Facebook continues to dominate social referrals

Facebook recently changed its News Feed algorithm in an effort to get more pages to use its visual link-share format, claiming that it’s more effective. A new report by Shareaholic, measuring social referrals, shows that the social network is right. Since September, referrals from Facebook have grown 48.85 percent, and represented 17.41 percent of all website referrals in November.

Facebook was one the biggest gainers among social media sites, along with Stumbleupon and Pinterest.

This shows that more users are clicking on stories with Facebook’s improved sharing format, placing an emphasis on big, bold images.

The findings were based on 200,000 websites from around the world, accounting for more than 250 million unique visitors each month.

Shareaholic’s Danny Wong commented on Facebook’s performance in a blog post:

Facebook’s share grew 48.85% (up 5.07 percentage points), Pinterest’s share grew 30.06% (up 1.11 percentage points) and StumbleUpon’s share grew 54.36% (up 0.30 percentage points). Facebook holds the top spot in the social referrals rankings. Last month, this behemoth of a social network drove more than twice the referrals all 7 of the other social media platforms sent to sites, combined.

Readers: Are you seeing more traffic driven to your site by Facebook?

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Take your social media to the next level in our upcoming boot camp, Social Media 201. Each week you’ll hear from industry experts on topics ranging from online branding to managing multiple accounts. Session speakers include social strategist Lauren Dugan, and Geoffrey Colon, the Group Marketing Manager, Social Media, for Microsoft/Bing Ads, among others. Register Now.

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Five daring predictions for social marketing in 2014

#1. Brands will get braver on social, but will they be ready when it’s too much?

Content is king in 2014 and to break through the noise and reach “uber engagement” brands will become more daring. But, what is the right level of “edge” before brands hit a “Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball” moment?

Taco Bell had to do some fancy footwork this year to deal with the photo of an employee licking taco shells on the brand’s Facebook page. And American Apparel must certainly regret their email campaign touting a Hurricane Sandy Sale. And, yet, in spite of these blunders, brands will continue to work harder to pioneer buzz-creating, edgy campaigns. In 2014, we can expect brands to go even more off-script and off-color in order to create content that is deemed “share-worthy” among the growing legion of youth on social media. However, one thing that will remain constant: the questions “how far is ‘far enough?’” and “how far is ‘too far?’’

#2. Fragmentation forces brands to make tough social platform choices

Facebook’s recent acknowledgment that there was a decrease in daily usage among ‘younger teens’ drove home the realization that teens are now congregating on places like Instagram, SnapChat, Tumblr, and Twitter. More significantly, consumer “fragmentation” among various social platforms is happening across all demographics.

While Facebook isn’t going anywhere, brands have more choices to direct their marketing efforts and spend on the platforms that reflect their particular “zeitgeist.” For instance, highly visual brands will double down on the visual-focused channels of Instagram and Pinterest, while B2B brands that sell knowledge, experience and insight will inevitably lean toward LinkedIn. In 2014, pragmatism and measurable ROI will win out over the desire to be omnipresent.

#3. 2014: the year that brands will finally “get” LinkedIn

In 2014, brand marketers will come to realize LinkedIn’s unparalleled treasure trove of targeting data. We should expect to see brands, en masse, shift marketing dollars towards the platform in increasingly creative ways; not only through display advertising, but by drafting off of the massive content marketing opportunities the LinkedIn platform offers. In parallel, LinkedIn, aswell as partners developing on the LinkedIn API, will expand capabilities, delivering more opportunities for brand marketers to personalize content and messaging by professional profile.

#4. Moving on from “just” building a native brand app

For some time now, brands have responded to mobile behavior trends by building native apps for iOS and Android. But, they’ve learned the hard way that the challenges of getting a native mobile app found on app stores, used regularly, and kept up to date, are profound.

