Operations Requirement & Ratio Nerf

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When the Italian Files Operation Event was launched in February, it was a Operations frenzy and players couldn’t get enough [1]. Operations are one of the more social events and it was good for the game. The Zynga motto appears to be the fun must stop so a helper cap was added for the 4th event. This took much of the enjoyment away and players had trouble getting help [1]. For the Sicilian Vendetta Operations Event Zynga increased the helper cap from 20 to 50 and at first it appeared this would increase the number of helpers available to those who struggle.  The problem is another nerf was thrown into the mix.  The energy and/or stamina requirements were increased and the ratios were decreased. As shown below, not many helpers out there will have the resources or the desire to join Operations. Below is a breakdown and comparison of the requirements and ratios of this even to the previous events. As many are finding out, this is yet another reason to bust out the minis. I have a very active mafia with about 5,000 members and I'm having trouble getting help. Normally this type of event can be mastered in a few hours but I'm stuck because I can't find enough players to get the jobs done.

The End Of Live Chat?

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Many more players are reporting they are unable to access Live Chat. This isn’t surprising as it’s been about 60 days since Zynga announced that the Premium Support Program was over [1]. Players were told the option would remain until the 30 or 60 day qualifying period was over. it appears to be over for most players the chat agents are always “unavailable”. Zynga never provided more information on the closure of Premium Support and many don’t even have the option to send an email. If the game wasn’t full of account specific technical issues, this wouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is.

The Next Marketplace Promotion Loot Items

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Items for the next Marketplace Promotion have been added to the inventory. I stopped doing these a long time ago and I wonder how many are still buying? I do like the 50% discounts but since they nerfed the Zynga Gift Cards, I’ve completely stopped buying them [1]. For those interested, the mastery item is the Picked Up and Special Edition items are shown below.

Daily Fix Update: Kiang

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The Daily Fix loot reward has been updated and the players will now receive the Kiang. This is the 5th item for this feature. Previous items include the Twice Shy, NK Night Stalker, Mule Deer and Lethal Silence.

Stranger’s Swag Generation 20

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The items labeled “Gifting” were added to the inventory. The server images come up as “Feed Of The Day” so they are most likely for the 20th generation of Stranger’s Swag. Generation 11 only had 2 items but it’s possible the other 3 haven’t been added [1].

Exotic Charm Secret District Loot Items

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The loot items for the 30th Secret District, Exotic Charm, have been added to the inventory. We will probably see it very soon. The consumable item is a Gift Box and the rest of the loot items are shown below. More images can be found here.

Arena Loot Generation 7 Now Available

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The 7th generation of Arena loot was finally released. It was odd that there were only 6 items when it was added to the inventory a few weeks ago [1]. I thought something was going to change but 2 of the items were just added today. The 6 added a few weeks ago were not updated so they will become obsolete much faster. This round is like the 6th generation in that you need to be in the top 1,500 to get the last 3 items. Zynga should really change that as it limits the number of players who can acquire the loot. A closer look at each item is shown below.

Sicilian Vendetta Operations Event

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The 5th Operations Event is back in Italy and called Sicilian Vendetta. I guess they forgot about Cuba or decided not to follow the assumed pattern. Like the last 4, there are 5 Operations and each one has 3 levels of difficulty bringing the total to 15. The bad news is the cap on helping is still imposed but the good news is it was raised from 20 to 50. At this time I can’t say if the tracking is still buggy as last time many were cut off well before 20. The event will last for 12 days. To find Operations and get fast help, visit the Italian Files Operations group. More details on this round of Operations is shown below. UPDATE: More bad news, the ratios were nerfed so gone are the days of great experience payouts and players eager to help.

Final Day Notice: Richie’s Stash Season 5

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Today is the last day of the Richie’s Stash Event. There is no collection phase so if you’ve been hoarding your parts, don’t forget to build your items. Pistol Pete made this mistake once and was not happy about it.

VIP Weekly Update: 6/17/13

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This weeks VIP items are the Dalmatian Pelican (all levels) and the Asphalt Chomp (ruby level). The Harbinger of Havoc now has stats of 405/405. At this time there is no Flash Deal item for Skill Point Reallocation but it could appear later.

2X Property Build: June 17th @ 11:15am PDT

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There will be a 45 minute 2X Property Build tomorrow at 11:15am PDT. I like that Zynga is pushing it later into the day so more players may get the opportunity to partake. It’s still ridiculous that they can’t make it 24 hours to give everyone a chance. To help facilitate your builds, use the RepeatCraft Spocklet.

Where is the Arena Loot Update?

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Over 2 weeks ago a new generation of Arena loot was added to the inventory [1]. This is/was expected to be the 7th generation but there seems to be a delay. Generation 6 was released on May 7th and it’s been here the longest out of any batch of Arena loot. Normally Arena loot is released at the same time as new VIP loot. I don’t know what Zynga is waiting for but I hope they update the stats as the items are becoming obsolete. When the items (shown below) were added, 3 of the 6 helped my equipment scores and now only one of them does. If Zynga wants players in the Arena, this isn’t how to do it.

Arena Happy Hour: Today @ 8am-12pm PDT

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There will be another Arena Happy Hour today starting at 8am PDT and ending at 12pm (about 1 and a half hours from the time of this post). Players will get an approximate experience/stamina ratio of 2.3 regardless of what place they are in. We can only hope the ratios will go back to normal as they have been jacked up for many players since the beginning of the month [1]. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

What’s After 50K? Unanswered Robber’s Delight Questions

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At this stage of the game, the big stamina players have earned their 50,000 Plunder Points for the Robber’s Delight Event. As you can see, the Plunder Points keep going but the progress bar does not reset. What players want to know that isn’t answered in the instructions is can you get more than 1 item in this event? Robbing in London, Chicago or Brazil really sucks so if you can’t get more loot, players would stop. If you can they may continue. While the current timer is active, players do not get any loot items. The secondary 5 day timer will be when we can collect the loot but what do they mean by “rewards”? Do we get all 5 items? Is it possible to keep going and get more than 1 of the same level like we could in Mafia Poker? Or are they just referring to us collectively? There is no FAQ for this event and people would like to know. For those wondering, it takes about 300,000 stamina to get 50,000 Plunder Points. Results will vary based on account statistics and what shows up on your robbing boards but that is a general ballpark number (some may require way more and some may require way less). Seems they missed an opportunity to have a leaderboard. I'm surprised they didn't make this a Robbing Board fashioned after the Ice, Job and Fence Master Boards.

Missing Progress on the Experience Bar

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For a few days now there have been many complaints from players who find their experience to level is coming up a short. This has happened to me a few times as well. According to the Ratio-a-Nator my ratio needed stat is 2.6. From the 1st image below, you can see there is something wrong as the math doesn't add up. After utilizing all of my energy and stamina, I’m left with 106,991 experience needed to level. This seems to happen randomly and things usually return to normal on the next level. I would guess something is triggering it and it all started once passive experience was returned to the game [1] The 2nd image is provided by Taz Corbett who really got hit with this bug. It seems experience earned is going into a black hole.