Casual Gamers Scammed By Web Game Apps

Yesterday when I logged onto my Facebook account I noticed yet another invitation to Farmville: The Farming Game! I let out a winded sigh and proceeded to delete the invitation. When I first signed up for Facebook, I quickly began to notice the incessant flow of ads for games and applications. Now, I can understand the practicality behind use of a localized arena to reconnect with old friends and the obvious networking factors but Facebook for gaming? Something seemed fishy to me and it sure wasn't the picture with you and your friends wearing sushi rollers as nipple clamps this past Halloween. After some more research I discovered some of the more delicate facts about this "free" addictive gaming craze and what it is doing to empty your wallets with out you even realizing it.

At a glance the major games are flowing from the hands of Zynga (Farmville) , Playfish (Pet Society), and Playdom (Mobsters). The games pull you in with their free game play offers and social networking (who wouldn't want to start a multi-million dollar crime syndicate with their friends?!). The majority of these games are well designed with a variety of classes and jobs all worked into an item based economic info structure that rewards you with in game cash incentives. At first this seems harmless enough until you realize that progress, dictated by leveling up is hindered by the amount of time not playing the game and certain items are only made available by using your real world credit card or mobile phone. Far be it for me to condemn a company for developing a brilliant way to make money. If the product is satisfying, (as several of my friends will evangelize to no end) and people are willing to pay money for said product then I applaud you. But here is the fishy part. For those squeamish about parting with their hard earned cash they can opt into the broad world of lead generation surveys to bolster their in game cash flow.

Have you ever loaded a website and got bombarded by ads promising free ipods or HDTV's if you just completed a simple survey often times requesting personal information? These are lead generations. Lead Gens are used by ad companies to generate sales potential based on local demographics and are used to develop cold call lists. These are responsible for much of the spam in your inbox and is a key way games like Farmville are using sneaky ways to siphon money from you. In one Farmville lead gen when you complete the survey you are told your results must be sent to you via text message and you are prompted to enter your phone number. What you are not told is that you have now officially signed up for a monthly subscription for 9.99. As you can see the ad tells nothing of a subscription fee resulting in those less Internet savvy falling prey to this heinous scheme.

I will be the first to tell you I am in favor of anything lucrative and game related. These casual game applications become a wonderful arena for the shrewd entrepreneur to step into the light, make some cash, and possibly add to our lexicon of game play sensibilities. Spore Islands is a gem (check out my review tomorrow). What I cannot condone are the shady, under handed dealings that lie, and all but steal from it's consumers while subsidizing the gambling addictions of thousands of housewives across the nation.This nastiness places mistrust in the very demographic these companies are trying to influence and would surely stifle any curiosity I might have as a web based game consumer. When push comes to shove and the product is quality (as it very clearly is in some instances) tell me what to expect up front and you will not simply have me as a sucker for the month but rather a customer for life.