Guest Post: Facebook Game Addiction
This is a guest post from Jena, who has contributed to Tales of the Rampant Coyote before. She's been a professional game reviewer (hey, she was young and needed the money!), but lately her gaming tastes have taken her in a different - but hardly unusual - direction:

Hi.

My name is Jena, among others, and I’m a Facebook Game Addict.

The whole thing started so innocently. I never imagined what it could grow into. I guess you never do when you start. I had a rational reason for joining Facebook. It seemed like an easy way to keep track of friends and family. Not to mention I had to do some job stuff out there. Besides, I claim to be an internet savvy kind of gal and there’s a lot of opportunity for promotion and blog links and all kinds of things. Reach that casual reader, casual gamer…and tell Grandma about your successes all at once. Yeah, it means you have to post Grandma friendly content, but I felt safe.

Thinking on it now it may have been that very safety which lead to my downfall. The first one was simple, the way all these things are. I had an invitation from a friend. This was someone I knew. Someone who I thought loved me. “Click here to join my Mafia Family”. It was so innocent sitting there next to their smiling picture. What could it hurt? Just one little click.

The first one is the easiest.

The first one is always free.

Okay, it’s Facebook, they’re all free…ish…

Quickly it becomes an obsession. Use up all your energy. Complete jobs. Whack the mobster who is after you. Wait impatiently for your stats to refill. Cuss the @(*#&$ who robbed all your casinos and put you on the hitlist! Grow your mafia…spread the disease.

But it doesn’t stay contained once the obsession starts. There’s another message from another smiling face. “Here’s a tree for your Farm.” I don’t have a farm…

You will.

Oh yes you will…

A farm, a mob, a vampire, a dragon, a castle, a restaurant, a fish aquarium…

The hours flutter away.

The pretty graphics.

The big numbers

Some quit it cold turkey…some get sucked in even further and start exchanging credit card numbers for just one more favor point, a little more farm cash.

Me…I’m stuck in the middle. I’ve walked away from some of the games, but others hold me in their iron grip. If only you could bottle this stuff.

Then again Facebook is making money they say. Big profits on little games.

Something to be learned here?

First I have to feed my virtual fish.

Labels: casual games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 11:49 AM (Permalink)