I admit it. I play Mafia Wars. A friend invited me. “Join my family,” said the notification that popped up on my Facebook page. That was about four months ago. My friend has long since moved on. Me? I’m a daily player.
Mafia Wars, for anyone who has been living under a rock for the last few months, is a popular social networking game. The object is to grow your crime family, thus making it stronger. In order to grow your family you first have to add complete strangers to your Facebook friends list. Come on. Does anyone have 5,000 real friends? Probably not. But that’s how many Facebook “friends” one can have. With those numbers, plus the fact that there are an estimated 25-million Mafia Wars players world-wide, there’s potential for some pretty large “families.”
For the first few weeks I played relatively low-key. Game basics: Players do jobs to earn money, investing their cash in properties, weapons, armor, and vehicles. As they do jobs, they advance to new and more powerful levels. Players can also earn points by fighting members of other families. In their spare time they send gifts (loot from jobs and collectibles) to their family members.
I was understandably hesitant to add strangers to my friend’s list, but my family wasn’t growing. Consequently, I was always getting my butt kicked in fights. Finally I joined a Neighborhood Protection Crew, a Facebook fan page created by other Mafia Wars players. They promised to “have my back.” But first, I’d have to become Facebook friends with them. You can probably guess what happened next. Now, I have 1,061 Facebook friends and a Mafia Wars family of 925. Crazy? Hardly. Some players are maxed out at Facebook’s 5,000 friend limit. Now? I’m a level 234 player. Expert? Rookie. Some players are level 5,000+.
I’m not going to explain the game further because I’m not writing a “How To” on Mafia Wars. From a sociological view though, Mafia Wars is interesting when you think about it. (Readers may already be questioning my sanity.)
Facebook has an application that will give members friends statistics. How many male vs. female, single vs. attached, country of origin, political party, etc. Before I started playing Mafia Wars I had 136 friends. Not one was a complete stranger. Most were female. Most friends were members of the Democratic party or a Euro equivalent of such. Now, I can say without hesitation that my friends statistics have changed dramatically.
I would estimate my current friends list is 70-percent male, ranging in age from approximately 13-65. Many of my new female friends do not work outside the home. I haven’t been able to determine their age range (a woman never gives her age, so it’s been said). As for politics? The Republicans are in the house now. (Ouch!) Can I assume that more males play than females? Absolutely. More Republicans than Democrats? Definitely. Does any of this mean anything? Hmm. Food for thought.
Do I ever connect with any of these people other than through game play? Some. There’s Raymundo, a 27-year old guitar player in Mexico. There’s Liletta in Alabama, who was kind enough to offer prayers when I lost my job. Greg, the Parliament fanatic. (“Sho ya mothafunkin rite, yall!”) Mike, who likes cats (I do too). Hugo, the young dad who takes breaks to diaper his little one. A few others. Now, I can’t consider any of these people friends because I don’t know them, but it’s neat to be allowed little glimpses into their lives. I like people. I like to study people.
My “family” comes from all over the world. Sometimes there are language barriers, but we communicate as best we can. We have political contrast; Facebook is loaded with polls. We take them. We may note opposing views, but do we talk politics? No. Do we mock each other’s religious beliefs? No. Why? Because we’re too busy having fun. A game. That’s all it is. But people put their differences aside to play. Has to be something said for that.
The world could use a little more play time. It’s hard to be angry or resentful when you’re having fun.
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