Facebook Poker Chips Blog

Posts Tagged ‘farmville’

Zynga, the creator of the wildly popular Farmville application on Facebook, denied rumors that it would be switching from a free to a subscription-based model at the end of March. The rumor seems to have originated on the site FarmvilleFreak.com, a fansite for Farmville players who just can’t seem to get enough of the game after playing it for 15 hours a day and feel the need to read it about for another 5 hours, before catching a quick 4 hour power nap so they can get up and harvest their crops before they wilt (am I lying?).

The rumor was probably fabricated as a way to drum up controversy and anger by fan sites, because like they say theres no such thing as “bad publicity”. But most social gaming experts point to a time when the uncharted growth in many of these games will level off or begin to fall, and as game developers scramble to boost the bottom line they may inevitably turn to charging monthly fees to play Facebook Poker, Farmville, or Mafia Wars, much like the creators of World of Warcraft and many other MMORPGs. It might not be as bad as most people think however, as many of us already spend money on so many in game items. Would hardcore facebook poker players shell out say.. $50 per month, for example, if they were given half a million free facebook poker chips every day that they logged into the game, as an incentive to keep coming back? Who knows, but for the time being it appears like it’s not something you need to worry too much about.

(polls)

Facebook Poker Chips in Zynga’s Poker Blitz

Game maker Zynga quietly rolled out a new game last month called Poker Blitz, another gaming application that let’s players gamble online with facebook poker chips. Their previous game, Zynga Poker commands the attention of over 20 million online gamers already and Poker Blitz is aimed mostly at that existing fan base of players.

Poker Blitz has very friendly and colorful graphics and an interface reminiscent of their other games like Yoville and Farmville. Once players sign up they’re able to build a character and customize it to their liking before hitting the tables. Gameplay is just like other facebook texas holdem poker games and players are dealt 2 cards with 5 more on the table. And just like in regular poker they’re given the options to bet with facebook poker chips, except in Poker Blitz they’re playing against the dealer instead of other players. Also, the fourth and fifth round of betting have been eliminated, probably for sake of simplifying the game.

There is a win probability display that shows the chances of a player’s hand winning, geared toward helping new players understand hand strength so they learn not to squander their facebook poker chips on hands with low probabilities of winning. In addition to gambling with facebook poker chips, players will soon have the option to customize a virtual home that now is only marked as “coming soon” in the game.

Poker Blitz has more of an arcade style play than a tradition texas holdem game, where players can earn power ups, bonuses, and unlock special prizes that can award more facebook poker chips, luck, or wild card abilities like being able to switch cards with the dealer. Team play will also be available where players can compete in groups for prizes and awards in the game. Poker Blitz is currently in beta with a lot of features yet to be unlocked, so the full gaming experience can’t be enjoyed and these features will most likely be released incrementally by Zynga as they they did with Farmville. The game should appeal mostly to younger folks but I have a feeling that serious players probably prefer Zynga’s traditional no frills texas holdem poker title.