Facebook games are frighteningly popular and able to make huge amounts of money for very little investment. Nevertheless, major developers have thus far expressed a total disinterest in it, the latest being Bethesda's Todd Howard.
"I've got to be honest, I don't get it," he admits. "I look at it and try to understand but for now I've just decided to ignore it (laughter). I think, one day, maybe I'll figure it out, but until then, I don't see the allure of those kinds of games. "The light bulb hasn't gone off for me. I just don't get it. I get these little messages: 'I've got a new horse, or fish?' I don't know.
"There might be a way to connect people. I think that's always a good goal: to connect people through your game. So I've kind of looked into that, how we might be able to do some of those things. But as far as a game on there, I don't know."
It's very easy for developers and gamers alike to write off Facebook gaming, looking down their noses with disdain, but it's just as easy to forget that there are people out there with just as strong a connection to FarmVille as you might have to Halo. It's pretty arrogant to simply assume your love for a game is more legitimate than somebody else's, and I can't say I'm innocent of that either.
In any case, the way we treat Facebook is often reminiscent of the way in which the media has always treated "real" games, and I don't think we want to become those people.
Bethesda's Todd Howard on RPG Development, 3D, Not Supporting Nintendo and More [Industry Gamers]
Contest:
9:30 AM on 07.30.2010
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As P.T. Barnum once said: "there's a sucker born every minute".
Farmville = online carnival games.
The carrot on a stick principle is such a cash cow - entice the client (or user) into something seemingly attainable, then tell them "but you can get MORE [if you pay/play more]".
Online games are geniuses at this - charge a premium for "Farm Bucks" so you can get the latest, greatest, "pesticide shack" or whatever, then two months later, charge even more for the "ULTIMATE PESTICIDE SHACK": then the "GOLDEN PESTICIDE SHACK", then state in the EULA that you don't get to keep it once the servers shut down to cover their asses. Brilliant.
He'd do well to adjust that attitude and recognize that a FaceBook based version of The capital Wasteland or Cyrodilwould not only be one of the best things to ever hit the internet but it might help Bethesda to recover from that whole WET fiasco.
*Someone threw a sheep at you. Throw one back?*
Anyone with a basic knowledge of how Facebook works, knows this was sent from a "throw a sheep at a hundred of your friends to get a free horse!" setup. That person 9with a basic knowledge) will simply ignore.
However there are a large number, in the millions, of Facebook users who don't, who think "Oh no, that real person that i know in real life will be upset if i don't throw a sheep back!" - clicks throw one back.
Then, said fuckwit will be hit with an "add sheep throwing page to your facebook to continue" screen and will add the app, alongside the million other pointless apps they have on there.
Said fuckwit will then be asked to throw a sheep at 100 friends in order to get a free donkey, and 100 people are back at the start of the loop, hopefully enough of them smart enough to hit that oh-so-glorious "IGNORE" button.
Somewhere along the cycle people want to get ahead of their friends without actually throwing fucking animals at every single person they've ever met, and will apparently part with real money to do so. - Something I will never ever understand.
It would be nice to see a comparison of people who pay real monsy for stuff on Facebook games and people who join "OMG They're going to start charging for Facebook!!! join this group to stop them!!!!" groups. Anyone who crosses both criteria should be removed from the digital generation for good.
i mean killed. Painfully.
Two rules for Facebook...
1) IGNORE is your friend, ignore everything that you don't actively want.
2) They will not charge for facebook they make a killing by putting targetted adverts in front of you all day.
FUCK yes - I believe 10 million people SPEND real money on Farmville. That's not including people who will potentially pay down the line, after saturating their farm with things they can get for free.
At that point, they're addicted.
I assume your calling halo a buggy piece of shit? You were just on another story defending mw2 correct? Kettle meet pot:)
"It's pretty arrogant to simply assume your love for a game is more legitimate than somebody else's..."
Are you talking in general or about Howard? I agree generally speaking, and have often defended casual games even though I don't really play them.
