Against the Facebook application of Farmville and its similar contemporaries
Sign Now
To the management of
Facebook, Inc
1601 S. California Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94304
USA
Without a doubt, it has not escaped your attention that several applications on Facebook have seen a major increase of usage over the past year, notably the game applications developed by Zynga. This petition concerns foremost the game application of Farmville, as well as its contemporaries that handle the same concept. This list of contemporaries includes, but is not limited to, Cafй World, Dope Wars, Dragon Wars, Fashion Wars, FishVille, Gang Wars, Mafia Wars, PetVille, Space Wars, Sea Wars, Vampire Wars and YoVille. While this petition concerns mainly the applications developed by Zynga, we do not exclude game applications developed by other companies that are of a similar concept.
The aim of this petition is to kindly, but nonetheless most explicitly, make the experience of communication on Facebook free from any incursions from Farmville and all similar game applications.
We fully understand the right and freedom of each Facebook user to post on their Wall anything that is of their choosing, within legal limits, and to use any application of their wish. However, we have come to experience that it is becoming quite impossible to use Facebook in an optimal manner for which it was originally intended, considering that we are swamped on a daily basis by wall posts, invites and application requests generated by aforementioned applications. The mission statement of Facebook claims it is intended to make the world more open and connected, and to keep up with friends. This is becoming quite impossible to do, when 90\% of ones Wall contains nothing but posts from Farmville and contemporary applications.
Though it is possible to block any requests from these applications, it would appear that related applications (e.g. Farmville Gifts) are appearing out of nowhere on a frequent basis, thus evading any previously blocked application requests. Though it is also possible to hide wall posts generated by specific applications, the same problem of the appearance of newly related applications manages to evade this on a frequent basis. As if that is not sufficient still, the latest manner in which these solutions are evaded, is by tagging people in photo albums related to Farmville or contemporary game applications. These tagged photos appear automatically on ones wall, but are impossible to hide or block, without hiding the tagged friend entirely, or removing him/her from your friend list. As a result, one is nearly forced to hide or remove the majority of their friends from their Facebook profile, which inevitably defeats the purpose for which Facebook.com was created in the first place.
Considering that this does not only concern one application, but a large list of contemporary game applications on Facebook, we have come to the conclusion that Facebook is facing a problem which can no longer be ignored, and against which it is inevitable to take measurements.
In addition to the above stated arguments, it must also be pointed out that there already exists much controversy around the developer Zynga, which technically concerns their work ethics. This controversy concerns the copying of game concepts from competing developers (which was settled in a lawsuit), the various accusations that Zynga offers scams, and even the application Fishville was taken temporarily offline from Facebook in the past due to advertising violations. The unethical work code of Zynga can be best illustrated by quoting Marcus Pingus, founder and CEO of Zynga:
"So I funded [Zynga] myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this Zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldnt get rid of it. *laughs* We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business."
Mark Pincus, Speech from Startup@Berkeley, Source: Arrington, Michael (2009-11-06). "Zynga CEO Mark Pincus: I Did Every Horrible Thing in the Book Just to Get Revenues". TechCrunch. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/zynga-scamville-mark-pinkus-faceboo/. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
With this petition, we would additionally like to express our disgust toward such unethical activities of Zynga, which is all the more reason why we do not wish to be associated with any of this developers products in particular.
Regardless of our protest against the work ethics of Zynga, and all other aforementioned arguments, we recognize the right of each person to play the games of their choosing and at the frequency of their choosing. It is not our intention or right, to decide whether another person should or should not be allowed to play Farmville or contemporary game applications, but we do intend to stress the fact that it can no longer continue in the current format that literally spams our Wall on Facebook and renders us incapable of using Facebook for which it was originally intended.
Thereby, we propose one of the following options or solutions:
1. For Farmville and all other contemporary applications (whether developed by Zynga or not) to be permanently removed from Facebook, so that people who choose to play these games can go to websites specifically intended as gaming networks instead.
2. For Farmville and all other contemporary applications (whether developed by Zynga or not) to be heavily restricted on Facebook. It would no longer be possible to make wall posts, there would be a restriction on the maximum amount of invitations/requests that can be sent by a user, and there would be measurements to prevent the ability to easily make photos of ones achievements in those applications, so that they can no longer easily be posted in Facebook photo albums, nor tag people in those photos, be it manually or automatically.
3. For Facebook to set up a specific sub-network aimed at game applications, whereby Facebook users need to join this network first, before they are able to access Farmville and other games, as well as receive game application invites/requests. Additionally, wall posts or photo tags generated by these game applications would then only be visible to those members who have joined this sub-network, and not to others.
The undersigned of this petition wish to stress the utmost importance that the changes proposed in one of the three options above, are seriously considered and that a satisfying solution is brought forth by the management of Facebook Inc.
Once again we wish to stress that the aforementioned problems are increasingly rendering us incapable of using Facebook for which it is intended, and if no steps are taken to rectify this situation, we may be forced to consider leaving Facebook in favor for another social network, at which point Facebook.com would end up as classified under one of the many game networks out there on the internet. Nevertheless, we trust that this complaint will be handled with utmost respect and consideration by the management of Facebook, and that a satisfying solution will soon be forthcoming.
