The Popularity Of Farmville On Facebook
Farmville has really taken the facebook gaming industry by storm. If you take a look at AppData, which is an online script that monitors the popularity of Facebook games, Farmville has over 80,000,000 players each month. That is a massive number. This is even more amazing when you find out just how basic the game is. This is totally different to games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, by the way. Farmville can be played by anyone with a facebook account, on any computer, and there are no fancy graphics or special effects. This is a simple and easy to learn game where the goal is to create and manage a farm. For some reason, Farmville has become wildly popular since mid-2009. The game has built in viral elements. You are able to get your friends over to play the game against you, so that you can compare scores and achievements. It’s also possible to send items and gifts to other players. I suppose a lot of people just like showing off the farms they made to their friends for a bit of friendly competition. As it turns out, there are a lot of players that are addicted and place a high level of importance on their in-game status, so they will gladly pay real money for virtual money. There is definitely also a big demand for a decent Farmville guide right now.
It is worth taking a look at how developers of games like Farmville actually make money. Well, Zynga (the company behind farmville) has had some negative press and lawsuits lately because of the way they incentivize users to fill out bogus surveys and offers in exchange for in-game items. The Chief Executive Officer of Zynga (Marcus Pincus) once admitted that they would do whatever it took to make money from users, regardless of the ethical consequences. Some other development companies monetize their games by putting in advertisements, or having a ‘buy page’ where you send real money for virtual money. Recently, a number of networks have began that promise to assist developers in making money from their games (offerpal is still the main one).
Now, you probably are curious about what games apart from Farmville are currently popular. One of these games is Yoville, which is already doing pretty well and may get even more players in the coming months. In this game, you play real life in a virtual world, kind of like the Sims. You do all the mundane stuff like furnish your house, go to get a haircut, customize your character, and go shopping. Doesn’t sound too exciting does it. But many people become very addicted to simple games like this. To be one of the best players in the world at Yoville and beat all your friends, you really need to pick up a good Yoville guide.
One other intriguing game is Gangster City. In comparison to Yoville or Farmville, Gangster City is quite a bit more full on. Players are able to take the role of a criminal gangster, and their objective is to sieze control of a large city. This is one of the very few games on Facebook where you might be able to see some animated violence, although compared to most professionally made games, Gangster City is very mild. As of now you will have a lot of trouble finding a good Gangster City guide, because the game is still very new. Otherwise you can always just play the game yourself and learn how to get good through trial and error.
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