I have played Farmville before, however I broke down and watched a couple YouTube tutorials on YoVill so I can "understand" the game's mechanics better.
IMHO this game play is nothing new, nor it is very unique.
1: You acquire items from "in world", mini games, and a duel currency shop.
2: You use the items to decorate your personal " in game space ".
3: Socialize with friends, who can help you get more items (if you spam request them)
Not including all the other " 'ville " games that exist ... good gods there are a lot of them ...
Secondlife (2002) is a close 3D approximation.
Furcadia (1996) runs on the same concept of socializing and building your own "personal space" .
Neopets (1999) is heavily centered around collecting items, and showing them off to friends while playing mini games.
Active Worlds (1994) is themed around building your own personal space, while socializing.
Club Penguin (2005) is very close to Yoville is game style.
I could go on all day with links, but I do not have the time. Just pointing out YV is not "unique".
A see a lot of folks are going through "withdraw" symptoms over this game, and I seriously suggest you seek help for your addiction before it ruins your life.
Last post I am making in this thread.
Zynga Pulls Plug on YoVille - Million$ in YoCash evaporate!
I would be quite open to trying my hand at an app/game that was similar. So, if you would wish to climb down off of your grammar-nazi pedestal... feel free to educate me.
Are you are experienced and informed about every other game in existance?There is NO game like it on the market.
If you said, 'I have personally never seen any other game like it', that might be accurate.
But saying, 'There is no other game like it', is inaccurate.
Not trying to be a grammar nazi, I'm just trying to cut through the real passion and to get to equally important practical knowledge I'm trying to impart.
I'm sorry that it came out blunter and ruder than was called for. 
Let me try again: Everyone from the YoVille community that has come here so far (and also those in the YouTube videos linked), have made all kinds of overly-dramatic statements.
Best game ever (actually, we've only ever tried ten or twenty of the thousands of games available)!
It's a gold mine (we think, maybe, despite the evidence)!
Zynga is going to go bankrupt giving up this profit (despite them being a business who's entirely money-focused, apparently Zynga is too stupid to read their own accounting graphs)!
6 million active users (well, that was two years ago when the numbers started diving, but we don't know how many there are now)!
Every user is paying $15 a month (we think... Well, some of us are paying $15 a month... but we'll ignore the studies that show <5% are actually paying customers)!
Zynga could just leave the game running without any expense (we're guessing, but we've don't know how these games are run)!
In your search, please remove any games/apps that are
* mission based - and/or engineered towards unplayability w/o the use of premium items.
* limited in inventory
* Played on a phone
Please direct your search towards those that include all of the following:
*interactive chat... I must be able to change my text color if I so choose, also must be able to dance, do sit ups and a nice selection of other click to command actions.
*Interactive items and clothing. I like when my hair blows in the wind while I'm jumping up and down on the bouncy while I'm talking to a handful of other LIVE avatars in a room.
*The ability to change the weather in game. Sometimes I like when I can make my room rain, or blow leaves around, and I especially enjoyed the snow falling over Christmas.
[...snipped for a shorter post...]
*I have got to be able to dress in my '70s style and breakdace in front of the YoMart. So please be sure I can rock an afro with my bell bottoms and peace sign sunglasses while busting my moves to some strange tunes on top of my card board box. This is an absolute must!!! And if it is similar to YO, then I could have that YoMart-type place looking like the inner city streets of the Bronx. Why? Because I <3 New York, that's why. (and Yoville...)
Not being a fan of the particular genre of games that you are, I can't recommend any specific game. I could randomly throw out suggestions, but they would be really hit and miss. 
But if you read this post I made earlier, I explain that it's probably the community you enjoyed and the experiences you've had that made YoVille so enjoyable, and not necessarily the mechanics of the game (even if you do enjoy those particular mechanics, as an added bonus).
Different personality types enjoy different aspects of games. YoVille is a community-centric game, among other things, and attracts relationship-focused social individuals, introverted or extroverted, so that's why I say "probably". There are other people in YoVille who probably aren't in it for the community, but I am making an educated guess that the greater majority (>60%) are in it for the community, whether consciously or subconsciously.
