tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post2714151932166540637..comments2024-03-28T07:16:05.720-07:00Comments on Experience Points: Farmpocalypse NowJorge Alborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-41714643034320098572009-09-22T16:41:54.486-07:002009-09-22T16:41:54.486-07:00@ Chris
I'm glad you liked it. And I general...@ Chris<br /><br />I'm glad you liked it. And I generally agree with you regarding social games marking an improvement over the single-player mode. It's such a different experience, particularly when you bring in competitive behavior. <br /><br />Which actually concerns me a bit when developers mention the inclusion of facebook/social networking additions to their game, to better compare yourself with your friends. It's a more persistent competition when on daily-used social sites like facebook, than, say, your generalized gamer score on XBox. That might be detrimental for the future of narrative in these sorts of titles. On the other hand, jealousy and competition makes for an interesting personal narrative.Jorge Alborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-27621946334206320902009-09-22T12:44:22.585-07:002009-09-22T12:44:22.585-07:00Jorge,
Although I'm late to the show, just wa...Jorge,<br /><br />Although I'm late to the show, just wanted to say that this is a fantastic post. I really get a sense for what SimFarm.* players (particularly your mother and her co-workers) are invested in when they play the game. I've noticed that university students too get involved in the game, in the kind of "competitive co-op" style of play that you seem to be talking about.<br /><br />Part of the value of these games is that they have an old history - SimFarm was a tremendously good game that took the Sim.* series to a level of what I think of as "playable realism"... not so overly technical that it becomes a sandbox simulation (ie. SimEarth), but with enough technical elements and strategies to invite the player to explore and come up with creative solutions to realistic problems the game presents. The social aspect of these Facebook games are of course a major part of it, and I honestly believe that this is a vast improvement over the old single-player mode.<br /><br />The only thing missing, potentially, is the kind of narrative found in the Harvest Moon series - a story that grips the player enough to encourage them to continue despite having no instrumental bonuses for doing so (ie. co-worker jealousy).<br /><br />Again -- nice too see a game writer actually concerned with people's social experiences of games. I don't see that often!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com