# Anyone playing Mafia Wars on Facebook? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244 "2009-03-30T01:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/21 "2009-06-19T20:27:02Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > How do you get your hourly income that high? It was easy at first but the properties become progressively more expensive as you buy them, so every $1bn I spend now only buys 3 Casinos instead of 10. I have 200 of all the properties. Yes, you get a worse and worse return on investment as you go, but what else is there to spend money on? I’ve stopped buying now and I’m just letting my money build up to a trillion. I did the math, and if I were to buy 10 more casinos, it would be something like a year before those casinos earned me back what I spent on them. Ridiculous. I think I’ve got about $65 billion in the bank right now, so it’s going to take a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/22 "2009-06-19T21:46:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I wouldn’t bother spending too much money on weapons. By the time you get to level 30ish, all the non-rare item weapons will be more or less obsolete. I’ll send you some stuff that should help, though. 🆒 Awesome! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Rin\_Twisted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Rin\_Twisted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rin_Twisted)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/23 "2009-06-20T03:25:29Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I have 200 of all the properties. Yes, you get a worse and worse return on investment as you go, but what else is there to spend money on? I’ve stopped buying now and I’m just letting my money build up to a trillion. I did the math, and if I were to buy 10 more casinos, it would be something like a year before those casinos earned me back what I spent on them. Ridiculous. I think I’ve got about $65 billion in the bank right now, so it’s going to take a long time. Plus once you get to the level you can have properties damaged, too many with too small of a mafia just makes you a ripe target. I should know, that’s how I make _my_ money without many properties. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/24 "2009-06-20T13:55:48Z")
Yeah, I spend all my stamina on robbing, and there’s nothing like a fat, juicy low mafia number target with 400 or so casinos. I’ve got 50 stamina right now, and when I run across someone that yields $1.5 million per rob, I’ll set up camp and go until they’re knocked out of business. Incidentally, does anyone know what buying protection is supposed to do? ---
**Author:** ![Rin\_Twisted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Rin\_Twisted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rin_Twisted)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/25 "2009-06-21T05:59:05Z")
Yeah, I’ve wondered that too! It’s supposed to slow the bleeding process when someone robs you, I get that…but it’s always seemed to me like it doesn’t work that way. As I’ve taken someone down bit by bit, their protection doesn’t seem affect the amount of money I rob, or the success of the attempt at all. Well, they do say robbing is still in beta mode- maybe this is something they need to fix. ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/26 "2009-06-21T10:59:12Z")
I play and have just pmed some people. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/27 "2009-06-21T18:15:32Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Incidentally, does anyone know what buying protection is supposed to do? It increases the health toll on anyone trying to rob you by about a third. It doesn’t really affect the likelihood of a robbery being successful. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/28 "2009-06-21T22:52:34Z")
Wow, really? That’s lame. One robbery nets me enough cash to pay for a full health fillup twice over, and I have 200 health. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/29 "2009-06-22T13:10:24Z")
Definitely playing it, although I don’t know for how much longer. Income is at about $40 million. Over the weekend, someone posted a thread on FB on which you could post a direct link for adding yourself to other folks’ mafias, without having to send a friend request, get that request confirmed, send a MW request, and get the MW request confirmed. One click on one link, and you were added to one another’s mafia. In about 30 minutes, I went from a mafia of 84 to one of 510. It was great. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/30 "2009-06-23T00:53:12Z")
Those direct links are absolutely brilliant. I don’t really know that many people on Facebook and was reluctant to add a bunch of complete strangers to my contact list just for a game, so I kept getting attacked for no damn reason whatsoever (Seriously, attacking a new player six times in a row for $10 per hit? What the hell??), but now with my new army of 330 or so with a top mafia all over level 250, I haven’t been touched all day. Whoever came up with that trick deserves a medal or something. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/31 "2009-06-23T03:54:04Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Definitely playing it, although I don’t know for how much longer. Income is at about $40 million. > > Over the weekend, someone posted a thread on FB on which you could post a direct link for adding yourself to other folks’ mafias, without having to send a friend request, get that request confirmed, send a MW request, and get the MW request confirmed. One click on one link, and you were added to one another’s mafia. In about 30 minutes, I went from a mafia of 84 to one of 510. It was great. Linky please. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/32 "2009-06-23T04:11:20Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > Linky please. 🙂 It’s not a single link, they’ll post threads in most of the groups dealing with Mafia Wars. Usually the title is “One click link for adding members” or something similar to that. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/33 "2009-06-23T20:40:55Z")
