Zynga Wake Up And Smell The Coffee !!!

Once upon a time there was a town called Mafialand. It was a good little town. You do jobs, you fight, you rob your enemies, all was good in Mafialand.

Then the money grabbing corporate mucky mucks saw Mafialand was happy and they didn't like happiness they liked greed and destruction. So they came into Mafialand and and changed the small town of Mafialand to suit their needs and desires.

This made the townsfolk of Mafialand very sad. Alot of them began to leave, never to return again. And others just followed along because they were afraid the big bad corporate mucky mucks might just close Mafialand and then they would all be forced to move to Mobsterville and no one wanted to go to Mobsterville as that was even worse then Farmville.

Then one day a Godfather named Don Sweeney from New York came along and decided enough was enough and he was going to fight the evil corporate mucky mucks to bring Mafialand back to the people again. He wagged a good battle using his media connections to give them bad press and as you know corporate mucky mucks hate bad press it cuts into their profits. He then began using his political connections to assist in his war because they hate the government even more than bad press. The war continued with Don Sweeney VS the mucky mucks going after them like there was no tomorrow.

But Don Sweeney was getting nowhere. He needed a better plan..."I got it," the Don said, "I will ask the townsfolk to help me after all it is their town too." But the townsfolk were very afraid of the big bad corporate mucky mucks. They were afraid they would lose the little bit they had left of Mafialand. But the strong Don told them all they had to do was flood the Mucky Mucks suggestion boxes and emails with letters protesting the changes they were making and tell them they were not good. The townsfolk looked at each other scared & confused but finally said OK they would do it.

And the letter campaign began and everyone got into from the little street crew all the way up to the other Mafia Don's. The corporate mucky mucks began to take notice because profits began to dwindle and their investors did not like that.

So one day out of the blue the corporate Mucky mucks finally had enough and began to make things they way they used to be for the townsfolk of Mafialand. The townsfolk began to rejoice as they had their beloved Mafialand back and things were good again.

The townsfolk asked the Don, " How can we ever repay you for all you have done for us ?" The Don just looked at them and said, " One day I may need a favor, not today but one day. And If that day ever comes, all I want is from you is to be there to help me." The townsfolk agreed and they all lived happily ever after. The End....???

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Yes this was a fairytale but this is what actually happens in the real world when people want change. The advocate groups just go on and on until finally the corporations cave into public opinion. It seems like this is what we need to do here. I am not asking for a boycott because that is too extreme. Zynga is entitled to make a profit as they are a business and it does cost money to maintain the game and run things for us. But they also need to start listening to us the players and our ideas for the game.

We are the ones who spend the money here, we are the ones who play the game everyday. We know what we like, just ask us dont ASSUME this is what we want because some developer tells you. They dont play the game everyday like we do. we know whats wrong and what works for us. Ask us for Pete's sake.

Zynga you really need to start listen to us, leave our top mafia alone, Stop with the pop up ads, make robbing fairer and take away the restriction from robbing someone back when they rob us, Dont add animals as a new category as they have no place in Mafia Wars. Fix the glitches and bugs before you roll something new out.

And fix the damn player updates to only show jobs and attacks. We dont care that so and so needs a gift or got an achievement or even vaulted something. it is annoying especially from a clan perspective when we need to see who is attacking so we can attack back.

Clean up your forum and stop censoring our comments and deleting them to satisfy your needs. What are you the the gestapo and are trying to control the press so players wont get disgruntled? Less than 1% use your forum because of this and over 20 -30% use outside forums because they get the truth there. And they learn more because they are easier to navigate. I do a better job helping your members than you.

And yes we know this is a click game and you make money by have lots of players. But if you continue to lie to us and do what YOU want and not what WE want you will continue to lose players and money. Why do you think you are still stuck on 7 million DAU (Daily Average Users) and not moving forward. Start listening to us and wake up an smell the coffee before you lose it all.

If you change our Top mafia structure you will probably lose about 1 million players as they are all fed up with your crap. Are you willing to lose us ? I can tell you one thing your investors wont be happy, especially when they find out this all could of been avoided by just asking us what we want and need. You think you have headaches with us then wait until they get hold of you and all your legal woes begin.

I hate having to repeat myself here. But I will continue until you start to listen not just for me but for the millions of player everywhere on Facebook. So if you think we are going away think again. We will continue to flood your emails and suggestion boxes and if that dont work we will flood the phones lines or maybe we will do it all. You dont tell us what you are doing why should we LMAO.

Just fix things please. It is not hard and it will save you millions and probably make you millions too.

I am now asking everyone to flood Zynga with with emails and suggestions. post your displeasure on the forums. Do it everywhere, lets really turn the heat up on them and take our game back. and please share this with all your clans, friends and family. Anyone you can think of to make them listen.

Thank You All For Your Support,

John Sweeney

Things You Should Know About Facebook !!!

