Five things we want to see in Zynga's CityVille 2 on Facebook
Just yesterday, Zynga once again rocked the Facebook gaming scene by announcing that CityVille 2 has launched in closed beta. This 3D sequel to the original CityVille has everyone here at Games.com talking, and we've already done quite a bit of debating as to what new features or changes this new experience should bring to the table. Here's a look at five things we hope Zynga throws into CityVille 2 or simply does to improve it over the original.
Special Delivery Boxes
If CityVille 2 is anything like the original CityVille when it comes to building projects, this new game will have us collecting dozens and even hundreds of building materials each week or month via the help of our friends. This is arguably the original CityVille's biggest problem - it simply takes too long to get anything done if you haven't added dozens of random strangers as Facebook friends to proceed. In CityVille 2, players should be able to use items like FarmVille's Special Delivery Boxes, which instantly grant the player a part that they need for one of their buildings. Unlike a Mystery Box that could contain any number of items, these Special Delivery Boxes should offer user freedom so that we can use these bonus parts only on buildings that we're currently focused on completing.
Overhaul the Land Expansion System
When CityVille was still a new game, the requirements for land expansions were much lighter than they are today. Land expansions cost around 20,000 coins each, and the population requirement was nowhere to be found. Players could simply expand whenever they had enough items and coins to do so, without having to build an unnecessarily large amount of new homes before they could unlock another expansion. With land space being a valuable commodity in any city-builder, CityVille 2 needs to offer players an easier way to expand, rather than forcing us to once again fill our cities with buildings we may not want just because we have to build them in order to expand.
Launch on Zynga.com with Full Functionality
Zynga.com is Zynga's "all-in-one" playground for its Facebook games outside of Facebook. There, gamers have the chance to play games like CastleVille and FarmVille 2 and can gain the help of thousands or even millions of fellow gamers, all around the world, via helpful tickers that constantly refresh at the side of the screen. Unfortunately, not every Zynga Facebook game is available on the service, and even some that are don't come with those immensely helpful tickers (ChefVille, for one). CityVille 2 needs to launch on Zynga.com in a completely functional package right out of the gate, so that players can instantly start to make progress without waiting weeks for their friends to join in the fun. This, thankfully, is the change that will most likely become reality when the game launches sometime soon.
Randomized Land Design
While a launch on Zynga.com isn't that far of a stretch, our next wish probably is. It would be great to see CityVille 2 offer players different starting sections of land to eliminate the cookie-cutter design that each town in CityVille ultimately has. Sure, players can customize the look of their towns by building specific structures or decorations, but when I visit a friend's town, I always know that the bridge and beach will be in the same place. This is a setup that functions fine, but the game would be much more interesting if each player had the same few starting structures and land features that were randomly scattered around the map. If that were the case, we could build and grow into a city that's truly unique, which isn't seen enough in the Facebook gaming space. Will CityVille 2 offer this much user freedom and originality? Probably not, but we're daring to dream big.
Let Us Cancel Quests
Let's face it: if you're not an avid CityVille player, logging in multiple times a day to check on your city, it's really easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of quests that are released each month or even each week. In CityVille 2, players should be able to cancel a quest series entirely from their game if they're not interested in completing it. This would let us focus more easily on the tasks that we do wish to complete, and would simply create a friendlier, more relaxing experience for gamers, who might then be more interested in purchasing City Cash for a game that doesn't "force" them to play in a certain way.
Will we see all of these features come to CityVille 2 when it launches on Facebook? Unfortunately, that's pretty unlikely (save for the Zynga.com wish), but if Zynga is as interested in listening to fan feedback as it claims, then there's always hope!
What are you most looking forward to in CityVille 2? Is there any one feature that Zynga needs to add to make you play? Make sure to share your own hopes and wishes for CityVille 2 with us in the comments below!