In 2014, marketers will correct course. In place of developing mobile apps, many brands will embrace the diverse mobile ad products offered on social platforms. These include Facebook’s sponsored posts in the mobile newsfeed, Instagram’s sponsored brand photos as well as Vine’s and Instagram’s sponsored mobile-friendly short form videos. Twitter will undoubtedly respond to the pressing need of marketers by adding more divergent mobile sponsored products. We may also expect to see micro-second ‘thumb time’ ads on SnapChat.

#5. The corporate website will be redefined

In 2014, we’ll see more brands rethinking their ‘digital home’ — their corporate Website. Coca-Cola is the most recent high profile company to do so, which recently declared “content is king, and the corporate website is dead. ”

We’ll see more brands in 2014 turning in this direction. Consumers have become used to thesocial, conversational way of interacting on digital and brands need to mirror this behavior on their corporate websites. “Old style” corporate websites have historically been awful at fostering interaction and conversations; additionally, brands have struggled to organize a coherent storytelling message from the patchwork of social presences they are forced to manage. The “social Web site” alleviates some of these problems. Getting the corporate website infused with social ‘mojo’ and weaving together those social interactions and stories there will be a truly positive move for brands in 2014.

Roger Katz is the CEO and founder of Friend2Friend, a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer that works with global brands and media agencies. Launched in 2007, Friend2Friend works with over 100 global brands through its offices in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Barcelona, Spain. 

Top image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Mediabistro Course

To say thank you for a great year, we’re offering 15% OFF any boot camp, in-person course, or online course when you use code MBTHANKU. Choose from any of our exciting upcoming courses, from a copy editing class taught by the chief copy of Seventeen Magazine to an intro course for Excel. Hurry – offer expires 12/24!  Browse our upcoming courses.

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Join us at Social Gambling & Gaming Summit Dec 10-11: Register Now to Save $250

Social Gambling & Gaming Summit is right around the corner! This two-day conference, focused on casino-style social games, mobile gaming, and virtual goods, will explore recent issues and successes within the industry.

Taking place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas on December 10-11, the Social Gambling & Gaming Summit will feature panels and discussions concerning the interaction between social games and online gambling, user experience, the evolution of mobile social casino development and more. View the full agenda here.

Social Gambling & Gaming Summit has secured and impressive roster of speakers, including John Connelly, VP of Business Development for Bally Technologies; Phil Gordon, Founder & CEO of Jawfish Games; Andy Choy, Founder and CEO of Casino Offer Network, and Alan Avidan, CEO of Bees and Pollen. View the full speaker list here.

Gaming enthusiasts and industry professionals are encouraged to register before December 9 and save $250 on on-site prices. Register Now!

Mediabistro Course

To say thank you for a great year, we’re offering 15% OFF any boot camp, in-person course, or online course when you use code MBTHANKU. Choose from any of our exciting upcoming courses, from a copy editing class taught by the chief copy of Seventeen Magazine to an intro course for Excel. Hurry – offer expires 12/24!  Browse our upcoming courses.

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Registration now open for the 2013 Social Gambling & Gaming Summit

Mediabistro will hold its fourth annual Social Gambling & Gaming Summit in London on November 21, 2013. The full-day conference is focused on all things casino-related in the worlds of social and mobile games, virtual goods, and making the connection between social gambling and gaming.

The Social Gambling and Gaming Summit features a variety of keynotes, panel sessions and opportunities for general discussion, covering a range of topics including HTML5 development, cross-promotions, multi-platform game development and much more.

Here are just a few of the available sessions:

Fanning the Games: Building Engagement By Converting Players To FanaticsHTML5 Reality Check: Will 2013 Bring The Big Breakthrough?The Power of Cross-Promotion: How Leading Mobile Game Developers Are Leveraging Their Own User BaseMultiplatform Soft Gambling TrendsSocial-Focused Betting: The Rise of Social Casino Games and Online GamblingMonetizing the Multi-Platform Landscape on iOS, Android, and Windows 8

Representatives from Facebook, Google, Microsoft Germany, MeetMe, and DLA Piper UK LLP will be on hand as featured speakers during the event, with a full list of current speakers available on the event’s website.