Hi Everyone,

There have been many changes lately with Facebook that you should be aware of. So lets get right to it.

As most of you are aware Facebook has changed things again. They are trying to change the way the web is and are leaving you vulnerable. This You Can Fix !!!

There is a new privacy setting called "Instant Personalization" that shares data with non-facebook websites and it is automatically set to "Allow." You Can Shut it off dont worry. 1. Go to Account 2. Privacy Settings 3. Applications and Websites and find Instant Personalization Pilot Program

Control how select partners can personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites. And click edit settings then uncheck Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites.

If you want more info on this please go here for all the facts. http://developers.facebook.com/blog/?ref=mf

Now it seems Senator Charles Schumer of New York has come out against the new Facebook Changes and wants the FTC ( Federal Trade Commission ) to look into the mater as well.

A press release from Schumer's office announced that he has written to the FTC to ask that the agency "examine the privacy disclosures of social-networking sites to ensure they are not misleading or fail to fully disclose the extent to which they share information...(and) provide guidelines for use of private information and prohibit access without user permission."

Finally the big boys are looking at things to protect us and them ( More Them ) as well. For the full story you can read it here : http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20003415-36.html

And there is more is more my friends. And this is why you really need to protect yourself.

1.5 million Facebook accounts offered for sale.

Yes you read this right. In their latest “Weekly Threat report”,VeriSign’s iDefense Intelligence Operations Team has profiled the underground market proposition of someone claiming to have 1.5 million compromised Facebook accounts available for sale.

You Need to protect yourself and dont make any information on your profile available to hackers. How you ask ? Well first you can hide your email so only you can see it on your profile. Dont let anyone use your account except you. Dont fall for the get free reward point groups or any groups that offering something to good to be true as they are scams just to get access to your account and your friends accounts when it says invite friends. You can also change your password directly on Facebook to include Capital letters/ numbers & symbols as hackers programs cant get them to work when you do this. eg... Country1%# . Also dont fall for those emails to change your passwords as hackers use this to gain access to your Facebook account & they use it to try to gain access to you banks and other sites as well. never respond to those emails and that will keep you safe as well.

In general to be safe just dont share any information with the outside world unless absolutely necessary. And never share your email with anyone on Facebook. I never ask for it when I do my pimping lists for that particular reason.

If you want you can read this from CNET from one of the reporters there on their feelings on the changes Facebook has made : http://www.pcworld.com/article/194821/Facebooks_Social_Web_How_to_Protect_Your_Privacy.html

So it seems like everyone is now watching Facebook and how they do business. Maybe when they will make their next set of changes they will think it through better and think of the members first. Ahh,Who am I kidding now, they wont it will be business as usual. But the bottom line here is that you are properly informed and to keep you all safe.

Please feel free to share this with all your friends as we want everyone safe and informed.

Thank You And Have a Great Day,

John Sweeney

Now You Got Me Mad Zynga !!!

Ok Zynga I was very nice in my last letter to you but, you dont seem to care. Now you have really ticked me off.

I posted the letter to the forum in the proper locations. I didn't violate any rules but it seems your moderators have taken it upon them selves to become the gestapo and censor me by removing it and I notice I am not the only one there are many more who get censored for saying whats on their mind. And you wonder why only 1% of all gamers use your forum's for any game.

I am A nice guy and help 1000's of your players because you dont. I do it for free too. Why you ask? Because you wont do it all you care about is us spending our money on a game. When we ask for help resolving an issue you send us a form letter saying you are working on it and will get back to us soon. Or you do one better, and I love this one, You ignore us as if we dont exist and there are no problems with the game. So I help my group members and any other person who needs help.

You better wake up and smell the coffee. You have issues you never fix with the game, you have customers who pay good money on your games even in this down economy & you ignore them like some rich snob who looks down on the help and the average person. What we dont count in your world? Well guess what, if it wasn't for us you would be out of business. We Support you, We help you pay the bills. You dont put food on our tables we put the food on your tables. So wake up will you.

You need to start listening to us and what we need. We are not asking for alot, we just want a game that is glitch free. We want you to stop with all these pop ads that come up as we are playing. We want you to ask us for our ideas on how to improve the game instead of coming up with all these really bad features. If the big games like Electronic Arts can do it why cant you?

We are not say dont make money just put your ads someplace else. Stop ignoring us and listen to the ones who put the money in your pockets and support you. And you really need to revamp the forum's into something that is more user friendly and maybe communicate on there more. Stop hiding from us. Clean house there if you have to and put people in charge that care and will listen to the players and not censor them. Last time I checked this was America and you were an American company & there is something here called freedom of speech and expression.

Oh if you say you are losing money that is bull. I saw the Business week report on your company. $ 350 Mill In profits even after all your expenses. Good thing you are a private company and not a publicly traded Company on the NYSE or NASDAQ exchanges because then you would have to listen to your shareholders or be voted out or taken over.

