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There's a lot of validity to this argument, but Farmville is not unique. If you take his criteria and replace Farmville with World of Warcraft, most of it still
by jim-greer 17y ago
There's a lot of validity to this argument, but Farmville is not unique. If you take his criteria and replace Farmville with World of Warcraft, most of it still holds:
(1) WoW is defined by obligation, routine, and responsibility;
(2) WoW encroaches and depends upon real life, and is never entirely separate from it;
(3) WoW is always certain in outcome, and involves neither chance nor skill;
(4) WoW is a productive activity, in that it adds to the social capital upon which Blizzard and Activision depend for their wealth;
(5) WoW is governed not by rules, but by habits, and simple
cause-and-effect;
(6) WoW is not make-believe, in that it requires neither immersion nor suspension of disbelief.
WoW does require more skill. And it is governed by rules not 'simple cause and effect' - but so is Farmville. WoW is also more immersive.
These differences are what make it a 'better' game to most gamers. But they don't change what the OP finds sociopathic about the game, namely that they're applications that use people’s sociability to control those people, and to satisfy their owners’ needs.
It is much more controlling, it just reaches a narrower audience. It is also equally social - the social interactions are arguably deeper and more meaningful, in fact.
I say this as someone who works in the field of online games (I run Kongregate). I do think the feeling of accomplishment and social satisfaction provided by games are powerful, and not totally positive. I also hope that the positive aspects of online game communities balance this out to some degree.
Edit: WoW succeeded in a competitive field largely on quality (and massive capital outlay). Farmville succeeded through the hyper-fast and skillful application of the A/B-testing 'lean startup' techniques widely admired and practiced by most readers of this site. If you hate it, it's worth thinking about how it came to exist.
- iron_ball 17y agoHey, good work with Kongregate. It's got a great concept and great execution, though (being a Street Fighter fan) I never really played much beyond Kongai myself.
- benologist 17y agohttp://www.kongregate.com/games/GameTap/street-fighter-2-ce http://www.kongregate.com/games/GameTap/street-fighter-2-ce
- Sukotto 17y agoFarmville succeeded through the hyper-fast and skillful application of the A/B-testing 'lean startup' techniques From what I've seen of it. It looks to me that Farmville succeeded through being an online MLM scheme.
- patio11 17y agoKnow your evils: FarmVille is not an MLM. If FarmVille were an MLM, you'd have a downline (the people recruited by the people you recruited) also sending you money, recruiting would provide material awards far in advance of actually making or selling virtual pumpkins, and there would be a sub-industry of teaching you how to become a better recruiter of recruiters of virtual pumpkin farmers which would itself also be an MLM scheme.
- Sukotto 17y agoDon't forget winning a limited edition, orange "Farmville" Lexus SUV if you generate the most leads and longest chain in a quarter.
- wallflower 17y agoMore on Zynga testing (build it if people seem to want it): > So I say to the marketing person or the product manager, “Describe it in five words. It’s built. If six months from now we built every dream you have, how are you going to market it? Give me the five words.” We’ll put that up. We’ll put up a link for five minutes saying, ” Hey! Do you ever fantasize about running your own hospital?” (laughter) And, well, maybe you have! In this economy, it’s the only growth area... So first you try to get the heat around it, you see how much do people like it, then http://grattisfaction.com/2010/01/how-zynga-does-customer-development-minimum-viable-product/ http://grattisfaction.com/2010/01/how-zynga-does-customer-de...