Crystal Saga Beta Test Has Arrived!

R2Games is pleased to announce that official beta testing for Crystal Saga will begin on September 1st at 4:30pm EST. Open to all players, Crystal Saga is a refined free-to-play browser MMORPG. To participate in this beta testing, please login or register for a new account. To celebrate our official beta launch, we will be providing a number of promotions and activities!


Crystal Saga is a 2D browser MMORPG in which you explore treasure, hunt for valuable items, slay creatures and communicate with your buddies in the world of Vidalia. The game proves a remarkable success in China as it closely follows the Chinese culture and background story while some client game elements have been implemented into the game.

Originally released in China under the title “魔神战纪“, Crystal Saga China has more than 100 servers including some affiliated publishers like Wan71.com, 37wan, and wowan365. On August 15, China-based R2Games behind Caesary, quietly launched an alpha server for Crystal Saga. After two week’s testing, R2Games launched the officially commercial server Himeng Valley, and Aurora Point.

Grand Epic Online New Features to be Released on May 20th

We are sorry to have kept you waiting so long for the new patch. We have been working really hard to test the new maps, quests and functions so that you will see a perfect game update. And we are glad to tell you that new features listed below will be released on May 20^th.

Currently, we are making final adjustments to the new patch and working on Guild War functions. We sincerely hope you all enjoy the game and continue to support us. We will try our best to provide you a high quality browser game.

New Map:

• Penglai Fairy Island (You can receive the quest of Fairyland Legend from Shine Star Fairy after reincarnation)
• Dragon Palace
• Kunlun Mountain (Main Quest)

New Function:

• Pet Strengthen
• Pet Combination
• Mount Strengthen
• Dragon-soul Equipments
• Max level raised to Lv.70
• Pet add Weapon Attack which can add more attack than Str.
• Pet add Armor Defense which can add more defense than Def.

2011-5-18

Gamemily Operating Team

Eternal Destiny on Facebook is now live!

Now you can access the WarpPortal website with your Facebook Login.
Don't forget to connect your Warpportal and Eternal Destiny account to Facebook to be able to claim your CBT and OBT rewards!
To connect your Facebook to your WarpPortal.com account (if emails used to register are the same email)

1)The [Connect with Facebook] will appear in the area right below the branding bar and login page:


2)Upon pressing the [Connect with Facebook] button above, if you are not logged into facebook you will receieve a popup asking you to login to your Facebook:

3)You will recieve the following request, make sure to click allow to connect the two:

4)and your Facebook is now connected to your WarpPortal account!

If your Facebook account has never logged into the WarpPortal website before AND Facebook account's email address does not match an existing WarpPortal account, then please follow the following steps:

1)If "No", then you will automatically have a WarpPortal.com account created for you using your Facebook information.


2)If "Yes", then you will be asked to input your WarpPortal login information.


WarpPortal accounts automatically created with this method will be allowed to change their nickname ONCE. So please make sure you wish to keep that name.

Grand Epic Online to Officially Launch CB on April 27

Grand Epic Online(GEO), an innovative 2.5D browser MMORPG presented by Run Up Information Technology Corp, is to launch its CB at 10:00 p.m. April 27^th EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), by which the register service and game access will be available again from the short break after a trial test last week.

As a browser game, this innovative MMORPG introduces real-time action fighting with certain technical breakthroughs made, which received wild popularity during its trial test run during April 20^th to 23^rd.

Originally, the limit of players allowed in the trial test was set at 500 until its operating team realized there were even a couple more hundreds of players lining in the queue and feared the action of setting player number limit could irritate those who saw the ads and followed in, yet did not get to access the game and resulted in hating the game instead. Apparently, every nerve of GEO’s operating team was challenged by the unexpected flow-in of players.

Besides real-time action fighting mode, there are a couple more things worth mentioning in this game. In addition to quest navigation and pet/mount system, GEO seems to be delivering a complexity in the player’s continuous growth, with a number of giddy oriental philosophic concepts being used to provide various ways to enhance the character’s power, such as reincarnation, dual immortal practice, and enlightenment, each offering a specific way of self-strengthening. This just could be a really fun keeper, because it offers almost unlimited chances of power growth.

