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.