Well, I’ve now finished Cuba. I feel the clock ticking. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/34 "2009-07-02T11:41:12Z")
Sorry to bump this, but I had a couple of questions regarding Mafia Wars. 1. Is it considered abusive or bad form for a player to spend 24 hours and about 30 attacks to start destroying your properties again and again and again? I honestly don’t know. Is that just the name of the game or is that excessive? FTR: I’m about level 30 and my attacker is too. He’s been doing it since we’ve both been around 26. 2. On that topic, what the heck is the point of protecting the property? I’m spending tens of millions to buy the property and then what I consider to be an excessive several million to protect the property on top of it and it seems to do nothing. It doesn’t slow the guy down at all. All it does is give me more I have to repair/spend to get my buildings back into shape again. I mean, it seems weird, I’d certainly prefer he stop doing it but what I’m more concerned with is that a single guy my own level can absolutely destroy me even though I’ve taken steps the game has provided to prevent it. That seems to me to be a flaw in the game and one that sours me on the gaming experience. ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/35 "2009-07-02T12:38:52Z")
I’m pretty new too. It might be worth not repairing your buildings for a few days (maybe even a week). He’ll stop earning from attacking you, get bored and move on to another target. You’ll lose a bit of income in the short term but it’s probably worth it. Longer term, get a bigger mafia and boost your defence score (maybe?). PM me if you want as I need a bigger mafia too, I’ve got a smaller one than anyone else I can attack… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/36 "2009-07-02T13:07:01Z")
Here are my stats at Level 174: > [@](#): > > Attack: 253 > Defense: 266 > Health: 252 > Energy: 515 > Stamina: 25 I’ve gradually been increasing the amount I put into energy and decreasing the amount into attack and defense. I didn’t bother too much with stamina since attacking people/robbing kinda feels like work. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/37 "2009-07-02T13:20:38Z")
Well what gets me is that he has no property of his own. None. So not only is there no chance at a retaliation, but it appears as if the only way he makes consistent money is to beat down on people’s properties. I guess that’s appears to viable strategy and maybe he’s playing within the rules of the game. Or maybe he’s not making much at all and is just being a dick. I honestly can’t tell. As I said before, what really gets me is the poor game craftsmanship. There are a lot of flaws with how mafia wars is set up and constructed and, for the most part, I’ve just shrugged my shoulders and clicked on. But (and I realize it’s just in Beta) when it asks me if I want to spend 2,000,000 to protect two pieces of property and I later come to discover that “protection” really doesn’t mean it will protect my property but rather that it will give the opponent a cushion as he repeatedly bashes into my building again and again and again… It sours me on the experience of Mafia Wars altogether. Because this isn’t just a flaw in gameplay that I can shrug off. This one actively reduces my enjoyment and my ability to play the game. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/38 "2009-07-02T13:23:28Z")
It’s not that he has no property of his own–he probably just has a crap ton of Mafia Mikes–stuff that can’t be robbed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/39 "2009-07-02T13:50:55Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Well what gets me is that he has no property of his own. None. So not only is there no chance at a retaliation, but it appears as if the only way he makes consistent money is to beat down on people’s properties. I guess that’s appears to viable strategy and maybe he’s playing within the rules of the game. Or maybe he’s not making much at all and is just being a dick. I honestly can’t tell. My absolute least favorite part of the game is robbing. I don’t do it that much just because I’d rather get XP than cash at this point, and fighting gets you more experience - but it’s badly designed. There’s really no downside to trying it - you just lose health if you fail - and no upside if you fight off a robbery attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244/40 "2009-07-02T18:47:09Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Sorry to bump this, but I had a couple of questions regarding Mafia Wars. > > 1. Is it considered abusive or bad form for a player to spend 24 hours and about 30 attacks to start destroying your properties again and again and again? I honestly don’t know. Is that just the name of the game or is that excessive? FTR: I’m about level 30 and my attacker is too. He’s been doing it since we’ve both been around 26. I think that’s excessive. It’s bad form to seek out the same person day after day after day. I would use the “report abuse” link. I do a lot of robbing, but I only go after whoever happens to be on the list at the time. I like to spread it around. I mean, I may rob the same person 70 times in a row, but next time I have stamina to spend, I’ll go find someone else. > [@](#): > > 1. On that topic, what the heck is the point of protecting the property? I’m spending tens of millions to buy the property and then what I consider to be an excessive several million to protect the property on top of it and it seems to do nothing. It doesn’t slow the guy down at all. All it does is give me more I have to repair/spend to get my buildings back into shape again. Yeah, I just asked that question too. There doesn’t seem to be any point. I’ve stopped paying for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-mafia-wars-on-facebook/491244.md?page=1)