Yeah, I know. I said I wasn’t getting into any Facebook games. But I tried Backyard Monsters, based on a recommendation from Hamlet Au, and it wasn’t so bad.
I could share things, or get some extra “shiny” by getting more people to play, but they were relatively unobtrusive things. Yes, I had to pay some attention to how much time I spent with it, but the resource model (a la Warcraft) effectively limited what I could do without spending money.1 I’d been playing for a few months. I really have it under control – only a few minutes most days. Maybe an hour a week, tops.
So I finally gave in, and got around to trying FrontierVille.
This game is right up there with World of Warcraft, and deserves its own mention in this comic.
It’s brilliant – in a totally evil kind of way. You’re gold farming for fun. And the game is set up to maximize your desire to do so. Frequently running out of energy so you have to spend “food”- but quickly regaining it, so you’ll come back multiple times a day. Quests and missions redouble – and require that you have friends that play the game. (Unless, of course, you want to spend money…) You have to publish results to your Wall, letting people know that you play the game so that you can complete basic quests.
Oh, sure it’s free to try… but you have to get some of your friends to try too.
I’ve known drug dealers who didn’t push so hard.
FrontierVille is a brilliant way to destroy your soul. (Or at least, your time.) Unlike Backyard Monsters, there does not seem to be any “plateau” where your time investment levels off – instead, it’s constantly getting more and more demands placed on it.
So, I bid adieu to the Frontier… and hello
…er, not to oblivion. To my time back.
1That was one of my criteria – that they be free to play.