The Social Gambling and Gaming Summit aims to help attendees meet with the leaders in the iGaming space, as well as build partnerships and relationships with major casino operators. The conference will examine the differences between the European and American gaming markets, and is your one-stop-shop for information on this growing area of the gaming industry.

Registration for the Social Gambling & Gaming Summit is now open.

Mediabistro Event

Harness the latest trends and fastest growing opportunities shaping the mobile and social app ecosystem at our Inside Mobile Apps event this December in New York! Discover the best practices for successful game design, distribution, marketing, and monetization in a multi-platform world. Take advantage of early bird prices!

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Grand Theft Auto Online Social Club Features

With Grand Theft Auto V days away from release, players everywhere can't wait to dive back into the criminal world of Los Santos. Just make sure you save room for Grand Theft Auto Online when it launches a couple of weeks later. Here, you'll be able to team up with friends and take on rivals through a series of vehicular and ground-based contests to see which group is the best.

With the Online interface comes the return of the Social Club, where you not only put together a crew to work with you at every turn, but also assign a Hierarchy, letting everyone know just who's in charge.

This system is based upon feedback from the Social Club community, so Rockstar North, the developers of both GTA V and its supplementary Online mode, have a great idea of what to do with it.

Hierarchy ties in with the general Crew, which is broken down into five top tiers. At the very top sits the Leader, who leads this particular club and makes all the decisions when it comes to leveling out rankings and making sure each member does their job. This is probably the most crucial point of the Hierarchy, so you'll want to make sure that the right person is on deck. Put the wrong person in charge and the group could crumble under "no confidence."

Next up are the Commissioners, with two assigned. These people act as the most trusted members to the Leader and the members below them. They act as right-hand men – or women – who will manage and administrate each part of the Crew, working on behalf of the Leader. These members should also be highly trusted, as they'll have the ability to promote new members to the crew, as well as assign new ones. It's vital that you have the Leader and the Commissioners on the same page, or else there will be a falling out.

For the rest of the story and a preview of GTA V, check out Prima Games

View the original article here

Grand Theft Auto Online Social Club Features

With Grand Theft Auto V days away from release, players everywhere can't wait to dive back into the criminal world of Los Santos. Just make sure you save room for Grand Theft Auto Online when it launches a couple of weeks later. Here, you'll be able to team up with friends and take on rivals through a series of vehicular and ground-based contests to see which group is the best.

With the Online interface comes the return of the Social Club, where you not only put together a crew to work with you at every turn, but also assign a Hierarchy, letting everyone know just who's in charge.

This system is based upon feedback from the Social Club community, so Rockstar North, the developers of both GTA V and its supplementary Online mode, have a great idea of what to do with it.

Hierarchy ties in with the general Crew, which is broken down into five top tiers. At the very top sits the Leader, who leads this particular club and makes all the decisions when it comes to leveling out rankings and making sure each member does their job. This is probably the most crucial point of the Hierarchy, so you'll want to make sure that the right person is on deck. Put the wrong person in charge and the group could crumble under "no confidence."

Next up are the Commissioners, with two assigned. These people act as the most trusted members to the Leader and the members below them. They act as right-hand men – or women – who will manage and administrate each part of the Crew, working on behalf of the Leader. These members should also be highly trusted, as they'll have the ability to promote new members to the crew, as well as assign new ones. It's vital that you have the Leader and the Commissioners on the same page, or else there will be a falling out.

For the rest of the story and a preview of GTA V, check out Prima Games

View the original article here

Your Turn Football brings social to sports

Image via Pick6 Studios

A football game based on Words With Friends? And it’s good?

Inside Mobile Apps recently sat down with Your Turn Football producer and Pick6 Studios co-founder David Fruin to talk about his game, his inspiration, and how Your Turn Football’s social design can be replicated across other sports titles in the future.

