Posted by iTZKooPA on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 - 15 Comments
Tags: columns, facebook, facebook app, farmville, game design, social connections, social gaming, social networking, the experiment, zynga
For those who don’t frequent the world of Facebook, FarmVille is one of those ‘apps’ that users play to pretend they aren’t stalking people kill time between status updates. The video game was created by Zynga , a company that specializes in these types of social distractions. I call it a video game very loosely, because it plays more like a board game than even the most casual of titles.
The gameplay is basic, even for 1980’s standards. You own a plot of land, you plow it, plant seeds of your choosing, wait for them to grow and harvest. Animals and trees follow the same basic principles, with each harvest (how do you harvest a pig without making it succulent bacon?) returning some money and experience. Very basic, right? For someone who adored Lion King (SNES), the Donkey Kong Country series and Tetris, I was in disbelief that FarmVille managed to suck Ms. iTZKooPA in.
She’s become attached to the game, carrying the laptop with her all over the house, obsessing over the growth rates of specific plants, extending her land, attracting new neighbors and even browsing the RMT area of the site. She’s logged more time on FarmVille than I have in WoW since she began playing in earnest a few weeks back. She hasn’t spent any actual money on the title, but she has contemplated waking up at 5:00 AM to harvest various imaginary crops. I think it is fair to bring up the word obsessed.
I’m not here to judge her choice in games (how date she not love WoW!), but as a consummate game critic of game design I must admit that FarmVille, as primitive as it may seem to us, has elements that WoW lacks. You may recall that Lilyterrain’s owner had some serious beef with WoW, calling it “a chore.” And yet the designers of FarmVille managed to make harvesting crops/animals seem like a reward to her, rather than a tedious act. The genius is in the very platform the game calls home, social networking.
First off, I doubt she would have ever given FarmVille a second look if one of her best friends wasn’t already playing. Knowing someone playing a game, any game really, is a powerful force. I’m sure everyone reading this has meet tons of people playing WoW, but due to server design, the chance of ever playing with them is slim to none.
Zynga’s integration techniques extend the title’s reach past the basic word of mouth. It’s part of Facebook, using the platform’s status updates (optional) as a means to spread its name, and tempts current players to hook others with neighbor benefits and other carrots. Once your in, the cycle continues due to the community. The social engineering causes the denizens of FarmVille to be incredibly kind. In FarmVille, people are rewarded for helping others. Be they neighbors or complete strangers, fertilizing, prepping the land for additional crops or just handing out gifts is a common occurrence. It isn’t an act that is entirely altruistic, you do gain things. But how often do random people hand you items of value in WoW? Or dive in to your PUG without needing anything themselves? From a social standpoint, the simple little game of FarmVille may very well have WoW beat.
Of course, the fact that FarmVille is F2P is another reason that the lady in my life dove in. No monthly fee to fear, or act of commitment. She stays active to remain as part of the community. The power of social connections will never cease to amaze me.
Does anyone actively play FarmVille in the greater ProjectLore readership? Care to share why it has managed to keep you so attached? Ever been tempted to hand over a fistful of real money for it?
Related Posts: Respecting Your Elders, The Experiment: End Game, The Next Expansion: Making A Case For Guild/Server History, My One Year Anniversary, The Experiment: A Non-Gamers Introduction To Azeroth,
By skye on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
lol how “date she”
By Lil Ole Me on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Ohoh! First!
Sorry, couldn’t help myself from being a dork. Anyway, I block all these apps… but I must admit that I kinda… want… to… try… one…
By Jarlo on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I admit I play farmville. Recently my comp broke and I paniced more over my crops then I did not getting to play WoW. After about a week, when I knew my crops were dead, I remembered hallow’s end had started and finally became upset that I couldn’t play WoW. So now
my comp is back and yet the first thing I did was check
my farm… Now to get as much hallow’s end done as possible to make next year easier to get the achievment!
By littleraven on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
i started playing farmville a bit ago and it is pretty damn addictive….ive gotten probably 5 other people to play it and they are now hooked
By Fronken on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Me being a wow-nerd (borderline addict ;)) i can really relate to this story as my girlfriend (and her mom) playes Alot of Farmville, though my girlfriend quit about a week ago, before that it was pretty much farmville all the time, watching a movie with my girlfriend and her parents, atleast one of them had a laptop up harvesting watermelons (apparently they give the best ratio of cash/hour…or something), though none of them have even considered to put out real money for the game, it certainly kept them coming back over and over again, which is what simple (repetetive) games do best: WoW, FarmVille, Peggle, Space Invaders, Pacman, Tetris etc… These are all examples of the power of simplistic yet addicting gameplay.
By Redaurora on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Farm Town, Pet Society…The list can go on and on. Yes I think the main factor is that you can spend all day or just 5 mins on the game. Can you ever say that about WOW?
By Heartbourne on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Great post, Koopa.
By Warfather on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Farmville is the Shizzle, and I love it!
By dave on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 10:30 am
i used to play it but as of about 3 weeks ago my farm is withered and unused.
but my friends do still play it and one of them has called me up at 3 in the morning asking if i could harvest his crops as he was out.
By Wittgenstein on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Harverest Moon anyone?
By Hatell on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
“Or dive in to your PUG without needing anything themselves?”
I do that as a healer quite a bit. I just don’t need Heroic gear anymore.
By Pegraath on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
He didn’t mention Heroic pugs… and there are other kinds
By Kagitaar on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 12:17 am
@Wittgenstein
Exactly! This just sounds like a shallow version of Harvest Moon, buy the real thing people!
By Tharon on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 12:53 am
I play Farmville, have 25 neighbors, lvl 27, and the largest plot available atm. She is not “obsessed”, as my cousin stated, Farmville is like crack, once u start its tough to put it down.
By Tharon on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 12:58 am
suggestion, if she hasn’t figured this out…
surround her farmer with either fencing or hay bales in the middle of the plot where she is standing at load in. enables quicker plowing, planting, and harvesting, she won’t have to wait for her farmer to move to each item to perform the task. also, can offer advice if y’all would like it on increased income, or faster levelling. catch me on FB, look up Tharonous West. No I’m not afraid of every1 knowin about it.