However, my greatest fear is that in the moment of a true emergency (the single most important factor in my owning a mobile) I will find out that I have no reception, no 3G access, and no GPS to alert anyone to where I am. Horror movies might as well just have all those nubile teenagers using AT&T; at least it would be believable when they can’t call for help. Yet, AT&T was not always as useful as shit on a stick.

Before July 2, 2009, I would have hands down recommended AT&T to anyone looking for a phone. Their service in Chicago had been very solid, 3G was pretty decent, and my new Nokia E71X was working admirably. Then, on July 2, for about an hour or more, I lost complete service. I mean everything: no data, no texts, no calls. I tried my other older phone, my trusty Cingular 8525 (yeah, I’ve been with AT&T for a while); no luck. And, all this happened the only hour I actually needed to make calls for business. So, I wrote an email to customer service, and got a fairly quick response. Here is a copy, sensitive information redacted, of my email to customer service first, and then the response:

Q1:Enter the wireless number associated with the account you’re inquiring about
A1:[redacted]

Q2:How long did your call last before it dropped?
A2:immediate disconnect

Q3:Where did the call drop?
A3:no connection established

Q4:Do you seem to drop calls in this particular area or does it happen in different areas as well?
A4:Reception seems fine, rarely ever dropped calls before this afternoon.

Q5:How long have you had your existing phone?
A5:2 months, also happens on my other AT&T line, I’ve had that phone for 2 years.

Q6:Enter your question concerning Dropped Calls below:
A6:It is ironic that this happens the one time during the day when I actually really need to make calls. The fact that it is a consistent “connection error” does not make me feel any better. I understand if circumstances are outside of the company’s control, but I pay a good sum of money and expect continuous and unabridged service.

Thank You. Sorry if I seem grumpy, the timing just was terrible for lost service.

Obviously, I was a bit cranky…. The response:

Dear Mr. Angel,

Thank you for contacting AT&T about your issue with dropped calls. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. My name is [redacted] and I’ll be happy to help you with this.

We have reviewed the coverage area based on your home address and showed we did have a couple of tower outages that began 7/2/09. The issue is being worked currently. We plan on have the towers restored within 24hrs. [emphasis added]

Mr. Angel I hope that the information provided has been helpful and has resolved all of your questions. Should you have additional concerns or questions about this issue please reply to this email. If you need to contact us again regarding a new issue please send us another email via the contact link through your online account. Again, my name is [redacted], and I thank you for being a valued AT&T customer over the years. We will do our best to ensure that your wireless experience is a success.

I encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings.

Sincerely,

[redacted]
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional

Anyhow, service was restored, and all appeared to be right in the world. Except, I began to notice periodic periods of pitiful performance by AP&P … er, AT&T. It kept happening and from my limited inquiries to friends and family with AT&T since then, I am not the only one having the AT&T “experience”.

So, I would be walking around my neighborhood, go inside a restaurant, be not 20 feet from the street, and BAM, no reception, no 3G, no GPS, no nothing. Same thing would happen occasionally at home. Now, maybe you’ll give AT&T the benefit of the doubt. “But, David,” you’ll say, “some of those are older buildings, made of brick and mortar….” Point granted, but here’s the thing: before that major tower outage, I got reception in those restaurants and at home. I got signal, could make calls, send texts, use 3G and GPS. I got game, soul, the bat signal … whatever, you get the point. AT&T didn’t always suck, and now they do.

So, on July 21 when it happened at home, I sent another email to customer service, and it went like this:

Q1:Enter the wireless number associated with the account you’re inquiring about
A1:[redacted]

Q2:How long did your call last before it dropped?
A2:1 minute

Q3:Where did the call drop?
A3: Outside

Q4:Do you seem to drop calls in this particular area or does it happen in different areas as well?
A4:don’t travel, same area

Q5:How long have you had your existing phone?
A5:3 months, about

Q6:Enter your question concerning Dropped Calls below:
A6:Reception, signal, and 3G use to be very solid in my area, [redacted], but recently it has been very poor, crappy actually. Areas I use to get full signal is now 3 bars at best, areas I use to get moderate reception now has none. Has something changed recently to cause such a degradation in the AT&T network?

A bit more polite this time around, after all I had a pretty good explanation the last time it happened. I got a response, but it was a request for an exact address. I provided it, and here was the subsequent reply:

Dear Mr. Angel,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding coverage. My name is [redacted], and I am happy to help you with your inquiry. I am sorry for the frustration not having good coverage has caused and I understand the urgency of having good service.

I have reported a network issue for the addresses of [redacted] and [redacted]. I am showing that there are several towers in the area at this time that are having issues. The service on some of the towers should not be service effecting and the others should be back up [emphasis added], but since you stated you are still having troubles in these areas I have reported the network issue so they will know you are still having troubles with the service.

If you continue to have troubles with the service in these areas please call customer care from a landline phone while in a troubled area and then they will be able to troubleshoot further.

I hope that the information provided has been helpful and has resolved all of your questions, Mr. Angel. Should you have additional concerns or questions about this issue please reply to this email. If you need to contact us again regarding a new issue please send us another email via the contact link through your online account. Again, my name is [redacted], and we realize you have many choices for a wireless service provider. I want to personally thank you for considering AT&T as your choice for wireless service!

I encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings.

Sincerely,

[redacted]
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional

So, it seems that there are some towers having issues, but they should not be service affecting.

It then happened again, and again, and again, and again. I’ve simply stopped complaining about it to AT&T, as prompt as their customer service is. After all, if I report this is not a localized event, that it happens throughout a full city block, why must I report every single address? So, I am simply going to keep track of when and where I have the AT&T experience, and I’ll just send one massive email. That is, if my phone is able to get reception….

Anyhow, if you are having issues with AT&T, send customer service an email, just be sure to include exact addresses. Oh, and I did a side-by-side comparison of my phone to a piece of poop on a stick. To be honest, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference. After all, only one is supposed to stink, and the other one I’m seriously considering flushing down the toilet.

We’ll take a look at the Game Flavor, the Game Mechanics, the Good, the Bad, and the Final Review. So, is this game best for casual gaming, hardcore gaming, or no gaming at all? Read on!

Game Flavor

Metropolis has a fairly standard city styled flair. You develop your City through purchasing land, developing buildings on that land, and raising revenue. There are limited images associated with the buildings you purchase, and very little flavor text associated with the game.

Game Mechanics

As a construction and management simulation Metropolis has a basic set of rules by which to abide. First, the point of the game is to build, and you can’t build anything without money. To get money you tax your population, and, as you tax your population, they get unhappy. To keep your people happy, you can build certain buildings that increase happiness, at least temporarily. There is no long term fix on happiness, it is simply an ongoing component of the game of raising revenue through taxes, building, and keeping your people happy at the same time. These are the main game mechanics (Money, Culture, Happiness, and Population), which are further complimented by the City Indexes.

Of the four City Indexes – Education, Health, Crime, and Fire Protection – the first three affect your population in various ways, thereby affecting your cash flow. The last one determines if your buildings have a chance to burn down; not a good idea when the point is to keep building being built.

Finally, there are three types of buildings: Landmarks, Establishments, and No Revenue. To keep it short, I’ll generalize here, and there are some exceptions to the rule. For the most part, Landmarks are best at increasing Culture, Establishments are best at generating Revenue (a.k.a., Money), and No Revenue buildings are best at raising Happiness and the City Indexes.

That’s the rough overview of the Game Mechanics. There are of course a couple other factors, such as using Connections, which enables social interaction between Cities, although this interaction is fairly limited to raising population or happiness.

The Good

Metropolis has a nice set of rules, grounded in a somewhat tested simulated environment. The game has a pretty loyal following, and is pretty open ended. In this respect, your city can continue to grow in population, buildings, money, to nearly unlimited proportions; as long as you have the time to dedicate to keep your City growing.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the game is a bit bland at times. Although there is a plethora of rules and necessary complexity, at a certain point in the game variety ceases. Sure you can buy newer types of buildings, you have to start monitoring your City Indexes, but very little happens to keep the game interesting. Coupled with the fact the game has very little visual stimulation, it can get boring fairly quickly.

Final Review

Metropolis has the complexity for long term game play, but falls flat in flavor. While it has some limited social interaction, for a Facebook application/game it does not really take advantage of being on a social network.

Although the game has fairly solid mechanics, the flavor just isn’t there. What this ultimately does is leave the game feeling unfinished. Like a skyscraper fully erected, but completely unfurnished, there is a great deal of room for continued development, but as it stands there sits only a frame. Metropolis, primarily for the lack of significant flavor, but bolstered by decent game mechanics, gets a “C.”

Metropolis – fun to play for a bit, but interest is lost quickly – “C”

Don’t believe me? Well, why not let graduate schools give out Masters of Science for Creationism? Hell, let’s let atheists form their own church, call stop signs “go signs” and let white dogs go unharassed (I’m looking at you, poodles!!!).

Seriously, sometimes the little things have to matter because of the important in a consistent standard of intelligence. Unadulterated stupidity needs to be dealt with swiftly, but courteously.

Three easy steps to adulterating stupidity:

1. When you hear someone say something wrong, be it factually or opinion based, point out his or her error.
2. Explain why they are wrong, as calmly as possible, but forcefully and with confidence.
3. If they refuse to believe you, then let them be. You’ve tried your best and sometimes you’ve got to … um, let stupidity skip a generation?

The Kid Concern

Speaking of step 3, if the person whose intelligence is in question has kids, then you should feel morally obligated to help instill common sense into their children. Now, the ignorant parents might accuse you of “meddling” and that you should “mind your own business” but here is the most important part:

Their children are part of your business. Not only do you help support them through paying taxes (ooooh, do you feel the anger rising?) but those kids are going to have just as much an impact in the future on our society as their parents are having today. Starting to see just how much business their procreation has on you?

Conclusion

Therefore, you must do your part to help stop stupidity where it starts!

No! Not genetically! Holy crap, don’t go eugenics on me here….

I just mean socially speaking you can play your part in mitigating stupidity all around you.  Follow the three easy steps above, and you’ll be well on you way to making this world a less dumber place.

Just, make sure you don’t go attending Klan rallies so you can point out their racism… (we don’t want stupidity going around eliminating the “smarties”).

Inside Facebook reports on April 9, 2009, in Facebook Removes Developer of Elven Blood from the Platform that the Royal East India Trading Company was a moniker for the developer Patrick Shyu, who along with his World of Blood Series games was also removed from Facebook.

