Confessions of a “Mafia Wars” addict

“I cannot be a hitman. I do not have fancy guns. Where can I get these?”, I said in despair. “Can you send me guns?”, I begged. After a Corleone-esque contemplating silence, Don U spoke. “I' will see to it”. The words came as a relief to me though it felt like an eternity before he responded. When I woke up the next day, I found a pile of gifts containing latest weapons and getaway vehicles. I was ecstatic and went on a killing spree.

The above interchange happened on the Facebook chat. In spite of the sms-ish messages sandwiched with different kinds of smiley, I pictured Don U sitting in the dimly lit room in a tuxedo and granting me audience on the day of his daughter’s wedding. But, in real world, Don U is younger than me and he doesn’t have a daughter. He has a three year old son! I have taken the game, Mafia Wars, too seriously.

Mafia Wars is created by Zynga and this is integrated with Facebook. Two weeks back, I got a request from my friend, Don U, for trying out the game. When I decide to try out the game, I become the member of his “Mafia”. Two days later, I got another request from Don(na) J. By this time, I was curious and accepted the request. Soon, I was blazing past the initial levels.

After the initial levels, the game became more difficult. My reserves of energy and stamina were running out. I had to wait patiently for 5 minutes before my energy and stamina were incremented by one unit. Energy enables me to do jobs like mugging, robbing a pimp while stamina helps me to fight other mafia. The dubious nature of the jobs did not deter me from trying the game and there wasn’t an iota of remorse in being a Mafia member.

After two days, I grew restless and impatient. My energy levels were increasing in a frustrating slow pace. So, I contacted Don U and Don(na) J for boosting my energy through energy packs. The energy packs can be supplied by fellow Mafia members and was free of cost. There is also provision to buy these things with the help of your credit card. Since I’m “careful with money”, I did not go for this option. My fellow Mafia members obliged and sent me energy packs at regular intervals. This worked for a while and I climbed up through another set of levels before hitting another roadblock.

Being new to the game, I had a comparatively smaller Mafia than most of the other players. The small and compact Mafia turned out to be a disadvantage. In order to fight and win with other Mafia, I needed more members. I started recruiting. I connected with all my friends. I bullied them into joining. One of my early successes was Don Jorge, husband of Don(na) J. I ended up pitching Mafia Wars to a friend in LA.

I have reached Level 16. I’m officially an addict. My skills in enlisting would put a multi-level marketing guy to shame. I’m still hiring…

Picture Courtesy: www.starpulse.com

Tags: Musings,Mafia Wars,Confessions,Addict,FaceBook,Zynga