My farm at Farmville

I’m liking Facebook a lot these days. I’ve been a member or whatever for a very long time, but never really got into the stream until last fall.

Not only are some of my friends and relatives I wouldn’t hear from any other way on Facebook, it’s got those games…

Oh, those games! My gateway game was School of Wizardry. Thought it looked like fun, until I discovered nothing much really happens. It reminded me of the first role-playing games available back in the early 90s. It was mostly words on the page and not much else. Somehow I’d expected more.

Then I got into Café World. I’m a foodie anyway, and when I discovered my first friend from kindergarten was playing it, well, then I was hooked, but good. There’s a certain coolness about playing with your old buddy again from 50-odd years ago.

Yep, that’s no typo. I think the median age of Facebook users has shot up somewhat. Guess it’s not just for college kids anymore! The thing about Facebook is that it’s for everybody. Not only are some truly elderly folks playing games and forming groups, the kids are still there, too. My granddaughter’s on it, as are her friends.

I don’t think they’re into the games much, though. The games – even Yoville, which is supposed to be about “the coolest virtual world” and having your first job, first apartment, etc. appear to be populated by older people.

According to a survey by Popcap Games, the average social gamer is a 43-year-old woman, which seems about right.

On Facebook,  just about every game you’ve ever played or heard about is there in some form. There are more-traditional card games, board games, word games available as well.

The games I play mostly are the virtual world games, where you can build everything from a farm to a café, to a tropical island, and even a hospital if you’re so inclined. There are almost 200 of these on Facebook; some in languages other than English. Of all of these, the most popular is Farmville, with over 79 million monthly active users. That’s just a little under the entire population of Germany, which has 81 million people, and more than the population of France, at 64 million.

It’s been said that Facebook itself, which recently topped 400 million users, is the 3rd largest country in the world, between the US and India.

Zynga Game Network, which is responsible for the powerhouse Farmville, also produces Café World, Petville, and others.

These games are not like your usual games, which have winners and losers, and an obvious point. You get into them and make of them what you will. If there is a point, for most players, it’s to build the biggest cafe/farm etc and make the most virtual money, and have the most buildings or decorations.

We can’t forget the neighbors, either. The neighbors in these games is the element that makes them “social,” as you’re not really interacting with your friends on a daily basis. Rather, you visit them, send them gifts, and they reciprocate; all of which gives you something you need, be it an extra dish to serve or a part for the stable you’re building. Visits also result in more experience points and coins.

For some this can all be little more than an exercise in tedium. For example, in Petville, there’s really not much else to do but feed and dress your pet, clean your house and your neighbors’ houses. As you collect coins, you can buy more furniture and clothes, expand your house. If you’re really into knickknacks and tchotchkes, this might be your game! My preschool-age granddaughters love this one!

Farmville, of course, has little to do with reality. For example, I’ve got date trees and olive trees on my farm with apple and plum trees, which don’t grow in the same climate at all. I’ve even got a few durian trees, which mainly grow in southeast Asia. When you grow crops, they ripen in hours or days. There are a lot of elements to Farmville, probably the reason it’s so popular.

This is all in good fun, certainly, a way to fill in those bits of time in between real work and actual reality. When I went looking for people to comment on how and why they play, of the handful of responses I got was one that was a little chilling.

“I have about 75 business friends and real friends on FB, most have now blocked me from their feeds since I was making 50 or more Vampire War posts a day… I have met a lot of really nice people from all over the world and want to maintain those contacts. I have also run across a fairly dark element, people who take the game personal and are stalking and harassing others, threatening children and just plain sicko stuff, ” says Guy of northern California, who is a firearms trainer in the real world.

I haven’t had any negative happen to me, unless you count the mail from a friend who was a little disturbed at seeing a Mafia Wars invitation to go rub somebody out on my FB wall. (He wasn’t aware of the game, I think.)

Like everything else online, there are people who are adamantly against these games, and wouldn’t even think of playing them. The I don’t care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia!!! Group now has over 5 million fans.

Then there is Toby Turner, who can bash Farmville and get a chuckle out of it. I loved his video (it’s below) and I’m on my farm every day!

Thing is, while there a good number of people who play a lot of these games and “level up” to the highest levels there are, I’ve noticed lately that some of farms and cafes I’ve visited for the past few months seem to be unattended. Their crops are withered and their dishes spoiled. It’s not much of stretch to think they probably lost interest. I know I’m on the verge, not to mention I’ve got a business trip coming up that will take me away from farm and café for a week or more.

That’s the one thing I’ve never been able to find out in hours of reading rules, and visiting the forums: there doesn’t seem to be any way to turn them off!

Whether you love these games, or hate ‘em, the one unbreakable rule of the internet has always been: they won’t be with us forever.  Next month or next year there will be something else that captures the attention of people online, and these games (at least as they are now) will be but a memory. Meanwhile, I’ve had some fun and so have lots of others.

How about you?

If you want to see more on the survey by Popcap games, it’s here.
The full survey (PDF) is here.

You can find me on Facebook here.

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