Why I Don’t Bother with Farmville Anymore

nomorefarmville
I used to like Farmville quite a bit–actually, I played it for months and got addicted to it (I wish I was kidding). I even wrote a post here showcasing it…but I could not in good faith keep recommending a game that I know now is too ridiculous to get involved in.

Why might I say something like that? Well, there are 3 big reasons for me:

#1: It’s Time-Consuming/Isolating

When I started playing Farmville, it was pretty easy to manage–I had a few neighbors and a few crop plots, and I could usually take care of it all in a few minutes. But once I had played for a while, it got to where I was spending an hour a day just visiting other people’s farms and trying to help them, not to mention time spent “harvesting” and “using” virtual crops. (Also, during the time I played, I didn’t have internet at home, so I ended up having to play at the local coffee shop or friends’ houses–which meant that for at least the first hour of hanging out, I was isolating myself staring at the computer screen. Not really conducive to conversation, you know?)

#2: You Really Have to Spend Real Money to Get All the Best Stuff

Farmville and games like it have really become “pay-to-win” games. When I first started playing, you could end up getting “good” stuff if you were just patient and saved up your Farm Cash from leveling up. But after a while, the amounts of Farm Cash you had to spend just to get the essentials for operating larger virtual farms became ridiculous. There were plenty of ways you could pour real money into the game to get more Farm Cash, but I was simply not willing to invest REAL money in a fake farm!

#3: Clogs Up Facebook Feed with Notifications, Bogs Down Computers

Since I purged Farmville and other such games from my Facebook life, my notification feed is about 1000 times less congested. How liberating! When I played daily, my Notifications would overflow with people asking for Farmville help, requesting materials, etc.–there was literally so much to do on Farmville that I ended up accidentally ignoring the friends who didn’t play!

The other thing I noticed was that my computer would perform slowly while on Farmville. One wouldn’t think a Facebook game could eat RAM like that, but for whatever reason, my computer did not like it one bit. (One more reason I felt liberated when I got out of playing–suddenly I had a fast-performing computer again!)

Summary

For a while, Farmville was a delightful diversion…but it quickly devolved into an obligation, and then into a huge pain, especially when I realized how addicted to the game I had become. I got out of it before I had started paying real money, but I know folks who have gotten into serious money trouble this way. Take it from me: don’t even get involved with this kind of “pay-to-win” game; it might seem fun at first, but that’s how it hooks you. It’s just like gambling or any other kind of addiction–it’ll eat your life if you’re not careful!

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