Losing my Faith in the Internet

I have lost some faith that I had in people. Previously my blog didn’t get much attention. I averaged around 10-20 people looking at it per day. Recently I wrote a post about how much I don’t like the game Farmville on Facebook.

Those two words started generating a ton of people looking at my blog. In fact, my highest number of viewings has reached 423 in one day. That many people looking for information on Farmville? Disappointing. Now, I know that it isn’t all that many people considering how many are using the internet. But still … Farmville. I still say it is a bad game and a waste of time.

So, now that my views are back to normal…. lets see what happens when I write some more about Farmville…

Farmville on Facebook: and why it is a bad, awful and not fun game

I like games.

There are many different definitions for games. Some apply to physical activities, some apply to spoken banter, some involve episodes of chance, but they all generally refer to an activity that is fun and diverts the mind from normal daily activities.

The Oxford English Dictionary (the definitive record of the English language) won’t define the word for me because I don’t have an annual subscription. Dictionary.com defines game (applicable definitions only) as: an amusement or pastime; a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators; anything resembling a game, as in requiring skill, endurance, or adherence to rules: the game of diplomacy; and many more referring to other uses of the word.

Farmville loosely fits the definition when pertaining to the word amusement. There is no skill involved, no chance, no endurance, no competitiveness, it doesn’t require that two or more people play, the rules involve playing often or nothing happens, amusement for spectators is like that of a lolcatz picture, “haha, that’s interesting… next, or alternatively: who would think that’s funny? “, the only way for it to become a pastime is when you have finally quit and look back fondly with disgust for how could ever have spent so much time on such a worthless activity. This has happened to me before with other games.

For anyone who has never played before, here is a brief synopsis of the game. You are a farmer. You grow food (it takes real time for the food to grow, anywhere from 2 hours to about 4 days), you grow trees that you harvest (anywhere from 1-3 days), you have animals that you harvest (1-3 days), you can buy decorations for you farm that you get to place wherever you want (things like fences, barns, windmills, etc.) and you get money and experience for doing things. Don’t forget the most important part: if you want to get extra in-game (fake) money, you can spend real money to buy fake money.

I hope that not too many people get tricked into buying this fake money but I know they must. The game is free to play and is supported by people purchasing this fake money.

Does this game sound like fun? Maybe to you …. I probably don’t know who you are. A game that I would liken it to (Even though I have never played it) is The Sims. It is all about designing your house and deciding what vase you want to put on the table, where you want to put the table, and more boring stuff like that.

My last words on the subject … Don’t do it. Any fans of it out there who have some defense for it?

PS. The author of this post has been Farmville free for 3 weeks running.