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Editor's note: I tried FarmVille recently — purely for professional purposes, you understand — and while I opted not to pursue a longterm relationship, I can see how pickin' peppers and collecting fancy chickens can be strangely addicting. Michael points to some FarmVille features that more traditional game designers should crib from. -Demian
See all that crap? Now imagine clicking on each item, every day. Over and over. Forever.
FarmVille gets a bad rap, but rarely for the right reasons. As gamers, we harbor a justifiable helping of skepticism toward things that are different and new, especially things that appeal to so-called "non-gamers."
FarmVille tends to make a bad first impression, as its updates flood the news feeds of players and non-players alike. Even when Facebook users finally cave and create a farm of their own for the first time, the game starts slowly and provides very little in the way of tutorials.
The interface is clumsy and sluggish; the game world buggy and frustrating. Every animal, chicken coop, tiny plot of land, and haybale requires multiple clicks to accomplish the most basic interactions, and you can't even select more than one item at a time.
Considering the hoops players jump through to accomplish tasks that should be simple and painless, hardcore gamers might think FarmVille is really, really dumb. Non-gamers don't understand that games are supposed to be smart, though. They don't know that a game shouldn't hinder your ability to play it, or that they have the right to demand more from developers. Does Zynga take advantage of their audience? Like neon banner ads take advantage of elderly AOL users.
Yeah, FarmVille does a lot of things wrong. It's what it does right, though, that should have gamers excited.
Co-op farming jobs are the latest of many features
that encourage players to interact with one another.
There is no established formula for a web-based game of this magnitude. Console DLC all fits the same paradigm: "Here's your new character, level, vehicle, or whatever, thanks for the money." FarmVille, on the other hand, delivers a steady stream of new content, much of it at zero real-world cost. The in-game marketplace updates almost every single day with new animals, buildings, decorations, and seeds to plant.
Does the term "downloadable content" even apply to a game that doesn't exist outside Facebook? Developer Zynga simply updates FarmVille content whenever they see fit. Experimental new features roll out with startling frequency. If you've been tearing your hair out at the number of painted eggs, gold coins, and Valentines popping up on your news feed the last couple months, then you've seen the evidence of this. Never before has new content for an existing game been so lavishly showered upon its players. Old models of distributing new content seem archaic and inhibiting in comparison.
FarmVille also gives players plenty of incentive to interact with other farmers. Visiting neighboring farms results in extra coins and experience, as well as other perks like eggs and fuel. The latest new feature, implemented last week, takes this to the next level: Co-op jobs task players with teaming up to complete goals like growing a certain number of crops in a short amount of time.
I'm not saying that everyone should abandon "real" games and start playing FarmVille. Experienced gamers rightfully find it hard to excuse the glaring faults that casual players somehow ignore. The fact is, though, that some of its features — like the constant free updates and the high level of player-to-player interaction — are things that gamers may want to start asking for. Why are we paying $10 for a map pack when 12-year-old girls get new, free content every day in FarmVille? It's something to think about, at least.