Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Sucked Into Facebook

Faithful readers will remember that I resisted Facebook (FB) for a long, long time. Like many others, I felt that it was a competition to blogging and was going to ruin the blogosphere. And, in truth, I think it has a bit. I just couldn't see the sense in reading, or posting, stuff like "Ms X woke up with a smile on her face this morning!" or "Mr X had oatmeal for breakfast today".



I think that as time has progressed and people have learned better how to use FB, the posts have gotten better. Even more meaningful. Even educational at times. Sure, there are still the occasional posts like I mentioned, hell, I even do it once in awhile. But on the whole, I am enjoying FB and think that it has enriched my life. To a point.



I have gradually become sucked into the games side of Facebook. Oh, the games. Although I thoroughly enjoy them, they are a tremendous eater of time. But, then, I am retired. What else do I have but time?



I started out with Nightclub City. Build a nightclub, staff it, serve drinks, spin music, decorate it. Make money. (all references to money are purely gaming money, not real money) I have built and maximized out two different clubs now. I am working on two more.



Then I discovered Cityville. Now this was something I could get into. Challenging and rewarding. Put in those roads. Build those businesses and housing units. Plant crops, supply your businesses. Send out ships to faraway ports to bring back goods. Fun stuff but sometimes frustrating as everything is run on a combination of money and energy. Run out of either and you are dead in the road for awhile.



Then came Frontierville. Kind of a cross between CV and Farmville. Takes place in the pioneering era and one is beset with bears, gophers, snakes and other varmints trying to ruin what you have accomplished. All the characters are done as old fashioned settlers and come from hardy stock.



And then the Grand Daddy of them all....Farmville. Man, I resisted that with all my being. I have heard horror stories of that game eating up people's lives as they became slaves to their crop harvest times. But, recently, I spent some time visiting a friend and she is an avid FV player. She convinced me to just give it a try. That's all it took. I have some other friends who play FV also so between them, they referred quite a few friends to me to become instant neighbors. I should mention, all of these games require neighbors in order to make any progress. After just one day, I was hooked. And it is not the black hole of time sucking that I thought it would be.

I have to say, there is one thing that stands out to me about these games more than anything else. And that is how absolutely nice, caring, thoughtful and generous everybody is to everybody else. It has totally astounded me and warmed my heart to interact with people such as these. Even though many of these people are nothing more than names to me, I feel like we are friends and have each other's backs. Nice.

So, if any of you readers out there play Frontierville, Cityville, or Farmville, give me a shout. I would be pleased and proud to be your neighbors.

14 comments:

lisa said...

FB is a time consuming place. I would get on and do the games, Farmville and Mafia Wars and I would be on for over an hour or more!!! I finally now go on to see what everyone is up to and once in a while I will keep up with my mafia but not that often. I decided that I have to get things done and I can't if I am on FB for hours on end. I would rather blog than do the FB thing sometimes. You have fun.

norm said...

I have found the apps from Facebook to be bugged up. I get spam from my friend's accounts that have been hijacked-I just don't need the drama. The Facebook site as a connect to my family and friends is great, that part seems to be bug free.

Jackie said...

I like FB but i don't not play any of the games. If I ever change that that I will be your neighbor and a good neighbor at that.

Linda Dorton said...

Well, I think your confession is hilarious! I have gotten so sucked in to Farmville...and now Cityville....that I have to pull myself away. I have other things to do and manage to get them done. But the kindness and generosity of one's virtual neighbors really is overwhelming. There are worse things to be addicted to! Play on!

Jackie said...

I still don't do FB out of fear of spending way too much time on the computer. As it is, I try to limit how much blogging I do, and that's pretty tough. I've had friends suggest I give up my blog for FB, but I won't because my blog is like a diary and I really enjoy it.

Unknown said...

I have resisted Farmville, but play Restaurant City and Backyard Monsters...Restaurant City is getting to the point that you almost needs to spend real money to advance, which I won't do. I agree FB has a good side and bad side. Good for quick life updates, reconnecting with old friends, and sharing photos with family and friends, but some people update 20 times a day...

jeanie said...

I have watched my friends disappear into that black hole one by one. First it was Farmville then Mafia Wars. LOL I had to put out an APB on Isla Chica when she vanished. LOL. I tried Farmville and thought I got the hang of it but when I took my crop to market it said "You can't sell grass" Guess I'll have to wait for the Canadian version.

Barb said...

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Not Facebook! omg. Say it isn't so!!! hahaha

I don't Facebook for my own reasons but that Farmville does sound like it would be a lot of fun.

Anonymous said...

Get out of Farmville and back to blogging please!!

Steve Cotton said...

Good grief! This is like watching your best friend join the Tom Cruise Brigade. ;]

Anonymous said...

Please. Stop. Now. Get away from your computer and play Islaville!
-D

Nancy said...

I spend a lot of time on FB but don't play any games. I would be very sad if all my bloggers gave up their blogs and went to FB only. I can tell at a glance which bloggers have updated by using Live Bookmarks in Firefox, but if I had to hunt and scroll for every post in Facebook I would probably miss a lot of them. Just miss a day and everyone's updates and comments roll right off the bottom of my news feed. A lot of my friends and both my kids have given up checking their email and want everything messaged to them via FB. That doesn't work for me.

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Noooooooooooo Mr. Bill. Please come back!!!! My life is so boring here...I need to read your blog.

Anonymous said...

So glad I found your blog! I am in need of more FV neighbors. jazzladyrs@hotmail.com Also, have you tried MMORPGs? The newest (and best so far) is Forsaken World. If you get there, we will walk you through it. Storm server, Realm 3. My screen name is Svetla. Or you can email me or send me a FB message.