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I've been saying this for years, there's gameplay to be had in the "AFK gameplay" aspect. EVE Online3 uses it to a degree, although the output is incredibly slow (a month to get the next tier in this skill?!??!?)
Even regular gamers like certain features where you can log in for 5-10 minutes, do this or that to accomplish some goals, and log out again while letting a skill or gain churn in the background. While you are off seeing a movie, you are gaining *something*. An auction house is a great example. Ultima Online had "unattended macroing", which was actually rather popular.
Zynga banks on this type of gameplay, logging in for 5-10 minutes and acomplishing things. I think it's still a great supplimental type of gameplay to have, but not THE main and only gameplay in a game.
Even regular gamers like certain features where you can log in for 5-10 minutes, do this or that to accomplish some goals, and log out again while letting a skill or gain churn in the background. While you are off seeing a movie, you are gaining *something*. An auction house is a great example. Ultima Online had "unattended macroing", which was actually rather popular.
Zynga banks on this type of gameplay, logging in for 5-10 minutes and acomplishing things. I think it's still a great supplimental type of gameplay to have, but not THE main and only gameplay in a game.
In B4 companies start appending no-sue anti-classaction terms on their stock offerings.
On the bright side it looks like I can cross Zynga off my list of dev/pubs I wished would die in a fire :)
On the bright side it looks like I can cross Zynga off my list of dev/pubs I wished would die in a fire :)
@Soulcage
To be honest one of the reasons I left EvE was the AFK leveling.
You queue up your skills and they level. Nothing you do in or out of game has any effect on them. There was something cool about being able to level something when you weren't even logged into the game. However there was also something soul crushing knowing that what you were actively doing in the game had no effect on what you were currently lvling.
Have scanning(insert number) queued up but you are mining, well sry you are only getting points in scanning. Have mining queued up and you are actually mining ..... too bad no boost for actually doing whats in your queue in game.
It all eventually boiled down to "why am I even here?"
Admittedly they may have changed that since I last logged in.
To be honest one of the reasons I left EvE was the AFK leveling.
You queue up your skills and they level. Nothing you do in or out of game has any effect on them. There was something cool about being able to level something when you weren't even logged into the game. However there was also something soul crushing knowing that what you were actively doing in the game had no effect on what you were currently lvling.
Have scanning(insert number) queued up but you are mining, well sry you are only getting points in scanning. Have mining queued up and you are actually mining ..... too bad no boost for actually doing whats in your queue in game.
It all eventually boiled down to "why am I even here?"
Admittedly they may have changed that since I last logged in.
@scuffles
I do like that idea. I feel like skill gain should work better if you are online actively doing it. The whole EVE Online aspect being tied to the clock only didn't really work for me either. When I heard that SWTOR would allow companions to craft things while you were offline, I saw a huge potential opening up. However, it ended up not being at all what I imagined, with companions working on things the whole time you were gone, albiet slower than if you were there helping.
Back to the whole Zynga thing, I think it's fair to say that without more substantial gameplay there, people's interest can wane quickly. AFK gameplay should be just a flavoring, not the main course.
I do like that idea. I feel like skill gain should work better if you are online actively doing it. The whole EVE Online aspect being tied to the clock only didn't really work for me either. When I heard that SWTOR would allow companions to craft things while you were offline, I saw a huge potential opening up. However, it ended up not being at all what I imagined, with companions working on things the whole time you were gone, albiet slower than if you were there helping.
Back to the whole Zynga thing, I think it's fair to say that without more substantial gameplay there, people's interest can wane quickly. AFK gameplay should be just a flavoring, not the main course.
Saw all of this coming. You can't keep acquiring things by over-paying by tens-of-million of dollars and not have this happen. And the fact that the ones in charge dropped all that stock tells me that they were acquiring things like that KNOWING it would dip. What kind of business practice is THAT!?
These doom 'n' gloom news – concerning Zynga – from the past week, have really managed to bestow me some warm and fuzzy joy.
One can only wish the employees good luck though, if shit truly hits the fan, since the surrounding F.U.D. impacts their lives and families. Not knowing if you'll be able to pay your bills and mortgage in the foreseeable future, or be out of a job; that sucks some major balls. Meine schadenfreude only extends zat far!
One can only wish the employees good luck though, if shit truly hits the fan, since the surrounding F.U.D. impacts their lives and families. Not knowing if you'll be able to pay your bills and mortgage in the foreseeable future, or be out of a job; that sucks some major balls. Meine schadenfreude only extends zat far!
So Final Fantasy XVII won't be a Facebook game? That's a relief! I wonder what all those people who bolted from "dying" core developers to pursue "the future" are thinking right now. Oh, and you left out the part about Zynga's bet to turn its fortunes around: gambling. Yep, real world gambling. Things must be even worse than they look.