Facebook, Inc
1601 S. California Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94304
USA
Without a doubt, it has not escaped your attention that several applications on Facebook have seen a major increase of usage over the past year, notably the game applications developed by Zynga. This petition concerns foremost the game application of Farmville, as well as its contemporaries that handle the same concept. This list of contemporaries includes, but is not limited to, Cafй World, Dope Wars, Dragon Wars, Fashion Wars, FishVille, Gang Wars, Mafia Wars, PetVille, Space Wars, Sea Wars, Vampire Wars and YoVille. While this petition concerns mainly the applications developed by Zynga, we do not exclude game applications developed by other companies that are of a similar concept.
The aim of this petition is to kindly, but nonetheless most explicitly, make the experience of communication on Facebook free from any incursions from Farmville and all similar game applications.
We fully understand the right and freedom of each Facebook user to post on their Wall anything that is of their choosing, within legal limits, and to use any application of their wish. However, we have come to experience that it is becoming quite impossible to use Facebook in an optimal manner for which it was originally intended, considering that we are swamped on a daily basis by wall posts, invites and application requests generated by aforementioned applications. The mission statement of Facebook claims it is intended to make the world more open and connected, and to keep up with friends. This is becoming quite impossible to do, when 90\% of ones Wall contains nothing but posts from Farmville and contemporary applications.
Though it is possible to block any requests from these applications, it would appear that related applications (e.g. Farmville Gifts) are appearing out of nowhere on a frequent basis, thus evading any previously blocked application requests. Though it is also possible to hide wall posts generated by specific applications, the same problem of the appearance of newly related applications manages to evade this on a frequent basis. As if that is not sufficient still, the latest manner in which these solutions are evaded, is by tagging people in photo albums related to Farmville or contemporary game applications. These tagged photos appear automatically on ones wall, but are impossible to hide or block, without hiding the tagged friend entirely, or removing him/her from your friend list. As a result, one is nearly forced to hide or remove the majority of their friends from their Facebook profile, which inevitably defeats the purpose for which Facebook.com was created in the first place.
Considering that this does not only concern one application, but a large list of contemporary game applications on Facebook, we have come to the conclusion that Facebook is facing a problem which can no longer be ignored, and against which it is inevitable to take measurements.
In addition to the above stated arguments, it must also be pointed out that there already exists much controversy around the developer Zynga, which technically concerns their work ethics. This controversy concerns the copying of game concepts from competing developers (which was settled in a lawsuit), the various accusations that Zynga offers scams, and even the application Fishville was taken temporarily offline from Facebook in the past due to advertising violations. The unethical work code of Zynga can be best illustrated by quoting Marcus Pingus, founder and CEO of Zynga:
"So I funded [Zynga] myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this Zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldnt get rid of it. *laughs* We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business."
Mark Pincus, Speech from Startup@Berkeley, Source: Arrington, Michael (2009-11-06). "Zynga CEO Mark Pincus: I Did Every Horrible Thing in the Book Just to Get Revenues". TechCrunch. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/zynga-scamville-mark-pinkus-faceboo/. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
With this petition, we would additionally like to express our disgust toward such unethical activities of Zynga, which is all the more reason why we do not wish to be associated with any of this developers products in particular.
Regardless of our protest against the work ethics of Zynga, and all other aforementioned arguments, we recognize the right of each person to play the games of their choosing and at the frequency of their choosing. It is not our intention or right, to decide whether another person should or should not be allowed to play Farmville or contemporary game applications, but we do intend to stress the fact that it can no longer continue in the current format that literally spams our Wall on Facebook and renders us incapable of using Facebook for which it was originally intended.
Thereby, we propose one of the following options or solutions:
1. For Farmville and all other contemporary applications (whether developed by Zynga or not) to be permanently removed from Facebook, so that people who choose to play these games can go to websites specifically intended as gaming networks instead.
2. For Farmville and all other contemporary applications (whether developed by Zynga or not) to be heavily restricted on Facebook. It would no longer be possible to make wall posts, there would be a restriction on the maximum amount of invitations/requests that can be sent by a user, and there would be measurements to prevent the ability to easily make photos of ones achievements in those applications, so that they can no longer easily be posted in Facebook photo albums, nor tag people in those photos, be it manually or automatically.
3. For Facebook to set up a specific sub-network aimed at game applications, whereby Facebook users need to join this network first, before they are able to access Farmville and other games, as well as receive game application invites/requests. Additionally, wall posts or photo tags generated by these game applications would then only be visible to those members who have joined this sub-network, and not to others.
The undersigned of this petition wish to stress the utmost importance that the changes proposed in one of the three options above, are seriously considered and that a satisfying solution is brought forth by the management of Facebook Inc.
Once again we wish to stress that the aforementioned problems are increasingly rendering us incapable of using Facebook for which it is intended, and if no steps are taken to rectify this situation, we may be forced to consider leaving Facebook in favor for another social network, at which point Facebook.com would end up as classified under one of the many game networks out there on the internet. Nevertheless, we trust that this complaint will be handled with utmost respect and consideration by the management of Facebook, and that a satisfying solution will soon be forthcoming.
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