A look at the reasons why and the timeline of events leading up to the removal:

The Royal East India Trading Company website, which once praised it’s World of Blood Series, has been removed and is now a text message saying, “Beautiful. Just Beautiful. I applaud you, stranger. If we are in the same game, we should be friends. Tell me your name.” In addition, all references to the Royal East India Trading Company from any of the World of Blood Series applications or pages (that remain) have been removed. However, Patrick Shyu continues to have World of Blood listed as a current project for MySpace and Facebook on the “about” page of his website.

On the Facebook Developer Forum, in thread Elven Blood (and the 3 other “clones”) gone?, post #5, April 6, 2009, Matt Trainer, Facebook Platform Developer Operations & Support, says,

Hello Andy and others,

If you have evidence of any apps still available on Platform that are operated by Patrick Shyu, then please let us know.

To reiterate an earlier post, there are more enforcements on Platform than you are aware of, since Facebook does not publicize enforcement actions.

Cheers,

Matt Trainer

It would seem that not only were the World of Blood Series applications in trouble, but any other application operated by Patrick Shyu.

However, following the trail of events that would lead to the removal of the World of Blood Series applications, it becomes apparent that the World of Blood Series applications were having difficulties much earlier back in December, 2008 with reported potential Platform violations. In a thread titled Anyone gonna enforce the platform policies on Snowball Fight? in the Facebook Developer Forum, user zerostar07 reported a possible Platform violation in post #55, on December 16, 2008,

“notification from city of blood wrote: … ‘New! Join the holiday fun with your friends! Give some Christmas treats! 7:09pm’”

This just arrived from ‘City of blood’

the link goes to this application: http://www.facebook.com/apps/applicatio … 9548357635

some things never change

Matt Trainer’s response was as follows,

Hi George,

While this is certainly suspicious, we cannot take action without more detailed information (screenshots, URLs, and other proof).

We’d like to thank everyone again for staying alerted to bad apps like these. We’re aware that most developers on Facebook are honest and working to build good value for users, and so we are working on ways to better pinpoint and remove bad actors from the ecosystem.

We’re reviewing ideas brought up here and internally in order to best encourage positive use and limit negative use of Platform. We appreciate your continued discussions here.

We’re devoted to staying ahead of those who are abusing the system. You may not always see the results of these efforts, but we hope you continue to have faith in our commitment to the task.

Cheers,

Matt Trainer

So even back in December, 2008 the World of Blood Series was being observed.

Regarding Snowball Wars, the application was providing incentives to rate the game 5 out of 5 stars, which in the above referenced thread, Matt Trainer in post #6, December 9, 2008, states is a violation of Rule 3.1 of the Platform Policy Wiki,

“1. Application developers cannot trade positive reviews or collude with others to post, incentivize, or otherwise “game” the posting of negative or positive reviews. Applications should stand on their own merits based on user feedback, not insider quid pro quos.”

Snowball Wars was subsequently disabled, by post #16, December 9, 2008, although it was allowed to continue with a new ID and database and potential violations continued to be reported even after the new ID. The connection? Snowball Wars, and the related applications, were also developed by Patrick Shyu and the Royal East India Trading Company.

The Elven Blood Group wall’s postings fill in some of the gaps from December, 2008 to April, 2009 (the official Facebook Elven Blood discussion board has been removed, therefore the reliance upon the Elven Blood Group’s wall and other related groups). All dates unless otherwise noted are from 2009 and according to abridged reports by Facebook users.

• -February 22, 5:05 am – the World of Blood Series applications are not available for the first time.
• -February 22, 10:47 pm – Elven Blood has been renamed Twilight of Dragons.
• -February 23, 2:26 am – Blood Lust has been renamed Nightfall.
• -February 23, 6:31 pm – Elven Blood is back to its original name.
• -February 25, 11:24 pm – Elven Blood is again unavailable.
• -March 23, 4:39 pm – Elven Blood is back up.
• -April 9, 12:33 pm – World of Blood is removed from Facebook completely.

Checking this line of events against the anti-World of Blood Series group, Blood Games: Boycott!, the only discrepancy seems that on April 9, 12:23 pm Elven Blood might have lived once more as Twilight of Dragons before being removed completely. Although on April 9, 2009 it appears that all World of Blood Series applications have been removed, Matt Trainer’s post from April 6, 2009 seems to indicate that actions were already being taken against applications operated by Patrick Shyu, however due to the wall activity in the group Twilight of Dragons Forum’s Wall it does appear that Twilight of Dragons and Elven Blood may have been running concurrently between March 23 – April 9, 2009, but the exact dates are uncertain.

Using the above referenced threads, posts, and groups, it seems the following were alleged/potential Platform violations:

• -Users gaining Stamina in return for sending out invites to other Facebook users
• -Use of copyrighted materials and images without permission, attribution, or payment
• -Cross-promoting other applications via notifications
• -Alleged extortion – freezing a user’s account for “cheating” and requiring payment of 15 blessings, which may only be available through participation in a sponsored advertisement or via purchase of blessings with a cash payment

In the end, it appears that not only World of Blood but any other application operated by Patrick Shyu are either on a warning list of sorts, or have been removed from Facebook. Considering the convoluted process it took from warnings to removal, combined with the lack of clear ownership and potentially shaky business activities, it seems that there remains more to be uncovered behind the removal of the World of Blood Series applications from Facebook.

