Oregon Trail Turns Into... Speed Dating?

from the you-have-died-of-dysentery dept

Well, this seems like an incredibly bad idea. Apparently a company called SpeedDate that does (you guessed it) online speed dating has purchased the rights to the Facebook application Oregon Trail. Now, if you're of a certain age (and a computer geek) you probably remember Oregon Trail as an awesome game from the 80s ("you have died of dysentery"). I'm sure plenty of nostalgic folks installed Oregon Trail and had fun dying repeatedly of dysentery, but apparently SpeedDate didn't buy the rights to Oregon Trail to let people play Oregon Trail, but as a sort of trojan, by which they plan to replace everyone's install of Oregon Trail with their own SpeedDate Facebook app. The SpeedDate guys claim that there's a more popular Oregon Trail game (called Northwest Trail), but it still seems rather sleazy to take an app that people installed and swap it out for something entirely different.
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Filed Under: facebook apps, oregon trail, speed dating


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  1. icon
    Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 2:50pm

    Do these companies really think this makes a good business model?

    Do these companies that do things like this actually think that this is a successful business idea?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:05pm

    Re: Do these companies really think this makes a good business model?

    No, they're just trolling for that one stupid user in 1000 that will go "Wow! Cool!" I'm sure all the happily involved folks who just happen to have Oregon Trail installed, because they liked the game Oregon Trail, will be thrilled to find that it's now an online dating application.

    This behavior is explained perfectly by Hanlon's razor:

    Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

    And remember, you can't fix stupid.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:11pm

    Re: Re: Do these companies really think this makes a good business model?

    So very true!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    No one important, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:28pm

    Recipe for success

    Maybe I want to find a partner with dysentery.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Toby Sullivan, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:40pm

    Against Facebook TOS

    I'm fairly confident that doing that would violate Facebook's Terms of Service for Application Developers. If they actually attempted that, I'm confident the app would simply be removed from Facebook quickly and their entire investment would be lost.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Toby Sullivan, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:44pm

    Nevermind...

    After reading the original article I have discovered I was incorrect in my previous statement. This post was missing some important information.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Paul, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:55pm

    They received warning

    At least the users of this oregon trail app are receiving warning of the upcoming change.

    I received no warning when Techdirt turned into a steaming pile of gossip blog.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    dave, 24 Oct 2008 @ 4:33pm

    Hi, you've been

    app-jacked!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Mike (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 5:07pm

    Re: They received warning

    I received no warning when Techdirt turned into a steaming pile of gossip blog.

    Well, of course, we're neither a gossip blog, nor have we changed, but you knew that.

    Paul, for a while now, you've been coming to this site and posting angry, often ill-informed, rants against Techdirt. There is a simple solution: stop reading it.

    What did we do to you that makes you so angry that you must constantly post angry and incorrect rants against us?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Carl, 24 Oct 2008 @ 5:51pm

    Hmm

    Thats wierd--i have Oregon Trail on my facebook. However, it changed to Northwest Trail a while ago, all on its own. Maybe they were sued by the original makers of Oregon Trail, like Scrabulous, and the the original makers made their own app? I guess i'll be sticking to Northwest Trail to die of dysentry.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    crystalattice (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 8:36pm

    Re: Re: They received warning

    Nothing. To quote comment #2:
    "This behavior is explained perfectly by Hanlon's razor"
    :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Cameron, 25 Oct 2008 @ 1:03am

    Re: They received warning

    Who sent you here with the inflated expectations?

    As I try to understand your mental capabilities, I imagine your IQ around room temperature, maybe short-- 4'7" and possibly someone drives you around and you don't have the mental capacity to get around from one place to another by yourself.

    So to save face, I will take my anger out on the person who sent you here with inflated expectations. Give me a name, and I'll kick them in the nuts, and invite you to watch.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    PaulT (profile), 25 Oct 2008 @ 2:27am

    This happened a while back to another app I had installed, same company was involved - though I don't remember the name, the old app was something very different.

    IMHO, it's not a big deal unless you were really attached to the old app for some reason. This isn't Facebook doing the changes, and the private companies/individuals involved can do whatever they want, just as you're free to remove the app if you don't like it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Oct 2008 @ 6:58pm

    Sounds like innovation to me. Why are you hampering it?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Oct 2008 @ 6:58pm

    Speed dating t-shirts, brilliant.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2008 @ 7:21am

    As if facebook needs an app to become a hook-up spot! It would be more interesting if someone mashed your friend's friends list with a phone directory in an app and called it Booty Call. I'm patenting that right now, so don't even bother trying!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Yakko Warner, 27 Oct 2008 @ 12:33pm

    Re: Recipe for success

    I am so glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that.

    Well played. :D

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2008 @ 1:26pm

    That's not the only app that changed, others like "Have you ever" were bought and changed too.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Brad, 27 Oct 2008 @ 4:45pm

    It's kinda like the Safari trojan

    I'd bet this is going to happen RIGHT BEFORE they announce some sale, deal, or other public financial transaction. Then they'll be able to say "Our facebook app has over 50,000 users!" even if it's only true for about 5 days.

    Like remember when there was that huge spike in Safari for Windows users announced with 2Q earnings? Turned out it was because Apple had used iTunes to install a new browser and set it as a system default without asking the user. Next time they opened up a web browser they got sent to Apple.com and registered a "new windows user with Safari" hit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Speed Dating, 14 Dec 2008 @ 1:23am

    Organized Dating

    Seniors today are spunky and want to enjoy life to the fullest, and just like the younger generation, seniors want to share in this fun with a mate.

    Rose.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Antony Maradona, 15 Jan 2009 @ 9:20pm

    Dating is an awesome stuff to meet up new people for a casual relationship and few erotic encounters. For more information, Visit here:- Dating

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    margret, 15 Jan 2009 @ 10:07pm

    Mass media both reflected and informed many people about the Gold Rush. In document 1, the people who read this article became informed about the gold mine that was found "in the newly made raceway of the Saw Mill recently erected by Captain Sutter." This document also reflected on the journeys of some 49er's to California. This document says that one miner brought $30 worth of gold back with him to his home. ------------------------------------- margret dating

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    nancy, 31 Jan 2009 @ 12:36am

    sydney dating

    Hi
    This is nancy
    I am new to this forum. I am providing information about sydney dating. I think this site is to be useful to whom wants to date they require to see this. I don't know much about date.
    ========================================
    nancy
    Sydney Dating

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. identicon
    Jim Long, 13 Dec 2009 @ 1:49am

    speeddate.com is a complete waste of money!!!

    Please, Please, Please pass this on!!! speeddate.com is a complete waste of money!!! They are a service connected with Facebook... It is full of scammers (Mostly from Ghana and the UK) and they care nothing about their subscribers!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]


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