Can I Really be a Social Gamer?

Written by Ryan Johnson (RyanDJ) Monday, 03 October 2011 05:00

Even though I'm a dad of two now, and have substantially less time to game than I did back in my college days, I would still probably put myself in the "hardcore" crowd. I don't have an insane "kill streak" in any online FPS, nor can I proudly tout that I'm at the top of any leaderboards, but I would say that gaming still flows strong in my blood. I'm not so detached that all I play are random Wii games at parties. No entertainment media pleases me more than a couple hours in front of the Xbox with a good story driven game.

I do use Facebook as well. When it first came out, I remember mocking my wife, "Wooow...why don't I just call my friends, or talk to them in person?" Yet what do I find now? Facebook is an amazingly integral part of communication for me. Not just finding old friends, but planning events, spreading word about concerns facing my family, the works. One thing I tend to avoid, though, is the games. I have enough epic games on my consoles to fill my entertainment holes.

Time after time, I was annoyed by online game Wall Posts. I didn't care that Bob needed help feeding his chickens or whatever on Farmville. I learned how to hide them, and my life went on. Then my wife showed me MyFarm. It was like the hipster FarmVille. I liked that it was mostly just you, not social, and I played it. It was a whole lot of clicking, though, and eventually my attempt at industrializing the community for a laugh died out. My wife's farm eventually withered as well.

Well, now my wife has been introduced to CityVille. I have watched her play it from time to time, but I go on. Recently, though, she told me more about the social aspect of the game: how you need friends to be neighbors, or city council members, or what not. She doesn't have enough friends playing it. Therefore, she bats her big, beautiful eyes at me and asks me to start a city.

I unblock all the notifications for social gaming, and start paying attention to who is playing. As I browse my friends' walls, I see many people enjoying this game thoroughly. I also see a few complaining. Saying certain Zynga games have too many requirements now; some even starting chain posts to get Zynga's attention and get them to go back to an "easier time" when there was less "work" and more "fun." If you haven't dabbled in these games, most of them go like this: there is a fun, unique game within, but in order to progress, you must have friends "help" you via offers or posts upon their walls. Of course, to go fast, you must send links to multiple friends, and eventually you convince yourself to make sure you are sending requests to friends who have yet to play. This gets them to play as well, causing more links to more people playing the game.

I eventually started my game up. After seeing my wife's thriving metropolis, the little suburb I can create seems rather pitiful. Suddenly, I'm creating houses and businesses. Kind of fun. Then, wait...my people are sad? They want community centers? I built them! Oh, wait...they need to be staffed by other friends. But then there's this cash sign...Oh, I can put virtual friends in for actual world money?....and THERE is another way they bring in cash. Here's something I MUST do in order for my city to be a bustling community, and the options are to get more friends to play or give the company actual money for the "free to play" game. There's even an option to spend $100 via a one-click on in-game cash. So far, playing free, I've made 2 of those actual "dollars"...and am not sure how. But if you want the really cool stuff, it's purchased with dollars, not coins. I start seeing how they make money. At first, I was annoyed how certain events kicked you out of full-screen mode...but now I see it as intentional. Gives you another shot at seeing those advertisements...or those notifications saying more of your friends are sending you more stuff. It's all one big snowball.

So far, I feel a bit guilty playing this. It's full of carrots on sticks, pushing you with goals, like an Xbox game that feeds you an Achievement every five minutes, and expects you to post it on your wall for the world to see. Encouragement from friends who play make it a bit easier: I have friends who are willing to "staff" my businesses (though so far all I see in staffing is clicking "okay", and I've given a lot of gifts I didn't know I even had thanks to the simplicity of a click), but I have yet to stretch out to try to recruit more people to the cause. I consider myself very social, and I like to share my hobby. It almost feels like trying to recruit someone to a religion, though. There's a difference between "hey, I like Final Fantasy, come watch it with me and see if you like it" and "I can't go any further until you join me, so join me, and if you don't join and don't press ignore, you'll keep getting requests."

So can I be a social gamer? I guess the answer is....I don't know. It is fun, but a completely different experience in gaming to me. I love direct interaction. I understand graphics don't have to be amazing to be fun, and I have enjoyed Sim City back in the day, so I have played "similar" titles, but this is different with the social aspect. If this was my first and only introduction to gaming, I would stop immediately. I think I'm enough of a die-hard to try to see if anything is fun (yes, I actually tried Superman 64 multiple times), so I'm not giving up. It's fun...but the console gamer in me wants more. It's odd, I'm getting fed achievements on a minute by minute basis, but I'm not feeling...achievement. While typing this, I learned how to go to friend's cities and help them out...that was a bit neat. Plus, I've got my wife needing energy and citizen volunteers and whatnot, so I suppose I'm in it for a while. Give me your opinions! Help me out here. Are you a hardcore gamer who farms in their free time? A complete diehard ZyngaFile? How much real-world cash have you spent to buy a virtual pig? Sound off in the comments! Which way will I sway? Perhaps another article in a couple of months will answer that question...