Oh Dear God, Here Comes FrontierVille
By Ed Oswald | Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Those who have followed me on Facebook or on my Twitter account (@edoswald) know my near-visceral hatred for FarmVille. I cannot stand the game and what has become almost an unbearable stream of meaningless “I found a lost cow” statuses coming across my news feed.
Get ready for it to happen all over again: FarmVille creator Zynga has launched a new game called FrontierVille, and instead of tending to your crops and building your farm, the player gets the chance to build a bustling frontier town. Like FarmVille, much of the gameplay relies on the social side of things, so it’s still important to help out your neighbors.
There’s one difference however: Zynga takes gameplay to a whole new level in this title. In the words of game designer Brian Reynolds, it’s “Oregon Trail meets Little House on the Prairie meets FarmVille.”
Why yet another annoying (at least to me) title from this now high-profile social game maker? It could be traffic-related. AppData metrics indicate that FarmVille seems to slowly be losing steam, likely due to the fact that after awhile, there is only so much you can do.
Thus, the deeper social interaction with your “neighbors” in FrontierVille could be an attempt to keep people interested in the game much longer. With FarmVille, it pretty much was limited to tending crops. However in FrontierVille, this has been expanded to allow users to help in many more ways, even allowing the “hiring” of friends to complete tasks, which in turn you pay them for.
Also, without interaction, your frontier abode can actually deteriorate: for example weeds may grow rampant; wolves, bears, and other varmints may besiege your property; the weather will change, causing new problem; and there’s a host of other consequences may make you more than just a casual player of the game.
Essentially, this is much more like popular RPG’s like Sim City rather than FarmVille itself. All I have to say is god help us, here comes another game to clog our news feeds — and this one sounds a whole hell of a lot more involved. I know its just days, if not hours, before I have new “Hey Ed, please be my neighbor” requests!
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Oh Dear God, Here Comes FrontierVille – Technologizer | Twitter Traffic Experts Says:
June 10th, 2010 at 10:27 am[…] Post By Google News Click Here For The Entire Article Twitter Traffic Machine Review- June 8th, 2010 | Category: Twitter Traffic Machine […]
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Faltering Farmville is a Sign of Social Gaming Woes Says:
November 23rd, 2010 at 4:21 pm[…] you’re the kind of gamer that frowns upon Farmville, enjoy this while it lasts: the game has fallen to second place among all Facebook apps in monthly […]
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And That’s What You Missed on Technologizer Says:
December 31st, 2010 at 12:37 pm[…] Ed was alarmed by the prospect of FrontierVille. […]
June 9th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Yes, those Farmville announcements are annoying, but they can be easily hidden by clicking the Hide button that becomes visible when you hover your mouse over the post. You can then choose to hide all posts from that app.
July 8th, 2010 at 1:15 am
You can also block the application . You won't get the requests OR see the posts in your feeds. Its win win for everyone — people can post without annoying the people it truly bothers and the people who are bothered do not need to see the posts.
next time you get a request from the game simply click the "block this application" button instead of ignore. if you ever change your mind and want to play you can unblock it by going to your privacy settings.
problem solved.
June 9th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Yeah, already done. Looks like I’m gonna block another app!
June 9th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
eff this, give me a new oregon trail
June 10th, 2010 at 1:20 am
I blocked farmville from my wall even when I was playing it (played it just for a little while) xD
June 10th, 2010 at 3:51 am
Yes, how annoying. Just like all those WoW players. People buy headsets, use multiple computers, buy expansion packs, make YouTube videos and comics/cartoons, tweet/blog/facebook their achievements…and then they have the nerve to send me emails about how I should buy a copy myself so I can go raiding with them!
June 10th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Why would you wait for a “stream of meaningless statuses” to annoy you so much when clicking on hide would take you less than a second? If you had a “stream” of statuses you didn’t want to see, that was YOUR choice. You could have hidden the application after the first one before it became a “stream.”
You allowed the postings on your feed, and this one will only “clog” your feed if you CHOOSE to let it happen.
