FarmVille and it’s creator, Zynga, have a lot of detractors. There are those people who think that FarmVille is dull. Fair enough – if you don’t like it, don’t play it, but don’t assume that because you like it everyone who does is an idiot, a Zynga Zombie or a sad, FV addict. There are also those people who, for some reason, don’t think that Zynga should be allowed to make a profit from a ‘free’ game. Many of these people play FV, but don’t want to pay real money for the things that cost Farm Cash. That’s fair enough – if you don’t want to pay real money for the game, then don’t, you have that option. But don’t compain that you don’t have access to the premium features and don’t sound off about people who do pay real money and call them idiots. Remember that Zynga employs real people who do real work and need to get paid. If Zynga doesn’t make a profit from its games then it will stop making them.
No doubt the news that Zynga has started a Haiti Relief Fund won’t stop their detractors from whining, but for the last few days FV players (and players of Zynga’s other online games such as FishVille and Mafia Wars) have been able to pay real money for special virtual goods, with 100% of the donated cash being donated via Zynga to the people in Haiti who need our help after the devastating earthquake there. The news from Zynga this morning is that FV players have donated over $900,000 in just a couple of days and will no doubt top $1 million soon – real money, going to real people. That money will be spent on emergency relief, food and other supplies, but as my friend Maddy says, if it’s spent on suitable permaculture solutions to Haiti’s problems then it will go a long way.
FV’s contribution to the Haiti Relief Fund is White Corn. Farmers can pay 25 Farm Cash ($5) for a license to plant White Corn for 7 days. White Corn costs 10 coins to plant, gives a harvest worth 125 coins plus 3 XP, matures in 6 hours and never withers. So it’s a great crop to plant, whether you’re hoping to save up some farm coins, gain enough XP to get to the next level or just work your way through the ribbons relating to ploughing, seeding and harvesting.
Speaking of ribbons, there are two more new ones this week. You’ll need more Fuel for the ‘Need for Seed’ ribbon, as it involves seeding your farm with the Seeder vehicle. The second is ‘Cat Lady’, and you work towards it as you brush all the kitties that are wandering around the farm. Here’s a tip to help you work towards the ribbon – keep an eye out on your Facebook News Feed for when your Neighbors find lost kittens wandering around. The more cats you add to your farm, the quicker you’ll gain those ribbons!
There are also two new giftable trees this week – the Durian (it’s a good job virtual fruit doesn’t smell!) and the Cashew.
The other big release this week is Collections. As you work on your farm, ploughing, harvesting crops, animals and trees, and fertilizing, you will randomly find collectable items that belong to one of four Collections. Collectable items are also giftable, with a new collectable gift becoming available every two days. You can hold up to 10 of any particular collectable, and once you have completed a collection you can exchange it for 250 XP, 5000 coins and 5 Fuel refills. You can complete the same collection an unlimited number of times, so don’t discard those duplicate gifts!
If you find an uncommon or rare collectable then you will have the option of posting it to your News feed so that 5 of your Neighbors can share it. And when you complete a collection you can post the news to your feed and, for 24 hours, all of your Neighbors will be able to collect a random collectable to share in your good fortune. So keep an eye on your News feed and you could really rack up those collectables quickly!
Also new this week are three buildings – a bed and breakfast, a post office and a general store – that don’t appear to have any special functions at present, and peace-themed decorations. The news from the podcast is that level 70 (the top level at present) is not going to be the final level, and that the 24 × 24 land expansion is not going to be the final land upgrade either. The 24 × 24 expansion is coming soon – but if you sign up as a FarmVille fan on their Facebook page then you’ll be given the chance to get the 24×24 land expansion before everyone else! There’s also a special event on the way, to celebrate FarmVille having 10 million fans, more sendable gifts and more updates to the chicken coops.
The problem with Zynga wasn’t so much that they wanted to make money as the way they were making it. They’ve stopped now, I hear, but they were being paid by companies who were setting up monthly charges on people’s credit cards sometimes without those people’s understanding. Yeah, some may say buyer beware and you have to read the small print and if you don’t you’re a dope who deserves to be taken for any amount, but most of us don’t agree with that and frown on companies that take advantage of people. And also on companies like Zynga who were willing to be paid very well to let them take advantage of people.