Gamasutra – News – Gamelab 2011: MUD Creator Bartle: ‘Current Social Games Are Not Fun’. (June 30, 2011)
Mostly, I agree.
Most games on Facebook, “despite being called social, are basically solo games, with a veneer, just a simple layer on top where you ask your friends to do something for you in the game,” says Bartle. “You’re not going to make new friends, you’re not going to form alliances, or do anything like that playing FarmVille.”
Personally, I’m not really into actual social games, so this suits me just fine.
Sometimes these games do have things mixed in which are actually fun to play. “The difference is, social games rely on the extrinsic rewards so as to be compelling,” he says. “People keep playing the game because it keeps giving them things – rewards.” This has led to gamification.
Are people really that easily satisfied? All it takes is a sticker or a badge? What ever happened to feeling a sense of accomplishment for, oh, I dunno, actually accomplishing something?
“In the hands of designers, this has a great deal of potential, but unfortunately it’s not in the hands of designers, it’s in the hands of marketers.
And, folks, THAT’S what most of the so-called social games are all about.
“If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold.” Andrew Lewis
Try it. http://collusion.toolness.org/ Install the add-on and look at how many people are watching what you are doing on the web.
