lets you focus your Stamina on robbing that property for as many parts as are available.

The meter will go from blue to green to yellow to red as you deplete the property of its parts:


Once you've fully robbed the property, you will see the police tape:

At that point, you can click your main Fight button, go back to Robbing (Steal From Properties) and search out another victim for some Targeted Robbing.

Remember the rule that you CANNOT rob Properties with timers or police tape under them. Why? In the first instance, the timer means that the Property has not created its cash/part such that the owner of the Property himself can collect it. If I have a Property that I can't collect from for another 8 hours, you can't rob that Property UNTIL THAT TIME IS UP AND I HAVE LEFT IT FULL AND UNCOLLECTED.

(This is a good, recent change - it used to be you could do Targeted Robbing on ANY Property to some degree, which was frustrating if you owned that Property - as you watched it being robbed BEFORE you could even get your goods out of it).

As for police tape, you can't rob that property because... it's already been robbed. So in the board below, only ONE of the 12 Properties can be robbed: the Dockyard.



The proof is in the pudding. If you click Rob on all 12 properties, this is what you'll see:



It doesn't cost you any Stamina to click on a Property that has a timer - you'll just get the police tape.

THREE IMPORTANT CAVEATS ABOUT TARGETED ROBBING:
(1) You can't use Burners when your robbery fails in Targeted Robbing. If you are losing a high percentage of robberies on a given Property, pick a new target from the main screen.

(2) Targeted Robbing has a VERY low Stamina:XP ratio. For Armories, you will use 15 Stamina to get 19 or 20 XP (as opposed to the main board, where you might get 35 XP). For Weapons Depots, you will use 10 Stamina to get 11 or 12 XP, rather than the 25 or so on the main board.

(3) Chop Shops are not ideal for Targeted Robbing. On the main Robbing (Steal from Properties) board, you will get between 1 and 5 Car Parts for your 10 Stamina Points, and 20 - 25 XP. In Targeted Robbing, you will likely get 1 Car Part... and the much lower XP ratio.
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But you can gain a WEALTH of Weapons Parts and Armory Parts this way, while spending less Stamina flipping through the main boards looking for an Easy Armory or Weapons Depot.
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Some readers are likely asking, "Why isn't Bangkok better for Targeted Robbing, since you can get endless Baht there, to spend in the Faction Store?" This topic is addressed in Part 3 of the Targeted Robbing series.

Stay tuned...



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Diamonds Are Forever (Targeted Robbing, Pt 2)

If you made it through Part 1 of the Targeted Robbing series ("I Love New York"), this shorter installment will provide both a cautionary tale *and* a crucial strategy tip to help you use Target Robbing NOT ONLY to rack up Armor Parts and Weapons Parts, BUT ALSO to maximize the benefit you get from your daily Energy Pack.

But first, MOVIE POSTERS!

Shortly before the mid-70s 'I Love New York campaign ad' rolled out, with its unforgettably cheesy music, the 7th James Bond film was released (also with a certain amount of camp... it WAS the 70s, after all):
Personally, I was a Roger Moore fan - probably because I was still in diapers when this movie was released. But back to Mafia Wars...

Part 2 of the Targeted Robbing series highlights something you CANNOT accomplish with this strategy, whether in New York, Bangkok, or even in future Italy - and that is, finish this premium Mafia Wars collection:
Targeted Robbing will NOT get you any closer to completing the Diamond Collection.Diamonds only drop when you finish robbing all 9 properties on the main Rob From Properties board. While you don't need to go 9-0 to get a Diamond, they are an exceedingly rare board completion loot (and some - like the Regent - are rarer than others).

Targeted Robbing & Energy Packs: A Strategy Tip: Remembering that Targeted Robbing gives you a very low Stamina:XP ratio, Targeted Robbing is probably best done just BEFORE you are about to use an Energy Pack - when you are 3,000 XP shy of the next level, and want to use your remaining 800 Stamina - but not so much so that you come in just a few hundred XP shy of leveling up after using your Energy Pack.