There are many other intriguing details that await players to explore. And as its name implies, Grand Epic Online may be able to offer a fresh gaming experience to MMO lovers.

Gamemily Operating Team

2011-4-26

Eternal Destiny is Coming to Facebook!

Eternal Destiny is coming to Facebook!

In the coming weeks WarpPortal is going to allow players to use Facebook connect to connect their favorite game to Facebook. This will make signing into the WarpPortal.com site to add games and purchase points a breeze.

In addition to Facebook Connect, Eternal Destiny will be the first WarpPortal title to be available on Facebook directly! That’s right you will be able to play your favorite browser game straight from Facebook. Once the Facebook integration is complete users will be able to connect their current CBT/OBT account with Facebook and receive their OBT/CBT Prizes!

Official Launch date information is to follow in the coming weeks and many changes and improvements are afoot. Such as:

• A new tutorial system for levels 1-10 to allow users to experience what higher level skills and equipment are like.
• Monsters outside of the instances will now use skills in their attacks
• A new value system for selling equipment based on the quality of the item.
• New mail quests will be given when entering specific maps.
• A new function that will allow players to teleport to the quest location so long it is on the same map.
• And MORE!

Stay tuned to Facebook and Twitter for more details!

Tons of Rewards GIVEAWAY in Grand Epic Online Closed Beta!

1. Everyday Login, Everyday Surprise

【Event Time】: 10:00 P.M. April 27th - 11:59 P.M. May 3rd EDT

【Event NPC】: Shaohai on Yanbo Island

【Event Description】:

We are giving away huge amount of rewards for players who are with us from the very beginning of our 7-day Closed Beta Test. The rewards below are available only during the 7-day CB Test, so DO NOT miss out!

Log into Grand Epic every day, and claim the rewards every day. Players can receive rewards from NPC Shaohai on Yanbo Island.

Accumulated 1 day login: Coin×100, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1

Accumulated 2 days login: Coin×200, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1, Revival Elixir(bound)×1

Accumulated 3 days login: Coin×300, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1, Revival Elixir(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Thread(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Iron(bound)×1

Accumulated 4 days login: Coin×400, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1, Revival Elixir(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Thread(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Iron(bound)×1, Auto-fighting Card(bound)×5

Accumulated 5 days login: Coin×500, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1 Revival Elixir(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Thread(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Iron(bound)×1, Auto-fighting Card(bound)×5, Coin Card(bound)×1

Accumulated 6 days login: Coin×600, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1 Revival Elixir(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Thread(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Iron(bound)×1, Auto-fighting Card(bound)×5, Coin Card(bound)×1, Skill Experience Card(bound)×1

Accumulated 7 days login: Coin×700, Frenzy Stone(bound)×5, Rare Pet Food(bound)×1 Revival Elixir(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Thread(bound)×1, Ancient Fairy Iron(bound)×1, Auto-fighting Card(bound)×5, Coin Card(bound)×1, Skill Experience Card(bound)×1, Experience Card(bound)×1, Experience Elixir(bound)×2, Backpack(bound)×1

2. Lucky Pet

【Event Time】: Continuous

【Event NPC】: Yanbo Fairy on Yanbo Island

【Event Description】:

Buy anything in the mall, and you can get a free pet Little Mud-horse from NPC Yanbo fairy! Pet can be very helpful in fighting monsters. Come and get yourself a cute Little Mud-horse now! What's more, Di-meridian Elixir ×3 is gift for level 20 players who has shopped in the mall.
Note: Each account can only receive once.

3. Bug Report, Big Rewards

If players find any bugs while playing Grand Epic Online, please report to our Bug Report section through the link below. We will send rewards in-game once the bug is confirmed in seven days. (Please add infomation of your character server and name.)

http://bbs.gamemily.com/usa/forumdisplay.php?fid=2

4. CB Heroes Rewards

After CB test, everyone who participates in the test can get a CB Test Package. 3 highest level players can also get the following grand CB Hero rewards. (Comprehensive Ranking in-game will be considered in case of same level). You can receive the CB Test Package and CB Hero Package from NPC Yanbo Fairy after CB Test.

