A new online game from the United States is captivating more and more people: Farmville, which initiates to the joys and constraints of agriculture and livestock. Over 62 million people carefully manage a virtual farm and according to Farmville creators Zynga, 22 million of them go online at least once a day.
According to an article by French newspaper Courrier International, the game starts simply, players are attributed a plot of land and seeds to plant and cultivate; they can then sell their harvest for virtual money. They must harvest on time, milk the cows and also fulfil social obligations such as exchange gifts or apply fertilizer to their neighbour's pumpkins. As savings increase, they can invest in both the basics (rice, pumpkin seeds) and extras (elephants, hot air balloons).
The application is still undeveloped in France but, as often the case with internet crazes, it shouldn’t take long to take off. Without going so far as some university scholars, who see this as a sign of the rejection of modern urban life, the enthusiasm for the game shows that links between agriculture and the population are not entirely inexistent, well, at least not in Anglo-Saxon countries where it is all the rage. In any event, let us hope that it will alert users to the constraints of farm life, even if of course, these constraints are very basic compared to real life. |