The article, at http://www.businessweek.com/...">http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100621_793158..., says:
Quote:About 90 percent of fans of Zynga Game Network's "FarmVille" -- and games made by other providers offered on Facebook -- return daily to play one game or another, according to a survey.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they play once a day, while a stunning 62 percent play multiple times daily, researcher Inside Network said in the survey, which was just released today. "FarmVille" was the most popular game, with more than half of respondents saying they play it every day.
...
The more time people spend on such games as "FarmVille," the harder it is for them to switch to a different diversion, said Atul Bagga, an analyst at ThinkEquity. "If you are playing games you like and you have invested dollars in it, you start becoming more attached to your avatar, more attached to your place," Bagga says. "The barrier for those guys defecting from "FarmVille" is much higher." The game gets 64 million monthly active users, according to Inside Social Games data.
Consumers surveyed by Inside Network also displayed loyalty as to which games drew their spending for virtual goods. Some 84 percent who paid more than $25 said they had done so for only one game on Facebook. About 15 percent who spent in excess of $25 had invested in two games.
Inside Network surveyed 1,800 people who said they play social games on Facebook. The findings suggest that a small portion of game players on the social networking site generate a majority of the spending on virtual goods, says Inside Network's Justin Smith, who co-wrote the report. "The top 10 percent or so of the people who spend are spending 10 to 20 times more than what most other people are spending," Smith said.
Consumers in the U.S. will spend $1.6 billion this year on virtual goods, according to ThinkEquity. The survey's results may be skewed to favor more active users, said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities. ...
This article helps to confirm the anecdotal evidence of various reports that I have read on this site that the video games offered on Facebook can be quite addictive, especially to those of us who have addictive tendencies to at least some types of video games. I am also concerned that those people who are spending the most on the virtual goods likely include many who can least afford to be doing that.
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
"Consumers in the U.S. will spend $1.6 billion this year on virtual goods, according to ThinkEquity."
wow, I'm glad I stopped buying video games
If you play video games, turn them off once in a while and rejoin life. Some of us here like you, don't ask me why.
Farmville is such a joke and so lame.
Social City is by far more intellectual.
Both are time sinks.
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
For those who don't want to be constantly reminded of the games your facebook friends are playing: If you click "hide" to the right of their facebook post about the game, you will be given the option to hide the person or just the game. I can now quickly scan my facebook page without having to read how my friends' farms are doing, who they have taken out a contract on in Mafia Wars, or what their latest high score in Bejewelled was. Hooray!
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
Stuff like this makes me like Twitter more every day... info without stupid flash games.
The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
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Thanks for this John,
I was getting annoyed with Facebook too and thought to quit before I found i could hide as per Liz suggestion.
I found an old AA sponsor of mine via facebook (and godfather of my daughter). It is hugely obvious he is completely addicted to half a dozen face book games. As I write this I made up my mind to send him a copy of this post.
- dark
I agree the games on facebook are so lame, but I'm sure people think thar World of Warcarft is lame too so. Anyway thanks for the tip, I'm not a facebook junkies but I do hate all the info on everything that a friend does on one of those lame games.
I could never enjoy facebook games as they never intrested me. Lots of my friends play farmville which I don't like . I read somewhere that facebook gives you cancer. I don't see how
Facebook is a tool that is of double edge. It can serve to communicate, but it is very dangerous because it wakes the worse thing up of my of my pretense of wanting to be the best and of my lust. I am also codependant, this way that always I am looking at the photos of the demas, too much and it if that that doing to this me very much I damage.
I do not want mas facebook, and it is very dangerous also because often it is in danger to break the anonymity. The facebook the truth is that it is a tricky tool. THE worse thing is that if I need the facebook for some things, but I try to use very little.
PD : sorry for my english , i hope that all can understad :)
I played farmville for about a week.... I know it was stupid but I wanted to play something and it was so boring I could only play it for about 10 minutes.... but I realized the con of it bringing you back each day... so I deleted it.
Farmville is really, really, dumb.
I can see the attraction to social networking sites but they should be regulated with warnings of spending extended time there. Of course the advertisers and site owners don't want you to be away from your computer so encouragement for real life events is likely to be minimal if at all. Of course they would advertise and encourage online gaming as it keeps users on the sites for longer which will generate more advertising profit.
It would be more user-friendly if facebook were to encourage real life events and meet ups, while limiting online games such as farmville etc which do not help real life friendships but infact cause them to deteriorate under the false belief that giving someone a hen for their farm is a suitable alternative to meeting up and sharing a meal or even a phonecall.
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you areaEU"no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
The bible
my job is too tough that i hardly get on playing video games althought i m big fan of playing console games, i m really not interesting social media games like i found sometimes refer by my friends through messages.
I think we all need to recognize that as addicts, we are a community, and as such, the community of one addict helping another should be a strong goal of OLGA.
Calling a game stupid or boring can can cause shame to players, as well as incur animosity.
This would be akin to one alcoholic (beer) saying to another (vodka) that anything but beer is lame. That's not helpful to either struggling with their addiction.
It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness (E.R.)
Clean Date: not really sure anymore...
What I was intending to say, was that Facebook games (flash) are not harmless. Although they clearly apear as wolves in sheepskins, they are everybit as destructive as WoW, etc. When I mentioned they are a time sink, I wanteed to warn potential first time users of exactly what they were expirementing with. Hope that clearly spells it out.
My spouse is a long-time abuser of FarmTown, very much a real MMO, unlike most Fb games. We have had conversation after conversation about potential addiction and she is finally playing less and delving into her hobby of genaology.
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone