Scrabu-Less

Hasbro/EA's new Scrabble (Beta) Facebook app shuts Scrabulous down.


It happened, my favorite* Facebook app, Scrabulous, is gone. In its place is Hasbro/EA's Scrabble Beta Facebook app. I find it hilarious that the new Scrabble game is currently non-functional and there are over 400 threads (not posts, threads) full of anger and spite against the game giant and its strong-arm tactics. I'd say 1 in 50 has a nice thing to say about the new game.

No Scrabulous.
No Scrabble.

I imagine in a day or so we'll see what the real reaction to Scrabble will be. The reaction to a playable Scrabble game. I suspect the hard-core Scrabble and Scrabulous fans will play, though some reluctantly. Angry casual players (like me*) will abandon Scrabble in all its versions altogether, and new players will gravitate to it at a similar rate to the original Scrabulous.

* Yes, Scrabulous was my favorite Facebook app and still not particularly dear to me. Facebook apps don't do much for me, at least so far. The Spore app is my new favorite Facebook app.

Edit: Scrabble Beta is up and running now. My first word...tong.

-Adam!!!

SUE is only worth 3 points

It looks like it has finally happened, Hasbro is suing the facebook app, Scrabulous.

Last year they 'requested' scrabulous be taken down, it wasn't, and now Hasbro and EA have released an 'official' Scrabble facebook app. I haven't had a chance to play the new app but it's off to a rough start.

Scrabulous gets a 4.2 out of 5 star rating. EA/Hasbro's Scrabble Beta gets 1.7 out of 5. This isn't about what's best for Scrabble players. This is about Hasbro maintaining complete control of a decades old game.

Scrabulous (I'm losing)

Scrabble Beta (Can't get anyone to play)

While I will remain critical of Hasbro's "sue anyone who makes something cool with thier games" strategy, I do realize they are acting within their rights. I just think it's a mistake that hurts them, their fans, and the properties they claim to be protecting.

If you're interested in what I had to say about this back in January, it's right here.

-Adam!!!

Hasbro is at it again...Cease and Desist!

Hasbro is threatening to shut down one of my favorite online activities, Scrabulous from Facebook.

I believe this is Hasbro shooting themselves in the virtual foot, once again. The idea, it seems, is to use legal pressure to remove Scrabulous from the picture so their online version/s of Scrabble don't have the competition.

There's no point in arguing whether or not they can do this. Of course they can. I will continue to argue that they SHOULDN'T. I believe:

* Scrabulous increases the number of Scrabble players in the world, and Hasbro directly benefits from this.
* Hasbro's 'official' Scrabble game should be good enough to make people switch, if is a zero-sum situation. If it's not good enough, it'll fail with or without Scrabulous in the picture.
* Evergreen games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Yahtzee, ect. are going to be more and more difficult to 'own' as more and more fans want to play online. In place of an official version, these home-grown efforts (both for profit and not) are going to keep popping up.
* I play Scrabulous because it's a Facebook app. If Hasbro's isn't and I really doubt it would be, then I'll simply find another free game to play on Facebook and never think about Scrabble again (which I hadn't for years before I started playing Scrabulous.)

-Adam!!!

Hasbro on Fun and Profit

Boardgame news reports the Hasbro/EA agreement, then calls the Hasbro COO out for talking like a corporate stooge.

I totally biased on this point, but IMHO the executives at Hasbro don't see their products as games or toys. To them, they are brands. They are brands with profit potential. Some more than others.

Q: Can a company who sees it's own products in a such a sterile, uncaring light, really make things that are great?
A: Not unless they get lucky. Happily for them, adequate is still profitable on a large scale.

I'm a capitalist. I'm all over the idea of creating something great and selling it for money. I'm also an idealist. I believe profit is a side effect of doing great things. If the people at the top don't care, that feeling filters throughout an organization. I know. I've seen it first hand at Wizards of the Coast.

For the record, we've got plenty of caring where I work now, and it's awesome.

-Adam!!!