Zynga to Sue the Developers of Mafia Wars Autoplayer

Zynga to Sue Creators of Mafia Wars Autoplayer:

And it looks like Mafia Wars Autoplayer is backing down, even though it’s highly unlikely (in my unqualified opinion) that Zynga could win the case. I can’t blame the MWAP developers though; it’s just not worth the lawyer fees to save a free program.

As a society, business is becoing more and more service oriented, and while I enjoy Zynga games, they have a terrible reputation in the customer service department. What if the money and time Zynga has spent filing a case against Mafia Wars Autoplayer was instead spent on customer service reps? I’m sure Mafia Wars would be a better place. Not only that, I bet Zynga would see an increase in their bottom line (and ardent fans) by pursuing this option rather than bolstering their legal staff.

Look, I don’t endorse botting, but I also live in the real world. I’d rather have a fully-functioning, well-supported game and just accept the fact that sometimes people will cheat and bot. The real kicker with this whole situation is that I’m sure some coding geek(s) will pick up the torch sooner or later; it’s only a matter of time before another auto-bot script comes out. Millions of people play Mafia Wars, and over a half a million of those at some point had downloaded Mafia Wars Autoplayer off of userscripts.org, so there is clearly a demand for it.

Even in an imaginary world where Zynga manages to suppress all resistance in the United States, a botting program will just be outsourced. Some enterprising programmer in a developing country will make a fully-functioning autoplayer and sell it for 5$ a download and will make a pretty penny.

It sounds ridiculous, but we’ve seen it happen with anything people want online that is suddenly made illegal, whether it is virtual currency or online gambling.

Now tell me, am I lyin’?