YoVille also includes artistic/creative mechanics, so maybe that was what interested you more, I don't know.
YoVille (and most games) are made up of the same basic game mechanics that just get re-combined in different ways (all game developers are playing with the same set of building blocks, we just recombine our blocks in different ways to make different games). There's nothing unique, as far as I know (Please don't give me a list of things that you think are unique, just because you've never personally seen them before), in YoVille that hasn't already been done by other games. There are other games similar to YoVille. There might not be a carbon-copy of the exact combination of features of YoVille, and they might have a different art style than YoVille... but the art style and the exact combination of features most likely aren't the real thing that kept you coming back to the game.
There may be combinations of game mechanics in other games that are actually more enjoyable to your personal preferences, if you give them an opportunity (not a twenty minute opportunity, but a 20-day or so). Give other games a fighting chance to entertain you.
Imagine you drove to a family gathering every week in a Skyblue 1997 Honda Sedan. Eventually it breaks down, and you need to get a replacement. Going to a car dealership, you can't dismiss other Hondas just because they aren't Sedans, can't dismiss other Sedans just because they aren't 1997 model, and can't dismiss 1997 Honda Sedans just because they aren't the correct shade of Skyblue. Well, you could, but then you'd be looking one heck of a long time.
There's blind passion and then there's focused passion. Since I seem to be in analogy mode 
, here's another one:
Blind passion: A baby falls in a swimming pool, and the mom starts screaming, "My baby, my baby!", waiting for someone else to maybe hopefully do something.
Focused passion: A baby falls in a swimming pool, and the mom intelligently kicks off her shoes, and dives in to save her kid. (Calm, thinking, and acting)
Both have passion, but one let passion drive her without focus and accomplishing nothing and trusting in luck, and the other directed her passion to accomplish a specific goal (saving her kid). One was driven by her passion in whatever direction the passion led, the other drove her own passion in the direction she wanted.
Zynga is closing YoVille. All the YoVille community can start screaming, "Best game ever! Zynga developers are backstabbing monsters! Somebody, quick, do something! Help! Help!", or they can calm down, figure out what they want to accomplish, think about how to accomplish it, and take action to make it happen. If that plan fails, they can rethink, replan, and try a new course of action.
If you shout loud enough, *maybe* Big Viking Games might save your baby... or your baby might drown, despite all the shouting in the world.
If you really care about the YoVille community, the community needs to calm down, kick off their shoes, and dive into the deep end.
Think of what your goals are (and if your goal is an exact replica of the Skyblue 1997 Honda Sedan you're trying to replace, then you'll be looking for quite a long time). What is the goal you actually want to accomplish? Is it actually an attainable goal? Do you have any backup goals that don't depend on the goodwill of Zynga? What plans will you make to accomplish your goals? What steps will you take to walk those plans out?
These are questions that you (and the YoVille community as a whole) can ask yourself; not questions I want answers to.
I hope it goes well, whatever you do. 
I'mma try to get some work done on my own project now, so pardon me if I cease to respond - I've probably wasted too much time on this thread as it is 
, but it's a subject some interest to me, as I've mentioned.
Maybe Big Viking Games will buy it after all - they've reached out to Zynga now about buying it. But it depends on Zynga agreeing (does Zynga really want to create a competitor to themselves?), and depends on the price that Zynga offers it at. Eventually, even if they do sell it to Big Viking, Big Viking can't run it forever either.
I would be quite open to trying my hand at an app/game that was similar. So, if you would wish to climb down off of your grammar-nazi pedestal... feel free to educate me.
Are you are experienced and informed about every other game in existance?There is NO game like it on the market.
If you said, 'I have personally never seen any other game like it', that might be accurate.
But saying, 'There is no other game like it', is inaccurate.
Not trying to be a grammar nazi, I'm just trying to cut through the real passion and to get to equally important practical knowledge I'm trying to impart.
I'm sorry that it came out blunter and ruder than was called for.
