| Free - at last, from Farming |
| ..or, how I found peace by quitting
Farmville |
| by Larry Laird |
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 It
had been on my mind for a long time. I wanted to do it. I came
close many times. Then, finally, one rainy September morning I
made it happen. I pulled the plug. Yes, I stopped playing
Farmville, that damned-able application from Facebook. It's only
been a few hours now and so far, I'm suffering no signs of
withdrawal. It's been nothing at all like quitting tobacco. At
least, not yet.
Will I get up tomorrow morning and religeously try to check my
"farm" only to realize that it's gone forever? Swallowed up
somewhere in cyberspace. My crops withered, my animals starving,
fruit ready to be picked from my trees. My faithful cyber-dog
searching for me in vain.
I seriously doubt it. |
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In fact, I'm actually feeling
much better. None of those things concern me. I don't
care about those friend requests unfulfilled, or gifts
laying unclaimed. The thing with the dog kind of gets to
me but I've got a flesh and blood pooch so I'll be fine.
Maybe I should feel some remorse in that my Farmville
"neighbors" have lost me. But, I don't. Were they really
my friends? Or, were they just into it for what they
could get out of me? I guess they'll just need to send
out a neighbor requests to replace me. Maybe it's like I
virtually died or something. I'm not sure on that one.
Maybe I'll miss them. Maybe not. |
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| MY FARMVILLE FRIENDS |
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| MARK PINCUS -
BILLIONAIRE |
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I would have stayed on with Farmville but the game just became
too demanding and annoying. Always trying to entice you to spend
some money on it. Even the honcho of Zynga, the parent company
of Farmville, Mark Pincus, has admitted that he uses every
"dirty trick in the book" to get users to spend money on his
games.
He is doing a good job too, he joined the Forbes
Billionaires List this year with a net worth of $1 billion! |
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I didn't have the habit nearly as bad as some I know. I might
have spent 45 minutes a day fooling with my imaginary farm.
Others I know spend their entire day on Facebook, playing not
only Farmville but a host of other Zynga created games like
Frontierville, Cityville, Cafe World, and others. They've made
that their lives. I guess there is a social aspect to it all,
interacting to a degree with other players and friends. But, it
has to be tough to get much else down during your day being
glued to your computer screen your entire waking hours.
For those people I think it's an addiction like any other.
Just like smoking or alcoholism. While not nearly as
damaging physically (carpal tunnel, blindness, perhaps?) , it
still consumes the individual. I think I was headed that
direction myself.
Now - I've quit - cold turkey! |
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