Check out the exclusive interview over at IMA.

Sponsored Post Brand new companies and start-ups face innumerable challenges, but one of the most significant ones, according to Rich Gorman, is brand-building. While companies like Apple and Amazon.com have much stored-up goodwill and prestige to use in their favor, a brand new company has no such luxury. As such, it is imperative for start-ups to think critically.
Learn more

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KingsRoad on track to bring the AAA RPG experience to social games

Rumble Entertainment’s gearing up to launch its debut title, KingsRoad, on both Facebook and its own web platform. We’ve spent some time in the game’s beta program, and it looks like KingsRoad is poised to deliver a mainstream PC gaming experience for the low, low cost of (optionally) free.

KingsRoad is a free-to-play RPG that’s been in development for quite some time. Players initially assume the role of a knight who quests across a sprawling kingdom while battling foes like bandits and monsters. Areas of the kingdom are broken up into smaller linear levels, but there are dozens of these maps to complete at the moment.

When we talked to Rumble CEO Greg Richardson in May, he told us Rumble was focusing on creating a title that avoided monetizing with mechanics like energy bars and forced player invites (which are standard in most most social games). Instead, the game features hard currency diamonds which can be spent on premium items, new character classes and things like expanding one’s inventory capabilities. At the moment, there’s only one extra class (Archer), but it can also be unlocked if players are willing to grind in the game and reach level 5. Rumble tells us the next class to launch will be the Mage, which is coming in a few weeks.

KingsRoad is designed to simulate a AAA game experience, and it is reminiscent of PC dungeon crawlers like Blizzard’s iconic Diablo series. The graphics bear special note, as they look like something straight out of a recent mainstream role-playing game. Even with the game’s visual settings cranked up and in full screen mode, KingsRoad looks just as good on an 11-inch Macbook Air as it does on a new 27-inch iMac (a screenshot from that is above). Admittedly, much more of the game canvas can be seen on the latter machine.

Although this is a title designed to appeal to core gamers, it still provides a (relatively) snackable experience, with the levels we’ve played through only taking less than 10 minutes to complete. The mechanics will automatically feel familiar to anyone who’s played through an RPG in the past: Mouse clicks direct player characters to interact with bystanders/items or attack enemies, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts for the use of items and special abilities.

Likewise, the game’s social mechanics also take a note from mainstream games instead of social titles. While most social titles ask players to ask their friends for in-game gifts like rare items or extra energy, KingsRoad’s social experience is based on cooperative play. The game makes playing co-op missions with friends a rewarding experience, since groups are encouraged to play through levels on “Heroic” difficulty settings; this high challenge level provides more experience and there’s much better loot to be found. Even if a player doesn’t have any Facebook friends in KingsRoad, the game has an option to randomly join parties.

Energy isn’t necessary to quest through levels in the game world. Indeed: If one wants to endlessly grind through levels, they can do so without hitting a paywall. Players do have health and mana bars they have that don’t regenerate terribly quickly, though there are in-game items like food and potions that can be purchased and used to replenish these bars while one’s in the middle of a mission. Likewise, there are other consumables to provide users with buffs like temporary experience bonuses.

One RPG staple that has yet to be implemented, though, is player-versus-player gameplay. However, Customer Experience Manager Brett Bates tells us not to rule a PvP mode out in the future.  ”PvP mechanics were certainly on the table and are still a common request on the forums,” he says. “But if Rumble is going to do it we want to take our time to do it right.”

While mid-core games have been growing in popularity among social developers, these titles have typically combined strategy and citybuilding genres. Social action RPGs are starting to appear more often, both on and off Facebook, with Rebel Entertainment’s Dungeon Rampage and Bossa Studios’ Merlin: The Game serving as recent examples. The audiences these games appeal to are known to be lucrative, but Rumble is splitting its eggs between a few different baskets, including its next title Nightmare Guardians and a publishing program (which just got its first developer partner with Brazil-based Aquiris Games Studio).

