Social Economy: Why Facebook games have to charge money for items

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On almost any Facebook game wall, you will see posts from people complaining that the latest and greatest desired item requires real money to purchase. Many players cannot fathom why a Facebook game should ever require them to pay money for digital pixels, and find themselves irate when game developers do not offer a way to obtain all items without requiring real dollars to be spent. For some players, buying items simply isn't an option because they're too young to purchase without parent's permission, they are out of the country, or they simply do not have the extra change laying around to spend on a virtual game. In this column, we'll take a look at the reasons why Facebook game developers have to charge for items in their games despite player's constant objections.
Development Costs

Creating a game costs a huge chunk of money. We're not talking thousands here - for some of the top games that you're playing such as FarmVille or Pet Society, millions of dollars have been spent even before the game launched. Games require staff such as client programmers, server programmers, game designers, producers, project managers, business developers, and executives. That doesn't even include the standard business personnel that most companies require such as a Human Resources department, lawyer consultation, office managers, and more. Social games are easier to develop than console games and standard MMORPG titles, but they still require months of time and generally dozens of employees. That's a lot of salaries, office rent, and expenses that have to be made up.

Startup Costs

Social gaming is a division of gaming that is still in its infancy. Every day, it seems that there are new developers jumping into the pool of contenders trying to make the next blowup hit. Many of these companies are startups, that are funded by venture capitalists or angel investors. This means that these companies often are given millions of dollars to create social games that are profitable for their investors. Without profit, there is not success, and venture capitalists will no longer be interested in providing seed funding to social game developers. In other words, these games have to sell items to turn their company into a success.

Live Operation Costs

Arguably even more expensive than the initial development costs for a social game, is the expense of keeping it running long term. In order to have a live game that continually provides updates, fixes bugs, releases new and exciting content, and remains a successful product for the company - there are many financial resources that have to be dedicated to it. A live game requires hosting - even though the game is on Facebook it isn't actually hosted there. The developer has to pay all operating costs to keep the client and server running smoothly and supporting the thousands (sometimes millions) of players who log in every day. This is very expensive, and without money coming in your favorite game would not even be able to remain live and running.

There are also a number of other costs that are associated with running a live game. Someone needs to be in charge of the game, designing features and choosing what themed items to release. A full Quality Assurance team is required to make sure the game is running smoothly by testing every new release that goes into the game. Customer Support staff is an essential part of making sure the players are getting help for billing and support questions. Community Managers are often used to moderate forums, relate key customer concerns to the developers and executives, and handle the wall posts and engagement with the players. There are tons of artists required to make all of the new items that are for sale. This is just the beginning!

All of these staff members require pay, as making social games is not a hobby for them - it's a full time career. Your favorite social game not only has to be able to simply pay the bills to pay for technical costs, staff salaries, and office space, but they also have to make a profit in order to continue surviving as a viable company.

While it may be frustrating to you to see that you cannot afford to pay for items in the game, remember that most games that require a development staff this large are not free. Console games require an initial purchase fee of anywhere from $40 - $70, and traditional MMO games often have a box price of $50 plus require a monthly subscription fee. Social games are expensive to operate, and it is even more challenging when everyone is allowed to play the games for free for as long as they want without spending a dime. In most Facebook games, somewhere around 1-3% of players ever actually pay - but they make up for all of the other players.

FarmVille Tuscan Decorations: Tuscan Trellis, Tomato Cart & Castello Fence

    farmville tomato cart     farmville tuscan trellis
Tonight, June 4th, several Tuscan themed decorations were added to the FarmVIlle Market. These new items will be available for the next 14 days. Keep in mind the first round of Tuscan decorations (Umbrellas, Lawn Chairs, Bee Catcher and more) will be exiting the FarmVille Market in 7 days.

The new items include:

    Tuscan Trellis – 18$FV
    Tomato Cart – 12,000 coins
    Castello Fence – 5,000 coins


What Tuscan decorations have you purchased?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Mansion for Level 70 Players only!

farmville level 70 mansion
The Zynga gods must be listening to us!

