This is a loaded question, to say the least, but I figure I'll answer. Those of you who know me on Facebook have probably seen my opinions in some form or another in my posts or comments, but I can offer a bit more elaboration here.
I think, first and foremost, that the game is a lot of fun. A lot of different ways to play, and there's something in it for everyone. I left for a long while, and recently came back to the game (in a somewhat more limited fashion) because I do think it's that interesting. I don't actively play right now, just occasionally, and mostly for the sake of exchanging items with friends, seeing how others' farms are doing, things like that. I like the interactive and friendly aspect of the game, for sure.
That said, here are some of the things I don't like so much.
* The company that produces the game, Zynga, engaged or even currently engages in some borderline shady practices to make money. If you've played the game you know that many elements of it require "farm$", which are only provided in-game in very limited fashion. Obtaining more requires completing special offers (which in themselves involve installation of spyware, signing up for mailing lists, or other similar deceptive and annoying things) or paying actual money. Not sure how many people here have actually paid cash, but even just doing that a few times can rack up a considerable cost. I would never do so, nor recommend it, but as addicting as the game is, some people might be willing to do so. I don't have the link handy at the moment, but there was a great video interview with the CEO of Zynga where he talked about the spyware, etc, basically laughed it off, and was pretty arrogant about it. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
* The game directly/indirectly generates way too many notifications in the facebook news feed. Right now, I say that I play in a somewhat limited fashion. As part of that, I still have the app notification hidden. When I view a news feed and 50+% of the posts are about farmville, it was just too much. I'm perfectly happy for those who want that level of interactivity and involvement, but I'm just as happy that I can turn it off, too.
* It's just a game. I think some people take it a little too seriously. Not pointing a finger at anyone in particular, or necessarily even anyone in this group, but I've definitely noticed it. "If this group gets 100,000 people then we'll all get ___" or "sign this petition because we want free farm$ for doing ___". In recent times, some of these things have been real, from what I hear, but for a while they were hoaxes and/or complete time wasters, and I'm sure some still are. Either way, though, the fact that I see people going to such lengths over what is, at the end of the day, just a game, seemed a bit much.
* I'd rather spend the time on facebook interacting with people in other ways. Similar to the qualm about notifications, but in a different way, and kind of just empirical. One of the things I've loved about Facebook, and especially friending DISers, is hearing about the seemingly mundane updates, seeing pics, and feeling like I'm getting to know some of my fellow Disney fans (dare I even say, friends) a little better. Again, this is purely empirical and possibly speculative, but I have noticed that as some individuals have become very active with farmville updates, I don't see much in the way of "classical" social networking from some of these same folks. Again, not necessarily thinking any specific person, more just a general observation.
* Lastly, and most importantly, I think Farmville qualifies as an addiciton. Maybe not in the strict clinical sense (though Dr Phil did discuss it in an episode, for whatever that's worth), but no different than the colloquial television or video game addiction that is sometimes cited as an issue in whomever. To the PP who mentioned "I can't read I have to plow", I commend you for having the presence of mind to notice so easily that it was an issue at that point. While I don't think it's necessarily too frequent for people to be sucked into the game to that extent, it's certainly not unheard of either. Even in this thread, a few tongue-in-cheek comments have been made about "my husband asks when we can go because I'm busy farming" or "I don't know what I'm going to do when I go away for two weeks", etc. The comments themselves are presumably in jest, of course, but they are only funny because there is indeed at least some bit of truth to the statements.
Let me step back a moment and just reiterate that I don't mean any of this to offend anyone, and hope that the most pointed of my statements are taken in the same way... that I'm only trying to make crystal clear why I'm coming to some of my opinions. I certainly am not suggesting that everyone stop playing, or even anything close. In fact, I'm glad I came back, and found a way to do so that it can still be fun, without being overwhelming or addicting.