Let me try again: Everyone from the YoVille community that has come here so far (and also those in the YouTube videos linked), have made all kinds of overly-dramatic statements.Best game ever (actually, we've only ever tried ten or twenty of the thousands of games available)!
It's a gold mine (we think, maybe, despite the evidence)!
Zynga..... (edited)...
Thank you your reply. Believe me, I am not here to cause an uproar within this community. I have been following this article since it was posted and have been sharing it along with the bazillion other links I have been sent on a daily basis. This story is one of the very first that got our wheels turning. Once this hit FB, we all started banding together. I am not the crazy woman with her head in the clouds off in la-la land. My feet are firmly anchored to the ground and I do realize all of our outpouring is probably for not. And maybe my emotions are seeping into my crusade, but as a game developer, one would believe that that is the type of player you would wish to attract to your game/app. A very passionate player. One who would follow you, regardless of your shortcomings or glitches. To look past your inadequacies and still funnel more cash into your brand. Not because we are sheep being led, but because we are consumers who enjoy the product. Surely, the gaming devs understand that. And here's hoping that those types of developers still exist and want to create and maintain a product that encourages such an emotional response. Unfortunately, as with most things in life, $$ reigns supreme above all else. As a gamer, and not a developer, should the average consumer be faced with the business aspect of the world? Most games I play are for immersion. An escape. A place to go to that is unlike what I can do in the real world. I don't want to be a ringleader. I don't want to feel the need to write emails, or make phone calls or have anything to do with the business side of gaming. I just want to PLAY. Unfortunately, Zynga has taken the fun aspect away and we are left holding memories. Such is the digital world. And maybe this is the start of the crumbling of virtual purchases, worlds, DLC, and everything else we have eagerly ran to sign up for and invest in. The age of pixels is upon us.
That being said, I have been actively portraying the facts of the game, but I am also mentally, emotionally as well as financially invested in this game. And I do not sit here with regret or hatred for it. I still love it. I still hold it in high regard, yes I am angry and quite displeased with this announcement, but I am still willing to voice my love for a game. I have done my fair share of emails to CNN, Fox, Kim Komando, Game Informer, my local news affiliations and even Insidegaming.. which was productive and got some virtual print via Brandy Shaul.
Personally, I would love to find another game similar to Yoville. I have been looking over the years. I bought and play(ed) Animal Crossing and AC:NL, I played the entire TES series and enjoyed Hearthfire the most. :) I upgraded every home I could purchase in the Fable series. I have 3 versions of SIMS and even tried it when it was on FB. I play VCruise and have been an IMVU player since 2010.They are just not the same. I cannot pinpoint why without expressing emotion. As much of a smart ass as I was being in my previous post, I used the app as a creative medium. It was my virtual paintbrush, if you will. Yo was a release. I was good at it. And yes, it will end (most likely). But I will continue to speak of it whether passionately or factually, until they lock me out of my homes.
May you rule your day! \m/
...I am a Gamer. Not because I have no life. I just choose to have many...
[/URL]Hi I posted already on here about how I felt what Zynga has done, but you guys are experts on the many aspects of the gaming world out there ,and all we know is we are devasted reaching out for any help to save this game. We are more than a million fans of Yoville pleading for a way to save this game , and I am sure many more would come back if they had fixed it. I have signed petitions, written to Zynga, news stations, any media I can find to hear our plea.
May I just ask as a kind gesture from your site any letter and how to compose it , and to whom that you suggest to Zynga that may influence their decision to reverse their plans to close the game, perhaps suggestions from gaming professionals such as you all, we can try to write them with a chance they take us seriously enough to reconsider their decision to close.
I know you mention this is a community game but it is really alot more that that, people are playing from all over the world with us, its a global social game with so much diverse interests , not just, dating, dressing in clothes, its alot more, so much talent is connected to this as well.
I hope to hear from you, Thank you for listening, its really appreciated
I know you mention this is a community game but it is really alot more that that, people are playing from all over the world with us, its a global social game with so much diverse interests , not just, dating, dressing in clothes, its alot more, so much talent is connected to this as well.