Champion: VIP Monthly Card(bound)×1, Pet Egg(Mermaid)(bound)×50, Mount-forging Elixir(bound)×800, Di-meridian Elixir(bound)×2, Longevity Elixir(bound)×1, Crime-record Clearing Elixir(bound)×5, Respec Elixir(bound)×1, Backpack(bound)×2

Runner-up: VIP Monthly Card(bound)×1, Pet Egg(Emperor Penguin)(bound)×50, Mount-forging Elixir(bound)×600, Di-meridian Elixir(bound)×2, Crime-record Clearing Elixir(bound)×3, Respec Elixir(bound)×1, Backpack(bound)×1

3rd Place: VIP Monthly Card(bound)×1, Pet Egg(Giant Panda)(bound)×50, Mount-forging Elixir(bound)×500, Di-meridian Elixir(bound)×2, Crime-record Clearing Elixir(bound)×1, Respec Elixir(bound)×1, Backpack(bound)×1

The First HD Vision Browser MMORPG – Grand Epic Online

With over three years of game creation process, all characters and maps were sketched up according to 3D standard. Grand Epic Online just has one aim, to provide players a brand new browser-based MMORPG with cool skill releasing effect, lifelike character action, delicacy and smooth screen displaying.

No need download. Just register a Gamemily passport ID to enjoy a 3D browser-based game with HD vision effect that only client games provided before.

Add bookmark of http://geo.gamemily.com and come to take an experience yourself once Grand Epic Online launches. It’s coming soon.

Intense PvP Experience in Grand Epic Online

This is not a simple browser game full of monster killing and questing. A talent gaming system encourages players to take PvP experience in real-time mode. Notice it? Not turn-based but real-time combat with keyboard and mouse.

Release one pet to help. It may look cute but with powerful attacking ability that is not cute at all. A mount is a talent choice to move fast while attacking and defending. High level mount may give unbelievable support. If these two assistants cannot satisfy you, we have another secret helper, the trump, which is immortal. It will only upgrade and never die, no matter how fierce your opponent is.

How to attack with skill, when to skip to avoid being hurt, choose which pet, which mount, which trump to help, these are decisions players should make themselves because this is what Grand Epic Online wishes, show others how talented you are. A tiny girl can always be the champion here, too.

Add bookmark of http://geo.gamemily.com and come to test your talent once Grand Epic Online launches. It’s coming soon.

Eternal Destiny's Game Guide

LOGIN

After registering an account on www.warpportal.com and downloading the Warp Portal Gateway, simply launch Eternal Destiny from the Gateway. Once launched, the login screen will appear.

1. Account

   Enter your Eternal Destiny account ID that was registered. (*NOTE: This field is requesting for the Eternal Destiny account that is bound to your Warp Portal Account.)

2. Password

   Enter the password that is associated with the registered Eternal Destiny account.

3. Login

   This confirms the account information and provides access to the game server if the Account ID and Password were entered correctly.

CHARACTER SELECT

Once you have successfully logged in, the character select screen will be displayed. Here, you can create characters, delete characters, and choose the character you wish to play.

1. Create

   Allows you to create a new character

2. Delete

   Deletes the selected character

3. Select

   Double click the character you wish you play

CHARACTER CREATION

Once you have successfully logged in, the character select screen will be displayed. Here, you can create characters, delete characters, and choose the character you wish to play.

By clicking the "Create" button it will take you to the Character Creation screen. Here you can select character class, gender, and name.

1. Name

   Name of the character (Please be aware that the system will not allow duplicate names. You will be prompted if a name is permitted. If not, then you will need to choose a different name for your character.)

2. Gender

   Choose your choice of male or female as your character's gender.

3. Class

   Select any of the four basic classes available for the character being created.

USER INTERFACE

1. Chat Window

   This area displays announcements, system notices, and user chatbox messages.

2. Character Information

   This displays the character's Health Points (HP), Magic Points (MP), Experience Points (EXP), and Character Level.