However, while the World of Blood Series applications are no more on Facebook, they are still available on MySpace, attributed to the user ~World of Blood~.

Should any additional information come to light, or additional articles covering this topic, updates and links will be posted below.

Being a Limited Liability Company (LLC) carries with it some great benefits, but also additional headaches. Selling membership shares is one of those.

So the real question might not be “are you going to sell membership shares” but more along the line of “how are you going to sell membership shares?” The trick lies more with the “how” than the “why.”

I’ll briefly discuss the basic decision making process I used in dealing with the SEC and State of Illinois. Then, I’ll go into further detail about the decisions I made.

So, deciding between registering or filing for exemption?  Read on!

3 Easy Steps to Registration/Exemption

1. Information Gathering!
   Check out Limited Liability Companies for Dummies, by Jennifer Reuting; also consult with an Attorney who specializes in securities.

I ended up doing a lot of extra research and more or less have done things the hard way. If you trust your capabilities to correctly interpret Federal and State securities regulations and choose not to consult an attorney who specializes in securities you’re taking a greater risk than if you just made the effort and spent a bit of cash. I went with the former rather the later, but I’ll explain my rational below.

2. Federal Level.
   Decide if you are going to register, or file for exemption, with the SEC.

I went with filing Form D with the SEC for exemption because it involves a lot less work and money. The federal government has made it pretty decent to apply for an exemption. I went with Regulation D Rule 504, which has some important limitations (see below for the exert from the SEC’s FAQ regarding Are There Legal Ways To Offer and Sell Securities Without Registering With the SEC?).

If you register with the SEC, you’ll most likely have to register at the State level. If you file for exemption, you’ll still have to decide on registering vs. exemption.

3. State Level.
   Decide if you are going to register, or file for exemption, in your State.

Your decision on this one will be based on what you decided to do for question 2. If you registered with the SEC, you’ll most likely have to register with your State. However, if you filed an exemption with the SEC, you have some options: register or file for exemption.

As I went with exemption under Regulation D Rule 504, I had to choose between using or not using general solicitation and general advertising. In the State of Illinois, if you want to sell your securities (i.e., membership shares) using general solicitation or general advertising, you have to register with the State.

If you decide not to use general solicitation or general advertising, then things are a bit easier on you to file for exemption. I took the path of least resistance, even though being unable to use general solicitation or general advertising really is quite limiting in raising capital through selling membership shares.

Why I Filed for Exemption

I decided to file for exemption instead of registration primarily for two reasons: time and money.  Registration costs both at both the Federal and the State levels.

• Registering with the SEC can be costly and time consuming.

I’m not raising more than a million dollars, and my venture is limited. Filing for an exemption cost me the price for the paper on which I printed my Form ID and Form D, a buck for the notarization, and my time filing Form D with the SEC on EDGAR.

• Registering with the State of Illinois can be costly and time consuming.

With the option to use general solicitation and general advertising, even under Regulation D, Illinois requires a Form U-1 (Uniform Application to Register Securities) and Form U-7 (Disclosure Document). In addition, Illinois has an exam fee of $150.00 and a filing fee of $250.00, so you should be sure you’re going to raise some serious capital through the use of general solicitation and advertising to sell your membership shares.

Also, if you plan on using general solicitation or advertising, make sure in your filing for exemption with the SEC you select Rule 504(b)(1)(i) for Item 6, which will allow you to use general solicitation or advertising as long as you register with the State and deliver a substantive disclosure document to investors before the sale, and abide by other state regulations.

However, filing for exemption under Regulation D Rule 504 in the State of Illinois requires you to submit Illinois Form 4G – Limited Offering Exemption within 12 months of your first sale to an Illinois resident. Much easier for my purposes, and will only cost $100. More limited because I can’t use general solicitation or general advertising, but I’m also applying for bank loans to raise initial capital, and going through more trusted channels to find any personal investors.

Also, I went ahead and completed Form U-7, as a disclosure document will come in very handy and ensure any investors are adequately informed. It’s also nice to cover all my bases.

Excerpts from Quoted Regulations

VI. Are There Legal Ways To Offer and Sell Securities Without Registering With the SEC?  D. Regulation D Rule 504

Rule 504 provides an exemption for the offer and sale of up to $1,000,000 of securities in a 12-month period. Your company may use this exemption so long as it is not a blank check company and is not subject to Exchange Act reporting requirements. Like the other Regulation D exemptions, in general you may not use public solicitation or advertising to market the securities and purchasers receive “restricted” securities, meaning that they may not sell the securities without registration or an applicable exemption. However, you can use this exemption for a public offering of your securities and investors will receive freely tradable securities under the following circumstances:

• You register the offering exclusively in one or more states that require a publicly filed registration statement and delivery of a substantive disclosure document to investors;
• You register and sell in a state that requires registration and disclosure delivery and also sell in a state without those requirements, so long as you deliver the disclosure documents mandated by the state in which you registered to all purchasers; or,
• You sell exclusively according to state law exemptions that permit general solicitation and advertising, so long as you sell only to “accredited investors,” a term we describe in more detail below in connection with Rule 505 and Rule 506 offerings.