I would like to point out that a community game is a game centered around the community and its interactions. The rest of this defines it as a community game, where the community is a global community, full of interactions between users/players.
Hi I posted already on here about how I felt what Zynga has done, but you guys are experts on the many aspects of the gaming world out there ,and all we know is we are devasted reaching out for any help to save this game. We are more than a million fans of Yoville pleading for a way to save this game , and I am sure many more would come back if they had fixed it. I have signed petitions, written to Zynga, news stations, any media I can find to hear our plea.
May I just ask as a kind gesture from your site any letter and how to compose it , and to whom that you suggest to Zynga that may influence their decision to reverse their plans to close the game, perhaps suggestions from gaming professionals such as you all, we can try to write them with a chance they take us seriously enough to reconsider their decision to close.
I know you mention this is a community game but it is really alot more that that, people are playing from all over the world with us, its a global social game with so much diverse interests , not just, dating, dressing in clothes, its alot more, so much talent is connected to this as well.
I hope to hear from you, Thank you for listening, its really appreciated
I understand the cost, creativity and effort you incurred investing in your YoVille game play. Its understandable why you feel wronged and you may file a claim with Customer Support forum (link at bottom of zynga.com site) and follow up the Legal Department if you dont get satisfaction. Understand the response will not be immediate or even soon, as I am sure Zynga support is overwhelmed and are figuring out the best way to proceed. The process is detailed in the Zynga Terms Of Service (TOS)..
Basically first write a clear and concise letter stating what your losses are and what you feel is the solution that best meets the minimum obligation to you. That way you are most likely to get satisfaction. I suggest that an clear and concise list/value of the assets you acquired via cash, and total of any subscriptions played so they can evaluate your level of financial output towards this. Screenshots of Zynga charges on Facebook of account statements etc. (Save, dont publish). Also document any special arts or super creative uses with the software so that the company understands the diverse ways the game has been applied with screenshots (save images, perhaps in FB). Finally describe the most rewarding of the game or important aspect so they understand of YoVille means to you. That may be the number of "buddies" that will be dispersed into oblivion that you will miss. If you do not get satisfaction from your post to the YoVille Customer Service forum at Zynga.com, then its suggested to send a letter to the legal department. The address is listed in section 10.6 of ther Zynga Terms of Service.
Please do not post the actual address or link in this forum. It may not be appropriate and threaten the thread.
Game Developers the take away from this thread - is a challenge. Clearly there are competing games but none with quite the mix of features and social engineering, with open ended creativity that targets such a diverse audience, this passionately. The audience for Zynga's games are targeted quite insidiously as Mr Pinkus concedes in an interview, as such the enormity of the emotional response reflects demographics they chose to advertise to. Is it any wonder the base does not comprehend the TOS and implications of subscription based services, cloud computing and ownership of digital assets? It's way more than the average teen or exhausted mother of 4 will comprehend at 10pm, when they just want a break from the tedium of life and dump on the YoNeighbors. Surely, this response was anticipated by employing such marketing tactics. In the US, There may be basis for such claims of naivety and it may be persuasive, especially in small claims court.
There is gold here, but like mining it comes with a price.
Create involving social game with YV features ignites passion - make it a game that targets passionate people, the game becomes explosive.
Make it and they will come, but Handle With Care!
This is what has us most up in arms I think other than the closing of course. This was posted on our forum board on June1...... yet no new releases, no fixes, and now we're being closed down after trusting them and continuing to "be patient"... frustrating.
And I must say, I've tried a bunch of these games as well and I think part of what makes yoville different for me is the age of the players. Maybe it's the simplicity of it, but the demographic seems to be more of folks 35+ than most of those other games. Some are very tech savvy and others, like myself, like to just come in, kick our shoes off, see what's new at the stores, clock into our little factory, buy some stuff, do some decorating or whatever and then visit with friends as they come online as well.
