As many of you have noticed (and commented about), with the release of Mafia Wars Moscow episodes 3 & 4, we got hit with a couple of nerfs.
Bank Heist job only gives 15 XP / 8 energy now with an 11% mastermind/wheelman and private island (Old: 17 XP / 8 energy).
The "Run Illegal Poker Game" job now gives 38 XP/17 energy with an 11% mastermind/wheelman and private island (Old: 41/17).
Now, these two nerfs I understand - these jobs paid out very well very early in the game and were definitely a bit out of place. In fact, I am okay with this, and it was about time really. However, the following nerf just blows my mind:
Shipping Company: Now produces Political Favor boost which offers +60 Robbing Defense skill. (Old: Fake Documents which offered -9 job energy cost).
Seriously? Robbing is not even in the game anymore and you are adding new robbing boosts?
Even if it was still in the game, or is going to be re-implemented soon, this boost is a reward from a racket in the jobs category, despite the fact that there already a set of rackets specifically dedicated to defense. You would think that +defense boosts would come from the defense category, but not this time! Defending your non-existent property (since people that have rackets don't have property) is an integral part towards completing more jobs apparently. I can only imagine how the development meeting went down to come up with this change:
Dev 1: So, rackets, what's the feedback on rackets looking like?
Dev 2: According to the official forums, about 99 in 100 people hate them.
Dev 3: Yeah, they're really unpopular - the only good racket is the Shipping Company one.
Dev 2: We better nerf it to bring it in-line with the other terrible rackets to really piss everyone off.
Dev 3: Agreed. We should make the boost something terrible just to annoy people who were mad that we took away robbing.
Dev 2: A brilliant idea Johnson! How about another worthless +robbing defense boost? That way we can snub our fanbase by not only taking away the only good racket, but also serving them with a painful reminder that they no longer have access to robbing.
Dev 3: We can sneak the change into the Moscow patch and hope no one will notice.
Dev 1: Sounds like a plan - /highfive's all around! Nerf gun fight, anyone?













