Why Farmville is a Lame Business Model

I admittedly used to love Farmville.  First semester sophomore year, I filled my study breaks with Farmville.  I also filled my studying with Farmville.  It was very entertaining to watch my little farm grow because of the work I put into it.  I justified my perfected time-wasting by pretending that the economics were completely accurate and that the game was a good portrayal of real life.

Then I bought a tractor and Farmville informed me that, to fuel the tractor, I had to spend money on the game.  Real money.  What a joke.  I could not possibly sit still long enough to run my farm without a tractor.  I quit playing Farmville.

I think Farmville’s business model is lame.  I will call it the bottle rocket business model.  It preys on users that are obsessed with their product for a short time and spend some money on it.  Even the product itself is only a fad.  This business is purely to make money through a fad.

The problem is, they’re making money.  That says something about us.  We’re lame too.