3. Main Menu

   This area consists of buttons that allow you to access Character Information, Inventory, Skill, Pet, Quest, Guild, Collection, Prestige, Mount, Training, Mailbox, Auction, Event, Social, and Boundary menus. You may select one of these buttons to gain more detailed information regarding to any of these areas.

4. Upper Menu

   This area allows you to access the Item Mall, Map, Game Options, and Search Option.

   1. Item Mall - This opens the Item Mall menu and allows the purchase of Item Mall items
   2. Map - This opens the main map for navigation
   3. Game Options - This menu allows you to change the various game options and volume
   4. Search Options - This menu categories all maps and NPCs that have been encountered

For further details and info, please go to Eternal Destiny's website at www.playeternaldestiny.com

Eternal Destiny Begins Open Beta Testing on Warpportal

Press Release

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. - The realms collide in the highly anticipated free to play, browser based MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) ETERNAL DESTINY! Become a hero and right the turmoil and instability caused by the God of Chaos, regain control of the chaotic land and embrace your ETERNAL DESTINY! Interested players can register online for their free accounts today (Thursday; March 10, 2011) beginning at 6:00 pm PST – March 24, 2011; 6:00 pm PST. No download or codes required! More information can be found at www.warpportal.com

Players who participate in the OBT will automatically receive items listed
below at commercial launch:

• Special "Elite Warrior" Title that appears with your character
  
• One (1) Lucky Rainbow Sheep (Unique in-game Pet) that fights along side you against encountered monsters and bosses
  
• One (1) [Male]Chinese Clothes Costume (7 day duration)
  
• One (1) [Female]Chinese Clothes Costume (7 day duration)
  
• One (1) VIP Experience Card (7 day duration), includes:
  -7 hours of double experience points
  -10% increase on gold gained from battles
  -10% discount on items sold from NPC Shops
  -50% increase on gold from selling items
  -Extra backpack and storage space
  -Additional character and pet chain quests become available
  -Additional chances to access normal and hero dungeons
  -Increased resource gathering speed
  
• Two (2) Normal Crystals
  
• One (1) Gem Pack

Also, players that reach and exceed level 30 during the OBT will
automatically receive:

• 500 points at commercial launch

To register for the ETERNAL DESTINY OBT, please register online at
www.warpportal.com during the OBT period (3/10-3/24). There are no codes to redeem.

"We are excited to have ETERNAL DESTINY as the newest member of the Gravity Interactive family," states Yoshinori Kitamura, Gravity Interactive, Inc. CEO, "players will be taken to a world of wonder and amazement with the visually stimulating art and the fast-paced-action-packed game play."


SYNOPSIS


Within the ever changing universe, the calm world is separated into several realms: Human, Demon, Asura, Infernal, Heavenly, and the unknown Chaos.

Unbeknownst to the various realms, a being called the God of Chaos, emerged to propagate his doctrine of the world where, "No rule cannot be broken, everything can be twisted." This God of Chaos caused much turmoil with all the paths crossing through one another. This event caused the boundaries of the realms to suddenly close and the realms were unable to return to their original state. This broke the stability within the realms and an endless war ensued. The world nearly collapsed under this turmoil.

The heroes from each realm began to ponder a solution to open the boundaries between each realm, in order to correct the problems that the God of Chaos created and to return the realms back to normal. However the strongest heroes of the realms were lost since the closing of the boundaries. Thus, the problem of how to find the boundaries of the realms and how to open them, become a more difficult puzzle to solve. At this crucial and dire moment in time, several virtuous heroes stepped forward to take on the challenge as they were unaffected by the doctrine of the God of Chaos. Join them as they fight strong enemies and take on the heavy burden of expelling the God of Chaos in order to regain control of this chaotic land! Embrace your ETERNAL DESTINY!

About Eternal Destiny
Eternal Destiny is an action-packed fantasy browser based MMORPG that allow players to interact with each other and work with or battle each other to take on the burden and challenge of usurping the God of Chaos and to restore order to the realms. Free to play and no download required. More information can be found at www.warpportal.com

About WarpPortal
Developed by world renowned Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMORPG) publishing giant, Gravity Interactive, Inc., WarpPortal is the newest online platform for North American gamers. Users able to utilize a single login-account for multiple game access and manage their online accounts for some of the hottest online titles including Ragnarok Online, Rose Online, Requiem: Memento Mori, Dragon Saga, casual games and more. Additional highlights of the site include community forums, online support and the Gateway system-an application that provides users' access to gaming news, community communication and music all from one online application. More information can be found at www.warpportal.com.

