Adventure World

[luckton]

http://apps.facebook.com/playadventureworld/

Yes, Zynga launched another game.  I'll let Inside Social Games describe it:

Zynga’s Adventure World is an exploration adventure game for with puzzle elements. The game will launch on Facebook in the next week or so.

This is the first title to come from Zynga Boston, the studio formed following the Conduit Labs acquisition back in August 2010. That studio has expanded via a hire-acquisition in the last year to include Floodgate Entertainment. In the last 12 months, Zynga Boston has expanded from 16 people to 35, recruiting some team members from MMO developer Turbine.

Adventure World is built as a combination MMO and classic adventure video game. Zynga Boston General Manager Nabeel Hyatt — formerly CEO of Conduit Labs — likened it to the original Legend of Zelda in the way the game invites players to explore and advance. Like Nintendo’s Zelda franchise, Adventure World players work through large area maps on a quest for treasure using tools or weapons collected along the way, like a machete or a whip, for example. The visuals in-game reminds us of the original Indiana Jones films, with a nonspecific 1930s era feel to the settings, decoration and interface.

The game launched today, actually, and so far it's a standard Cow-Clicker affair.  Although I do like one improvement; when stuff falls out of whatever you're clicking on, you just have to run your cursor over it to collect.  My mouse and index finger already love this game 

[Nebu]

I have to be on Facebook to play? 

Lame. 

[Ghambit]

So lemme get this straight, they're banking on replayability because since there's an energy mechanic it's impossible to actually explore maps entirely, even though the game is an exploration puzzle-game?   

"sure, you can see it, almost touch it, but you'll hafta come back later to get there.  $10 please."  Woohoo, we're "persistent!"

[Margalis]

Why do we keep up the charade that each of these games is somehow different from the preceding one? They are all basically the same with a different coat of paint. They just introduce a new one as the old one begins to wane.

You can create some sort of elaborate story about how this one is a farm sim and this one is an online Risk variant and this one is Legend of Zelda but really they are all basically the same. The core mechanics are just wrapped in a new metaphor.

[schild]

Why do we keep up the charade that each of these games is somehow different from the preceding one? They are all basically the same with a different coat of paint. They just introduce a new one as the old one begins to wane.

You can create some sort of elaborate story about how this one is a farm sim and this one is an online Risk variant and this one is Legend of Zelda but really they are all basically the same. The core mechanics are just wrapped in a new metaphor.

You have now solidified the correctness of this subforum being in the MMOG forum. Go directly to the nearest SWTOR thread, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

[luckton]

So I've played around with game a bit...there's really not a whole lot going on here.  You hit the RMT wall and/or friend-whoring wall pretty quickly, along with not having enough energy to complete even the earliest 'adventures' through 1 or 2 full-energy bar runs.  Certainly not helping that the critters are now attacking and robbing you of energy.  I'd rather have a separate health bar that the critters eat at so I can at least tend to shit in the 'venture or back at camp with what energy I have left over.  If they're expecting people to pony up money just to see it eaten away from snakes, well, they'll probably get someone to pay, but not me  

The additional wall of having to have friends accept your invitation to tag along in a venture is another gripe.  And of course you have the typical wall-spam of posts in order to get anything done.

Graphics, sound and performance-wise, Zynga still proves they're the best in the FB biz.  Hate on them all you want for nickle-and-diming you to the grave, the game fucking works, which is more than what a lot of people can say about other FB games.

I just wish they'd come up with a game that didn't require as much friend-whoring as the current lot do.  Take some lessons from F2P MMOs and let people play without being tied up so much.  Let me buy the shit that I need to upgrade the shops and stuff with the in-game currency.  I don't care if it's vastly overpriced...I just hate having to spam the shit out of people in order to progress.

[Xanthippe]

I have to be on Facebook to play? 

Lame. 

Why not create a Facebook persona just for playing FB games?  Nebu Scrimshaw or some such.  Not only will you be able to play games, but you can go to the game group and add "friends" solely for the purpose of playing games. 

[luckton]

I have to be on Facebook to play? 

Lame. 

Why not create a Facebook persona just for playing FB games?  Nebu Scrimshaw or some such.  Not only will you be able to play games, but you can go to the game group and add "friends" solely for the purpose of playing games. 

I believe FB actively seeks and destroys 'fake' FB accounts now.  Unless you're actively posting information to give their marketing people information to sell, they lock down the account.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Define "actively posting".  I have a Farmville only account that I use just to help my RL FV account out, and I had no qualms about neighbor whoring it to hell and beyond (just like the Zynga model wants you to), but I do post stuff to my game feeds and click like on my neighbor game feed stuff for the game, so does that count?

[luckton]

Define "actively posting".  I have a Farmville only account that I use just to help my RL FV account out, and I had no qualms about neighbor whoring it to hell and beyond (just like the Zynga model wants you to), but I do post stuff to my game feeds and click like on my neighbor game feed stuff for the game, so does that count?

I don't have a definition.  All I've read is that they're cracking down.  I suppose playing a game does count to activity for marketers to track 

[RhyssaFireheart]

Yeah, that's all I play.  And now that FB has added that activity feed on the right side of the page, I'm really amazed at the number of games some of these people play on a regular basis.  I'm doing good to keep up with FV only, much less playing Gardens of Time and Adventure World and Pioneer Trail and Cityville and and and...  I guess that's what the game makers want though.

As for Adventure World, I was tempted to check it out but managed to hear early on it used the energy system and I didn't even bother.  I tried dealing with that crap in Treasure Isle (think that was the name) and it just completely frustrated me.  I just wanted to explore, not sit around and wait forever and a day to do anything.