the net raiders

It has recently come to my attention that people are spending way too much time on Facebook. I was under the impression that it was meant to be used as a way to stay up to date with people you know without having to contact everyone individually. However, based on how often I see ten or more people logged in for hours on end, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Facebook is no longer just a social network site. So what is it that people are doing for all that time? If they’re anything like me (and being my friends I’m going to say “yes”) they’re probably playing on Facebook’s game applications like Mafia Wars, Pet Society or Bejelweled.

It’s hard for me as a gamer to really consider something like Mafia Wars a game though. When I play it, I’m not doing much more than clicking buttons on the screen and getting frustrated with the annoying load icon. The whole point of this game is to gain achievements and levels. What I can’t understand is how a game like Mafia Wars got so popular when there’s almost nothing to it. Obviously the developers of Mafia Wars, Zynga, is making money off someone somewhere. Otherwise there wouldn’t be fifty versions of the same game with different themes that range anywhere from Sorority Life to Street Racing.

My most recent escapade into the world of “click” games is Hero World by Rockyou Games. Rather than doing “Jobs” like Mafia Wars, you do “missions”. Missions require you to click on a button that says “Do Mission” and you are rewarded with money and “power points”. The power points can be used to upgrade your hero’s stats like health or recovery. Power points are also the same as experience points which help you level up. Every time you level you get a “Hero Point” which is the same as the Godfather “reward points” in Mafia Wars. Hero Points are necessary if you want to battle villains, enhance your armour or customize your character.

Villains and Goons will appear in the missions page for you to battle. You defeat your opponent by either beating the crap out of them or using a power if you’ve got one. Powers are obtained by defeating bad guys that have the powers you want, and if you have enough power points, then you can absorb them (which costs around 50 power points) to be used in later battles.

Like Mafia Wars you earn more cash by having properties that are called “bases”. You only get one base per town you work in. Each base can be upgraded after you’ve managed to convince enough of your friends to join, and paid a hefty sum of cash. The larger your base, the more money you get. There’s also items you can buy or win in fights to beef up your stats, some of which cost Hero points to enhance.

While I think this game is definitely an upgrade from games like Mafia Wars, it’s not much of one. It actually sucks up more of your time than the original click games it stemmed from because of the real time recovery on your energy bar, and the constantly updating missions. While I understand that the Hero Points are how Rockyou is making money, I feel that they require the players to spend them too often. It costs 8 Hero Points alone to customize your character, which is the same as enhancing four pieces of armor once, or battling four villains.

Unfortunately the only alternatives to these games on Facebook are applications like Bejeweled or Play Fish games such as; Word Challenge, Pet Society and Restaurant City, all of which suck up almost as much time as the click games, and feel almost as pointless. I think that it’s time I log off Facebook, and log in to something far more worthy of my time. Starcraft anyone?