The Escapist's March Mayhem!

[Dark_Xerda]

Hi Playgrounders,
Hopefully this is in the right place but i noticed that there are no threads about this competition that is currently runing on The Escapist anywere to be seen on the forum so i thought id bring it to your attention and see if anyone was interested.

Its basicaly a knockout tournament of game developers with people voteing for there favorite and its been narrowed down to the final 4 all ready with the matchups being:

Blizzard vs Bioware (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/532.184371-Poll-Round-5-Field-of-Four-2-Blizzard-vs-1-BioWare)

and

Valve vs Zynga (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/532.184375-Poll-Round-5-Field-of-Four-7-Zynga-vs-1-Valve?page=1)

There is alot of upset on their forums about Zynga getting this far because alot of members dont see them as a real gaming company (They make the facebook games like FarmVille and MafiaWars) its pretty interesting and you should check it out :smallbiggrin:

(Also first post so dont be to harsh :smalleek: )

[thegurullamen]

How in the name of all that is holy is Zynga, (sponsors of Zyngate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7YaVVpK1G4), those unethical jerks) holding their own against Valve, the diamond exemplar of gaming companies? HOW?!

[Dark_Xerda]

Its pretty crazy, they somehow manged to beat SquareEnix, Infinity Ward, NCSoft and Rockstar in the previous rounds and its looking like its going to be very close between them and Valve as well =\

[VanBuren]

I don't... I just...

Who would regularly be a fan of The Escapist and then choose Zynga over Valve?

Much wailing. And gnashing of teeth. Can't forget the gnashing.

[Cespenar]

Meh, someone probably spams in Zynga's favor.

[hap_hazard]

Zynga has links on their games asking people to vote. :smallsigh:

[thegurullamen]

And to balance that, Valve's fans just rallied 4chan.

http://gadgetsteria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/facepalm1.jpg You can just imagine how well that's going over.

[Rutskarn]

Guys, you might not want to link the Valve thread.

4chan is in the house. Things are getting a bit...pornish.

[KBF]

You can vote with just your Facebook account. Zynga offers Facebook games. That can actually offer incentives for voting for them. Will they break the game? Is it unfair? Their games don't have any sort of balance and a minimum of gameplay so it doesn't matter.

And Valve is still keeping up. Help the cause.

[VanBuren]

And to balance that, Valve's fans just rallied 4chan.

http://gadgetsteria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/facepalm1.jpg You can just imagine how well that's going over.

A shady move to be sure. But you'd be hard pressed to find a stronger armada on the intertubes.

[KBF]

A shady move to be sure. But you'd be hard pressed to find a stronger armada on the intertubes.

They're now voting for Zynga.

Thus the facepalm.

[nooblade]

I don't... I just...

Who would regularly be a fan of The Escapist and then choose Zynga over Valve?

Much wailing. And gnashing of teeth. Can't forget the gnashing.

Me, me!

They don't criticize their dearly beloved games very much (Bioware and Valve are the main offenders) but the Escapist does deliver fun related to the games and producers that they don't overrate.

But would I vote for Zynga? They can't be too bad.

[KBF]

But would I vote for Zynga? They can't be too bad.

Did you watch the Zyngate video up there? Their model is based on maximizing time spent on their games, the spread of their games, and a minimum of actual effort put into the games. Oh, and $$$PROFIT$$$. Yes, I've played Mafia Wars. Got a decent level. Yes, I help some friends through it, sending gifts or whatever. I know first-hand how dumb their games are and how designed they are solely for profit and viral..-ness. You play their games because your friends are playing it, and you pay them money to be better at it then them, or to make your group of friends better than other people's friends.

Meanwhile, Valve is making games that I want to play because they are fun, at very reasonable prices that only get better as they continue to add more content to them.

[nooblade]

Eh, it looks like technically you could play these games for free. I'd be worried about money too, with that kind of thing, it didn't really sound like the guy was admitting to being a "robber baron" or something.

And you're obviously not satisfied playing a simple but popular social game, but it looks like a ton of others do like it. Even if it's all mass hypnosis, I'd hazard to say that the Facebook games have really accomplished something that's pretty unique.

[trmptfnfr]

Eh, it looks like technically you could play these games for free. I'd be worried about money too, with that kind of thing, it didn't really sound like the guy was admitting to being a "robber baron" or something.

And you're obviously not satisfied playing a simple but popular social game, but it looks like a ton of others do like it. Even if it's all mass hypnosis, I'd hazard to say that the Facebook games have really accomplished something that's pretty unique.
Did you hear the part where he admitted to encouraging players to download stuff he didn't even know what was? (Which he couldn't get rid of himself after downloading it.) Or when he said he did "Every dirty thing to get revenue"?

[baudot]

Facebook is HUGE. Zygna isn't a core gamer's company, but many times as many people have played their games as have Valve's. And Valve's games can be lost. People can feel annoyed at their games. Anybody can sit down at a Zygna game and have a steady stream of achievements.