Zynga Says Your Mom is the New Hardcore Gamer

[The Stonker]

I call Skinner's Box on Farmville.

 

[Yossarian1507]

You know what, Zynga? Playing a Skinner's box game doesn't make you a 'hardcore' gamer. True, I wasted many minutes on the CSI game on Facebook (this one was made by Ubisoft though), just as many of my friends wasted time on Farmville, Fishville, Mafia Wars or whatever... But we don't waste time on them because we want to waste it, like we want with Mass Effect, Call of Duty, Starcraft or whatever. We do, because 'holy crap, my strawberries will rot!' or for other reason like that. And it's just one of those few tricks developers use these days to force player to stay (that's right - force) with them. Farmville, and similar games are pure '100% addiction 0% fun' games.

Addiction =/= Dedication.

And dedication is what makes people a 'hardcore' gamers.

 

[BabyRaptor]

As someone who used to play your 'games' to death...Go Fuck yourself, Zynga. You don't make games. You make time killers that try to get people to spend money. People who sit around on FB and click their mouse will NEVER meet any definition of "hardcore gamer" that anyone besides you accepts.

 

[Lenriak]

wow, 68 minutes?! YEAAAAAH, THAATS HAAAARDCOOORE MAAAAN!!!

... I only spent 3 days straight back when I was 12 completing Syndicate because I couldn't save the game because the disc was damaged.

 

[vid87]

I'd like to rail against Zynga for their admitted manipulative practices in arguing what constitutes "real" gaming; I'd like to defend my fellow gamers and our long-nurtured position in society that I can't help but feel is being eroded by the casual boom;

But, truthfully, arguing over which group of people spends more time on a recreational hobby just kills the discussion for me.

 

[AugustFall]

No! Your Mom is a slut Zynga!

...wait.

Hardcore gamer? Maybe not, enjoying video games? Sweet.

 

[silver wolf009]

I can't wait until all these smug facebook/smartphone game companies go belly up once their fads die.

While a bit ill spirited, I agree. Farmville cannot possilby outlast mainstream gaming.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

You know what, Zynga? Playing a Skinner's box game doesn't make you a 'hardcore' gamer. True, I wasted many minutes on the CSI game on Facebook (this one was made by Ubisoft though), just as many of my friends wasted time on Farmville, Fishville, Mafia Wars or whatever... But we don't waste time on them because we want to waste it, like we want with Mass Effect, Call of Duty, Starcraft or whatever. We do, because 'holy crap, my strawberries will rot!' or for other reason like that. And it's just one of those few tricks developers use these days to force player to stay (that's right - force) with them. Farmville, and similar games are pure '100% addiction 0% fun' games.

Addiction =/= Dedication.

And dedication is what makes people a 'hardcore' gamers.

agreed
i wasted time playing mafia wars for a few months until i lost interest in it and extra credits episode on the skinners box was the final nail in the coffin

 

[LornMind]

68 minutes a day? I hardly ever game for less than two hours at a time when I fire up my console or PC, and if it's night time and work is done, a fantastic sprint from 11 pm to 3am awaits me.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

This just goes to show you two things:

1) Facebook is Evil
2) Terms like "Hardcore", "Gamer" and "Games" have no basis in reality anymore.

 

[Bigsmith]

yyuy yb7 <- me hitting my keyboard with my head.

Oh Zynga. 68mins a day? please. I clock that much gaming time before midday.. on the days I'm in college.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

The difference between hardcore 'gamers' and their mothers on Farmville is simple.
Gamers enjoy the hobby because it's fun, Farmville mums often feel compelled to play- because it conditions them to.
Seriously, if there was ever an excuse for games being addicting, it's those. Zynga games are not hardcore or even long term games. They're just there to indoctrinate players, force them to spam their friends, and then Zynga makes a fortune off microtransactions...

Imagine taking those mock-game adverts to the next level.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

They all an hour a day hardcore? I know the meaning of Hardcore is very misused and ill used in a gamer context but taking it as someone is interested in gaming to the degree of being considered hardcore an hour is laughable. When I was younger or when I had the time I could play 2-3 hours a day on school days and on weekends when no one was going about 16+hours well with food breaks among just a break but still. To be honest with some games an hours worth of time isn't even worth booting up the computer or console to even play. Call me when they catch up.