But I didn't get any arrogance at all from Howard - if that's what you were implying. All because he doesn't get it doesn't mean he's arrogant.
Excuse me princess. Who the f%#k took a shit in your cheerios??? I think oblivion and fallout 3 were both pretty well received by the gaming community. Take a Xanax and try not to stroke out over a honest mistake.
Buggie doesn't always = bad.
Maybe I'm just old-fashioned but there are some kinds of games where I'd rather do the real thing... I'd rather play sports for real instead of on a console, I feel the same way about dating, and gardening, playing with animals, pretty much if it's not gonna kill anyone I don't get why you'd make a simulation of it.
It's funny this is coming from Bethesda though, considering how they dumbed down Morrowind. Oblivion is the Retard Edition of Elder Scrolls... no matter where you go the enemies will get their kneecaps shot out so they can't kill your character. Oh yeah and no flying. Epic adventures are about heroes performing mundane actions to overcome moderate odds, right?
I played through Oblivion and Fallout 3 with the official patches only, and the games were FAR from "Buggy pieces of shit". They were both very enjoyable and your "clever" statement that a game designed to get people addicted to it is successful only because it isn't buggy, just screams that you're an idiot/troll.
"Your" should be "you're" and "to" should be too.
Calling people stupid and yet sounding like one of the most ignorant rejects anyone could come across just seems to send mixed signals, you know? You should clean that up a bit.
Do me next, though would you? Call me some names. Make me feel bad about myself BigMoose. You're such an amazing guy. Your opinion carries more weight because you're a grumpy ol' piece of shit, so I'll be waiting to hear from you.
I've been a Harvest Moon fan before and there's some fun to be had in Animal Crossing. Also, my current guilty pleasure is Minecraft, which has some elements of farming.
I don't think you can write off an entire format for gaming just because you don't like farms.
If you paid attention to most of their games the all seem to be running of the Oblivion engine or an engine that uses most of the same concepts of it.
Frankly they are on my bad side too because they don't support the wii just because its not as powerful as other systems.
Plus I don't wanna spam everyone's wall
These casual games are not of the substance that any tride and true gamer of our age group sees as anything worthwhile. This is a game for grandma in a retirement home.
Games like Fallout have more draw to the likes of us. Granted, they do make money, but your core audience is with your same interest in RPG's and shooters.
PC gaming has been hurting for a long time, in large part due to the fact that very few people understand PC requirements and specifications. Go on Amazon and read any PC game's reviews. There will be more than one person on the front page, complaining about how the game didn't work because their computer is ten years old or they bought a $300 PC with no graphics card.
Go to Wal-Mart or Target, and half of the PC gaming section is going to be cards for Farmville, Neopets, or Gaia. Half of any actual games that these stores might sell (not fake money cards for 'free' games), are going to be largely 'I Spy' type games or simple puzzles that are priced at $30.
Facebook games, and casual PC games in general pander to people who have no understanding of how technology works, or why video game are beautiful. Most people also have no concept of why paying $20 for a fake money card to buy a tree drawn in Flash is ridiculous.
The non-gaming audience is larger than the gaming audience. From a business stand point, it makes sense to sell games that are essentially superficial extensions of facebook. Unfortunately, we are going to see this kind of sales attitude migrate to real gaming, as we already have; where we are sold small piece of a product over the course of years, that amounts to something far greater than simply purchasing a standard video game.
Personally, I'm glad that most video game companies still view gaming as some kind of art form or interactive blockbuster, and have little desire to screw a good thing up. I'm sure Activision will come out with some slapped together free game that people can buy fake money for soon enough though.
i have EVERY GAME I SEE set to "IGNORE" and simply use it to keep in touch with the people I've met in my life.
Hell at the weekend i set my status as a obscure reference to me needing some weed. Bam within 48 hours, a good few phone numbers/calls and fallen through deals later, i'm sitting in my den getting high and playing Peace Walker.
Facebook has it's uses.