Mafia Wars CEO Brags About Scamming Users From Day One

[daigong]

WARNING!!!!! 

<Sev> lol http://consumerist.com/5400720/mafia-wars-ceo-brags-about-scamming-users-from-day-one

Mark Pincus On Zynga Revenue

From the beginning, the profitability and viability of popular Facebook social networking games Mafia Wars and Farmville were predicated on the backs of scams, boasts Zynga CEO Mark Pincus in this video. "I did every horrible thing in the book just to get revenues," he crows in the clip to a gathered bunch of fellow scumbag app developers.

In games like Mafia Wars, Farmville, YoVille and Vampires Live, you know, some of the major sources of all those garbage announcements cluttering up your Facebook, players compete to complete missions and level up. By leveling up, you can complete more difficult missions and fight off weaker opponents. You can wait for your various energies to regenerate naturally over time, or you can purchase with real money in-game boosts. Or, you can complete various lead generation offers, many of which are of the "answer page after page of questions and opt in and out of receiving various kinds of spam" variety. Some of them install malware and adware that is impossible to remove. And some of them secretly subscribe you to monthly recurring $9.99 credit card charges.

Couple this reckless profiteering with in-game incentives for recruiting more players into your network and a constant blast (if you let it) of promotional messages to your friends, and it's like Amway discovered Facebook and threw a gangster-themed house party.

[Asmodai]

Wow. That's evil. I feel dirty just reading about it.

[RoyMoy]

Tricking people as part of your marketing strategy only really ever works in the short run. Especially on the internet. I wonder if they will have a business years from now or they will have moved on to another scam.