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Facebook Users To Get A Taste Of Runes OF Magic Soon

josh — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:20:30 +0000

The latest game maker to make a move towards the ever-increasing popularity of social media and social gaming is Frogster.

Frogster America has announced that it is currently developing a new Facebook game. “Runes of Magic – The Challenge”, set in the Runes of Magic Universe expands to Facebook. Facebook players will be able to use “The Challenge” in order to unlock extra rewards in the full client version.

The game which is set in the rich fantasy universe of Frogster’s popular free-to-play MMO game Runes of Magic and is scheduled to launch on Facebook in Q2 of this year.

“Runes of Magic is the first free-to-play MMO game ever to expand into the social networks sphere with rich, full, social gaming experience that will appeal to fantasy fans of all ages – independently of whether they play the full client game or not”, comments Lars Koschin, CEO of Frogster America, Inc. “With the success of Runes of Magic among core MMO players, it was a natural decision to build upon the franchise by taking it to a genre with mass market appeal and the powerful viral approach of the rapidly evolving social networks. The result is ‘Runes of Magic – The Challenge’ for Facebook.”

Frogster will also implement a “Facebook Connect” application shortly, for players of Runes of Magic which will allow them to find co-players of the virtual world on Facebook and to see own Facebook contacts, who are not yet players, on the official website of Runes of Magic (www.runesofmagic.com)and invite them into the full version.

Facebook Credits Comes To FarmVille

josh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:49:53 +0000

Farmers of FarmVille who are looking to purchase in-game currency will now have a new option. Apart from the previously available options, Credit cards and PayPal, Farm Cash and Farm Coins can now be purchased using Facebook Credits – Facebook’s virtual currency.

This new payment system have been adopted in a number of popular Facebook games like Happy Island, Happy Aquarium and Happy Pets, where Facebook Credits is the sole option for in-game purchases.

This new payment option in FarmVille is arguably bigger for Facebook Credits than it is for the game, with the amount of exposure it will get through the game.

FarmVille has more than 83 million users, making it larger than Twitter. If the Facebook Credit payment option catches up in FarmVille, Facebook could very well cross the speculated $1 billion revenue mark in 2010, taking into account the 30% take on revenues generated through Facebook Credits.

Oberon Media Brings Social Connectivity To Casual Games

josh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:04:08 +0000

Oberon Media has announced that it will be adding social features to its casual games on a variety of platforms.

This enhanced social features will allow players to use Facebook Connect to link their social networks and see friends who are also playing the game, suggest the game to others and share in-game achievements. The first two games with this enhance social features are City Sights: Hello Seattle and Paradise quest, both published by I-play, Oberon Media’s publishing division.

Following this launch, Oberon Media said it plans to roll out its new Social SDK to its Game Center developer partners in the next quarter.

“Every single game that we are launching has social features,” said Ofer Leidner, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Oberon, in an interview. “This shift is happening across all networks.”

“We believe games on all platforms and for all audiences will eventually leverage social components,” said Tony Leamer, vice president of marketing at I-play, which has launched other social-connected games such as Artist Colony, a mobile game, and Bubble Town: Party Planet, a Facebook game.

Founded in 2003, Oberon Media is one of the leading multi-platform casual games company in the world. Oberon Media is the publisher of several successful casual game franchises including Dream Day wedding and Agatha Christie. It is also one of the biggest publishers of casual games that one can download from web sites or play on smartphones.

[Source: Venture Beat]

Playing PoxNora on Facebook

josh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:20:46 +0000

Last March 8^th, we introduced Sony Online Entertainment’s newly released game on Facebook, PoxNora. Now, it is time to get into the details.

As previously mentioned, PoxNora is a turn-based strategy card game. To play you must have a battlegroup which is a collection of 30 cards or Runes. There are 4 kinds of Runes: the Champion, Spell, Equipment, and Relic Runes. These magically come to life when chosen to engage in battles. However, initially during battle, these Runes are hidden from view and only 2 are revealed at a time every turn.

In a battle, every player will have a Shrine. This is the one responsible for generating Nora at the beginning of each turn. Nora is a magical energy consumed when deploying Runes into the battlefield.

The goal of the game is to wipe out the opponent’s Shrine before yours gets destroyed. To do that, you use the Runes in your battlegroup. Your Champion Runes attack the enemy’s Shrine while being supported by the other Runes.

Every action the Champion makes uses Action Points (AP). These points are accumulated at the start of each turn. With this limited resource, you must plan how to execute your attack. If there are unused APs after your turn, these will be saved and made available on your next turn. Unfortunately, there is a maximum number of APs that can be used per turn. So there is no point in collecting a huge number of points to be used in one go.