Targeted Robbing makes your leveling strategy more efficient: If you use your remaining Stamina on Targeted Robbing just *before* you use your daily Energy Pack, the Stamina:XP works in your favor, because you will get to use that much MORE Energy from your energy pack on jobs BEFORE you level up again and replenish your Energy (and Stamina) anew.

Up next: Targeted Robbing in Bangkok...


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Fight Club: The Daily Boar

While my initial Mafia Wars Hall of Shame post targeted Fight Club as a broken program, I have found a very good use for it. Unlike the Loyalty Program, which debuted improved rewards *after* the Hall of Shame Post, the Fight Club already had this benefit -- I should've looked harder before I criticized.


Now, Fight Club has gone from a daily bore to... home of the Daily Boar.
The daily Wild Boar, that is:

The Wild Boar is sitting quietly as an available reward at Fight Club Level 4, for 200 Victory Coins apiece. With its (43/43) stats, it eluded me in my initial review because my top 501 Weapons, Vehicles, and Armors have over 43 attack and defense.

But Animals are a different question - and if you're still using the 30-defense Riding Elephant in your top 501, or haven't gotten enough Chain Vipers, the Wild Boar is may be a nice upgrade for you on attack AND defense.

Once you hit Level 4, you'll have well in excess of the 200 Victory Coins to buy a Wild Boar:

Once I discovered the Daily Boar, and counted my 4,000+ Victory Coins as I advanced through Level 3 of Fight Club, I figured I'd purchase 20 Wild Boars the second I hit Level 4, and watch my Animal defense stats soar.

Not so fast: You can only purchase one Wild Boar every 8 hours - so pretty much twice a day unless you time it perfectly:

Fight Club doesn't feature another high-stat animal again until Level 11 - the Red Back Spider (33, 53):
At 500 Victory Coins a pop, and only one defense point ahead of the Xiamen Tiger, the Red Back Spider is hardly worth the wait. But if you're fighting anyway (and if you're fighting, you should be fighting in Bangkok... later post... ) your Fight Club level will increase anyway.

At Level 19 of Fight Club, another high-stat Animal awaits your arrival (literally and figuratively):
Just as the Red Back Spider barely edges the Xiamen Tiger, the Nile Crocodile is only one attack point higher - and many defense points lower - than the Diamondback (56, 48), available as drop Loot in Las Vegas Districts 6 and 7.


So the Wild Boar may be the best reward on Fight Club, in terms of a level that you can readily attain, and costing few enough Victory Coins that you can amass 20-40 of them quickly. Best of all, the Wild Board is 6 points **better** than the best defense-stats Animal available through your Wishlist (the Forest Scorpion) and only 3 attack points behind its Wishlist: Elite Eight counterpart, the Chain Viper.


While the Animals from Las Vegas District 6, 7, and 8 are superior to the Wild Boar - as are the Animals from the new Missions - and while Italy will likely reveal even better Animals - the Wild Boar has made Fight Club something worth fighting for.


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Silence Don Romo - New Collection

Hours ago, Mafia Wars unveiled the Silence Don Romo challenge - with an Achievement AND a new Collection that will whet our appetites for the debut of Italy.

With its dual mission (that earns you an Achievement) and 7-piece Collection, the Silence Don Romo challenge is similar in structure to the Valentine's Day Massacre, St. Patrick's Day, and Fix the Global Cup challenges, which I found much more enjoyable than the relatively-robotic Dublin/Mumbai/Paris/London missions.

You can Silence Don Romo three ways, with the previously-seen 5 minute/8 hour/1 day options, and corresponding 1%/12%/20% completion, and 20%/50%/100% chance on getting a Don Romo Collectible (see below) or "Event Item" at the end of that time.


I've started with the 8 hour route, using a tip Colin had previously posted.