Recently on FarmVille Freak we have been pleading for more benefits for our Level 70 farmers and tonight's updates introduced a brand new FarmVille building, the Mansion, accessible to Level 70 players only! farmville mansion

The Mansion can be purchased for a whopping 5 million coins making it the most expensive coin item in the market. However, most Level 70 farmers have excess coins to spend and nothing to buy so it shouldn't be much of an issue for them to purchase.

Are you impressed with the Level 70 Mansion?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille: New Peanut Butter and Jelly Co-op Job

farmville peanut butter and jelly
It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time! Tonight the new FarmVille Peanut Butter and Jelly Co-op job debuted. This job requires you to grow Peanut and Strawberry crops with the help of your neighbors to complete the job.


Peanut Butter and Jelly Co-Op Job Requirements:

    Gold Reward: Grow 800 Peanuts and 1200 Strawberries to be grown in 1 day and 7 hours for a Gold Reward
    Silver Reward: 2 days
    Bronze Reward: 3 days 6 hours

farmville co op farming peanut butter and jelly
Peanut Butter and Jelly Co-op Job description:

"Piloting is hard work, I spend all day up in the air, and with no time for a proper lunch I just eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but I'm out of PB&J! Can you help?"
farmville biplane
Peanut Butter and Jelly Co-Op Job Gold Reward:

The Biplane, offered as a new vehicle tonight for 30,000 coins in Market, is the Gold Reward for this job. So, if you are saving your coins, you have another option.

Additional bonuses offered for Gold are 620 coins and 745Xp.

Will you purchase the Biplane or go for Gold instead?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Tuscan Building: Observation Dome

farmville observation dome
Another building was added to the Tuscan theme. The Observation Dome can be purchased for 42$FV and will be available for the next 14 days. There are now 14 Tuscan buildings, all but the Wedding Tent can be purchased for $FV. farmville tuscan observation dome
farmville observation dome
What Tuscan themed building is your favorite?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

YoVille releases new July 4th items

The YoVille 2010, 4th of July items have arrived in the furniture store. There are actually quite a few coin items in this collection.

This 4th of July collection is adorned with red, white and blue stars and stripes. The collection includes a Patio Chair, sectional sofas; both side and front view, a pool mattress (you cannot sit or lay on it, but when you place it, it appears as if it is floating), umbrella, lounge chair, Adirondack chair, a spread out towel-you cannot sit or lay on it, a stack of folded towels, a drink cooling barrel, balloon cluster decoration, a balloon arch, 4th of July 3 tiered cake, a set of 3 candles and a throw pillow. The collection also includes more fireworks, spinners and sparklers.

I just bought up all the coins items myself. Whether it's one of the new summer homes or a coin home you are creatively converting into your 2010 summer home, this collection will be a good addition. Enjoy the new items and get busy creating your summertime getaway for the 4th of July, YoVille style. YoVille July 4th items 01
YoVille July 4th items 02
YoVille July 4th items 03
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This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

Cafe World: No Clean Fairy keeps stoves clean without clicking

Cafe World No Clean Fairy
Cafe World Special Items menuStoves in Cafe World always need to be clicked to be cleaned. Not even Super Stoves are immune to this drudgery. But now, in comes the No Clean Fairy, promising to leave stoves clean after use, while allowing you to pocket the Cafe Points earned from the cleaning.

The Fairy costs 95 Cafe Cash, and if you don't have a single Cafe dollar on you, you can buy a set of 120 Cafe Cash for $16 USD in the game. Granted, that's not cheap, and if you plan to be a long-term, real money spender in the game, the 780 Cafe Cash for $50 USD is the best deal.

You can find the No Clean Fairy hiding in the newest section of the Cafe World in-game store by clicking on "Functional Items", then "Special Items" (it's got an icon of a big blue jewel).