For those FarmVille players with a keen eye, you might have noticed a new Game Bar, or progress tracker of sorts that has appeared above the FarmVille gameplay area on Facebook. This Game Bar is described with only a simple sentence: "Complete the Steps to Reunite Them on Your Farm!"
If you look at the image at the top of this post, you'll see that "them" refers to a Brown Lamb and a Brown Sheep, two animals that we brought you a sneak peek of in the middle of December. We didn't know how the animals would be released in the game then, but we definitely have our answer now.
You'll need to complete a series of steps in order to move the Lamb from the left side of the bar to the right, where he can be reunited with the Sheep. Most farmers will have the first two steps completed automatically, as you'll of course need to have installed FarmVille in order to see the bar in the first place, and you must give Zynga access to your email in order to continue playing (we're sure everyone has caved and given some sort of email to Zynga over the past year+).
Oddly enough, even if you are already a fan of the game on Facebook, the third step - "Become a Fan" may not be completed for you, and you'll need to unlike the FarmVille page and like it again in order for your progress to "click" - I can confirm from experience that this method does correct the problem, or at least bypasses it.
The final two steps actually require a bit of work (warning: the final step is likely to annoy most if not all of you - a LOT). First, you'll need to login to the game at least once per day for a three day period - miss a day and it resets, so this must be three consecutive days in a row. Not so bad. However, for the final step, you'll need to click on the "Okay!" button in order to send out requests to at least five friends (that is, send out enough requests so that five people respond to you), that do not currently play FarmVille. Yes, you read that correctly, you'll need to figuratively spam your friends with FarmVille game requests, until you happen upon five that are willing to add the game long enough to help you.
This is a time when "Don't shoot the messenger" seems like an appropriate saying....
The only way around this seems to be to pay 15 Farm Cash, but we'll let you know if we come across another way to unlock the final step without potentially annoying a big chunk of your friends list.
What do you think of the final step of this Reunion Game Bar? Will you ask your non-gaming friends to play FarmVille long enough for you to finish all of the steps in the activity, or will you simply skip it for the sake of your friendships?
Thứ Hai, 9 tháng 1, 2012
FarmVille Tree Orchard glitch: Colossal purple trees invade the farm
Have you noticed something odd lately in FarmVille? Does a response like, "Holy crap, there are gigantic purple trees with disco balls on them in my Orchard!" ring a bell? Well, several players have reported trees of all kinds in their Orchards growing to gargantuan sizes to FarmVille Freak. According to the blog, this glitch applies only to trees that have yet to be harvested and their size will revert to normal once tended to.
Come to think of it, these look pretty darn cool. While your massive trees would probably become a bother if you kept them up too long, at least take a picture of your farm-turned-forest to make it last forever. It's unsure how long this glitch will be around, so make sure you get a screen shot before you harvest your freakishly large foliage.
Come to think of it, these look pretty darn cool. While your massive trees would probably become a bother if you kept them up too long, at least take a picture of your farm-turned-forest to make it last forever. It's unsure how long this glitch will be around, so make sure you get a screen shot before you harvest your freakishly large foliage.
FarmVille-maker Zynga buys Flock social browser for reasons unknown
In its eighth major purchase in less than a year, Zynga has acquired Flock, a social network browser that launched in 2005 to little fanfare and success, Gamesindustry.biz reports. Flock is a service that allows users to access their social networks while browsing other websites. A novel concept five years ago, but with the advent of things like Facebook Connect and the infamous "Like" and "Tweet" buttons everywhere the service fell by the wayside over the years. However, the company raised a total of $30 million in funding, which closed in 2008, according to TechCrunch. Flock CEO Sean Hardwin wrote this on the company blog in response to the acquisition:
I'm very excited to announce that the Flock team will be joining the social gaming phenomenon, Zynga... Flock's dedication to its products and users allowed us to achieve over 10 million users around the world with two products on the Facebook top 10 list of the most popular desktop apps... Our team will help Zynga in achieving their goal of building the most fun, social games available to anyone, anytime – on any platform.
According to TechCrunch, the engineering talent within Flock has been sought after by companies like Twitter and Google, and it appears that Zynga wants a piece of that for their games. It's currently unknown as to what the Flock team's role will be within Zynga nor how much the company paid, but with CEO Mark Pincus recently calling for a "dog-activated world" we've got a hunch. Zynga has been contacted for comment, stay tuned for updates.
I'm very excited to announce that the Flock team will be joining the social gaming phenomenon, Zynga... Flock's dedication to its products and users allowed us to achieve over 10 million users around the world with two products on the Facebook top 10 list of the most popular desktop apps... Our team will help Zynga in achieving their goal of building the most fun, social games available to anyone, anytime – on any platform.
