Mafia Wars is unveiling two new features: a Social Event (think along the lines of the Thanksgiving Dinner) and - since you've been able to build Vehicles, Weapons, and Armor - a fourth Property in New York City where you can build(?)... you guessed it... ANIMALS.
Animals?!?!?
No, not THAT Animals (the image above is the Pink Floyd album of the same name, for those of you under age 70) - I mean the Animals in Mafia Wars.
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**Private Zoo**
This is a new Property in New York - the long-awaited, PETA-dreaded counterpart to your Chop Shop, Weapons Depot, and Armory. What category of items is missing? ANIMALS. So naturally, we need to build them. Or, if your heart was set on playing a game where you raise animals, you could simply play Farmville.
The information from Zynga regarding the PRIVATE ZOO includes a motto sure to offend the worldwide Judeo-Christian community:
"Private Zoo... coming soon to New York City... Noah's Ark has nothing on this."
I hope the entirety of mankind is not about to wiped out in an act of God, as addressed to and carried out by Zynga... I need my computer to play Mafia Wars and it doesn't work well under flood waters.
The bottom line with the PRIVATE ZOO is that you collect building parts and special items to develop Animals. With the exception of one Animal listed below - these animals will not get on your top 501 on either attack or defense if you've been playing for awhile. Each animal, however, gives you a boost, in Attack, Defense, Skill Points, or Health.
There are 10 levels in the PRIVATE ZOO so you can enjoy spending the rest of forever collecting the necessary upgrades and parts. Here's an idea, Zynga: RELEASE THE OTHER REGIONS OF ITALY ALREADY!
Back to the Private Zoo - info from the Zynga 411:
"WARNING - DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. FEEDING THE ANIMALS MAY RESULT IN THE FOLLOWING …
50 Attack, 48 Defense, +3 Attack skill - has a reputation for eating anything. It also possesses the capability to take on large prey. (Hint - Fish)
45 Attack, 52 Defense, +1 Skill Point - If bitten, common symptoms for which to watch are rapid onset of dizziness, coughing or difficulty breathing, and erratic heartbeat. (Hint - Reptile)
48 Attack, 57 Defense, +3 Defense skill - have been known to scavenge dead animals. (Hint - Reptile)
62 Attack, 50 Defense, +20 Health skill - can inflict severe wounds on lions, sometimes ending with the lions bleeding to death. (Hint - Mammal)
Q: How Many Levels are in the Private Zoo?
A: There are 10 Levels of Private Zoo, each unlocking a new animal to craft
Q: What will I need to build the Private Zoo?
A: There are 5 Construction Materials named
Q: What will I need to craft animals?
A: There are 2 Materials are required to craft certain animals - 'Common' Feed and 'Rare' Feed
Q: How or where can I get all these items?
A: Construction Parts come from wall posts, Free Gifts, and can be purchased for 1 Reward Point each. 'Common' Feed comes from doing Jobs, Fighting, Robbing, and Collecting from your Private Zoo. 'Rare' Feed comes from wall posts and Free Gifts
Q: Which or these will be 'tradeable' (giftable from your inventory)?
A: Construction parts and both feeds are "tradeable" (Can be gifted from your inventory and added to wishlist)
Q: How often can I collect 'Common' Feed from the Private Zoo?
A: Every 18 hours, players can collection 'Common' Feed, which are used in crafting animals.
Q: How much 'Common' Feed can I collect from the Private Zoo?
A: The amount of 'Common' feed produced by the Private Zoo increases with level of the Private Zoo.
Q: How often can I craft animals?
A: Every 18 hours, players can craft an animal. You can speed up the timer by paying 1 RP per 2 hours left on the cooldown timer.
Q: What kind of animals will I be able to craft?
A: That's a secret until the Private Zoo is released, but we can say Mammals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, Arachnids are all represented."
Note: It looks like a zoologist studied that last list pretty well - but what about the arthropods and insects? Why omit them? What did they do to you??
The prospect of collecting 5 types of parts to work through 10 levels of the Private Zoo - in addition to finding the Common and Rare Feed - seems like too much bang for the buck, if the stats above are accurate. Other than the +20 Health Animal with 62A/50D stats (similar to the Meadow Viper dropping from Napoli), I don't see much in the Private Zoo making all the effort worthwhile.
Obligatory gripe from a New Yorker: Mafia Wars' creation of a Private Zoo in New York City will be a first. NYC features five lovely zoos - one in each borough (including the famous Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo) - as well as a couple of aquariums - ALL OF WHICH ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
You won't see this sign when you go to the zoo in New York City:
Mayor Bloomberg and the rest of New York want you to feel welcome, not excluded. (We can easily make you feel unwelcome and excluded with our world-famous New York rudeness).
The release of Private Zoo now, with all the work involved, has me pessimistic about seeing Italy Regions 6, 7, and 8 anytime soon.
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**Governor's Run**
The information on this "social" event - where you invite members of your Mafia to join you, and get a Loot item once enough do - comes from Zynga's 411 page. The bottom line is, you'll need 9 Mafia members to respond to your requests on your Facebook feed, and the reward is a Weapon known as the 2nd Amendment (52A/80D).
Pause here for legal observation - why would the Governor of a State be associated with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution? When was the last time you saw a *gubernatorial* candidate address that issue (as opposed to Presidential and Congressional candidates, and the federal Judiciary)? So many aspects of federalism and constitutional law offended at once! But this is a game, not law school.
Anyway, here is the FAQ from Zynga on Governor's Run, with more of my political-purity bitching inserted:
Ready to become a Governator and rise to power? Ask your mafia to vote for you in the Governor's Run by sending them personal feeds. When 9 friends give their support, you receive - 2nd Amendment (Weapon) - Attack 52, Defense 80
Q: What do I need to do?
A: Find 9 friends willing to support you by clicking on your feed post.
Q: Can I do this event more than once?
A: There is a one-term term limit, so you can only do this once.
(Guess how many states have a one-term limit for their governors? Exactly ONE. Thanks, Zynga, for disenfranchising the other 49 states and players from around the world!)
Q: Is the 2nd Amendment Mastery Item tradeable?
A: Our country's founders deemed this important enough to include in the Bill of Rights. Once you have it, it cannot be gifted away.
(First of all, people from around the world play Mafia Wars, so let's not exclude everyone outside the United States. And for us Americans - remember - our country's founders clearly didn't want the Second Amendment in the Constitution - which is why they let four years pass after it was ratified in 1787 before the first ten Amendments - the Bill of Rights - took effect.)
Q: When does this event start?
A: Governor's Run is scheduled to launch later this week
Q: When is this event scheduled to end?
A: An end date has not been set yet, but this event will last less than a week. Hurry and get your votes in!
Admittedly, the Governor's Run event - while I will enjoy getting a nice Weapon with nice Defense stats - triggers this reaction, especially in the wake of event after event after event INSTEAD OF MORE ITALY:
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