Confessions of a Farmville Addict

If you’re on Facebook, then chances are that you’ve encountered Farmville. You’ve probably been invited by friends to play the game, seen feeds by friends sharing their bushels, water, seedlings and other goodies from that highly addictive game where you as the virtual farmer plant crops for coins and XP points.

I started playing Farmville about two years ago and three months into the game I was taken into the dark side of online games. I spent hours decorating my farm, harvesting and searching feeds to claim gift rewards. I watched video tutorials on how to create 3-D effects on my farm and I stalked the Farmville Forum to check out pictures of other farms.

It all seemed like a harmless

pastime. It was free and fun. Well … that’s what I thought … until … I began to buy Farmville Cash so I could buy cute awesome buildings and animals for my farm. The first time I spent 20 dollars for 115 Farm cash I thought that I could have bought groceries with that money instead of buying sheep, pigs and chickens that I couldn’t eat.

I didn’t expect for Farmville to take over my social life, but it did. One night I was out with friends and I rushed home because I remembered that my crops were about to wither. I feigned stomach problems because no one wants you to stay when you’re ostensibly in pre-diarrhea mode.

I didn’t expect Farmville to take over my working life, but it did. While working I strategized in my head which crops I would plant next and which crops yielded the most XP points to help me get to the next level. Farmville also changed my shopping preference from Nordstrom to shopping for new outfits for my avatar. I didn’t tell anybody about my obsession with Farmville for fear that more sensible friends would tease me and call me a dork. But I was a dork in the closet. I couldn’t come out. And the worst part is that I couldn’t stop.

Then one day a friend saw my screen saver. Most people have pictures of their kids or their cats. I had neither but I had a picture of my farm with my Pattypans in full bloom. Are you one of those people she asked me. One of what I said. You know she said, those Farmville people. No I just do it once in a while I said. If I were attached to a lie detector those needles would have been going haywire. Then finally, I had to admit that I was a Farmville addict. I had all the symptoms of an addict. If you’ve ever had the misfortune of getting involved in Farmville, then take heed and ask yourself the following questions:

Would you rather watch your crops grow than watch life happen?

Would you rather visit your Farmville friends’ farms than visit your real life friends?

Do you prefer to tend and fertilize your crops than water your plants?

Have you broken your mouse from clicking too much due to plowing, planting and harvesting plots?

Do you ignore the hankerings of your bladder until you’ve sent back every gift request from your Farmville friends?

Do you friend strangers on Facebook just so you can have more Farmville neighbors?

Do you find yourself humming the Farmville theme during rush hour traffic?

Do you suffer anxiety attacks when the Farmville server goes down?

Are you constantly emailing Farmville support about how they can make the game better?

Have you considered starting your own Farmville blog about your farm?

As for me, I did quit cold turkey. Then I started again a few months ago, but the dazzle was gone. Farming suddenly felt like such a dull endeavor. I became entangled in a more aggressive endeavor. When I look back, farming is such a passive endeavor. Today I have a different obsession … so say hello to my little friend … Mafia Wars.

Do you play Farmville?

 

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© 2011 Lafemmeroar