Even if you make a private sale where there are no specific disclosure delivery requirements, you should take care to provide sufficient information to investors to avoid violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws. This means that any information you provide to investors must be free from false or misleading statements. Similarly, you should not exclude any information if the omission makes what you do provide investors false or misleading.

State of Illinois Regulation D Rule 504 – Limited Offering Exemption

Section 4.G of the Illinois Securities Law and Sections 130.440, 130.441 and 130.442 of the Rules and Regulations may be used for a Regulation D Rule 504 limited offering.
The maximum offering amount for a Regulation D Rule 504 offering is $1 million.

The Section 4.G exemption may be used in conjunction with federal Regulation D Rule 504, provided there is no advertising or general solicitation of investors.
Filing Requirements:

• Illinois Form 4G “Report of Sale” or SEC Form D.
• Payment of a filing fee of $100 made payable to the Secretary of State.

Mail to:
Illinois Securities Department
Jefferson Terrace, Suite 300A
300 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, Illinois 62702

Illinois Form 4G or Form D must be submitted to the Illinois Securities Department no later than twelve months after the date of the first sale to an Illinois resident.

State of Illinois Small Company Offering Registration

Securities of issuers, including but not limited to, notes, stocks, bonds, debentures, fractional undivided interests, limited partnership interests or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a “security”, relying upon Regulation D, Rule 504 if using general solicitation or advertising, or Regulation A under the Federal Securities Act or intra state filings are subject to registration by qualification.
An application for registration on Form U-1, Uniform Application to Register Securities must be filed with the Secretary of State together with Form U-7, Small Company Offering Registration Form (“disclosure document”) or other offering circular and a filing and examination fee. (add): An instruction manual is available here. http://www.nasaa.org/content/Files/SCORIM92899.doc.

Material changes to information contained in the disclosure document must be reported to the Secretary of State within two business days after such occurrence together with an amendment or supplement to the disclosure document. Periodic sales reports are required during the period of registration. The registration is effective for one year unless sooner terminated. The securities may be re-registered if all of the securities were not sold during the initial registration.

Fees:
Exam Fee: $150
Filing Fee: $250
Amendment Filing Fee: $25
Re-Registration Fee: Same as initial fee(s)

Regarding General Solicitation and Advertising:

(c) Limitation on manner of offering. Except as provided in §230.504(b)(1), neither the issuer nor any person acting on its behalf shall offer or sell the securities by any form of general solicitation or general advertising, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Any advertisement, article, notice or other communication published in any newspaper, magazine, or similar media or broadcast over television or radio; and

(2) Any seminar or meeting whose attendees have been invited by any general solicitation or general advertising; Provided, however, that publication by an issuer of a notice in accordance with §230.135c or filing with the Commission by an issuer of a notice of sales on Form D (17 CFR 239.500) in which the issuer has made a good faith and reasonable attempt to comply with the requirements of such form, shall not be deemed to constitute general solicitation or general advertising for purposes of this section; Provided further, that, if the requirements of §230.135e are satisfied, providing any journalist with access to press conferences held outside of the United States, to meetings with issuer or selling security holder representatives conducted outside of the United States, or to written press-related materials released outside the United States, at or in which a present or proposed offering of securities is discussed, will not be deemed to constitute general solicitation or general advertising for purposes of this section.

Disclaimer: the author is neither an expert in securities nor qualified to offer advice or consult on securities or LLCs. Should something here within be erroneous, inaccurate, or downright wrong, you can bet you’ll see a follow up article titled “How I Did My Own Research into Filing For an Exemption from the SEC and State of Illinois under Regulation D Rule 504 and Got Pwned.”

We’ll take a look at the Game Flavor, the Game Mechanics, the Good, the Bad, the Final Review, and a bonus Second Glance! So, is this game for casual gamers, hardcore gamers, or no gamers at all? Read on!

Game Flavor

Mafia Wars imbues nearly all aspects of the game with a mobster-movie ambiance, from the updates written in Italian-English Mobster dialect to the ever-present Godfather gifting you with honorifics and rewards for important milestones. As you complete entire tiers of jobs, you get special titles and in-game bonuses (Job Mastery Items).

The game is pretty much what one imagines being a mobster would be like: making cash, offing your opposition, doing numerous illegal activities (and getting away with it), and of course being a down to heart member of the “family.”

Game Mechanics

Your actions are based on core attributes: Attack, Defense, Health, Energy, and Stamina. You earn experience and cash through performing various jobs, and each job requires the expenditure of Energy and the possession of the right equipment (weapons, armor, vehicles, special loot). Job and equipment availability are dependent upon your level. Attack, Defense, and Health are important for combat with bosses and fighting other players, and Stamina is how many times you can engage in player versus player activities (fight, sucker punch, add to hit list, and rob). Health, Energy, and Stamina all recover over time, while Attack and Defense are static attributes. Energy can also be refilled to 125% if your mafia sends you an Energy Pack (only available once every 23 hours). When you level up, you earn 5 points to distribute among your core attributes and your Health, Stamina, and Energy are refilled.

Where Mafia Wars takes on elements of a construction and management simulation (CMS) is in property development. You can purchase undeveloped land, develop that land into more profitable businesses, and earn an hourly income from your cut of the land. Other players can rob your properties, however their mafia party is limited to their level while robbing. Although the CMS is not very complex, it does play an integral role in generating cash for your mafia and offsetting the upkeep of necessary equipment.

