Gaming is Better Than Dating & Last Night in Cafe World

Gaming is Better Than Dating

Yes, I do play a lot of games in the middle of the night. I suppose it's about the time when other divorced or single people of a certain age start feeling lonely and cry into their pillows or something. I'm twice divorced, and I've been in and out of the dating pool for so many years. By the time you get to my age, you'll see. Dating-Burnout takes hold and you really do prefer playing games to well..... playing games.

Playing video games is so much easier, less drama, more peace; and if you get tired of playing, you just shut off your computer.... so unlike a bad date that won't go home when you get tired of him.
 

Last Night In Cafe World
Last night, I visited my Nice Eats Cafe in Cafe World and got a big surprise; I have a roof and an outside to my building, even bushes and shrubs to decorate the landscape. And neighbors... well buildings anyway. That's a big deal in my little virtual world. Up until last night, all I had was a roofless room.

When I play Cafe World, especially in the middle of the night, I feel like sort of a Cafe God, looking down on my chef avatar and my Facebook Friends customers and my burnt food from on high. That's not changed, but now I can actually go outside. Up until last night, I didn't have an outside to go to. 

Now when I visit my friends Cafe World Friends, I can earn coins and Cafe XP by helping them inside and out. I can do yardwork, sample their daily specials, even unspoil their spoiled food... see, like the great Cafe God in the sky.

Like Farmville, Cafe World can be a lot of work; but what else do I have to do in the middle of the night?

Nice Eats Cafe...Outside

Mafia Wars - Just Open the Door to Vegas and Let Me In!!

 
Jumping Through Mafia Wars Hoops
It's can be rough running a worldwide criminal empire. You try to spread your operations to key spots all over the world, and Mafia Wars gives you hoops to jump through. It's rough for a video game player of a certain age.

Getting into Cuba was a matter of levels, easy to understand. I really don't know how I got into Moscow. Bangkok was new when I started playing the game. I tried to get in; in return I got taunting messages and teasers that hinted at my criminal deficiencies. It was a challenge, and exciting...  not jump up and down exciting, but the kind of excitement tame enough for a video game player of a certain age.

Bangkok colors were mellow. The teasers were shades of purple with really cool graphics. Mafia Wars made you really want to go.... virtually and in real life. But they made it hard. Do this, and do that, so many hoops to jump through. Now there's Vegas...


Why Couldn't They Just Open the Door to Vegas and Let me in?!
The Mafia Wars destination tab, the little drop down menu that takes you to New York or Cuba, finally Bangkok and all those little temporary places like London, Paris and currently South Africa. (What would the Mafia Wars family be doing in South Africa, you ask... why fixing the "Global Cup." Zynga's non copyright infringement nod to the soccer championship games) ... anyway the tab has said "Vegas Coming in 2010 for a while now."

Just the other day (actually in the middle of the night. Criminals do things in the middle of the night.) that tab changed to "Las Vegas Get early VIP Access!

I remember thinking, Early VIP Access means Mafia Wars hoops to jump through. Why couldn't they just let me in?

Poker Chips Baby!
To gain Mafia Wars Vegas early VIP access, you need poker chips...  virtual poker chips of course, which you get from your family. They will send them if you ask, but you can only accept 10 racks of chips a day. The more chips you have, the better your odds of getting into Vegas Baby!, except you can only try getting in once every  21 hours. I've tried 3 times now and I got nothing.... Well actually I got this mean looking guy telling me I have "Bad Luck!!"

A Vegas Diversion
To keep you from thinking about how you can't get into Vegas, Zynga added a temporary "Whack The Rat - Jimmy Vegas" challenge. It's colorful. You collect slot items and earn rewards, but it's just another teaser, a diversion to remind me that I am not VIP enough to get into Vegas.

Last night one of my fellow players got in.....so I know it can be done. I guess I'll just keep pushing computer keys and jumping through hoops until I make it to Vegas Baby!

After all, it is a game.