According to TechCrunch, the engineering talent within Flock has been sought after by companies like Twitter and Google, and it appears that Zynga wants a piece of that for their games. It's currently unknown as to what the Flock team's role will be within Zynga nor how much the company paid, but with CEO Mark Pincus recently calling for a "dog-activated world" we've got a hunch. Zynga has been contacted for comment, stay tuned for updates.
FarmVille Blue and Pink Ski Suit arrive, better bundle up
Blue Ski Suit
With the Winter Wonderland theme well underway in FarmVille it was about time our farmers got some warm clothes to change into. Available in the market right now are both Blue and Pink Ski Suits, FarmVille Freak reports. These fluffy, colorful and presumably nylon outfits are each available for a premium price of 10 Farm Cash, so they are certainly not for the frugal.
However, it's unfortunate that premium outfits like the Ski Suits don't provide any other incentive to purchase other than looks. I'm willing to beat that potential buyers would increase in a huge way if these outfits provided bonuses such as Mastery rate increases or boosts to XP gain. Though if you already happen to be a big spender, act quick as these two get-ups will only be around for another 13 days.
With the Winter Wonderland theme well underway in FarmVille it was about time our farmers got some warm clothes to change into. Available in the market right now are both Blue and Pink Ski Suits, FarmVille Freak reports. These fluffy, colorful and presumably nylon outfits are each available for a premium price of 10 Farm Cash, so they are certainly not for the frugal.
However, it's unfortunate that premium outfits like the Ski Suits don't provide any other incentive to purchase other than looks. I'm willing to beat that potential buyers would increase in a huge way if these outfits provided bonuses such as Mastery rate increases or boosts to XP gain. Though if you already happen to be a big spender, act quick as these two get-ups will only be around for another 13 days.
Mafia Wars gets buzzed by The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet in Mafia Wars
No, Seth Rogen will not be making an appearance in Mafia Wars--only famous rappers can pull that off--but cool stuff from his new movie, The Green Hornet, will be. Starting today until the theatrical release of The Green Hornet on Jan. 14, we digital mobsters can collect eight different loot items surrounding the feature film adaptation of the famous 1930s radio drama. Doing jobs and fighting other players in any location of the game have a chance of dropping these seven items: Kato's Mask, Black Beauty Missiles, Gas Gun, Double Barrel Gun, Chudnovsky's Gas Mask, Hood Gun and The Green Hornet crest.
Finding all seven will unlock The Black Beauty. Both The Green Hornet's iconic, deadly vehicle and this event's Mastery item with 90 Attack and 45 Defense, the Black Beauty is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Also available in the Market for 25 Reward Points is Kato's Motorcycle, a vehicle item that doesn't contribute to unlocking The Black Beauty with 64 Attack and 88 Defense.
This promotional event follows the still-running Hustlin' Wit Dre event and a recent promotion involving the TNT crime drama Southland. "The entertainment industry has been 'gamified' as these types of unique integrations are connecting millions of players with new and exclusive content," reads an official statement from Zynga. "In return, Zynga's millions of players are creating additional buzz as they interact with films, televisions shows and artists within their favorite games." In other words, there's probably more where this came from for 2011.
No, Seth Rogen will not be making an appearance in Mafia Wars--only famous rappers can pull that off--but cool stuff from his new movie, The Green Hornet, will be. Starting today until the theatrical release of The Green Hornet on Jan. 14, we digital mobsters can collect eight different loot items surrounding the feature film adaptation of the famous 1930s radio drama. Doing jobs and fighting other players in any location of the game have a chance of dropping these seven items: Kato's Mask, Black Beauty Missiles, Gas Gun, Double Barrel Gun, Chudnovsky's Gas Mask, Hood Gun and The Green Hornet crest.
Finding all seven will unlock The Black Beauty. Both The Green Hornet's iconic, deadly vehicle and this event's Mastery item with 90 Attack and 45 Defense, the Black Beauty is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Also available in the Market for 25 Reward Points is Kato's Motorcycle, a vehicle item that doesn't contribute to unlocking The Black Beauty with 64 Attack and 88 Defense.
This promotional event follows the still-running Hustlin' Wit Dre event and a recent promotion involving the TNT crime drama Southland. "The entertainment industry has been 'gamified' as these types of unique integrations are connecting millions of players with new and exclusive content," reads an official statement from Zynga. "In return, Zynga's millions of players are creating additional buzz as they interact with films, televisions shows and artists within their favorite games." In other words, there's probably more where this came from for 2011.
Thứ Bảy, 7 tháng 1, 2012
Are mobile social games and Foursquare meant to be?
