Zynga wields the ban hammer; 6,400 Mafia Wars bot accounts booted

Cheating is a plague that has infected nearly every form of sport or interactive entertainment, and social games are far from immune to its effects. Zynga, doing good by its metrics addiction, has used this information to ban 6,400 accounts and unleash over 1 thousand penalties in Mafia Wars. The crime that spawned the ban spree is botting, or using an automated program to play a game while the player is away.

Just like FarmVille and FrontierVille, there are third-party Facebook apps that promise to "enhance" your experience in Mafia Wars, such as the Rank Hack. Just search for "Mafia Wars mods" on Google and you'll have every cheat you could ever ask for to make the game that much easier. But don't expect to sustain the dishonesty for long--Zynga's eye is aimed directly on cheaters who use these helpful little pieces of software. If you'd like some heavy reading (or loophole finding), check the Zynga Terms of Service Agreement. But don't try anything funny--you have been warned.

[Source and Image Credit: Mafia Wars Blog]

Are you happy to see that Zynga is cracking down on cheaters? Do you think Zynga should do the same in its other games, if it doesn't already? Sound off in the comments. Add Comments.