To create a better battlegroup, runes can be traded for more powerful runes by visiting the rune shop or by trading with other players around the globe.

Though this game has only been released last March 5^th, it is expected to attract more players over the course of time. (Click HERE to play.)

Facebook Ready To Roll Out Location-Based Service Soon

josh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:16:45 +0000

Facebook users can expect a location-based service soon. This new service will allow Facebook’s 400 million plus users to see the locations of their friends in addition to their status updates.

The new service is expected to be released during the Facebook’s f8 developer conference, to be held in late April.

According to a report in The New York Times, the new service will let users share their location in their status updates, as well as see the location of their friends.

Facebook is also going to make API’s available to third-party developers, which they can use to offer their own location-based services to Facebook users.

This is a kind of service that is or is similar to the service provided by Loopt and FourSquare for quite some time now. Google Buzz also offers the same, but got itself into a mess of lawsuits over privacy violations. Twitter, has also added an option to share location data with messages.

Facebook have been working on location-based service for over a year now, but is taking the time to make sure everything is ready before they roll out the service. One important issue Facebook is taking into account is how to add location data to its service without raising potential privacy concerns or negative feedback from its users, which is a staggering 400 million.

As an precaution for the new service, Facebook has updated its privacy policy last November, which now states: “When you share your location with other or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post.”

The service is expected to be an opt-in – users have to agree to share their location information – which will certainly help stem some privacy concerns.

Facebook, Google Slapped With Patent-Infringement Lawsuit

josh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:56:24 +0000

Search engine giant Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., the largest social-networking site in the world, have been slapped with a lawsuit by Wireless Ink Corp.

According to a Bloomberg report, Wireless Ink Corp., which runs the Winksite service, has claimed that Facebook Mobile and Google Buzz are infringing a patent related to ways of offering content that is accessible by mobile devices.

The patent issued in October 2009 was apparently filed back in 2004. The firm says the defendants (Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.) must have been aware of the patent, “given the time and resources they have invested in their desktop and mobile web sites as well as their strategic importance.”

Respective spokesman for Google and Facebook said that their company is reviewing the complaint and didn’t offer any immediate comments.

Wireless Ink Corp., with more than 75,000 registered users, is looking for cash compensation and a ban on further use of its invention.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has faced patent-infringement claims over its service. A Boston company called Tele-publishing Inc. sued Facebook over a patent related to a method of providing a personal page last year. Facebook was also sued by Mekiki Co., owner of a Japanese social networking site, in 2009 over patents related to ways to identify “friends” through existing contacts.

How To Block/Unblock Facebook Applications And Games

josh — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:27:33 +0000

Facebook has over 500,000 applications at present, and i am pretty sure that most of you might have tried your hands on many of them, used them once, twice, some days and have forgotten about most of them altogether.

But the trouble is, our account seems to remember them and worst, newsfeed and request of all sorts pile up on the wall and homepage. Not only that, sometimes some friends doesn’t get discourage by the fact that we have already ignored their invitations zillions of times and the invitations stills flows.

There are also times when we want to unblock certain games and applications.

In this tutorial we will see how to take care of them.

How To Block a Facebook Application/Game

1. Go to your Home Page and click on any of the request available on the ‘request’ section present on the top right section of your home page.

2. Once on the request page, you will see that application request will have two options, “Block This Application” and “Ignore All Invites From This Friend” apart from the “Yes/No/Ignore/Ok” button etc.. as you can see in the image below.

3. Click “Block This Application” option and confirm it.

Now, you are done. Once you block a particular application, you will not be listed when any friend who uses the particular application tries to send gifts or invitation from that application .

How To Unblock a Facebook Application/Game

As told earlier, there are times we have to unblock a blocked applications for various reasons. I have also noticed that when you block a particular application on Facebook, that particular application does not get listed when you search for it using the ‘Search Box’. So, here is how to unblock blocked apps and games.

1. Go to your ‘Privacy Settings’ from the Account menu located at the top left.

2. Select the ‘Applications and Websites’ option.

3. Once on the Applications and Websites privacy page, select the “Edit Blocked Applications” option.

4. Now you will see a list of all the applications that you have block. Search through the list for the application that you want to unblock and once you find it, click on the ‘remove’ option located beside the application. This will unblock the application. If you have a long list of block apps, you can press “CTRL+F” (Find feature) and type in the application name.. and the application will be highlighted in the list.

Hope this little tutorial will be helpful to you.

Kudos Facebook Campaign! Betty White Confirms SNL Appearance

josh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:31:40 +0000

Betty White, the former Golden Girl, will appear on Saturday Night Live – an idea she referred to as ‘ridiculous’ just a few weeks back - in the near future as confirmed by the People magazine.