IMVU was a shock to me when I went on there and when my child walked in the room where I was on the computer, I immediately shut the screen down because it was NOT ok for her to see what was going on there. It was a much more "adult" version of Yo though it was mostly teens and 20 somethings playing it. Miniplanet was a sad version that looked and felt like kindergarten comparatively, but I played anyway for awhile until they added the store part. More work and time constraints. Get there on time or lose your product and your investment in it. I'm on vcruise right now and though it's better than most, its still a mixed crowd and you have young girls in there whoring their little avatars out and it's just difficult to avoid if you are in the common areas and those common areas are required spaces to fulfill your never ending chore list. They also haven't separated the servers there so you may find yourself in a room full of people speaking in languages you can't even comprehend. There's no socializing when you can't communicate. And it's very task driven. It's becoming a "job" instead of a form of relaxation. I hit level 30 today so I do feel I have a good sense of the game, and so far it's mediocre at best comparatively. This is my main complaint about most of those games - you have to be online at a certain time to gather your harvest or get your cookies out of an oven or who knows what. I have a job. I have a social life (though not this last few days - lol) I don't wanna "work" for relaxation. Farmville's only resemblance to Yoville is the avatars and clothes - the game itself is totally different. Nothing close. Same for all the other "villes" in the zynga portfolio. I've tried them all.
That having been said, I will, in fairness, try second life because I haven't tried it yet, so I can't voice an informed opinion on that. I have seen several suggestions on here for that one, so that is on my list to do before I go to bed tonight.
From all of the articles I've read about Zynga and the direction they're headed since taking on Mattrick, they are looking at developing games that can be played with a mobile format. With the format of YoVille, they don't see it to be feasible to rewrite it to a format that can be played on an iPad, smartphone or other type of tablet - which is the direction many see the future of the PC headed. That, and it looks like Zynga is headed in the direction to get out of the facebook format and go for gaming via their own domain. I think when they withdrew YoVille from YAHOO it gave them a small taste of what effect it would have on the game...and after that move, YoVille lost many players who refused to acquire a facebook account.
I'm also a long-time player of YoVille (since 2008) but never invested real money into the game until 3 or 4 years ago....because I couldn't see spending money on something virtual. Recently, though, I've taken employment as a 24/7 caregiver and don't have the opportunity to get out of the house except 3 or 4 times a month (for a few hours at most each time). I've had a VIP membership since it was initiated, but items in YoVille have risen in price, so I also spend money to purchase Yo cash so they got well over $100 monthly from me. I truly love the game and the opportunity it presents in developing creativity via decorating and fashion. I've also met some wonderful friends and "neighbors" from playing the game. I have 400 neighbors on my list now (used to be more just a few months ago) and only 386 of them are active players.now.
It saddened me greatly when I saw they were closing the game...I haven't been around anyone lately, so I'm wondering...have games like Halo, Call of Duty, and the Steam games like the Orange box package...have those games transitioned onto a mobile format? They still make profit don't they? I think the buzz that went around about "the death of the PC" got a reaction out of Zynga.
Re: migrating to mobile. It may be unnecessary and disadvantageous at this point. I also think its coming full circle, with HTML5 and GPU support in browsers, the ubiquity and of the web browser and its ability to negotiate standard conformance, will soon be preferred again to discrete apps.
The shift from browser to application is a cyclical phenomenon where software products position for best distribution and user experience. Great advancements in hardware push the shift to develop software that takes advantage of the advancement with directly, while the browsers and other API's catch up. When generational hardware architecture stabilizes, the shit is back towards browsers and layered application that increase distribution, communications and convenience.
If NSA is spying on social video games (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/09/tech/web/nsa-spying-video-games/), what have they learned in YoVille?
I have to say, I can't play those games much on my phone. Don't get me wrong, the phone is capable. I'm not. I think that's another part of the beauty of Yoville to this age dynamic. Some of our players are older, less tech savvy, have older eyes, stiffer thumbs, there's a variety of things that keep us from going mobile with games. I'm old school enough to believe it's much easier to work with a mouse and a keyboard than on that little keypad on a phone. And I wanna see my screen really well too.