KingsRoad doesn’t have an official launch date yet, though we’re told to expect it sometime in March. If you’re interested in signing up for the game’s beta program, you can do so over at the official site.

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Social games news roundup: Google game services, EA, Kabam and more

EA inviting Sim City Social refugees to Plants vs. Zombies Adventures – Last month we reported that game developer and publisher Electronic Arts announced that on June 14 it will retire three of its Facebook games: Sim City Social, The Sims Social and Pet Society. Today we’ve learned that EA is inviting Sim City Social players to play the beta for the highly anticipated Plants vs. Zombies Adventures Facebook game via emails. The game will launch publicly on May 20.

DreamWorks, PikPok and Verizon promote Turbo with mobile game and $1M in rewards – DreamWorks Animation announced it is promoting its upcoming film Turbo with a mobile game by developer PikPok, which will feature a contest with $1 million in total cash prizes. The Turbo Racing League mobile game is available on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android handsets and tablets, and Windows Phone 8, but players on Verizon, which is presenting the $1 million Shell-Out contest, will have access to unique content. You can read about the contest rules in detail here.

Former New York Times digital and mobile products manager joins EA’s Board of Directors – Game developer and publisher Electronic Arts has appointed Denise F. Warren to its Board of Directors. Warren is executive vice president of the digital products and services group and former chief advertising officer at The New York Times Company. The announcement comes on the heels of EA’s Q4 2013 earnings report which revealed the company earned $104 million in revenue from mobile, and its increasing focus on mobile and digital products.

Elephant Mouse launches Star Trek Rivals – Mobile game developer Elephant Mouse announced the launch of a free-to-play card battle game based on the recently released Star Trek Into Darkness feature film. The game will feature more than 100 cards for players to collect, representing characters, starships and technoolgies that appear in the film. The game is avilable to download for free from the iTunes App Store.

Sonic The Hedgehog debuts on Android – Game developer and publisher Sega announced that the 16-bit Genesis classic Sonic The Hedgehog has launched on Android. The game, which was already available on iOS, is now available to download from the iTunes App Store for $2.99.

Kabam to implement Google+ Sign-In – Social game developer Kabam announced that it will be the first games company to implement Google+ Sign-In. The new integration will provide users with a simple and secure sign-in process on Kabam.com and the ability to engage users with interactive posts, which allow players to share content and prompt friends to take specific actions in their games.

Corona Labs announces Dilbert Game Jam — Venture-backed mobile software company Corona Labs has teamed up with the creator of the Dilbert comic strip Venture-backed mobile software company for a mobile game development contest. Developers are invited to create a winning a game with the Corona SDK and Dilbert artwork. The winner will have the opportunity to publish the the game to major app stores. Additional prizes include yearlong subscriptions to Corona SDK Pro, iTunes gift cards and more. The contest runs from May 14 through July 12 with winners to be announced on July 19. You can read more about the Dilbert Game Jam here.

Google announces game services — During Google’s sixth annual I/O keynote in San Francisco Google’s vice president of Android product management Hugo Barra announced the launch of Google’s equivalent to iOS’ Game Center, Google Play game services. The new feature allows developers to add cloud sync to any game, so users can save their data like player progression and game state across any Android device. Additionally, Google Play game services adds leaderboards and achievements support as well as a new multiplayer feature. Also, game services isn’t limited to Android apps, the service can be integrated into an iOS or web app, allowing cross-platform play.

Mediabistro Event

Get personalized advice from industry insiders at Facebook, Deloitte, Chartboost, Tango, and more at next week’s Inside Social Apps, June 6-7 in San Francisco. Newly added speakers include Val Bauduin of Deloitte & Touche, LLP and Doug Purdy, Director of Developer Products at Facebook, so don’t miss the chance to add these valuable contacts to your network. Avoid on-site prices and register now.

