So… who let the geeks out?
I’m wondering whether a spring clean of my Facebook friends list is required, when one particular response to my derisive rant catches my eye;
“I am sad, I play. I am sorry. I presume I will now be removed from your friends list. It was nice knowing you, lol!”
This was from one my (formerly) most sensible friends. So what is this? People know that it’s stupid and then still play…and even worse, admit to playing? Who are these fools (other than my mates)?
According to research, out of the 400+ million players, the biggest demographic is made up of forty-something year old women. And according to my (ex) friends, it’s made up of bored (a.k.a. lazy) workers and people who evidently have too much time on their hands.
“I work online in a company that hasn’t blocked Facebook. I have 40+ neighbours and out of that, I would say 10 are regular players (play at least once or twice a week). Of those 10, 5 work in companies that haven’t blocked Facebook, 2 are unemployed and 3 are stay at home parents.”
Ouch. I’m really surprised that the economy is in ruins…
Ok, maybe I’m being too hash. And sure, this can hardly be called extensive research, but I’m honestly shocked at the amount of people I know playing these mindless games. One of my friends can’t even hold a conversation unless she’s blasting coloured gems on Bejewelled. And once again, she admits that it’s stupid. So if these people are embarrassed by their actions, what is the attraction?
This attitude will probably seem hypocritical, coming from a poker player (especially if you don’t play poker but do play FarmVille). But poker needs hours of dedication, of sweat and frustration, of upswings and down turns, for a player to become anywhere near competent. And that’s just the beginning. There’s also the mathematical side and the human element; you’ve got to learn to speed-read your opponents. Poker requires a multi-layered approach; it can be learned quickly but takes a lifetime to master.
It seems that games such as Farm Ville are played for two reasons:
Boredom
“It is a welcome distraction for 5/10 minutes during the work day. I usually plan my farm crop cycles around work hours. For example, I usually don’t play at the weekends – so on a Friday evening before I leave work, I will “plant” crops which take 2 to 3 days to “ripen” – so when I come in to work on a Monday morning I can “harvest” my crops which are now grown. After that, I will plant something which takes less than a day to ripen so I will have something to do tomorrow in work when I am bored.”
Simplicity
“The only skill FarmVille requires is the use of your left mouse button and a sense of time (to remember when to harvest – but even this can be taken care of as if you have the FarmVille App on your iPhone or the FarmVille browser toolbar they tell you when your crops are ready to harvest).
I won’t say comment on this; I’ll let the quotes do the talking…
But the fact is: poker players (or other avid gamers) don’t play these types of social networking games because they are too repetitive and mentally numbing. Yet the figures speak for themselves; these games are huge. So I guess the big question is…
Why makes these social media games so important that businesses keep creating them?
- Boredom.
