Why all the Zynga hate?

[Enigmers]

Because VALVe, as a company, have done much more for the industry and for their customers and fans than Zynga ever has. IIRC, Zynga has used "every dirty trick in the book" to make money. That is not "best game developer" material at all.

PopCap games are original, fun to play, and have neat little appealing visuals. Zynga games look like pixellated bat droppings and,m on top of that, every time any one of your friends does anything in Farmville/Mafia Wars/whatever, YOU get a notification. "X person you don't care about just did Y thing you don't care about in game Z that you don't care about! Look! Pay attention! It's really goddamn important!"

VALVe have released extremely polished, award-winning games time after time after time. They've released STEAM, which, along with being a great way to distribute their own games, also allows other developers to hop on. They released Steamworks, allowing developers to keep all their games updated through steam. I'm pretty sure all of this is free (except the games themselves.) The Steam Overlay is probably one of the best things I never knew I needed until I used it.

VALVe could videotape Gabe Newell farting into a microphone and it would still be more creative than anything Zynga ever decided to copy, paste, and advertise.

The Escapist, from what I've seen, is a website for gamers, and gamers want to talk to other gamers about game-y things. I don't think the crowd of hyper-casual Zynga fans would mix in with all the regulars here who appreciate things like time, effort, and care. So, while it is nice we're bringing in more people, it's arguable whether these are the people that would fit in well enough to keep coming back and becoming a member of the gaming community.

 

[Deleric]

Oh yeah they fucked up my bracket.... Cunts.

There's my points of view.

Yeah..that's what I get for underestimating the power of Facebook.

I would also enjoy a more mainstream gaming audience. Hell, that's exactly what they use the Wii for. I just don't think that society is that dull. It makes it look like the only way to appease the masses is to create mini-games with little to no depth. It'll tend to the average guy, sure, but what does it do to the medium?

It reduces it. Slowly but surely, we've been escalating our medium to a point where it can rival film and literature in terms of story-telling. Just because it's a game doesn't mean the main character has to be a cutesy looking 1-dimensional farmer who has nothing better to do than farm whenever his master is on Facebook. Just because it's a game doesn't mean it can't be considered art.

It's like, if you had a "Top 64 Writers" bracket, would you put Stephenie Meyer with the likes of Stephen King or Orson Scott Card, just because it appeals to teenage girls?

 

[what the hell is the escapist]

its developer contest, so nobody should vote something like this. zynga ruining the game industry. the project is - how less can i do to get as much money from childs.
you get spammed everywhere by this shit. tv and internet are full of marketing about this stuff. -.-
they dont want to make you happy, they want your cash - this shouldnt by the reason to develop games.
i played games like this, years a go. "free" webbased, "free" mmorpg and and and.. you never had a chance without buying the "special-not free-items". totally useless, cause finally you pay more like on a good "normal" game to play it.
they dont should call it free then. they can call it a playable demo, like every respectablly developer will do.

but if i am wrong, and zynga games are really for free (haha!) - then it will be ok.
(i never tried zynga games, but games like em.)

 

[ProfessorLayton]

The idea that someone would even consider putting up the creators of FarmVille against the creators of Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, and Half Life makes me want to laugh. The reality of the creators of Farmville beating all of them is just sad.

Most of the people voting aren't gamers at all and have never even heard of the other companies. It's like... if I went to go see Transformers 2 having never seen an action movie before in my life. Then I say that Transformers 2 is the best action film ever created without even watching any other. Then people would shout "What about V for Vendetta? What about the Matrix? What about Sin City?" but I just wouldn't listen. And then I vote on Transformers 2 over one of those movies.

But now 4chan /b/ is involved and voters on both sides are spamming comments. I cannot wait until it's over. It's just a bunch of spam and idiots who will show up to vote and never do anything else.