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New hires in social games: Social Point and Big Viking Games

Due to changes in the way Linkedin displays hiring information we have have changed the format of our weekly new hires posts. Companies who want their new hires included in the post must contact us directly at mail (at) insidesocialgames (dot) com.

Hiring in the social games sector was up this week with 29 new hires overall between two companies. Social Point reported the most activity, updating us with 27 new hires they made in the past few months. There were no high profile hires to report this week.

If your mobile game or social app company is hiring new people or making a notable promotion, please get in touch with us. Email us at: mail (at) insidesocialgames (dot) com, and we’ll get your news into an upcoming post.

If you want to know who else is hiring, the Inside Network Job Board showcases current openings with the industry’s leading companies.

Big Viking Games

Tom Gwozdz, Software Developer — Gwozdz has several years of experience, most recently at Antic Entertainment.Guillaume Couture-Levesque, Software Developer – Couture-Levesque has more than 5 years of professional experience, most recently with IBM.

Social Point

Jean-Laurent Wotton, CRO — Wotton was Director of performance marketing at Badoo.José Luis Cantos Lechuga, Product Owner – Lechuga worked as product manager mobile at Spil Games.Daniel Andrés Alonso Vélez, Project Manager — Vélez used to be a Jr. Producer at Digital Legends Entertainment.Martin Griffin Alan, Project Manager — Alan was formerly a project manager at EF Education.Christoph Bruger, Game Balancer – Bruger was previously at Goodgame Studios.Alejandra Saiz Xibille, Data Analyst — Xibille came to Social Point from SDG Consulting where she was Consultora.Julián Serrano Cazallas, Game Designer — Cazallas was a project manager and game designer at Red Candle Studio.Pablo Fernández Morenilla, Technical Artist/Interface Designer — Morenilla was an illustrator and graphic designer at Indeep.María Muñoz Pozuelo, Illustrator — Pozuelo used to work at Blinzy Studios as a 2D artist.Sebastián Fábrega, Animator — Fábrega also joined the company in this latest round of hires.Victor González Irimia, Mobile Developer — Irimia used to be a freelance Android and iOS developer.Marc Cuscullola Masip, Mobile Developer — Masip worked as a QC Technician and Engine Programmer at Ubisoft.Xavier de la Fuente Caballe, Mobile Developer — Caballe was formerly a programmer at Mobetia.Ricardo Valverde Horcaja, Mobile Developer — Horcaja was previously a GUI Designer and Programmer at E2M Tallers Electro-Mecànics.Antoni Domingo Ortells, Mobile Developer — Ortells comes to Social Point from Codiwans where he was a video game programmer.Roberto García, Mobile Developer — García was last employed at MeriStation Magazine.Ian Monge Perez, PHP Developer — Before joining Social Point Perez was CTO of OcioMedia.Javier Exposito Fernández, PHP Developer — Most recently Fernández was Analista programador at Divinizy.com.Antar Moratona Franco, PHP Developer — Franco was formerly at Undead Coders.Enrique Salvador Montegut, QA Tester – Montegut also joined the company recently.Álvaro Medina Agraz, QA Tester — Agraz comes to Social Point from Dolores EntertainmentAurelio Provedo Cobos, QA Tester — Cobos was previously a playtester at Digital Legends Entertainment.Jon Busquets del Alamo, QA Tester — del Alamo was formerly a Spanish Linguistic Tester at Enzyme Testing Labs.Lidia Rodríguez Goméz, QA Tester — Goméz was a Localization QA Tester at Activision-BlizzardEduardo Caldrón López, Flash Developer — López worked as Technical Director at Teravision games.Alberto Piantanida, Flash Developer — Piantanida was recently a Senior Flash Platform Developer at Inside a bit.Fco. Javier Ruiz Bautista, Help Desk — Bautista comes to Social Point from Entelgy where he was Técnico Operador en Administración de Sistemas Informáticos.

