Back in September, Zynga made a controversial decision to replace YoVille users’ primary source of virtual income, the Widget Factory, with a new Sweets Factory. The result was that thousands of users protested the application and while the impact was not seen immediately, monthly active users over the past month are down around 10 percent. The result is that protestors got what they wanted and now Zynga is bringing back the Widget Factory to YoVille.
How long will the widget factory return for? Right now it appears that this may be a short-term change for the holidays. In a post on the YoVille blog, the company explains:
We saw that there were many players interested in returning back to the Widgets Factory to work and wanted to make that possible during the holidays as we know many of you will be out with your families and it may be hard to manage your baked goods.
More than 53,000 protestors have since joined a cause to bring back the widget factory, which is a small fraction of the near 3 million daily active users of the application. While many protestors will welcome back the widget factory, the only outstanding question is whether or not it’s will come back for good or if it will once again disappear after the holidays. My guess is that we could see a second revolt if Zynga decides to yank the Widget Factory again.
Do you care that the Widget Factory is back? Or is this much ado about nothing, as we first portrayed the revolts back in September?
I can't see how the widget factory is better, when it requires you to show up at a CERTAIN TiME! If you're not there on the dot, you can't come back for another 6 hours. I am not going to live by the clock for a game. I do that in my real life and don't need to repeat the experience in a game I'm supposed to be enjoying. I have stopped playing YoVille since they introduced the widget factory.
Comment by Facebook User — December 30, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
Yuppper the widget is back and I am losing money I also liked the freedom of when i say i will work and not to …this every 6 hrs is NOT good for a lot of ppl
I think Zynga would do their players a favor by offering the 2 factories for ppl to decide where they want to work!!
Loss in pay for me then that mean no more buying things!!!
Comment by bitty — December 30, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
you guys a f ing fags the widget factory is so much better i hope it stays
Comment by colby — December 30, 2009 @ 7:53 pm
No, you don't have to show up at a certain time. You just can't do it more often than every 6 hours. I like Widgets better because it's quicker, but it would be nice to make both available.
Comment by Caroline Andrews — December 30, 2009 @ 10:55 pm
i have absolutly no problem with the widgets, i actually think its it better…the former way had people having to check up on the things u where baking,and then for the coins u would make once everything was completed u where spending half of that on cleaning the ovens,and preparing the next group of things your baking!!
Comment by torey — December 31, 2009 @ 10:53 am
@ bitty wth are u talking bout listen it tells me i have to b @ work in 6 hours…by the tyme i get back on its well past 6 hours and all i do is clock in anyway an i still get paid….it doesnt matter when u clock in they just wont allow u to abuse the money system…with this u r doing a lot less for the same amount of money but your not loosing half your money on the clean up or preparing stage…if anything u all should be protesting on how we get paid so little and eveything from a towel holder to a flat screen tv are so damn exspensive…tell me that
Comment by torey — December 31, 2009 @ 10:57 am
or how u cant win more than 10 coins @ the race track where u can control your own destiny but when u bet money u can bet up to 500 coins but it seems like they loose on purpose…..tell me yoville how the person i bet on gives up half way through the race..thats not fair at all…now thats 1 of the reason to stop playin yoville!!!!
Comment by torey — December 31, 2009 @ 11:01 am
http://zynga.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id...
the best solution to the entire problem was one many players suggested: to have both factories available. I left the game because of the way the change was done. If we had been informed before the change had been made and if the "powers that be" had responded to the many complaints in a timely manner, and if the sweets factory had been without the many glitches in its beginning, many probably would have stayed. Sadly, the way the change to sweets factory was implemented was an affront to many players. However, among those of us who left, there are many who will never return because of the treatment at the time the controversy began. You may check some of the comments on the previous articles and see what was said about the loss of players showing up over time and that it was pooh-poohed/ignored by those who really didn't understand the situation.
Unfortunately for Zynga, many of the older players who left the game (though not due to an inability to accept "change") do have an inability to accept poor business practices and non-existent customer service. Things really were different when we "oldsters" were growing up. We were taught to provide and to expect good business practices; "work" was a place to do a job to the best of your ability and not a place to try to find an easy way out of getting the job done; service to the customer was a priority and not something to be ignored; in no way was a customer to be slammed by those in the position of providing a service to those customers.
LOL "much ado about nothing"? For Zynga, they believed such to be the case. It appears they may have learned a hard lesson due to the betrayal of trust players/customers once had in those who provided the game.
Perhaps a small fraction considering the 3 million active players (many of whom have mulitple accounts)… maybe not so small a fraction when considering the older ones who left probably were the ones with money to spend and no multiple accounts.
Comment by Angela Fox Smith — December 31, 2009 @ 4:35 pm
All I can say is: "Told you so."
Comment by Rod Foglio — December 31, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
I am so glad that the Widget Factory is back! I stopped using Yoville when they brought the Sweets Factory because I could never really make any money. First of all, with the Sweets Factory, you had to pay money for the items you bake. Pay money to make money? Thats not a concept I’m in favor of. Also, if you did’t show up 4 hours later to get your cookies out of the oven, then your cookies burn up and that is money lost. The Widget Factory is so much more sensable! Especially for those of us who have a “Real” Life outside of Yoville! Keep the Widget Factory Please!!!
Comment by Crystal Hairston — January 5, 2010 @ 8:10 am
I liked the sweets factory much better for one reason: I made WAY more money. I made about 1200 a day at the SF and can only go to the WF every 6 hours (and I gotta sleep sometime!) so have only been making about 750 a day.
Wish they'd just give us a choice.
Comment by shade — January 5, 2010 @ 1:19 pm