Oh yeah, that and the fact that I can't check my FaceBook without an ad for one of their "games" popping up and spamming my page. I have no problem with casual games or the companies that make them, it's just that when you do what Evony did and spam everything and bombard me with ads then I get upset.

 

[Awexsome]

Y'know I have nothing against them at all. I mean my favorite developer I was rooting for was Bungie and they lost to Blizzard which is also a good developer. But Zynga? Their games must be good enough for a heck of a lot of casual gamers but as good as a company like Valve, Bungie, Blizzard, Bioware... you can't even compare them. At all.

I wouldn't hate them if they kept to their own little facebook thing but if they sell out to their massive casual facebook players to click on a link where the other real developers' fans have to organize themselves in a contest to decide who the best developer is...

Unacceptable. Hope you like the added traffic Escapist. You're not gonna get many people to actually stay or even join afterward. I've looked around on other developer's forums and they're mostly like. "Wow, Zynga's winning? That kills any credibility the Escapist has." Sure it ain't the Escapists fault but that what it looks like to a newcomer.

 

[SnipErlite]

-snip-

Hooo boy flames are gonna come your way.

But yeah, I respect how successful they are.

But they've lied, stolen, cheated and illegally installed spyware on unsuspecting potential gamers. They're hardly the nicest company, and most people don't even think they should be in March Madness.

Plus it seemed like they called in the facebook hordes to sign in, vote, and leave. In doing so almost ruining March Madness.

 

[lacktheknack]

It's because they're being propelled up the "Best List" on no merits other than casual player appeal. That's NOT how one becomes "Best Game Studio".

Also, because they cynically admitted to being scammers, and have acted like tools at award ceremonies. I view them as the "brokeNCYDE" of game developers.

 

[lacktheknack]

Plus it seemed like they called in the facebook hordes to sign in, vote, and leave. In doing so almost ruining March Madness.

Note, however, how we summoned 4Chan. Just sayin'.

 

[SnipErlite]

Plus it seemed like they called in the facebook hordes to sign in, vote, and leave. In doing so almost ruining March Madness.

Note, however, how we summoned 4Chan. Just sayin'.

Yeahhhh that was a huge mistake on the summoners part. I think that may have also ruined it somewhat.......

 

[Galad]

That doesn't mean that they should win a contest for BEST GAME DEVELOPER.

The thing is, the whole March Mayhem thing is a contest for best game developer just in theory. Leaving aside the facebook hordes, how many of us "non-casual" gamers can honestly say they've got enough information and have weighed it all in their mind to determine who's been a better game developer in the last year among any two that have been one against each other so far? It's usually a matter of which games or styles of games one prefers.

And zynga has the obvious advantage of facebook connect.

 

[Aric Rainwater]

Farmville is just an insignificant timewaster used by the teeming hordes of Facebook users when they get bored of messaging their friends back and forth and have nothing else to do, or by parents with a Facebook trying to claim themselves amongst the ranks of REAL gamers who play games like Half Life.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

It's being compared to Valve, and if it wins it's probably going to be compared to Blizzard.

Just think about that, and compare their games and franchises:

Valve:

Half-Life series
Counterstrike series
Team Fortress series
Left 4 Dead series
Portal (soon to become a series)

Blizzard:

Lost Vikings
World of Warcraft series
Diablo series
Starcraft series

Zynga:

FarmVille
Cafe World
FishVille
And a hellalot more

The problem is that Zynga is not a bad game developer, it's just being compared to the legendary-status game developers.

So, as to stop arguing I probably won't read or consider:

Spoiler

 

[robbaz]

I registered since i wanted to give valve a vote, but the thread was fucked up and i can't vote or reply there. So to my question.

What is Zynga? I didn't make any sense here on in the bugged thread.

 

[DrathinAgentaz]

Throughout the March Madness contest, I've seen a lot of Zynga hate and comments that any self-respecting gamer can't vote for that company.