About Gravity Interactive, Inc.
Headquartered in Marina Del Rey (California U.S.A.), Gravity Interactive, Inc. was established in March 2003 and is the U.S. subsidiary of Gravity Co. Ltd. (South Korea, Nasdaq GM: GRVY). It is a world renowned leader in online game publishing and operates Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) for the North American casual and hardcore gaming markets. The company's flagship title, Ragnarok Online, has over three (3) million North American subscribers (about 50 million subscribers worldwide) and has been joined by other Gravity Interactive titles Dragon Saga, Requiem: Memento Mori, and ROSE Online. More information can be found at www.warpportal.com

Real Oriental Culture MMORPG – Grand Epic Online

Are you tired of thousands of games based on Roman and Greek Myths? Do you have interest in traveling in mysterious ancient China? Then check out this 2.5D real-time browser game set in ancient China: Grand Epic Online.

Based on the ancient Chinese history of Tang Dynasty, Grand Epic Online not only provides map of the famous Tang Dynasty capital, Chang’an. Players can also learn kungfu in famous factions which just appeared in films and books before. What does that mean? It means you can go back to the ancient China to learn kungfu through this browser game instead of watching Kung Fu Panda.

Add bookmark of http://geo.gamemily.com and come to follow a master once Grand Epic Online launches. It’s coming soon.

Neverland Online: Beginner's Guide

Neverlnd Online is a free-to-play 2D MMORPG. The game don’t need an installation, you can play it in your browser window. The game is interesting and requires some thinking.

The gameplay is somewhat complex with many choices and options, and many newbie players stop playing after some time.

At the beginning you start with selecting a character. All characters can learn any skill but every class has its strong and weak points. Here are the classes and the corresponding skills and powers:

Male and female Rangers are best at Valor and Fortitude power.
Both Assassins’ best power choices are Confidence and Insight.
Elementalists’ power choices are Fervor and Delusion.
For both Taoists you must choose Grace and Aura.



What does it mean?

The skills in Neverland Online are grouped in types or let’s use the term powers. Learning one type of power will allow you to learn its corresponding skills. For example with Valor you can develop Devil Bane, Desperate Strike, and Warlord’s Great Sword.

To open the power window go to Status (or press C) , and select the Power tab. There you can level up your powers. At the beginning select one power type, appropriate for your character class and level it up.


To level up skill you need a skill book at the appropriate level, corresponding power with the necessary level and skill rank. To rank a skill you must practice it – use it in battle. At the beginning your skills won’t do more damage than your regular attack.



Stat points

Stat points affect your character damage, defense, hit points, mana points. To open the stat points menu go to Status menu (or press C), and select the Ability tab.

Stat points includes:
Strength – increase physical attack damage
Stamina – max HP, defense against spells, increase heal spell effects
Agility – hit chance, physical attack critical chance, dodge chance against physical attack, higher probability to attack first
Intelligence – spell damage and max mp
Faith – max rage points, spell hit chance and critical chance, defense against physical attack, evasion

You have three buttons beneath the stat points – Damage, Balance, and Survival. They are quite convenient if you don’t know how to allocate your points.


Leveling up

Neverland Online has many quests and they give more than enough experience, rewards and game knowledge. If you are newbie, focus on quests. The NPC (characters that are controlled by non-players in the game) that has quests for you will have giant exclamation mark above its head. You can find all quests in progress and all available quests from the quests menu – the last icon at the bottom of your game screen will open it.

There are many different quest types – fighting mobs, catching pets, crafting, delivering messages, learning skills, and even quiz.


Pets

To catch a pet you need to press Catch during battle. You can’t catch a creature whose level is higher than you. Catching baby pets is very easy – you just need to select catch on the action menu. For normal pets you need to do some damage before catching them. Be careful no to kill them because you won’t be able to catch them.