Regarding equipment, you can buy vehicles, weapons, and armor but some of the best equipment only comes as loot, which is randomly found from performing jobs and through fighting other players. Some equipment is only available through the Godfather (you either complete special offers for Godfather points or buy them from Zynga). Loot also comes in the form of Collection items- collect all 7 items from the set and send the collection to your Vault, you get a Vault Bonus, which varies from collection to collection. One nice thing is that you can also Gift to other players, meaning some equipment, loot, and collection items can be traded between your mafia (to a limited extent).

Finally, there are some rules regarding your Top Mafia. You can select up to 6 members of your family to fill 6 different roles within your Top Mafia. Each role provides a different bonus to a different game mechanic. Furthermore, if you are selected to the Top Mafia of one of your fellow mobsters, you occasionally get an in-game bonus for being part of a Top Mafia.

The Good

Mafia Wars is a well-balanced game. Although mafia size greatly impacts your PVP power, the cap on your mafia is 501 members, which inherently retains a level of balance within the game between players. Furthermore, the game is not overly complex, and continues to offer additional activities, meaning continued playability. There is enough continual activity and in-game rewards occur frequently enough that the game remains engaging.

The Bad

Although a decent game, Mafia Wars fails to break free from the plethora of other mafia inspired games. Overall it has a generic feeling, perhaps due to the lack of any central plot line. While well rounded mechanically, and steeped in mafia flavor, Mafia Wars struggles to fully engage the player.

Furthermore, being that your power is inherently tied to the size of your mafia family, unless you plan on making a bunch of new friends, or already have 501 friends who want to play Mafia Wars, you’ll be limited in power and much weaker than many other players. While this isn’t that big of a problem, it means if someone wishes to continually rob your properties, there is little you can do other than stay off the radar of more powerful players. E.g., if you are robbed multiple times by a stronger player, your only recourse for revenge is to hire a hitman to take them out, however once the other player is taken out you’re name is once more on their Player Updates, meaning they can just go back to robbing you over and over and over again.

Final Review

Mafia Wars is easy to learn, easy to casually play, and also an easy game to like. Although it fails to break from the rest of the mafia pack, with very little negative baggage, solid enough game mechanics, and a consistent and prevalent flavor, Mafia Wars is an honest “C” game.

Mafia Wars – good for casual gaming, room enough for hardcore fans, but a bit generic – “C”

Second Glance

With recent updates, continued development on the game by Zynga, the introduction of Cuba, the addition of the Lottery (which I hope continues to give out free daily tickets), and continued refinement of the optional components of the game, Mafia Wars has taken that final step towards making this game go from generic to definitive. Because of the ongoing development on the game, the continued new additions that keep the game fresh and fun, Mafia Wars has earned itself a solid “B”.

Mafia Wars – great for casual gaming, good for longterm play, and engaging for any player – “B”

We’ll be taking a look at the Game Flavor, the Game Mechanics, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Final Review. So, is this game for casual gamers, hardcore gamers, or no gamers? Read on!

Game Flavor

Knighthood has a strong mundane (real world, lacking magic) medieval setting. The game mechanics further support the flavor of the fiefdom’s political structure, where Lords/Ladies are primarily maintained by vassals beneath them. This is a good case where the game mechanics support the game flavor.

In addition, Knighthood has good typography, nice images, and a good visual layout.

Game Mechanics

Knighthood has a fairly complex system of rules from building to warfare. It is primarily a competitive game with a pyramidal power structure, where the number of vassals under your control pertains directly to your in-game strength.

The building system is tree-structured; once buildings have been upgraded high enough, you gain access to additional buildings and game mechanics. Although Knighthood has a fairly simple build-tree, each building interacts with the mechanics in different and varying ways.

The basic actions of warfare revolve around sending your vassals to raid, pillage, seize opponents’ vassals, and conquer (claiming players as a vassal). Warfare is based on attack and defense ratings further modified by buildings, weapons, and vassals. Also, if you don’t like war, you can always go into peace mode (at a slight penalty to efficiency, implying it is better to be at war than at peace).

There are other game mechanics that are socially based, such as trading vassals, making (and breaking) alliances, recruiting additional vassals, etc.

The Good

Knighthood is a game where you set the pace for activity. Although building and generating gold is dependent upon time, you can go to war as many times as you’d like. The only thing holding you back is healing your troops, and if you successfully raid for gold you can perpetuate the cycle of war.

In addition to a highly active game, Knighthood does an excellent job reproducing a highly social game. Because most vassals are other players, the game itself is built upon a broad social base. Combined with the ability to make alliances and socially interact, the game helps produce a community feeling.

The Bad

Although the Knighthood manages to capture the concept of a medieval political structure, it falls short. The basic elements are there, but the game fails to reproduce the nuances of a medieval fiefdom, or even knighthood for which the game is named.

Firstly, warfare is treated much too casually. The only real ramification for going to war is that your vassals take damage, which costs either time or gold to heal. But other than this you can attack as many people as many times as you want. Without any major constraints on warfare, it becomes a possibly endless tactic void of any real world limitations.