I'm going to play devil's advocate for a minute. At last year's PAX, I listened to a speech given by some of the PopCap developers - the same brilliant dudes who brought us Peggle. Their argument was that social networking and casual games are actually GOOD for hardcore gamers. Here's the analogy they used. There are plenty of hardcore film buffs in the world, but nearly everyone watches movies. Even people who watch TV a few hours a month are still likely to have a NetFlix account or visit the local Blockbuster.

That's where PopCap wants the gaming industry to be. There are millions of people who have never played a video game before, or at least not until they tried Farmsville or Peggle or Bejeweled. The bigger the industry grows, the more mainstream it becomes, the more money and more developers will be drawn into making games.

I can see why hardcore gamers are turned off by Zynga, but casual and social games are not the enemy. If anything, they help gaming to become more mainstream.

I believe an earlier issue of GamePro also stated that Social gaming may become apart of the video gaming culture in the future. BioWare has already released at least 2 browser-based flash games (one promoting Dragon Age: Origins), and another that was on Facebook. Sid Meiers is trying to get Civilizations on Facebook as well.

The only reason I'm voting against Zynga is because 1) I've heard mostly bad reviews about Zynga [through Wikipedia and other reviews]. 2) I've never personally played any of Zynga's games.

 

[mars7a]

I've never been fond of Zynga, but only because I've never even heard of them until about a week ago. I don't have a Facebook account, and I've never played Farmville, so I can't have much of an opinion.

The Zynga vs. Valve thread is a complete joke right now though. Over 400 pages of everything from porn to terrible trolls. That's what happens when someone tells 4chan.

Wow someone told 4chan? Oh well, you get 'em 4chan, this isn't my regular forums anyway.
You know this is going to go to hell real fast.

 

[bassdrum]

I don't hate Zynga at all. As I said before (on another thread, and I'm too lazy to go get it), I'm not so much voting against Zynga as I am voting for whichever company they're opposing. Any comments that I may make about them are part joking, part befuddlement at why a community comprised mostly of hardcore gamers is continuing to pass on a casual developer instead of Valve, which is a clear favorite of this community (based on all of the posts you'll see about HL2, L4D, etc.). I'm mostly just confused as to how a hardcore community is continuing to vote for a casual developer--don't confuse that for hatred, or really even dislike.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I don't hate them. I just don't think they have any place in this competition.

They're also bringing a lot of hate to the escapist. Admittedly less though their own supporters, who really don't seem to have much of a clue of what they've walked into and are just here to vote and maybe post "Go Zynga" before leaving. It's mostly escapist regulars or posters from other sites who have heard of this. I've even seen 4chan in the mix which is worrying to say the least.

We barely recovered from Turbine last year, and the fallout from this competition is going to be immense. I wonder how long it will be before the escapist is a happy jolly hippy gamey place again. Probably once the mods send in the cleaners.

snip

Thats the thing. We're not. Zynga have been advertising the competition on facebook. Hense the ball of hate that is MM.

 

[MKScorpion]

Zynga isn't a true game developer. Yes, they have released a string of flash game hits but even the CEO has admitted to using shady tactics that would make Kotick blush.

 

[robbaz]

huh zynga only do flash games... but why do people vote on them? there most be something to gain.

 

[LightOfDarkness]

Because Zynga is a scamming (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96024-Zynga-CEO-Admits-to-Being-a-Scammer) developer that makes games in five weeks (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98990-How-FarmVille-Was-Written-In-Five-Weeks) and uses different tactics to make players keep playing (http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html) and should die in a fire.
It's just insulting that Zynga get's compared to the likes of NCSoft (Exteel is a decent game, much better than farmville) and VALVe (FarmVille, Mafia Wars Vs. Source, Half-Life 1/2/EP1/EP2, TF2, Counter-Strike 1.6/Condition Zero/Source, GldSrc) and that Zynga doesn't even make games, they make interactive movies (replace clicking on plant to water with a little button on the side saying "click to water plant")