You need to feed your pet regularly or it won’t be loyal to you and won’t appear in battle. You can restore the pets loyality and cure it at one of the NPCs. This NPC in the first town is Healer Quinny Boa.

To view and update pet stat points go to the pet menu. From there you can select See details to view more information, skills, wisdom, and so on.

The first pet, that worth some time is the brown bear. But the best pet is with a group-attacking skill like Ice Blast which you can find in a crab or a crocodile.

Ice Blast

Battles

The battles in Neverland Online are turn based. Who will attack first depends on characters agility. You have a menu with available options – Auto, Skill, Capture, and so on. You can select to use item like healing pot but you will lose one turn.



For further tips for beginners or novices, you can go to the game's web forum or go directly to this link, http://forum.hithere.com/viewthread.php?tid=8490&extra=page%3D1.


Shortcut / Hot Keys

“1~0” Shortcut Bar for Skills to be used in Battle
“O” Auto-battle

“T” Party
“A” Challenge
“C” Character Status
“P” Pet
“E” Bag
“X” Exchange
“V” Skill
“K” Forge
“F” Buddy
“B” Guild
“Q” Quest
“R” Chest
“I” Mail
“L” Raid
“S” System Menu
“W”NPC List
“Tab” Small Map
“G” Announcement
“I” Mail
“M” Item Shop
“H” Bots

Go to Neverland Online!

I was looking for a new and good browser games because I am sick already of playing Mafia Wars. I bumped to this website which catches my attention because of its colorful interface. I became interested because I have been longing to play games like DOTA, Counterstrike and Ragnarok Online but I don't know how to and this is just like them.



This free and entertaining game is called Neverland Online. It is a 2D, browser MMORPG. The game is set in a persistent fantasy world, players can do many things like catching monster and making them pets, leveling up, crafting, PVP and so on. The game is fully fledged MMORPG despite the fact that it doesn’t need an installation. You don't need to download client to play it, you can just play it on your browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and so on. The instructions are easy to follow and I'm sure that you will enjoy it.




Neverland Online has several playable classes and many skills. Available classes are Ranger, Assassin, Elementalist and Taoist. Each character type has its own strengths and weaknesses. You can create up to 5 characters in one account.





Playing it is refreshing and relaxing. It is an ideal solution for people searching for not engaging and lightweight mass game. I play it and find that it's a great and funny strategy game based on browser. You can sign up to be a member of Neverland Online and play game with me by clicking this link. I strongly recommend you register an account now! Let us go to Neverland Online!

Vampire Wars Quiz

I have been playing Vampire Wars (and Mafia Wars) in social network Facebook for almost seven months now but I just recently took the Vampire Quiz which I reluctantly to do so at first. The reason is because I'm not familiar with vampire movies or television shows. I decided to conduct a research first and luckily I was able to find the correct answers. Enjoy!

1. What hilariously HOT Vampire movie was a bigger television hit than it was on the big screen?

c - Buffy The Vampire Slayer


2. What popular singer played the Queen in Queen of the Damned?

d - Aaliyah


3. What are the names of the star-crossed lovers in the smash-hit Twilight?

b - Bella and Edward


4. What actress shared her first on screen kiss with a much older Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire?

a - Kirsten Dunst


5. What was the first Vampire movie ever made?

d - Nosferatu


6. Which of the famous Corey Boys starred in more than one Vampire movie?

a - Corey Feldman


7. What sexy Australian actor is just as hot killing vampires in Van Helsing as he is in singing his heart out in Musical Theater?

b - Hugh Jackman


8. In the movie Underworld, what was the race of werewolves called that supposedly killed Selene's parents?

c - Lycans


9. Who was Mina's closest friend in Bram Stoker's Dracula?

e - Lucy Westenra


10. What actor originally immortalized Dracula's arch-nemesis, Van Helsing?

b - Peter Cushing


11. In what Vampire movie will you hear the song "Bela Lugosi is dead" by Bauhaus?

b - The Hunger


12. What would Louis, Brad Pitt's character in Interview with a Vampire feed on instead of humans?

c - Rats

Mafia Wars Craze

It has been two months since I posted my last entry on this blog. I have been busy in my new job as Listener Care Representative of XM Satellite Radio Canada (still in Sitel Philippines), and playing one of the most talked browser games in the cyberspace, Mafia Wars.