Tips From a Level 500 Mafia Wars Boss Lady

Mafia Wars is Cool - No Flash and Fire

Mafia Wars on Facebook has neither dancing avatars nor fancy weapons bursting into smoke and flames, no watching your enemies wither and die in a purple cloud.... and no mind-numbing sound effects at all! Still I love the game enough to get to level 500! That's a big deal for me, especially since so many of my gaming contemporaries grow weary of the Mafia Wars challenge and move on to online games with a bit more flash and fire.

Mafia Wars is laid back gangsta' cool and mellow, not flashy. Mafia Wars is strategy; and some folks simply must have their flash. Some gamers of a certain age, just like their children.. and grandchildren, need the instant gratification of digital devastation and destruction; and they quit before they get this far.




New York is Rough
It's the tedium  that makes it hard for an aspiring Mafia Don to finish up the Mafia Wars Boss level and get the heck out of New York. You've come so far. It's almost over....it will take only a bit more effort, or so you think.... but then you realize you need loot, lots of it to finish up those final rounds of kidnapping, bribery and extortion. It gets rough at times.


To get through those last few New York jobs, you'll need to come up with endless untraceable cell phones, computer set ups, concealable cameras for photos... lots of stuff. Some players just don't have the patience. 

For those willing to go the distance, tedious or not, here are a few tips:

1-Know Where to Find the Loot you Need
You get random loot from doing all sorts of jobs; but when you see a little yellow bag next to a New York job, that means you get specific loot (cells, cameras..) as you do the job.  Hover your cursor over the bag and it will show what kind of loot you might get. Knowing where the loot is will help you later in the game when it's important to know where to find the things you need. 

2-Fight for Great Loot!
I was born with this inner niceness; so I didn't take to the Mafia Wars game right away. When I started playing, I ignored the Fight option. It sounded so rough.... so confrontational.

When I did try fighting, as a lowly Mafia Wars Street Thug, I wasn't strong enough to win. I stopped fighting altogether.... until I figured out the great random loot I could get from winning fights. Much of the loot is fancy or high tech weapons to help build your Mafia Wars Family strength, but often you get equipment you will need for jobs a few levels later.

I fight a lot now; but until I got strong enough to take on bigger Mafias, I fought families with fewer members than mine. Fighting Mafias too small to defend themselves seemed inherently wrong at first, not nice at all; but that's exactly what higher level Mafia Wars Dons do.

So when the big guys attack you for no apparent reason, don't whine and wonder why they are picking on you and taking your money. Strike back... not at the big guys, you'll never win. Pick on someone with a smaller Mafia Family than you and reap the rewards.

P.S. After each attack, scroll down to the bottom of the display for loot information, including a link to hidden loot fellow players can find.

3-Never ask your Mafia for help in the "Rob the Electronic Store" job in the Enforcer Level-
You earn Untraceable Cell Phones, Concealable Cameras and Computer Setups as loot in the "Rob The Electronics Store" job in the Enforcer Level. To get out of New York, you will need every phone, camera and computer you can get. Don't get help on this job when it's offered, getting help for this job becomes a disadvantage later on.

4-Grab The Stash Items - If someone posts a stash of weapons on your Facebook Wall, animals or other loot, grab an item before they're gone.You'll need the strength of every item you can get and there's usually only 5 items per stash, so move quickly.



5-Use Your Wish List
Your Mafia Wars family will give you weapons, phones, a lot of what you need if you let them know you need it. Do this by updating your Inventory Wish List.

When you're doing a job and run out of items you need, (cells, transaction records...) a little red box will appear beneath the necessary item. To quickly post that item to your Wish List, click on the red box and follow the instructions. You can post a request on your family member's pages and add it to your Wish List at the same time.


6-Remember Mafia Wars is a Social Game
Don't hesitate to ask for help along the way. You'll need hundreds of loot items along the way, and the friendships you develop with online friends will flourish when you share with them and they share with you. That's another reason to have a big family.