Like the Global Cup Collection, Lucky Slots Collection, Valentine Day Massacre Collection, and the St. Patrick's Day Collection, the Silence Don Romo challenge also has a 7-piece Pasta Collection.


Ziti is a free gift that you can send to and receive from your Mafia.

Manicotti and Lasagna drop from fights.

Spaghetti and Rotini drop from jobs.

Conchigle and Farfalle from the Silence Don Romo jobs. These last two will be the hardest to get because of the time limitation on those jobs.

So after a fight in Bangkok, the Manicotti dropped as a reward:

I haven't seen Rotini or Spaghetti drop from a job yet, but it appears that these items can drop from any job in any city.

The Silence Don Romo collection is found under the SPECIAL menu in Collections & Vault:


The reward for obtaining all 7 collection pieces is a Home Cooked Meal, with 68 defense
Get to work - this one ends on Saturday night.

As with other limited time Collections, your extras may be more valuable once the challenge is over... so be generous with your Mafia, but work to get some extra pieces - especially the Conchigle and Farfale - they may pay off down the road, much like certain Soccer Balls and Easter Eggs do now.



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The Don Romo Makeover

As some readers have noted, Don Romo has undergone a makeover - maybe he is hiding from his own mob, who has turned against him?

Here was the original Don Romo:

Here is the new Don Romo, with beard and glasses.

Anyone notice that the Spaghetti and Rotini (drops from regular jobs) are apparently the hardest two Pasta Collection items to get?

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Mission Loot, Manners, and the 28-Second Timer

Missions have been all the craze lately since they offer great loot and are available 24/7. Supposedly you can participate in 10 at once AND run 10 at once. I actually have yet to find more than 1 Mission (of my own) at a time and have probably maxed out in helping in 4 at a time.
Some food for thought on Missions:

Mission Loot: While the Easy level Missions may not drop loot that makes your top 501 (usually the stats are in the low-mid 40s), help out a Mafia member who finds an Easy Mission - we're all in this together.

The Hard level Missions are dropping insane loot - the stats make Las Vegas a memory and blow away anything in the Armory, Weapons Depot, or Chop Shop, in pure numbers. Lots of nice Animals as well, especially in the Rare or Uncommon categories:
That Sleeper Shot with its 73 defense... good stuff.
The Common category loot from Hard level Missions will still rival most of what you're getting in Las Vegas... except Vegas now has a Loot drop frequency of about 1-in-30 jobs on the higher Districts...

The Death Dealer Minigun (48/64) is one of the best stat-Weapons around and will put your Titanium Katars (50 defense) from Bangkok - and even the Range Finder Rifles (54 defense) and Pitbull Sentry Guns (52 defense) from Las Vegas to shame.

The Medium level Missions drop loot on par with Las Vegas District 6 or so - definitely worth getting - the Weapons and Vehicles are like extra Railguns and Hunters...


...and even better if you collect Rare or Uncommon loot on a Medium level Mission.


Mission Manners: Nothing is worse than signing up for a mission, or recruiting for one, and watching 2 days pass without it being completed. If you recruit for a mission and can't get all 3 or 4 slots filled quickly, call for help again every couple hours.

If you sign up for a mission and don't have the energy or stamina right away to finish, make finishing a priority. There is no excuse for nearly 2 days going by without some one putting in the 100-120 energy or stamina it takes to complete his or her part.

My proposed punishment for those Mafia members who join - but don't complete - missions in a reasonable amount of time is to exclude them from the Mission (and hurriedly search for a replacement), and consider removing that person from your Mafia altogether....

Mission Timing: You've got to be a speed demon to participate sometimes. Once you see this symbol on your Facebook news feed...

...you've got about 28 seconds before the three or four crew members have filled the job. It's insane how fast these missions are responded to... but the wealth of good loot available makes them worth trolling the boards and clicking quickly.


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