Let me start by saying that our office Internet subscription has been cut off for around a year now. During the time we had access to the Internet, there were lots of Web sites blocked by our administrator. This includes all chat sites, blogs, networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook. That was until they cut off our Internet completely.
That being the case, I checked my emails when I got home. As I sometimes go home late, the most I could do when I go online was simply check my email. In my emails, I receive a number of invites, and later on, gifts for Facebook games. At the start, I simply ignored them until the office started talking about developing games for the office. As the most popular games nowadays are Facebook games, they wanted to develop a game exactly like that.
I wanted to know what they were talking about in the office so I decided to pay attention to my Facebook games invites. I had the most gifts for Farm Town. I receive trees such as lemons, apples, oranges, pears, bananas, plums, peaches, cherries, mangoes, coconuts, and palms, from friends, for free. A number of them gave me flower plants too, i.e., forget-me-nots, zinnias, and daffodils. And what is a farm without animals! I have chickens, cows, dogs, horses, peacocks, and rabbits. I only spend money on seeds such as grapes, tomatoes, rice, corn, and potatoes, when I replant after I harvest the crops.
The same is true for my Farmville. I only spend on replanting the lots with seeds. The trees and animals I accept as gifts are more than enough for my small land. It is worth mentioning that upon logging on to these 2 games, I am given the chance to give trees and animals as gifts to my friends. This explains why I have an endless supply of trees and animals from friends. In the game, I can likewise help my friends in their farms by raking the leaves.
As I waited for my crops and trees to grow, and my pets to get bigger, I explored other games. This led me to play Barn Buddy. This is in no way similar to the 2 previously mentioned games. In this game, my friends cannot give me plants and I can steal from my friends’ lots and vice versa! The viciousness does not end there as I can destroy their plants with bugs and weeds! (I haven’t done this yet! I even water their plants when the land dries up and kill the bugs and weeds that pester their plants).
Waiting for my plants in these 3 games to grow can be quite challenging. Needless to say, I explored more games. I found Sorority Life. The title is apt for the game. I build my sorority by having sisters. The more sisters I have, the more events I can organize. Some events are cute and fun. There are events where I need to find things in a very messy drawing within a time limit. At other events, there are games with the tic-tac-toe principle. This is likewise time-pressured. In other events, the rewards are given just by clicking the links.
To organize events, I need energy. There is an energy meter which shows what events I can organize. In addition to energy, I also have confidence, stamina and money. “Fight” is a major link in this game. “Fighting” means going on a showdown with ladies outside of my sorority matching corresponding points for accessories, outfits, and rides. In order to fight, I need confidence. When my confidence meter is almost empty, I need to go to the spa which charges money from my bank account. When my confidence level drops to zero, I become “terminally depressed”. The stamina meter shows how many ladies I can “fight”. The loser in these fights loses influence and money. I earn money by having a job. I pay for “training” to get accepted to jobs. I also need a job to buy accessories, outfits, and rides.
I can honestly say that I am hooked to this game! As I need more sisters in my sorority, I found a Web site looking for sisters! They give me gifts necessary in the game, just like in Farm Town and FarmVille. I do not know more than half of my Facebook friends from all over the world, I dare say, as I just added them to make my sorority bigger in number, hence stronger!
This very feminine game has its masculine counterpart, Mafia Wars. I have jobs such as collecting protection money, roughing up dealers, taking out rogue cops, performing hits, bank heists, among others. I have a hideout, rent a house, own an Italian restaurant and an apartment complex. I even pay protection money for these properties.
At the onset of my being hooked to these games, I didn’t mind the time I spent in front of the computer. As I realized that I haven’t reopened the novel I started reading a month ago, I disciplined myself to set an hour each night to read. I likewise disciplined myself to set my sleeping time to no avail! I couldn’t sleep earlier than midnight because I needed to protect my earnings in the games that I play.
These games are not bad in themselves. Sorority Life and Mafia Wars are strategy games. Designing FarmVille and Farm Town stirs creativity. The time I spend in front of the computer is what bothers me. I used to enjoy other things. I am slowly getting back on track and cutting down on time online. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if the most I do is read my emails and check online news. Friendster and Facebook are great networking sites. It even gave me the chance to expand my network beyond my friends and connect with people of all races with a common interest, playing network games on Facebook.