I learned Mafia Wars first in Tagged, one of the social networking sites, through the invites of my Sony teammates. After a month of playing it, the game was also introduced to the number one social networking site Facebook, which luckily I have an account (ever since Facebook is not yet popular). There is a big difference of playing Mafia Wars in Facebook because it has a new section called Mafia Wars in Cuba which is not found in Tagged MafiaWars. As of the moment, Facebook Mafia Wars will be launching another section which will be called Mafia Wars in Moscow.


First Time Playing?

When you log in for the very first time, there is a little spiel to get you excited, a picture of your first property, Uncle Louies Deli and a bar with your initial stats.

Cash
Every hour your properties will pay out and any items you have with maintenance costs will deduct from your earnings. On the Properties tab which you will see later you can always see how much you are making and how much it is costing you.

Health
This is a fairly meaningless stat and it is the only naturally replenishing stat that the mafia game will not show you a timer on. It is critical in boss fights. Other than that, it just sets the amount of times you get attacked when a hit is put out on you and how many fights you can engage in before healing.

Energy
This is the principal source of your earned income and a large chunk of your XP. It will come back 1 point every 5 minutes unless you are a maniac character in which case you get 2 points. Jobs and items should be your initial focus once you get in to the game.

Stamina
This also regenerates at one point every 5 minutes. Stamina is used to try to attack other players, rob other players, cash in on a hit on another player, sucker punching, and placing hits on other players.


Do Something About It!

The mafia game will walk you through a simple series of examples of what the game contains once you are completely free to make your own choices. The first job is exactly what most will be about - You spend X energy for Y experience, some amount of money, and with some jobs, a small chance at special loot. And congratulations! You got a loot item and a dummy NPC to invite in to your mob to get to size 1! We will talk more about Mafia size later and the Mafia Wars fighting and Robbing section has a lot more to say. Next you make your first attack and then buy your first property and the first real decision comes in to play.


Choosing your Character type

You can change your name later, but there is a fairly hefty cost, so think about how you would like your Mafioso name to be. "Don" plus your last name works well and the game supports multiple people with the same name. Default Don is the most common name out there followed by all the characters from the Mafia Godfather. The more unique and memorable your name, the easier it is for friends to find you. As for character type, here is a break down on what the choice entails.

Mogul
As a Mogul your cash flow comes every 54 minutes rather than every hour for the other character types. As a Mogul you are also the only character type eligible for being a Bagman. As a Bagman in one of your friends Top Mafia, you have the change to get double money from performing jobs.

Maniac
As a Maniac, you regenerates at a rate of 1 every 3 minutes instead of 5. You also become eligible to be a Button Man which gives you a chance to automatically win any fight you initiate. General consensus on the web before the Top Mafia changes was this was the best type to choose since energy makes you level faster.

Fearless
As a Fearless character your health regenerates at a faster rate. You also have the ability to be a Top Mafia Wheel Man which has the best special ability. Whenever you perform a job, there is a small chance that job costs no energy.


Your Initial Skill Points

After you make your decision, you get your first skill points to spend. It is highly recommended you just upgrade your Energy till at least 30 before touching the other stats. Once you have leveled a few times put the points on your Defense. The defense is the most important allocation of points that you can have. So focus on defense more than anything. Only higher level players should concentrate on spreading points. See the speed leveling section under Hints/Tips for more details on using your initial skill points.

Starting over or... not

Unfortunately, the game currently does not really support anyway for starting over. If you are unhappy with your initial choices, you have to delete the application, wait 60 days for it to time out, and then log in again to get a clean start in the Mafia world. If you do wish to delete the app and wait 60 days, in the lower left hand corner of any Facebook page you should see a button labelled Applications. Click on it to open the menu and near the top of the menu you should see Edit. Choose this and then click on the x next to Mafia Wars to remove it as one of your applications.