Remember you have a very good product and with the proper management and some work you can do very well. Try It You'll Like It & you will make more money.

So get you act together and start doing what is best for your customers. Start caring or you will find you may not have much of a company left when the dust settles. Also Just so you know this letter is going out not just on Facebook but everywhere, TV, Radio, Print & across the internet so the whole world can see how we feel. Sorry but if you wont listen maybe bad press will snap you back from you fantasy world you live in where you think your crap dont stink.

And to those of you reading this letter please share it with everyone you know. Lets turn the heat up on them. Share it with the world and get the word out that " WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE "

Signed A Disgruntled Player Who Spends Money On the Game ,

John Sweeney

An Open Letter To Facebook & Zynga

To The Management Of Facebook & Zynga,

I know this open letter will probably fall of deaf ears as we, the Users of your site and Players of your game, dont seem to really care about what we think, but here it goes anyway.

I think you really need to start interacting with your customers more. If you want to make changes ask us how we feel about it. It doesn't take alot to put up a questionnaire and distribute it to the users of your site & game. Just ask us what we like and dislike and what changes we would like to see made to improve our experience with your products. You might be surprised by what answers you receive. And you may even make people happy.

Now let me address each of you separately starting with Facebook.

You say this is a social network, a fun and easy way to communicate with your friends, family & the rest of the world. Well you can do that with Facebook but, the problem is that when we do it too much, you complain. You also have a bad habit of disabling your users accounts when they interact too much or try to communicate with their friends too much in your eyes. Why, they are their friends ? How can that be wrong. For some people in the world the internet is their only means of communication. And Some people really like to talk and this is one way that they can talk to everyone at once. Let me ask you something, did you know that for some disabled people this is their only way to talk to the world and feel like they are on an even plane with the rest of us. Yet you disable them too for trying to be part of the world. Not a good PR move on your part.

How can you you call yourself a social network if you wont let us socialize. I know your answer is that people complain they are getting too many messages clogging up their news feed or unwanted messages from people. So what if they dont want the messages. If they dont want the contact they can hide the person's feeds, they can unfriend them and they wont hear from them again. Why disable someone for sending messages to someone who had to approve them in the first place. Think About It !!!

You say the gamers news feeds are clogging up the news feeds. Well I agree there. But you can fix that real easy just make a dedicated news feed for games. Yes 2 news feeds. It is not hard all you do is have your programmers go to the main template of site and add a new tab & call it Game news feed then just redirect all game news feed and posts there. See Problem solved with 3 hours worth of work for a programmer. Your non gamers are now happy and so are the gamers.

Bottomline here is you need to look at Facebook like you were a regular person. And think about what you would like to see here. You need to communicate and make it easier for us to communicate with you. It is not hard, just ask all the cell phone companies, cable companies and other big businesses in the world. You also need to let us be ourselves and post what we want as long as it is clean and not offensive. Stop disabling everyone for communicating with THEIR friends and groups they join. This Is a Social Network Remember, Let Us Socialize.

Ok Zynga I didnt forget you. You really need to get your act together. The glitches and problems with this game need to be fixed. You claim you have some of the best programmers and developers in the world working for you. I dont see it. Your games have more glitches and issues than I have ever seen with any product on the market.

Alot of us spend good money to play your game. All we want is a game that works properly. Try this fix the glitches then roll out new stuff for us to try. You constantly feel like you have to keep rolling stuff out to keep us interested. NOT TRUE make a game that works when we play it and we will be more likely to play more and then we would welcome new stuff.

Here is an idea. Try asking the users what we want in the game. Stop letting your developers come up with the same old thing everytime. You too will be surprised by what kind of ideas the users and clan members come up with. And dont do it in your forum do it right here on your Facebook page so it is easier for the people to find.

It seems everyday there is something with your games. I get emails everyday from members of my clans and other clans asking me if I can help them because you dont answer them. They hope i can fix their issue and alot of the time I can. Why because I have to keep up with the glitches and fixes for myself as you dont communicate with your users. You send out that silly form email to them and it never has the proper solutions. Your forum is a complete mess and you can never find the answers you are looking for there or on your support page unless you have an hour or two to look thru everything.

Dont tell us you cant do it because companies smaller than you do it on a daily basis because they now how important the customers are. Without the customers they are out of business. Time for you to step up to the plate.

I can go on and on with what need to be fixed and the problems for both of you. But I think you can get the idea from this. While both of you have a good product, it can be better. Try working on it and you will find you will both make more money and more importantly you will keep your customers happy.

Thank you for listening to me and this is not only being posted her but it is being posted everywhere on the internet. Not only by me but by lots of other people who feel the same way. Dont be surprised if this makes it on the news as well. Again thanks for at least looking at his if you do.

John Sweeney