Does anyone truly miss receiving 342 notifications a day on their Facebook from Farmville players? "Oh no! It looks like Susan Oliver's crops withered and she needs your help!" "Kelly Hart has asked to be your neighbor." "Moe Stanley's crops need water. Help her out while she is away." I know I sure do not miss my news feed being blown up with pictures of everyone's farm and how they need help on their farm. Farmville's 5th Birthday
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FarmVille celebrated its 5th birthday this summer. Back in 2010 it had more than 80 million active players during its peak. FarmVille was rated number seven top games. But currently Time magazine rated it one of the 50 worst inventions. 370 million virtual crops are harvested every day in FarmVille and FarmVille 2, indicating players' dedication and involvement. As people moved to playing games on mobile phones, FarmVille fell to 84th place in game rankings this year before rebounding lately to 73rd.FarmVille Helps?
One person claimed in the article that, "our lives are increasingly fragmented. They're overly 'technologied.' And we are separated from our community. In 'FarmVille, we can get away from that. We can have a fantasy of a sweet, quiet, serene farm, and we can play with other players who really care about each other." Isn't this a little redundant? Saying that our world is too "technologied" yet playing and getting too involved a game on the internet isn't being "technologied"? Another person claimed that FarmVille made her sons grades in school go up from C's and D's to A's and B's because of the math. Another person claims it helped her find love and fall in love all over again. Another person claims that her life has been completely altered because she plays FarmVille.
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I never actually played FarmVille because I was bombarded with notifications requesting that I play.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it isn't just a traditional game where you can play when you want and pick it up where you left off. FarmVille requires constant attention because all of your crops are somewhat realistic. They require proper soil, water, harvesting, etc.
For me, I just like games that stop where I left off. Games like FarmVille and Clash of Clans demand a great deal of attention. Plus, games like this die after a year or so. The statistics above prove that.
I was pretty much in the same situation as Jacob and I feel the same way as him on this topic. I was amazed how people could be so consumed with such a simple game. Some people who played this game that I knew could almost seem disconnected from reality. It makes me wonder how disconnected are people going to get in the future as gaming continues to get better. Graphics already look extremely real and there could be the headsets and other innovative pieces of gaming technology to come soon too. I wonder if people will only continue to let these games consume them and keep them from reality?
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