New Release -- February 11th, 2011

[Tamblyne]

I'm anxiously awaiting a new update, too, and check frequently to see if there is one. But if it's not there? It's certainly not the end of the world! Improved functionality, like the Facility Manager, takes time and testing prior to release. I'd rather wait awhile for something like that than have an update every couple of weeks that amounts to nothing more than additional facilities or new crops. These are fun, but who can keep up with all of that?

I'm not playing any other games now -- I'm already spending too much time on this one :-) -- but when I *did* play Farmville, yes, they came out with new stuff all the time. Too much too often, frankly, and they weren't improving the game. They were improving their bottom line by offering a high percentage of things that required real money -- and ignoring the fact that the game was becoming almost impossible to play because of lack of farm space, storage, loading issues, etc. The core problems of the game got no attention at all. More often than not, the "updates" were disappointing -- more space-wasting junk, begging neighbors to send bits and pieces of junk -- junk junk junk.

Farm Town, however, never disappoints. There are always plenty of neet surprises for anyone -- free or cash player -- in every update. I like the fact that they fix things I never even realized needed fixing, and offer new functionality that makes the game easier and less time consuming to play. The Production Chain list in the Facility Manager is just awesome. I took a few lame stabs at trying to come up with my own list, but with so many facilities, I kept getting lost.

But even more important than that, to me, is the fact that the Devs actually pay attention to the issues that are raised, and do something about them! I don't mind spending money on this game, when I can, because I don't feel like I'm being milked constantly, or taken for a fool. While they need to make a profit -- there's no free lunch! -- they don't focus on that to the exclusion of all else.

I can't wait for the next update. But in the meantime, there's plenty to do in Farm Town -- and real life!