Mafia Wars on Yahoo FAQ

As most of us should have already known, Mafia Wars on Yahoo will be ending on the 15th of January 2012. I already foresee it since the start when it was released on Yahoo, that's why i did not bother leveling and playing there since there were almost to no players. It's not the first time Mafia Wars have been closed on other Social Network/websites. Mafia Wars was also on MySpace, and Tagged, but both have already been ended, along with Yahoo now. Will Mafia Wars on Facebook be ended for Google+? Hmm.. I doubt so :) 



Below is the copy and paste of the official FAQ:
NOTE: We regret to announce that our relationship with Yahoo will be ending on 01/15/2012.  As a thank you for playing, we’d like to jump-start your Mafia Wars account on MafiaWars.com.  With over 2 million daily players, new cities, and weekly content updates, you will be part of one of the largest game populations in the world.

Q: Why is Mafia Wars on Yahoo shutting down?
A:  We apologize to all Yahoo players that we are closing our game on this network.  It was a tough business decision that we had to make in the interest of the entire Mafia Wars franchise.

Q: When will this happen?
A:  The phase-out period will begin on 01/15/2012 and will last for 7 days.   You will be unable to play Mafia Wars on Yahoo during this transition period.

First time you log into Mafia Wars on Yahoo for the following 7 days, you will receive a message with a unique player PIN redemption code, please store this code stored somewhere secure.

You can use this PIN to redeem your account on MafiaWars.com. Please do not share this PIN with anyone else.

- After the 7 day period, Mafia Wars on Yahoo will no longer exist and PIN redemption codes will no longer be generated or provided.
- After January 23rd, the redemption page on MafiaWars.com will no longer be accessible.

Q:  How can I continue playing the game?
A:  We encourage you to continue playing Mafia Wars at www.MafiaWars.com. Please note that you will require an active Facebook account to play on MafiaWars.com.

Q: What are the benefits to playing on MafiaWars.com?
A:  MafiaWars.com is constantly maintained and has additional areas (Brazil, Chicago, Italy) and more features and functionality.

Q: What will happen to my existing Yahoo Mafia Wars character, inventory and Skill Points? Will I get them back?
A: Unfortunately, Zynga will be unable to transfer your character, Skill Points, inventory and other stats to MafiaWars.com. When you redeem the unique PIN, you will receive a lump sum Reward Points package based on your current Yahoo Mafia Wars account.

Q:  Is there a minimum level requirement for this redemption?
A:   Yes.  In order to qualify for this redemption, a player must be a minimum of level 30 OR should have bought any number of Reward Points in the history of total play-time.

Prior to beginning this process, please make sure that you have logged out of your Facebook account!

Q:  How does redemption work?
A:   Please follow the steps below to process your redemption
Step 1 – Log into your Yahoo Mafia Wars account.  You will see a message with your unique PIN code
Step 2 – Write down and store your PIN code somewhere secure.  Do NOT share this PIN code with anyone else. Please note that new PIN codes cannot be generated.
Step 3 – Open www.MafiaWars.com on your browser.
Step 4 – Sign in to www.MafiaWars.com  using an active Facebook account. If you do not have a Facebook account yet, you will need to create one.
Step 5 – Click on “Account” dropdown menu on the top right corner and choose the option “Yahoo”.
Step 6 – Clicking on the “Yahoo” option in Step 5 will prompt you to enter your unique player PIN. Enter your unique PIN code and click on submit to begin transition.
Step 7 – After the code is successfully accepted, the lump sum Reward Point package (based on your Yahoo Mafia Wars account) will be added to your existing (or new) account on MafiaWars.com.
Step 8 – Previous payments on your Yahoo Mafia Wars account will be converted to Reward Points and that amount will be applied on top of Step 7.

Q:  I’m already playing on MafiaWars.com with a separate account. Will redeeming my Yahoo MW account replace the stats on my existing account?
A:  If you have been already playing on MafiaWars.com, your stats will remain unchanged and you’ll get the redeemed lump sum Reward Points added up to your existing account.

Q: What about my payments?
A:  Any players with prior payments will have their payment history converted to Reward Points and those will be added to their MafiaWars.com account.

Q: How are the lump sum Reward Point packages calculated?
A:  Lump sum Reward Point packages are calculated depending on the level of your Yahoo MW account.

Q:  Can I get a refund instead?
A:  No, refunds are not permitted.

Q:  I received an error “Invalid Code” after entering the PIN code. Why?
There are 2 possible reasons for this error:
A)     You’ve incorrectly entered the PIN code (there’s a typo).  Please re-enter the correct PIN code.
10 incorrect attempts in 5 minutes will prevent our system from recognizing any code for the next 10 minutes.
B)      You entered a PIN code that has already been redeemed.  This is only possible if the code wasn’t kept secure.

Ø Please submit an email to MWYahoocode@zynga.com with the subject line “Yahoo Code not working” or “Yahoo Code redeemed”
Ø Include in that email
     o   Your Yahoo UID
     o   Your redemption PIN code
     o   Your MafiaWars.com UID number
Ø If your code has already been redeemed, we will be unable to issue a new one, so please do not reveal the code to anyone.
Ø Please allow 4 business days for a response while we sort the reported issues so that we can respond in an efficient manner.

Q:  How many PINs can I redeem on my Mafiawars.com account?
A:  Each MafiaWars.com account will be permitted to redeem only one PIN code.

Q:  How do I find my Yahoo UID?
A:  If you click on the profile link of your Yahoo account, the number in the URL is your Yahoo UID.

Q:  How do I find my mafiawars.com UID number?
A:  In the upper right, after you log in, you will see a Welcome _YourName_ (Log out).
Move your mouse pointer over your name and copy that link. The number after ‘…profile.php?id=’ is your MafiaWars.com UID number.

Q:  Who can I contact?
A:  MWYahoocode@zynga.com is the contact email for all inquiries about this transition. Depending on the volume of expected submissions, responses may take several business days to return. Please note that our Chat Agents will not have any additional information, and all Chat contacts regarding this topic will direct players back to this email address.

Q: Why couldn’t you give us more advance notice or time to play on Yahoo?
A: We apologize for the suddenness of this transition.  For a variety of technical and data integrity reasons, it was necessary to announce and perform the transition at the same time.   As a goodwill gesture, we will be offering a one-time half-off coupon for purchase of Reward Points for players that have made the transition.  This unique coupon will be sent via in-game messaging to accounts that have redeemed a PIN code in approximately 6-8 weeks, after we have gathered information regarding which accounts are eligible.