I Confess!

I had to cop to my h/c gamer buddy last week that I've been playing nothing but nonstop FARMVILLE! Ever since they gave me a bakery I can't get enough of that damn game. I need so much money to afford an ice cream shoppe and only 5 more days until its gone! I will never enter in my CC number but damn, if I didn't have such principles. My farm has gotten TOO adorable!

 

Hobby vs. Game

http://blog.games.com/2010/07/29/quote-of-the-moment-my-farmville-hobby/

"I believe we can understand more about why people play games like Farmville by looking hard at stamp collections, sewing circles, and model railroads than by looking at the history of computer "games." Computer "hobby" is a better mental model."

Oh, yeah? Well, gaming is my hobby. What now???

THE PINK FUR IS FLYING

Someone needs an IRL Referee Cow!

http://www.destructoid.com/don-t-fear-the-farmville-170067.phtml

Somewhere deep in the subterranean depths of the Farmville stronghold, a dark and forbidden ritual is taking place at this very moment. The game's creators, clad in jet black robes, stand in a circle in the server room, chanting gutturally in unison. The focus of their eldritch magicks is an obelisk of pure obsidian in the center of the room, pulsating with a menacing aura of madness and depravity.

kekeke

OMG it is so on. Thank you Farmville for kickstarting April Fools!

I was like "OK OMG WTF" when I first saw this pop up:

I was thinking, is Farmville really going THERE now? Would I continue to use it if it did? Of course, but luckily I was not thrown into a moral quandry as it was just an awesome April Fools Day prank. Boosh!

The Zen of Farmville - Your Electric Bonsai

My buddy Ed sent me a link to a funny Kotaku Article about Farmville...it made me laugh, especially the author's description of his farm being a 'pathetic fallacy' (Much like growing plants, it takes a few months to get pimpin...you must bend like the Tall Grass...). Also, until today I'd never read the 'rules' to Farmville, much less the Zynga-reccomended Way.

Well I was aghast. If you play the way the rules would follow to the end of a singular logic chain, I guess you would just want more money and a bigger farm. But that would be the lamest game ever! Gah! No wonder people who are used to the logical rules of a traditional video game don't like it. This is a free for all.

Check out my farm, yo. It's my little country home away from home. I have a ton of decor in storage or sold away because I'm very picky. I also have far less plowed area than I could, because jesus who has time for that? I'd rather jump in my hot rod tractor and plow some corn quickly, then get back to treasure inventory and management. You'll note my gorgeous pink-themed topiary garden, just like the topiary garden I've always dreamed of playing in in real life (probably watched The Shining too often).

You want to keep a Farm that you WANT to come back to every day - a self-sustaining fun farm, not another job. A few weeks back I sold off each but three or four of every tree and animal I had (save for single clicks like my dairy full of cows). Do feel free to run through my topiary maze, I even have a snow blanket I can put over everything to make it more Shining-Like.

Farmville Game Bar

Now this is pure frakking genius.

It's also the beginning of the end. Will Zynga be our new Google? I for one welcome our casual game overlords.

Working for the Weekend

My obsessive Facebook gaming is forced into a more relaxed pace during the workweek. How IS a girl to prioritize when every game fills your Notificications with promises of gifts and threats of expiration, petulant for your imminent return?

Well I'll tell you what I do:

#1 Restaurant City. This game is of serious importance to me, I can't quite say why, a combo of cooking and tracking down the ever missing ingredient I suppose. Every evening it's on my list of things to do - MORE money for MORE ingredients for MORE money!

#2 Farmville gifts. This is just so fun. I'm sad to say it makes me feel so loved and popular to have 15 gifts in my inbox, even if it's from someone I haven't seen since college, and it's an e-heart. I assure you I've never gotten more valentines wishes collectively in my life than I have this year, still a week before v-day, thanks to Farmville. Maybe its wrong but it feels so right.

#3 Ponzi - its just so easy and fun. I admit i have a little crush on the Ponzi girl.

That's all I'm dedicated to when I have pressing life stuff. Last weekend however, I was slacking hard and played the heck out of Happy Habitat, The Summoning, and Zoo World. The Summoning, BTW, is a html-based RPG that is sooo fun! I'm in my first dungeon (after a month of playing), kicking giant spider ass and taking names! None of the other RPG's have appealed to me yet, mostly because you have to fuss with armies and I'm interested in rogue adventuring.

In other gamer news, Clay is playing Mass Effect 2 right now and his dude has on armor with a Dragon Age logo on it, that he got as part of an Xbox download. It is so funny! Like when Mac was on on Lost.

What I'm Playing - Social Games

On Facebook - I've been mercilessly letting my OCD loose on dozens of Facebook games to report to you the cream of the crop!

Farmville - The best graphics, the fastest servers, the most neighbors. People who live on farms don't seem to enjoy this one as much, but for city folk its a nice release to grab some clusters of juicy jpegs from the vine.

The Summoning - This old school text and pic style RPG is so compelling - as soon as I make any headway, I run out of energy and have to wait until later (unless I wanted to spend money, which I don't - I already have to read a ton of annoyingly targeted ads on my sidebar). But it's worth the wait for the lovely pictures and fun gaming full of plant picking, battles, quests abroad, and magical conversations with anime style characters.

Next installment: Cafes and Pets!