Secondly, in game there can be little choice of whom you serve. Once tied to a Lord/Lady (possibly by choice or conquest), you can’t freely abandon your liege, only rebel. The game treats all vassals more or less as serfs and thus fails to capture the nuances between the medieval freeman and the un-free. If all vassals are therefore serfs, then how can any vassal uphold the tenants of gentry? One cannot be both serf and knight, the two are mutually exclusive.

The Ugly

Knighthood is essentially about owning people. The ultimate goal is to own as many vassals as possible, and vassals are for the most part other players. Vassals can be seized in warfare, and also traded for an in-game monetary exchange; you, in other words, conquer, buy, and sell people.

Knighthood treats people as mere tools, things that bring you wealth and power. Maybe this is a great representation of how nobility once viewed serfs, but in a modern game it reinforces the notion that people are expendable tools that can be bought and sold if need be. It also falls woefully short to reproduce the social cast structure of medieval society.

Furthermore, warfare has no focus on conquering and controlling land, only in raiding gold, weapons, and people. And here is my greatest critique of the game: in Knighthood, the purpose of war is not to capture land but to capture people. In effect, when land is captured, inhabitants can choose to flee. However, when capturing people is the focus, another connotation is assumed. To assume that by conquest, and therefore force, another person will labor on your behalf means that your primary endeavour is enslavement. If a person cannot leave of their own volition, they are no longer free.

Final Review

I really, really, want to like this game. It is directly up my ally in flavor and historical period, but I can’t get past the negative attributes of Knighthood. The game mechanics and potential depth of game play are redeeming qualities.

However, Knighthood’s inability to reproduce the feeling of being either a Knight or a Lord, combined with the uneasy undertone of dehumanization and the gross inadequacies of warfare leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Either the game should be called Despotism, or this review should be called “Knighthood: making slavery fun again.” For the above reasons, compounded by the game’s gross misunderstanding of the medieval economy, society, and politics, I give this game a “D.”

Knighthood – a game with great potential, all of it wasted, much like one’s time playing this game – “D”

Heck, even I enjoy this guilty pleasure.  However, there is just something special about being righteously indignant.  Nothing quite beats being indignant, except being right about it, too.

The only problem is that most the time, indignation can be a spur of the moment, and often uneducated, response to an issue.  Talk about over reacting.  However, when indignation is warranted then it can pull people together to collectively enforce the communal will against whatever transgression has so stirred the people into action.

I like being righteously indignant.  It’s fun to care about something enough to really feel stirred to protest, to act, to call for change.  However, I try to temper my temper with logic, research, and an openness to possible explanations.  Plus, after I do all that, if I’m still angry my righteous indignation feels even more justified (mua-hahahahahaaa).

Ahem….

3 Easy Steps to Righteous Indignation:

1. Really, and I mean REALLY, get worked up about an issue (doesn’t really matter what).
2. Decide why you are right, and why everyone who disagrees with you is wrong – so, so, dead wrong.
3. Once worked up to the right frenzy, start venting it to like-minded people, preferably somewhere you don’t have to discuss the opposite point of view.

Et voila, you have Righteous Indignation!

Example:

What is the deal with dogs that are all white?  I don’t like any fully white-furred dogs, unless they come from cold Arctic regions.  Why do any dogs with all white fur live anywhere but the Arctic??  I mean, really, poodles?!  Who decided to make poodles white???  I can accept that they are shaved to help them swim, but white fur???  That’s just a cruel joke.  Not only do they look funny and unnatural, they get dirty really easily and probably smell, too.  Especially toy poodles.  Poor little bastards.

Explication:

So, do you see what I did there?  I found an issue that probably isn’t that important (step 1), decided what I didn’t like about it with possibly very fallacious logic (step 2), and then ranted about it online (step 3)!  Please note that proper Internet etiquette, grammar, and punctuation can be malleable, including all caps, multiple punctuation marks (including the use of “1″ as an exclamation mark), and grammar can include incomplete sentences as well as hanging adjectives.

Conclusion

So, being righteously indignant is something you, too, can become.  Just follow the steps above, and you will soon be on your way to having your own blog.

Supposedly the advertisements come from a “blog” set up by a guy named Jeff Donahue (or is it Kevin Hoeffer?).  However, this site is little more than a giant scam.

Google it and you’ll get a few sites warning about these scams: [Updated]

• Wafflesatnoon’s Scam Alert Website Lists
• Facebook Misleading Users with Display Ads: Grant Access Club Scam
• Facebook Ripping you off? Grant Access Club Ads Indicate So
• Exposing A Government Grant Internet Scam

My favorite part is how this guy must (apparently) have an identical twin:
Jeff Donahue
Kevin Hoeffer

Jeff, meet Kevin.  Kevin, meet Jeff. Wait a minute….!

All I can say is shame on Facebook.  I know they need advertisers, but couldn’t they have done their homework on this one?  And no matter how many times I click “dislike this ad” and no matter which reason I give, they keep coming back in more and more ferocity!  I would have thought that the feedback from ads would help Facebook target their ads better, but something is seriously screwed up.  Even worse, Facebook is helping this scam reach millions.

