Farmville - the scourge of Facebook
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So I get a call from someone asking me to log on to Facebook and sign up for this game called Farmville. I’m not going to say who the call was from because it isn’t relevant here, but this person wanted me to play the game so I could send them in-game gifts so they could grow their virtual farm. Well that’s fine, shouldn’t be a big deal, I’ll just treat this the same way I treated Mafia Wars, I’ll log in every now and then, sucker punch someone that robbed me, do a few jobs, and forget about the game for a week. But no, this game requires you to log in anywhere from every 2 hours on up to harvest crops and to plant new crops. Again, not that big of a deal if you plant things that take several days to grow. There was a catch however, and that was the large number of people that started playing the game.
About half of the people I am friends with on Facebook were playing the game, my status page became clogged with notifications about who advanced up a level in the game or who had just won some award for playing a lot. What it succeeded in doing was turning a social site that I used to keep up with friends into a bragging area for in-game accomplishments. My wife started to play the game and quickly became addicted to the point that she would ask me to make sure and harvest her crops if she couldn’t be at the computer.
Aside from the annoyance of having this silly game take over Facebook, it isn’t even that good of a game. You can spend money on things like barns and fences but none of that matters because the animals never move and your character never requires sleep or a toilet. The only reason to play it is to make virtual money and expand your farm and fill it with useless decorations in some sort of weird attempt to out-do your neighbors farm. I know this because the game lets you take snapshots of your farm and then post them in a status update for all to see.
Maybe that’s the draw, maybe people like accumulating virtual toys that have no purpose, in game or out of game. That might explain the success of games like The Sims or Second Life, creating a virtual world where you can buy all the things you really want, where you can set up a virtual life that might be better, or at least more organized, than your real life. Although who in the world is secretly longing for a pink barn and a covered wagon is beyond me.
20 Comments
Farmville – the scourge of Facebook ~ lessons from my world – The Facebook News
August 31st, 2009
at 7:45pm
[...] hackonia wrote an interesting post today onFarmville – the scourge of <b>Facebook</b> ~ lessons from my worldHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Farmville – the scourge of Facebook ~ lessons from my world
August 31st, 2009
at 8:20pm
[...] View post: Farmville – the scourge of Facebook ~ lessons from my world [...]
Farmville – the scourge of Facebook ~ lessons from my world « Blogging
August 31st, 2009
at 8:42pm
[...] See the original post: Farmville – the scourge of Facebook ~ lessons from my world [...]
Farmville – the scourge of Facebook ~ lessons from my world – The Facebook News
August 31st, 2009
at 8:57pm
[...] hackonia wrote an interesting post today onFarmville – the scourge of <b>Facebook</b> ~ lessons from <b>my</b> worldHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Are YOU a Social Media Geek? | Chris Pirillo
September 1st, 2009
at 12:52am
[...] Farmville is quickly becoming the scourge of Facebook. [...]
Garrett W.
September 1st, 2009
at 8:31am
Is this the same thing as Farmtown, or are there 2 competing farm-sim apps?
My dad and sisters play Farmtown … I refuse to be suckered into it. I have better things to do with my time
Farmville - the scourge of Facebook - Gifts Blog
September 1st, 2009
at 10:40am
[...] This article is featured on the custom Gifts Blog at Auto-Blogs.us. [...]
JWil
September 1st, 2009
at 11:09am
I too was sucked into the underworld of Farmville. Then my friends started playing Farmtown, and started sending me gifts from that app. Eventually I had to start ignoring the gifts! I felt like an ungrateful toad at first. Then I remembered, it’s just a GAME! I’m not sure which is worse now, the mind sucking TV or Facebook games.
Tim Brazer
September 1st, 2009
at 11:27am
Ugh! Farmville is everywhere.
I see people playing it at work. It gives me the creeps. Mostly because the computers at work doesn’t have a fast enough data connection to load the clothes on the people, so all of the characters are farming in the buck.
Daveyy.
September 1st, 2009
at 11:34am
I hate farmville. completely pointless game and I hate the ridiculous amount of notifications and invites that clog up your facebook even if your not playing the game yourself!
Richard S
September 1st, 2009
at 11:44am
Top right of each status update is a “Hide” button. Click on this on a Farmville/town update and you will have the option to hide all updates from the game. Presto, your Facebook is reclaimed!
Farmville - the scourge of Facebook - Facebook Blog
September 1st, 2009
at 12:25pm
[...] This article is featured on the custom Facebook Blog at Auto-Blogs.us. [...]
Airplane Conspiracy Leopard Gang ~ Windows Fanatics
September 1st, 2009
at 12:50pm
[...] Facebook’s Farmville more intrusive than a plague of [...]
HC Girl
September 1st, 2009
at 4:02pm
Who cares? Farmville is great, is it that hard to scroll down and see other things rather than people moving up in the game. Not that big a deal….Always someone complaining about something.
Dean
September 1st, 2009
at 11:58pm
I guess the number of people that picked up and published the blog says something about its popularity too.
I was really happy when I figured out that I can block farmville from putting updates on my home page. I was really hating it as it was all I’d see when I’d log on. I also found out that I was able to use the same feature for my wife’s aunt, who must live on facebook making comments all day long, doesn’t speak my language, but I can’t take off my friend list because she’s an inlaw.
Are YOU a Social Media Geek? | dv8-designs
September 2nd, 2009
at 2:48am
[...] Farmville is quickly becoming the scourge of Facebook. [...]
Farmville – the scourge of Facebook – The Facebook News
September 2nd, 2009
at 2:47pm
[...] hackonia wrote an interesting post today onFarmville – the scourge of <b>Facebook</b>Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
Dottie
September 10th, 2009
at 2:16pm
I’m guilty of playing Farmville and Farmtown. And I also play Fishworld. I’m crazy I know it. However, most of the time, I choose not to publish those items of reaching a new level or getting an award. I guess I feel a little guilty for putting that stuff on a newsfeed. Who really cares about it. Why should I publish it. I enjoy playing the games, but I’m mindful about that other stuff. And I don’t take photos of it either. I’m not sure I can explain why I like the games like that…other than it’s just something mindless I can do after working all day. It’s fun for me. Won’t you be my neighbor?
fred
November 11th, 2009
at 6:36pm
http://www.farmvillegamecheats.com
http://www.farmville-cheat-codes.com
farmville cash
November 19th, 2009
at 1:14am
These were the games of my generation and I still love to play them. They are comfortable and convenient and easy for me.