FarmVille iPhone
We hate to sound like a broken record, but social games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars are becoming increasingly prevalent on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Developers like Zynga have repeatedly stated their interest in mobile and believe that it's the next logical step for social gaming. But what if I told you that across the Pacific Ocean folks are already five years ahead of us? Papaya Mobile CEO Si Shen claims that Japanese and Chinese social game developers have been toying with location-based services in their mobile social games since 2005. And you know what, it's time the US catches up.
Turf WarsLocation-based social networking has become somewhat of a phenomenon in the US, but it's far from new. It's commonly referred to as "gamification," or creating a game-like layer to everyday activities through services like Foursquare, Gowalla and recently Facebook Places. Arguably, these services can be seen as games in and of themselves, but game creators like COLOPL have applied this "game layer" to, well, games.
One of the first location-based mobile social games (LBS) in Asia, Colonial Living PLUS, was released by the company in 2005 and enjoyed about 1 million registered users in its hay day, according to Shen. That may sound like a drop in the bucket when sized up to CityVille, but far more players have a computer than they do a smartphone.
The game allowed players to essentially colonize their surroundings. Now, think about the social games you play right now and then think about how they could be enhanced if your current location was a concern. Imagine being able to unlock certain weapons in Mafia Wars if you, say, go to the movies. Or you could gain the ability to build a Bank in CityVille after visiting a literal bank. Jumping back to Mafia Wars for a moment, players could duke it out with nearby players in Fights.
Adding this location layer to mobile social games could add a whole new level of depth to social gaming without increasing complexity ... in theory. This is because it's not that hard to figure out who is near you within an app on a mobile device. In fact, Finnish developers such as Grey Area are already attempting to master the technology with games like Shadow Cities, a fantasy MMO that's driven by your location. There are a few US games that are similar like My Kingdom and Turf Wars (pictured), but platforms like Foursquare and Facebook Places could help this subgenre reach millions.
And when you think about it, companies like Nintendo are already ahead of the curve with the location-centric features included in its upcoming Nintendo 3DS. Location-based gaming is the only way to go when thinking about the evolution of social games. It's about time social game creators and companies like Foursquare get to talking.
We hate to sound like a broken record, but social games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars are becoming increasingly prevalent on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Developers like Zynga have repeatedly stated their interest in mobile and believe that it's the next logical step for social gaming. But what if I told you that across the Pacific Ocean folks are already five years ahead of us? Papaya Mobile CEO Si Shen claims that Japanese and Chinese social game developers have been toying with location-based services in their mobile social games since 2005. And you know what, it's time the US catches up.
Turf WarsLocation-based social networking has become somewhat of a phenomenon in the US, but it's far from new. It's commonly referred to as "gamification," or creating a game-like layer to everyday activities through services like Foursquare, Gowalla and recently Facebook Places. Arguably, these services can be seen as games in and of themselves, but game creators like COLOPL have applied this "game layer" to, well, games.
One of the first location-based mobile social games (LBS) in Asia, Colonial Living PLUS, was released by the company in 2005 and enjoyed about 1 million registered users in its hay day, according to Shen. That may sound like a drop in the bucket when sized up to CityVille, but far more players have a computer than they do a smartphone.
The game allowed players to essentially colonize their surroundings. Now, think about the social games you play right now and then think about how they could be enhanced if your current location was a concern. Imagine being able to unlock certain weapons in Mafia Wars if you, say, go to the movies. Or you could gain the ability to build a Bank in CityVille after visiting a literal bank. Jumping back to Mafia Wars for a moment, players could duke it out with nearby players in Fights.
Adding this location layer to mobile social games could add a whole new level of depth to social gaming without increasing complexity ... in theory. This is because it's not that hard to figure out who is near you within an app on a mobile device. In fact, Finnish developers such as Grey Area are already attempting to master the technology with games like Shadow Cities, a fantasy MMO that's driven by your location. There are a few US games that are similar like My Kingdom and Turf Wars (pictured), but platforms like Foursquare and Facebook Places could help this subgenre reach millions.
And when you think about it, companies like Nintendo are already ahead of the curve with the location-centric features included in its upcoming Nintendo 3DS. Location-based gaming is the only way to go when thinking about the evolution of social games. It's about time social game creators and companies like Foursquare get to talking.
Diner Dash makes up for recent 'oops' with a free Flo fountain
If you logged into Diner Dash on Facebook over the past few days, you might have noticed that, well, all your stuff had gone missing. Playfirst has since corrected the problem and returned all of your items AND is giving away a free Flo-ing Fountain (worth 38 Facebook Credits in the in-game store). Look in your email for a notification (like the one below) and then click the 'Start Playing' button to claim your brand new water feature. Place your new fountain in your park, then just sit back and watch it Flo! Err.. flow.
diner dash oops fixed
diner dash oops fixed
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