BTW, what took you so long, Destructoid? This was all over the news 6 days ago, an eternity in internet time.
BTW, what took you so long, Destructoid? This was all over the news 6 days ago, an eternity in internet time.
They had a horrible business plan, they were so dependent on a platform like Facebook to deliver for them and it didn't. I'm wondering if this kind of a sign of the digital market place?
It seems like people are always talking up the free to play model but how many CONSUMERS are really excited for it and how much money is there to go around for it. A few established games like League of Legends seem to be able to pull it off, but I suspect alot of those games are just like WoW with the subscription model, its an outlier not the new norm.
It seems like people are always talking up the free to play model but how many CONSUMERS are really excited for it and how much money is there to go around for it. A few established games like League of Legends seem to be able to pull it off, but I suspect alot of those games are just like WoW with the subscription model, its an outlier not the new norm.
Lulz, Zynga created their very own speculative bubble, and now it is bursting. So goes another shitty set of fads in gaming
...how is this a surprise?
I believe I actually said this was going to happen... In a comment about Micheal Pachter saying "social gaming will rise, Nintendo will fail"(Or something like that)
Of course, this was a while ago, so my memory may fail me...^_^;
I believe I actually said this was going to happen... In a comment about Micheal Pachter saying "social gaming will rise, Nintendo will fail"(Or something like that)
Of course, this was a while ago, so my memory may fail me...^_^;
First Soulcage said some great stuff that i agree with.
Secondly: BOOSH you evil bastards. I feel horrible for all the people under you though. People who's talent and hard work you leeched off. May they find better jobs.
Secondly: BOOSH you evil bastards. I feel horrible for all the people under you though. People who's talent and hard work you leeched off. May they find better jobs.
What orz said. The point is, the casual market is important, but it can't be your one and only source of cash. Appealing to the fad crowd only works while your thing is still a fad.
First Soulcage said some great stuff that i agree with.
Secondly: BOOSH you evil bastards. I feel horrible for all the people under you though. People who's talent and hard work you leeched off. May they find better jobs.
Secondly: BOOSH you evil bastards. I feel horrible for all the people under you though. People who's talent and hard work you leeched off. May they find better jobs.
@orz: Exactly !
Look at PopCap, they made some really original and addictive casual games(in contrast to Zynga), which can be enjoyed by anyone(Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle etc.), that are miles better than your average, shallow Angry Birds/Farmville bullshit.
*Freude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium*
Look at PopCap, they made some really original and addictive casual games(in contrast to Zynga), which can be enjoyed by anyone(Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle etc.), that are miles better than your average, shallow Angry Birds/Farmville bullshit.
*Freude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium*
Put nothing past Zynga. Pincus proudly said he "scammed" people and put malware shit on their computers.
I just cannot fathom how the market didn't see this coming. Zygna has even less creativity that hollywood; "borrowed" ideas wrapped in a pitiful, insulting nickle and dime scheme to play. Incapable of creating something even remotely original, or more importantly, fun.
It's like the people at the top aren't gamers in the slightest nor understand the simple fundamentals of what actually makes a game 'good'...oh wait, yeah.
It's like the people at the top aren't gamers in the slightest nor understand the simple fundamentals of what actually makes a game 'good'...oh wait, yeah.
I've been waiting for you to cover this Jim (I should have tipped it, but I really did figure you'd get to it sooner).. I've been keeping an eye on the developements and they've really been funny.
Only thing it makes me think is that even F2P business can/is just as fucked as the regular industry and its all business issues and the people at the core of it. Same as it ever was.
Only thing it makes me think is that even F2P business can/is just as fucked as the regular industry and its all business issues and the people at the core of it. Same as it ever was.
I lost thousands on ZYNGA days ago in the stock market. But no class action lawsuit will ever pan out. If it did, I would have gotten my money back when GMCR (Green Mountain Coffee) stock went belly up.
I feel bad for any employees caught in the shitstorm that is going on at Zynga, but sometimes you just need to see the writing on the wall and abandon ship. Pincus though deserves all the hate he's getting.
Zynga's demise just means the Chinese, Japanese and Korean companies that founded this style of game development can now more easily expand into the US.
Zynga just failed to execute properly and put all of its eggs into the Facebook basket. As soon as Facebook cut off their ability spam users with invite, it cut Zynga's growth. Combined with Facebook's stalling user growth, it was doom for Zynga whose entire valuation was based on continued massive growth.
Zynga just failed to execute properly and put all of its eggs into the Facebook basket. As soon as Facebook cut off their ability spam users with invite, it cut Zynga's growth. Combined with Facebook's stalling user growth, it was doom for Zynga whose entire valuation was based on continued massive growth.
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