Poll: Facebook Conspiracy?

[conchshellthegeek7]

OK, don't right me off as a crazy guy yet. In most decent apps, you have to pay for some kind of special currency, and the other is readily able to be collected in-game. In, for example, Tiki Farm, it's "Shells" or "Tiki Gems". You can purchase special items with Tiki Gems, along with extra plots, but you have to buy them using real-world money (or by getting achievements, but that takes too long). You can also get plots, however, by getting friends to play, then buying them with shells. The logic is something like this:

"We'll withhold the best items from our players unless they pay us, or get their friends to play our grindfest and then THEY'LL give us money! It's nefariously brilliant!"

So: Am I overthinking this? Or is there a dark force at work?

 

[Twad]

Thats the average, not new, widespread method to make (lots of) money in many online games. Just look around, its been around for years.

 

[Archereus]

I wouldn't consider this a conspiracy but I understand why you think of this the way you do. As far as this goes...well I don't really care, will I fall to their plan? No. The only time this gets really evil is in an MMO situation. Flyff being the example, you need to give real world money to get the best items in the game no other option. I find that to be really unfair especially with the people who spent the money go around killing every thing.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

It's not a conspiracy, it's a way of making money out of stupid. And they do it well!!

 

[Matt_LRR]

yeah, that's called a business model, not a conspiracy.

-m

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

That's how they make their money.

I prefer PopCap for casual gaming.

 

[reg42]

Facebook is evil in the sense that every other company in the world is evil. They want to exploit (I mean "make money off") you, and they'll do that to the best of their abilities.

 

[Sleekgiant]

And that's the reason I don't play those games. But really its a perfectly legitimate way to make money.

 

[SimuLord]

Build a better way to soak the rustics and the world will beat a path to your door. This is pure frivolity turned up to 11 and it's brilliant.

 

[Jamash]

Facebook itself is a "conspiracy" to make shit loads of money, by getting people to tell them their personal data and buying preferences, then selling that information to marketers, businesses or anyone who will pay for that data.

Being useful and allowing it's users to connect with each other is a side effect, it's primarily an information and data service for big business, and a very successful one at that.

However it's only a "conspiracy" in the sense that the majority of people aren't aware of (or don't care) about what's going on, but it's not a secret or kept hidden from anyone.