The “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!” Facebook Page has now filled with congratulatory messages from fans who supported the campaign. Though the Facebook page has stagnated in growth, with around 500,000 fans for quite some time, the group got what they requested for.

Fans have been rooting for White, 88, to do SNL ever since her appearance in Snickers ad during the Super Bowl.

It is really impressive that a Facebook page about a random celebrity could generate so much buzz and response from the network.

It is still unclear when she will appear or what it will entail as she didn’t offer any details on it.

Cassi Van Den Dungen Apologizes For Facebook Outburst

josh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:03:46 +0000

Cassi Van Den Dungen, 17-year-old Australian model, recently went to France to find modeling work for Paris Fashion Week, and got herself in a controversy by posting some outrageous post on Facebook, after returning home empty-handed.

According to a report by The Daily Telegraph, she labeled the French as “frog eaters” and “snail “slurpers”. She also took on the “Frasians (French Asians)” by calling them as “idiots” to which her boyfriend Brad Saul, a model who also failed to find work in Paris, added “And they can’t drive.”

As for IMG, well, “all these people are f***** in the head: the agency is trying to run me, not the other way around.”

The reason for her outburst is:

“It was really tough. We couldn’t understand anything. Every person we met, besides from the people in the hotel and IMG were being really rude,” said Van Den Dungen.

“Things like going on the train and asking for directions and people were rude, so I was just having a bad time and I took it out on Facebook,” she added.

She has publicly apologized in Australia’s leading newspapers.

“I was having a really bad day and I shouldn’t have taken that out on Facebook – I regret that,” she told The Sunday Telegraph as report says.

“Before I left, I thanked IMG for everything they did an I really appreciated everything. I shouldn’t have said what I said; it was a stuff-up.”

“Paris is one of the hardest gigs in the modeling world,” explains Vitolins. “It was her first big trip and she couldn’t take it. She is basically just a girl from the suburbs.”

Man Charged For Sex Grooming 11-Year-Old On Facebook

josh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:35:01 +0000

A Sydney man was charged for allegedly trying to groom an 11-year-old girl for sex on Facebook.

The 27-year-old man allegedly made contact with the girl on Sunday March 7.

The man is accused of sending numerous messages via the site to the girl, and arranging a location to meet her for sexual activity.

The girl told her mother about the man and Mt Druitt police were informed.

Police officers arrested the man on Monday at a park in Emerton, and later seized a computer from his Bidwil home.

He was charged with travel to meet a child groomed for sexual activity. He was given bail and will appear in Mt Druitt Local Court on March 30.

Facebook PoxNora: Sony’s First-Ever Facebook Game

josh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:00:36 +0000

Sony Online Entertainment LLC launched its popular turn-based strategy game PoxNora on Facebook.

PoxNora, a combination turn-based strategy game and collectible card game set in a fantasy world of creatures, relics and spells, was acquired by Sony Online Entertainment in January 2009. Ever since, the game has expanded in reach and popularity with over 2.5 million registered accounts to date.

“The Facebook platform offers gamers a new and powerful way to interact with a tap into their social communities” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment.

“With the launch of PoxNora for Facebook, we are leveraging the expertise SOE has gained bringing entertainment to the online game community for over 10 years,” he adds.

SOE has customized and optimized the Facebook version of PoxNora to appeal to a wider social networking audience in a fun and engaging way. PoxNora for Facebook will harness the platform’s social channels by allowing users to invite friends and post updates of accomplishments.

Online social gaming has seen a tremendous growth in parallel to Facebook’s growing popularity and with the launch of this game, the time cannot be more appropriate for SOE. We hope to see more games on Facebook from Sony.

We will bring to you more details on the game shortly.

[source: PR Newswire]
[Image source: Facebook PoxNora]

Briton Jailed For Life For Murdering Girl He Ensnared On Facebook

josh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:21:20 +0000

A Briton sex offender admitted the kidnap, rape and murder of Ashleigh Hall, 17, whose body was found in a farmer’s field near Sedgefield last October will be serving a minimum of 35 years.

The Telegraph reports that Peter Chapman, 33, evaded police for 13 months after breaking the terms of his Sex Offenders’ Register order by failing to notify a change of address.

Chapman allegedly posted a photograph of a bare-chested, good looking boy in his late teens on Facebook to snare Ashleigh Hall.

Graham Reeds QC, prosecuting, said Chapman was obsessed with sex and was trying to meet her from the very start.