The fact that this guy is recommending use of government grants and bailout funds only aims to strike a harmony with the discord people feel about how poorly managed the economy has been to date. Its designed to make you think you can make easy money, requires little to no effort, and to reassure you by making you think you are owed the money because it comes from the government as either a grant or stimulus.  You won’t earn this money, there is no such thing as free cash, and this scam only perpetuates abuse upon an already abused system. This guy is simply a leech upon an already morally debunk behavior.

So, do check out Wafflesatnoon.com‘s Scam Alert Website Lists; they have done an excellent job keeping track of this scam (and the numerous copycat websites & domains), along with others scams you might be more aware of than you’d like.  You might even recognize the other Facebook ad scams and junk ads (How many triangles!  Are you smarter than “X” celebrity!  Make $5,000 advertizing on Google!).

Also, check out RipoffReport.com for first hand consumer reports on vairous rip-offs (the following link is to a listing of Grant Writing & Research rip-off section).

We’ll take a look at the Game Flavor, the Game Mechanics, the Good & the Bad, and give you a Final Review, plus a bonus Second Glance! So, is this game for casual gamers, hardcore gamers, or no gamers? Read on!

Game Flavor

MouseHunt has a medieval setting reminiscent of children’s fables, with mice as the main protagonists. The game has a light feel, avoids dark concepts, and keeps things on the surface easy going and fun. In addition, game-play is bolstered by fun and well crafted artwork and flavor-text; each mouse has a composite profile, and each trap has a full composite picture. The application header also contains an image that is location dependent, which helps add to the flavor of the game.

MouseHunt also has some tongue-in-cheek humor, with clever/hokey wordplay (such as Dwarf Mice, who are Dwarven Mice). I’ve got to admit, I’m a glutton for such light-hearted humor and definitely enjoy being caught off-guard by unexpected puns.

Game Mechanics

MouseHunt has easy-going mechanics that get more complicated as you play. Your trap’s basic abilities are: Power, Attraction, andLuck. Power helps capture mice, Attraction brings mice to your trap, and Luck is, well, how lucky your trap is from time to time. By catching mice, you gain gold and points (and sometimes loot).

The game has a slow pace, but this is intentional. You are meant to be able to log on, see what is going on, then walk away for a bit and check back later. If you want more active game play, every 15 minutes you can sound the hunter’s horn and hunt for mice. You can also travel places to hunt, buy miscellaneous goods, craft, use potions, and claim a King’s rewards along the way.

Over all, the game mechanics are simple when you first start out and grow in complexity as you gain rank through catching mice. Rank determines where you can hunt, what you can craft, and where you are in the game.

The Good

MouseHunt is a fairly free-flowing game, escaping some linear entrapment. With a light atmosphere of game play it also manages to be easy on the mind. With something happening every 15 minutes, it is engaging enough to keep coming back to, but restricts you from becoming addicted to the game. MouseHunt has a clearly defined concept; being a passive game, the form fits function perfectly. After all, what’s more passive than catching mice with a mousetrap?

However, the game goes beyond a simple passive mechanism and gives players more flavor, and more things to do. This includes crafting, traveling, using potions, and additional loot to search out. The mice are incredibly diverse, each one with a unique flavor text, artwork, strengths, and weaknesses. As you gain ranks, the availability in traps, traveling, crafting, potions, and cheese all increase which continues to draw the player into continued game play.

The game continues to go through development, meaning that new mice, new traps, new cheese, and new areas continue to be introduced, keeping this game fresh and engaging. Furthermore, although the game might be passive, MouseHunt has a very active community of players on their forum, and that is a strong plus.

The Bad

However, since the game doesn’t progress very quickly, I have not “beaten” the game. I’m not even sure the game has an “endpoint,” but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you aren’t looking for a strong plot line. In that respect, the game can drag on at a slow pace. You can play upwards to a week before advancing rank at low level, and much longer at higher levels. Furthermore, at low levels you can only do so much crafting and traveling as both are fairly limited. While the passive play style is exactly what the game is going for, the game might benefit from additional elements that would add more activities while waiting for your trap to catch mice.

Although MouseHunt does escape linear-entrapment to an extent, it is possible that the game progresses so slowly that you just don’t realize you are railroaded into finding certain items in certain orders to go to certain locations, which are further restricted by your rank. So, at least at low ranks, the only real choices you have then are where you hunt, with what trap, and what cheese. However, with the continual development by the MouseHunt team, this entrapment is partly mitigated.

Final Review

MouseHunt is a solid game. While not very complicated, the game’s strength is in its well designed simplicity. By holding to a clearly defined goal, the game manages to concentrate on being easy, fun, and light-hearted. By not competing against highly active games, MouseHunt creates a niche of its own further complimented by its game flavor. It doesn’t take up much of your time, so you can accomplish a great deal with little effort along the way. Overall, a good “B” game.

MouseHunt – great for casual gaming, complex enough for the hardcore gamer – “B”

Second Glance

With recent updates, new hunting locations, traps, cheese, and most importantly the addition of Tournaments, in which you and four of your friends join the same Hunting Party, Hit Grab takes their game up a crucial notch. Not only does the Tournament system bring the sense of communal play to an exciting level, it adds an entirely new type of game play to MouseHunt. In essence, adding Tournaments allows the game to be open-ended, with friendly competition and mutual cooperation key components. The aforementioned strengths of MouseHunt, combined with the recent updates makes this a nice “A” game.

MouseHunt – now with more awesomeness – “A”