betajames

the main rea­son games like Far­mville main­tain a huge player base is the entice­ment of the metagame. The actual game mechanic of farm­ing — which com­prises most of the game — is unfath­omably dull. It’s the abstracted layer above the farm­ing that cre­ates the pri­mary moti­va­tion: rib­bons (achieve­ments), new items, leader­boards, etc.

But the blur of time-consumption and value is simul­ta­ne­ously dam­ag­ing Far­mville. Because sat­is­fac­tion is derived only from the metagame, suc­cess is a mea­sure of how many hours you’re will­ing to play, not your abil­i­ties. Play­ers who have invested a lot of time into the game end up feel­ing bit­ter about the fruits (or veg­eta­bles) of their labor.