 

[Sean Strife]

Horse shit. I jut got off of a 12 hour Minecraft building spree, before that was a 12 hours on Left 4 dead 2, and before that was a 12 hour Guild Wars, Warhammer, &Global Agenda spree.

And i am no where near hardcore so these mother fuckers need to cease such blasphemy.

As far as Zynga is concerned(and listen close this shits goddamn important)

The person what spends the most money on farmville cash is the uberest of leet players. They gauge how hardcore a player is by how much they spend. Why? Well its how the machine works.


Off-topic-ish time.
Why do we still call that shit "social gaming" its a nicety name given by Zynga so they did not have to call it 'Skinner-box" or "moocher-game", or "use your friends to reach victory without nay degree of socializing". Seriously. Call of Duty is more social than this shit. Facebook applications are insane and not in a good way.
My grandmother is a hardcore gamer because she sits around all day drinking tea and playing Mario on a SNES for 8 hours a day(retired bless her little soul).

They are idiots playing off their friends on an Application designed to get money.

My Grandpa is a hardcore gamer based on the fact he will sit down on Saturday and play TF2 from dawn to dusk. He is the most awesome heavy ever given the fact he is in his 60s.

Do not call them hardcore gamers. They do not play games involving any degree of coordination, skill, or intense thought(or above regular thought levels) and it is insulting to actual gamers to say such a thing.

Dude, I'm just gonna say this, your grandparents kick ass.

But back on topic. At this point, I really don't care what Zynga says anymore: they're talking out of their ass, their games aren't really games and, despite being called social games, you hardly socialize with people (hell, I played one of these on Facebook for a while called Superhero City, and I've probably socialized with people more playing Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam than on that fucking game), so yeah, I move we come up with a new term for these sorts of games, but not something degrading. I don't know, how about "network games", seeing as it's a far more accurate term for these sorts of games since you're basically leeching off of the "network" of friends you have.

If mobile gaming can have a more accurate term for it, why not social games? I move we call them network games. Who's with me?

Thing is they are from two different sides of the family. yeah i agree. Network game sounds better.

Then it's settled: from henceforth, we shall not refer to them as "social games", but rather "network games". Any opposed?

 

[kael013]

But back on topic. At this point, I really don't care what Zynga says anymore: they're talking out of their ass, their games aren't really games and, despite being called social games, you hardly socialize with people (hell, I played one of these on Facebook for a while called Superhero City, and I've probably socialized with people more playing Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam than on that fucking game), so yeah, I move we come up with a new term for these sorts of games, but not something degrading. I don't know, how about "network games", seeing as it's a far more accurate term for these sorts of games since you're basically leeching off of the "network" of friends you have.

If mobile gaming can have a more accurate term for it, why not social games? I move we call them network games. Who's with me?

I would have gone with "Skinner Box Experiment", but yeah, "network games" works too.

On-Topic: I've never thought of a hardcore gamer as someone who spends alot of time playing games (though that is a part); for me, it was about intellectual involvement. By that I mean that you get so involved in the story or game mechanics that you can recite them from memory (If you start thinking philosophically or something to that effect, it still counts). In other words: if you play games like the Extra Credits crew plays games, you're hardcore.

Examples of intellectual involvement:
Becoming immersed in the backstory of Mass Effect or Halo
Setting up a class in MW2 to maximize K/D ratio by strategizing the weapon load-out and the perks
Setting up a raid party in WoW for a blitzkrieg assault with back-up plans for battles of attrition.

Naturally, this requires a deep understanding of the game (universe or mechanics and sometimes both) which means spending alot of time with it. While Zynga games require lots of time, they are missing the deep understnading part because, really, there [i/]isn't[/i] anything to understand. It's a timesink that conditions you to sink more time.

TL;DR: Go back and read it. Seriously, it isn't that long.

 

[JordanXlord]

lol my mother plays farmville...


i don't understand it at all

you make a farm?

not my kind of thing

i stay with my WoW and minecraft

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

I can't wait until all these smug facebook/smartphone game companies go belly up once their fads die.

Hahaha. This.

 

[Tuqui]

I'm surprised no one linked the vgcats joke about this issue Nerd Rage [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=280] (sorry if i can't do this)

 

[The Imp]

My mom? Really? My mom is 57 years old and never touched a PC aside from writing the occasional letter. So no, my mom is not the "new hardcore gamer".