For someone who writes about technical issues, you seem to be sorely lacking n common sense approaches to problem solving.
October 5th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Good one. msd.. This guy is a moron.
December 8th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
I whole heartedly agree msdymond & Jonathan! He is a moron. And if he's too ignorant to take a second and click onto "hide", he could always just delete the person all together if it irks him that much.
I believe the fool makes his own drama and is only happy when he's b*tching about something. 🙂
June 10th, 2010 at 9:39 am
msdymond: I agree. It’s really easy to block applications. I’ve blocked all of them, pretty much.
Ed, to do this, hover in the upper right corner of a post that contains an annoying app update. A Hide button should appear. Click it, and you will be presented with a pop-up containing options as to what you want to hide (usually the person or the app).
June 12th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Circle the wagons!
June 12th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Wow you folks are a bunch of winey people. So some of us people don’t have a life or find these games fun. Dang let your hair down and take the stick out of your butt.
June 12th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
FarmVille Creator Zynga Valued at $4 Billion…..keep suffering…don’t you see another one and maybe another 4 billions…and whoever don’t like it…hide it…i just keep enjoying them….thank you…the more you talk the more people follow….love them…all of the them
June 15th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
“Why yet another annoying (at least to me) title from this now high-profile social game maker? It could be traffic-related. AppData metrics indicate that FarmVille seems to slowly be losing steam, likely due to the fact that after awhile, there is only so much you can do.”
Yes, in FarmVille you can only achieve as high as Level 70. As well, there is also nothing else left to achieve once you’ve mastered all seeds/crops, except maybe to have the highest score.
June 15th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Oh and for the whiners:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/block.php?id=102452128776&action=block&source=about
No more FarmVille! Simple wasn’t it?
June 21st, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I heard this on the radio once, they said you should either:
1: Delete that friend,
or 2: Ignore the posts.
June 23rd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Well, I just want to say how narrow minded of you to use the word HATE for a game that has connected with the minds and hearts of millions! You may not like it but many do…..it might be nice for a writer as yourself to atleast try and see the other side of the story!! Its a peaceful game…its relaxing…no killing…no gore….you can play it at your convenience! And many people I know are hardworking professionals at the top of their fields but choose this little peaceful distraction to wind down after a stressful day at work! Whats wrong with that? There are many other status updates that can be way more annoying 🙂
July 29th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
AMEN!!!!!!!
June 24th, 2010 at 10:25 am
I don’t get people that act like Farmville and Frontierville are such mindless entertainment. The creative possibilities on Farmville alone are endless. You can create beautiful landscapes and use your imagination. I wonder if these same whiners would complain about someone sitting in front of a canvas to create a painting.
Seriously OP… just block the application, stop whining and go do a raid on WoW or something.
June 24th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Jeez guy, learn how to click “hide” and get over it.
June 24th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Please read, this IS important…
Before you decide to play think twice about buying in-game items with your real-life hard earned
money. Be weary that you could loose it and your game connection all in a blink of time and
without ever being compinsated or getting a reason for the loss, let alone what they are going to
do about it.
With 706+ complaints, and still counting, since day One when FrontierVille has opened it doors to
the mass of players there has never been any word from Zynga as to why, when or how they are
going to fix these serious problems this game has been causing for hundreds of gamers. The
players deserve to be both heard and given honest and considerate explinations and updates as to
what Zynga is doing about it. People have the right to know
Read for yourself and be aware of what's really going on in this new FrontierVille's community:
http://forums.zynga.com/showthread.php?t=594022
So far, their actions (or rather, lack of them) seem to be saying to the players "No
Explinations, No Refunds, No Apologies."
Is it the game companies who are being wronged here, or is it the game-players like us?
It's gamers who put the money in your pockets, but that wont last long if the game makers wont do
right by their paying customers.
Won't someone finally step up to the plate and get this problem quickly and honestly fixed?