When Chapman realized that she was unlikely to go with him when she see that he was nothing like the Facebook image, he invented “Pete’s Dad” to collect her from her home which Mr Reeds described as a “calculated and wicked” plan.

Chapman picked Ashleigh up near her house and drove her to a dark and secluded lay-by on October 25 last year where he committed the crime.

Since the age of 15, he has been the subject of several sexual assault investigations, and in 1996 he was jailed for 7 years for raping two prostitutes at knifepoint.

27 Feb – 05 Mar, 2010: Fastest Growing Facebook Games

josh — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:52:55 +0000

Last week Facebook games statistics, February 27 to March 5, showed MindJolt Games as the fastest growing Facebook game.

Mindjolt have always been in and around the top five fastest growing games. It is unusual, but the application hasn’t been doing much in order to get itself noticed apart from letting its users spread the word.

Another uniqueness of Mindjolt is that it doesn’t develop the games available through its service. Instead, it gives budding game creators the chance to present their ideas and creations to the masses. They provide more than 300 games to choose from; action, puzzles, strategy, shooter, sports, card games and more.

MindJolt as we know, provides enormous amount of simple, yet addictive and interesting games to play along with friends. It has around 20 million regular users at present.

The firm was bought out by Platform G, with former MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe at the top, last week. DeWolfe brought together some of his former colleagues from MySpace and is trying to give a shot to capitalize on social gaming, with a fair chunk of financial backing to start out with – rumored to be around $20 million – from private equity firm Austin Ventures.

List of Fastest growing Facebook games on Friday March 5 at 18:00 GMT

01. MindJolt Games (19,782,786 = +900,131 / +4.6%)
02. Bubble Island (1,101,968 = +594,265 / +54.0%)
03. FarmVille (83,105,118 = +591,152 / +0.7%)
04. Tiki Resort (1,218,159 = +575,310 / +47.2%)
05. My City Life (3,908,234 = +537,319 / +13.8%)
06. PetVille (19,567,573 = +472,022 / +2.4%)
07. Texas HoldEm Poker (27,211,570 = +465,874 / +1.7%)
08. Ninja Saga (3,874,566 = +453,790 / +11.7%)
09. SPP Ranch! (2,542,250 = +411,466 / +16.2%)
10. Happy Island (12,275,447 = +301,470 / +2.5%)

Numbers in brackets relate to total monthly users, increase in monthly users, and the weekly growth percentage.

[Source: appdata.com]

Woldtown: the Newest 3D Game on Facebook

josh — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:03:25 +0000

Just recently, DinglePharb Studios, an Asian developer of social and mobile games, announced that they have developed a new fully 3D Facebook game and that they will be launching it on March 26^th. The game is called Woldtown, a virtual world based on the widely popular Chinese casual social game, VVDragon. Although this will be one of the first fully 3D games in Facebook, it’s not the first venture for the company.

The game will chronicle the adventures of Wolds, a race of tiny magical dragons from the planet, Kream, at the other side of our universe. These magical creatures can fly and morph. They also have an inexplicable love for throwing pies at each other.

In the game, the Wolds were accidentally brought to Earth when the evil, Dr. Boring, tried to steal their magic Krystal that is responsible for the Wolds’ magical powers. The Krystal broke into a thousand pieces when it reached the Earth and was scattered all over Woldtown.

To play, the gamer must choose one of the 24 Wolds that arrived on the planet. He or she must then find and gather the Krystal pieces before Dr. Boring does, so that he or she can save their magic and prevent Dr. Boring from dominating the world. There are more than 75 locations in Woldtown for the player to explore. In addition, there are various jobs, quests, and more than 20 mini-games that the player should successfully complete. As a reward, the player will receive WoldCash that can be used to upgrade the Wold avatar, its home, its pie throwing abilities, and the pies to be thrown. It can also be used for purchasing shields.

As always, this promising game is free to play and can be played online with Facebook friends.

Death Threat Against Teacher On Facebook By Her Student

josh — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:01:19 +0000

Brevard County school officials are investigating a threatening Facebook post against a school teacher by one of her students.

The student wrote on Facebook, “Hey, I want to kill Mrs. Bowen. Does anybody want to help?” said attorney William Whitacre.

Apparently, the student at Edgewood Junior/Senior High School in Merritt Island didn’t want teacher Kathy Bowen to return to school after a short leave of absence.

An attorney for Mrs Bowen says she was informed about the online threat after she returned from her short leave.

The student is also said to have discuss the ways he would carry out the killing or keep Mrs Bowen from coming back, on Facebook.

A Brevard County Sheriff’s Office spokesman says the student isn’t facing criminal charges.

The district could pursue expulsion, if approved by the School Board, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

[source: Orlando Sentinel]