A 12-year-old in the UK has put a new twist on farm debt. So caught up in playing Farmville this past spring, he ran through all his savings of 288 pounds (about $430), then used his mother's credit card to buy 625 pounds ($936) worth of virtual farm objects, The Guardian reports. The mother asked Zynga, Farmville's publisher, and Facebook, where her son played the game, to refund the money but … [Read more...] about UK child’s Farmville debt
Zynga
Social gaming’s social engineering
Zynga, creator of Farmville, claims 70 million active players in all of its social-Web games a day (Farmville getting nearly half of them), reports eModeration CEO Tamara Littleton in iabUK.net, and Zynga's just-launched Treasure Isle "gained an extraordinary 5.4 million players in its first week." Littleton says Zynga CEO Mark Pincus chalks it up to meeting three basic criteria: "interaction with … [Read more...] about Social gaming’s social engineering
What’s the deal with Farmville?
If you believe what a few of its 72 million worldwide players told USATODAY, the Facebook-based, virtual-reality social game offers a mild sense of escape, fosters a sort of virtual diligence (about tending one's virtual crops and farm animals), and encourages community and charity toward one's virtual neighbors (neighbors get "points and gold for scaring away pests, fertilizing or feeding … [Read more...] about What’s the deal with Farmville?
Social gaming cleaning up its act?
Well, some social gaming companies, it appears. If you're not sure what's meant by "social gaming," you may've heard of Farmville, an extremely popular little game in Facebook. TechCrunch recently ran an exposé that called this gaming ecosystem "scamville" - great family-discussion fuel. He wrote that the games "try to get people to pay cash for in-game currency so they can level up faster and … [Read more...] about Social gaming cleaning up its act?