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The Sims Social St. Patrick's Day Quests: How to finish them fast

The Sims Social St. Patrick's Day Quests: How to finish them fastadSetAdURL("/_uac/adpage.html");adSetOthAT("kvcmsid=bsd:20505900;kvugc=1;"); function runOmni() {s_265.pfxID = "gam";s_265.pageName = "The Sims Social St. Patrick's Day Quests: How to finish them fast";s_265.server = "";s_265.channel = "us.games";s_265.pageType = "";s_265.prop6 = " ";s_265.prop1 = "article";s_265.prop2 = "unlocked: cheats + tips";s_265.prop18 = "unlocked:_cheats_+_tips|the_sims_social";s_265.prop19 = "ea|electronic-arts|playfish|sims_social|sims_social_cheats|sims_social_tips|the_sims_social_cheats_and_tips|the_sims_social_st_patricks_day|the_sims_social_st_patricks_day_guide|the_sims_social_st_patricks_day_quests";s_265.prop8 = "bss:375";s_265.prop9 = "bsd:20505900";s_265.mmxgo = true;s_265.prop12 = document.location;s_265.t();}var s_account = "aolsvc";(function(d){var s = d.createElement("script");s.src = (location.protocol == 'https:' ? 'https://s' : 'http://o') + '.aolcdn.com/omniunih.js';d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(s);})(document); Skip to content Games.com News

Main NewsReviewsOpinionUNLOCKED: Cheats & Tips ADD ME News Network Free Online Games End of global header What's Hot4 Pics 1 Word CheatsTemple Run 2FarmVille 2ChefVille UNLOCKED: Cheats + Tips, The Sims Social Comments Tweet The Sims Social St. Patrick's Day Quests: How to finish them fast by Joe Osborne, Posted Mar 15th 2013 12:00PM

The Sims Social is bustling with excitement. A very special visitor is in town. Why of course is Sniffles O'Simrock. Scurry down to Bella's house and introduce yourself. This week, with every errand you run for Mr Sniffles you get a Mystery Box–who knows what goodness lies within until you open it.

That's not all. Complete all the errands in time and he'll bestow upon you a gift like no other... A weed collector (remover). That's right. Clear up to 9 tiles of weeds in your home and beach house with a simple click and use just 1 Energy while doing so. Here's a step-by-step guide straight from the Sims Social team at Playfish to help you party like a rock star and impress Sniffles O'Simrock while you're at it.



Day 1Step 1 – Simrock Blues
Do 3 Mean Interactions with any Sim. Click on a Sim and call them a 'Mischief Monger' Visit Bella's house, click on the Leprechaun and 'Talk About Shenanigans'
Rewards: 20 LP, 30 Simoleons, 20 XP, 1 Energy

Step 2 – Simrock Blues
Visit Bella's House, click on the Leprechaun and ask him if he's 'Happy Now?' Buy and place the Luck O' Simrock Brewery from the Shop. Complete Step 1 of the Luck O' Simrock Brewery
Rewards: 30 LP, 40 Simoleons, 30 XP, 2 Mystery Boxes, 2 Energy

Day 2Step 1 – Struck Gold
Click on any computer and research 'What Leprechauns Like?' Collect 3 Pot of Gold Visit Bella's house, click on the Leprechaun and 'Give em' Gold'
To collect 3 Pots of Gold, ask friends to send you some. Rewards: 35 LP, 40 Simoleons, 35 XP, Clover Leaf.

