Zynga Seems More Sinister Than You Might Expect

[Gindil]

Damn... another game maker has gone to the dark side...

Kinda hard to go when you were there in the first place.

OT: While I'm all for saying innovation is great, Zynga did a smart move. Nothing says they can't just make a similar product and spot shine it enough to make it better.

Still, I'm not a fan of the "casual" market and Zynga is one of the worst so I'm not going to even say they're bad. They just happened to get on FB with a large audience which allowed them to grow at a far greater exponential rate.

 

[ShadowKirby]

That guy and his company give Facebook gaming a bad name.

 

[Atmos Duality]

As odd as this may sound, I really admire Pincus's attitude. So what if he's not an ideal game developer? He definitely isn't in this business to make a glorious, creative contribution to video games as an art - he's in it to make money.

Is there suddenly something wrong with wanting to make tons of cash and being honest about how you're going to it?

So we can condone stealing the work of others as long as we're honest about it?

Maybe I should try that excuse if I ever decide to commit plagiarism.
"Oh, I know I basically copied this other guy's work and claimed it as my own, but I admitted it up front, so it's cool, right? Right??"

Give me a break.

 

[DazBurger]

Og gawd noes! Must... Warn... Everybody!
.
.
.
.
.
But... First... ... I... Am... Somewhat... Hungry... So.. After... I... Made... Me... A...... Sandwich.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Side-note, am I the only one remember reading an article in which they talked to the Zynga founder, and he explicitly said he used ever damn dirty trick he could, scamming included, just to get cash, and still does?

Nope [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96024-Zynga-CEO-Admits-to-Being-a-Scammer].

 

[Mr. Grey]

I'm honestly dead tired of hearing of them, even if it be about evil news. You're just giving them more power, stop that.

If you want my two cents on this... it's more than likely exaggerated, but that doesn't mean it never happened. The way they speak about it may be in entire truth or may just be added with emphasis by the editor of the article or the ex-employees themselves. I won't know, I don't care to know. The whole thing is a mess I don't expect anyone to clean up any time soon.

 

[poiuppx]

I agree that Zynga is a stupid company, but I also dislike this article (especially) and a lot of members on the Escapist who are really desperate to defame Zynga and insult them.
They are making money, you aren't, they are lucky, sitting back and complaining isn't making them lose any money. Nothing you can do about it except ignore it.

Edit: I doubt the quote in this article is word-by-word true, and companies like Jagex and Sulake (the creators of Habbo Hotel) have been 'ripping' people off for years.

Yeah, this article makes it sound like second to market me-too style companies are Satan incarnate. Yeah, they're intellectually bankrupt as all hell, but compared to what some companies do to their employees and to the planet, I think acting like they're the worst folks to ever slide on a power tie is a bit idiotic.

 

[greenflash]

i knew it all along!

 

[RelexCryo]

Damn... another game maker has gone to the dark side...

He started on the dark side. Farm Town came out before Farmville. Pincus just copied them. He *started* with plagiarism.

 

[matrix3509]

Here we go again repeat after me "Four legs good, two legs bad". Its a business what did you except? I suggest you look up Thomas Edison and examine his business practices, which included bribery, copyright violations and forming a monopoly over movies in the US. Zynga are just following a tried, and tested successful path.

He also staged public executions of large animals (including elephants) in order to "prove how dangerous AC current was." That is not a successful business plan. That is being a cruel and inhuman cock sucker.

 

[Why do I care]

And this company nearly won March Mayhem?

Zynga doesn't deserve any of their success.

But I know how to stop them.

Shut down every other gaming company on earth, so that they don't have ideas to steal!

Or storm Zynga HQ guns blazing hoping to destroy all the farmville servers. I'm pitching ideas here, anyone else?

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

I read the story. This company can't survive, or we shouldn't let it. I especially like in the beginning how it said PS/Xbox games are trying to be accepted as art, and these guys are copying and pasting code.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

You mean, gasp, the people who clearly steal ideas and make money off of people being scammed didn't make their games original, despite them getting lots of press from sites just like this one? OH MAY GAWD!

 

[Iron Lightning]

Righto, that's it, Zynga is dead. It almost nearly had a good run, no use grieving. Let's just wait a few months for the septuagenarians to get bored and let that damn company die.

It's stuff like this that really shakes up my faith in capitalism. If, a few months from now, they're not dead then you can just call me a socialist.

 

[ObsessiveSketch]

Seriously, this is news? A five-minute browsing session through Zynga's game will reveal rampant ripoffs. Every single one of their games has been done before, almost exactly the same. Mafia Wars used to be Mob Wars, Farmville used to be Farmtown. Seriously, it's a wonder this company is allowed to keep running.

 

[samsonguy920]

As odd as this may sound, I really admire Pincus's attitude. So what if he's not an ideal game developer? He definitely isn't in this business to make a glorious, creative contribution to video games as an art - he's in it to make money.

Is there suddenly something wrong with wanting to make tons of cash and being honest about how you're going to it?

It's very capitalist of him, but if he continues on his careless tour of breaking laws like they are sticks on the road, the list of countries he can do business in or even be in start to shrink.
I may keep an eye out for his face on Interpol's public site.

 

[Waif]

Whether or not Zynga makes copies of other games isn't the relevant point, what matters is that this behavior is something is part of the social gaming industry. Something that Zynga isn't alone in doing. With two comparisons:

http://www.thefacebookforum.net/zynga-f117/playfish-vs-zynga-the-never-ending-copying-battle-t1898.htm

To say that Zynga get's all of it's ideas by copying others ideas is pure fabrication, and there is evidence for this. There are some ideas that are based on other ideas, such was the case with mob wars when they made mafia wars. The reality of it is, the ideas that they may borrow, they innovate on. In improving the graphics and gameplay. Comparing Pet Society to Petville with this in particular. I've played both, and Petville definitely is better in many ways. Not every way, but yeah.

 

[Bobzer77]

People said it in March, people (including me) are saying it again, can we please keep these assholes out of March Mayhem?

 

[Spacelord]

No, actually, this just confirms that Zynga is just about exactly as sinister as I had expected.

Does anyone know whether they have any psychologists on the payroll? If so how many?