Comments on: The failure of social media games

By: Comment spam – These people are none too bright – Web Guru – Jonamerica.com

Comment spam – These people are none too bright – Web Guru – Jonamerica.com — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:24:22 +0000

[...] are three spam comments from my recent article, The failure of social media games, which discusses how current social media games are failing to be truly social. Serita [...]

By: Angle

Angle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:42 +0000

Very nice information. Thanks for this.

By: Angle

Angle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Very nice information. Thanks for this.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:59:27 +0000

I would describe "social game-play" as two or more players working together to accomplish a singular goal. A good example of what I'm talking about may be found in the Facebook version of the popular game, Civilization; due out in 2010.

I’ve been looking at ways of expanding the [Civilization] gameplay experience to include solo, competitive and cooperative play to take advantage of the uniqueness of social networks. (From Mashable.com)

From my experience with the game Spymaster, it's hard to tell whether or not the behavior of creating social game-play has involved a majority or minority of players. The site SpymasterFans.com was created within a few weeks of the game's launch to help players connect and create cells. Now that the game has built-in cell tools, many of the cells that once existed on SpymasterFans.com have left. Right now the site has more than 1000 members and close to 50 cells, but the major cells aren't listed. The largest cell, Zone, has its own website, spymasterzombie.com. Another large cell, Puma, uses Tinychat.com to communicate. There are other cells cites as well, like http://phnx.realbb.net/ or http://www.thunder-struck.nl/ I don't know how many people are actively playing Spymaster, so it's hard to gauge whether this is a majority activity, but it doesn't appear to me to be an anomaly.

By: Jonathan Eggers

Jonathan Eggers — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:59:00 +0000

I’ve been looking at ways of expanding the [Civilization] gameplay experience to include solo, competitive and cooperative play to take advantage of the uniqueness of social networks. (From Mashable.com)

By: Jim O

Jim O — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:35:45 +0000

Do you have data and a deeper description for this “more social game-play” you mention? Is it outlier behavior or is the majority engaging in it?

By: Jim O

Jim O — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Do you have data and a deeper description for this “more social game-play” you mention? Is it outlier behavior or is the majority engaging in it?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:17:59 +0000

From what I’ve seen, and judging by the feedback I’ve received, players are looking for a more social game-play. I think game developers aren’t adding these features because it’s a lot of work in an unproven market. If players didn’t want a more social game-play, then why are they taking the time to create social game-play and the networks to support it outside of the game?

A game like Spymaster is already earning money for the developers. I think it would be vastly more fun, and therefore likely to be more widely played and more profitable, with more social game-play.

By: Jonathan Eggers

Jonathan Eggers — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:17:00 +0000

A game like Spymaster is already earning money for the developers. I think it would be vastly more fun, and therefore likely to be more widely played and more profitable, with more social game-play.

By: Jim O

Jim O — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:37:58 +0000

There is a very simple answer to the question of why social games are not more social – money. There ARE games on the social networks that are indeed more social. People aren’t playing them as much or spending as much in them as the games you decry above. Game developers, being in business, have responded to this market feedback.

If people really wanted the types of games you advocate, they’d be playing and paying for them. They’re not. Market-driven conclusion: they do not actually want those types of games.