Step 2 – Struck Gold
Visit Bella's House, click on the Leprechaun and ask him if he's 'Happy Now?'
Rewards: 40 LP, 50 Simoleons, 40 XP, Goodwill, 2 Mystery BoxesDay 3Step 1 – Sweet Sweet Nectar
Buy the Lucky Leaf Vineyard from the shop and place it in your home. Complete your Lucky Leaf Vineyard. Click on the Vineyard and 'Harvest Red Berries'
Complete building the Lucky Leaf Vineyard by gathering all necessary collectibles. Rewards: 50 LP, 60 Simoleons, 50 XP, 2 Mystery Boxes, 2 Energy

Day 4Step 1 – Luck Of A Leprechaun
Visit your friends and ask them 'Are you Feelin' Lucky?' 5 times. Click on a Sim and 'Do The Jig.' Click on Sim and 'Smash Pie'
Rewards: 70 LP, 80 Simoleons, 70 XP, 2 Mystery Boxes, 3 Energy

Day 5Step 1 – Joy Of Sniffles
Complete your Luck O' Simrock Brewery Click on the Luck O' Simrock Brewery and 'Collect 15 Energy'
Complete the brewery by finishing all 3 stages. Rewards: 80 LP, 100 Simoleons, 80 XP, McPixie Street Lamp

Remember Simmers, if you complete all quests in time you will receive Sniffles O'Simrock – the lucky artefact collector that clears up to 9 tiles of weeds in your default home and beach home, while using just 1 Energy.

Collectibles Required:

Luck O' Simrock Brewery:
Hammer (6), Muse (10), Nails (8), Solid Wood (11), Wrench (3), Bling (2), Screws (4), Power Drill (4), Clover Leaf (47), Varnish (6), Elbow Grease (6), Paint Cans (6), Woodwork (6), Saw (6), Garden Toolkit (6), Watering Can (6), Pot of Gold (24), Rubber Glove (8), Relaxation (8), Peace (8)

Lucky Leaf Vineyard:
Pot Of Gold (4), Clover Leaf (3), Muse (5), Watering Can (5), Goodwill (5)
The Reward
How does Sniffles O' Simrock (the weed collector reward) work?

Place the weed collector in the certain and watch as all the weeds around it are cleared magically This collector can be used once every 24 hours It will consume 1 energy to clear a max of nine tiles
However only the following Artifacts can be cleared:

Default Home
Yard Dandelion Yard Thistle Yard Grass Yard Thorns Yard red mushrooms Yard Brown Mushrooms Yard White Mushrooms Yarde Green Mushrooms Yard Halloween Green Mushrooms Yard Branches Yard Root
Beach Home
Beach Driftwood Beach Palm Leaf Beach Shell Beach Bottle
Have some tips of your own for these quests? Share with us in the comments. Add Comment.

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With Netflix Social, Facebook adds another key piece to its emerging video strategy

Netflix today announced that members in the U.S. can now connect with Facebook and share the shows and movies they watch with friends, after a decades-old law preventing this type of feature was amended earlier this year.

International users have been able to share their Netflix activity on Facebook since Open Graph launched, but U.S. users couldn’t. Instead, they came to know Open Graph as a way for video apps like Socialcam and Viddy to share automatically on their behalf as soon as they clicked a link. This year Facebook is focused on helping users share stories about more long-form content they consume — a movie instead of a 30-second clip, a book instead of a one-off article. Netflix integration is key to building out the video side of this strategy.

Facebook is working on a number of projects that will encourage users to share and discover more movies and TV shows through the social network. Today, perhaps not coincidentally, the company launched a new version Timeline that includes sections for film and television where users can indicate what they like, what they’ve watched and what they want to watch. Apps like Netflix, Hulu and Rotten Tomatoes can plug into these sections and help users fill out their interests.

Then there are structured status updates, which let users tag what they’re watching, reading, drinking, feeling and more, without using a third-party app. This feature is still only available to a small percentage of users, but it’s easy to imagine a lot of people using this in the future. It’s also clear to see how well these posts would work as Sponsored Stories.

With users sharing their Netflix activity, updating their new Timeline sections and sharing what they’re watching via structured status updates, there’s about to be a lot more TV and movie-related stories on Facebook. This will not only improve ad targeting, recommendations and Graph Search, but we could even see Facebook build a new video-focused feed similar to what the social network offers for music so that users can see all movie and TV stories in one place.

First screenshot via  nmixreallygetsme.wordpress.com  

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