December 5th, 2011 at 5:51 am
Hehehehe, sorry, but what you wrote actually makes the game sound interesting and fun! Don't! You're defeating the purpose of the "critique". ;P
Cycling Jackets
June 25th, 2010 at 2:59 am
Wow Ed, go change your tampon and stop crying over it. Msdymond said it all…you lack common sense for a techie. You spent all this time complaining when you could have been hiding the apps you don’t want to see instead. And if you don’t want to receive invites, well, there’s a reason why there’s an “ignore” button.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:38 am
Hehehehe, sorry, but what you wrote actually makes the game sound interesting and fun! Don’t! You’re defeating the purpose of the “critique”. ;P
July 6th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I agree–however Frontierville isnt that much fun!!!!I find it very annoying. You can only play for about
10 minutes and then you're out of energy and food. So what's the point. I like to play at a game, not work at it.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:13 am
It is fun!! i like frontierville… people who dont like, dont have to play it. ive never played farmville or whatever. and i made a facebook JUST to play frontierville…its worth it =]
June 25th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Hah, go for it!!! Oh, and have fun 😉
June 25th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I have got to say I’ve been amused by reading the comments to this post 🙂
June 25th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
What are you talking about , FrontierVille isn’t as bad as your saying it is . Yes , Farmville has gotten a little too routine but NO gam on Earth can keep your attention forever . ( Except maybe for Mario Bros . )
Chill out and lay it until you become bored and i’m sure by then that Zynga will create another game for you to Love , Hate and complain about …… again.
June 26th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Idea #1: Hide/block application.
Idea #2: delete your unbearable, annoying friends.
fixed it for you.
June 27th, 2010 at 6:38 am
Frontierville us much better than farmville.
At least there are quest to complete so it’s just a real game
June 27th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I really think some of you don’t read before you comment. Do you really honestly think somebody who writes about tech would not know how to block an application? Jeez louise…. 😉
June 28th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Lol, I searched google blogs to find out more about Frontier Records, and suddenly this post came up by a mistake (or my poor searching skills in the middle of the night…). Anyways, I read your post -and had a good laugh. Not only because I strongly agree, but also because you seem to know a bit to much about these games to not play them yourself. I think we have a closet-gamer on our hands here, lol! Well, it's the internet -you can say one thing and do the other, and no one can ever find out the truth! 😉 Keep on going Ed, and have hours of fun with your new game!
June 30th, 2010 at 4:40 am
Are you kidding? The only game I've ever played on Facebook is Nightclub City. Most of this was from press materials. Trust me, won't be playing any of these games ANYTIME soon./
July 5th, 2010 at 4:27 am
Dear Ed,
if you knew how to block an application you wouldn't be lamenting the torrent of requests from friends asking you to be their neighbor. What a sad person you must be, complaining that friends invited you to join them in their fun and games… Obviously you thought the title of your little literary masterpiece would merit some attention, and it worked! Now people like myself who were googling Frontierville know what a rain cloud you are, and nobody should ever invite you to their birthday party because you'd probably complain that pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey is stupid. Happy 1 year anniversary Farmville! Don't invite Ed to the party!
July 16th, 2010 at 8:42 am
dont get me wrong i like the game frontierville but its so friken stupid how the experience n coins n stuff all disappears like it doesnt give u a chance to collect it or u lose it and thats me more then 50% of the time i cant help that my laptop is slow
August 17th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Hey! it's great to find out about 'hover' and 'hide'. (I just think it's a shame when people are so patronising when they know about it already and you don't.)
October 24th, 2010 at 4:20 am
I think you just need something to complain. It's very easy to stop invites for the game and news about the game to appear on the news feed.
I despise farmville, but I ended up enjoying frontierville. But, of course, you have the right to your own opinion without trying it…
May 15th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I have come across a very interesting tweak that has appeared with the game's new Livestock Pen animal storage building – if you use the building's menu to sell the animals that are inside, you won't be rewarded with any Food, if you want to receive Food from the Pigs, Goats, and Sheep that you sell, you'll need to first remove the animals from the Livestock Pen.