'strong game loop' was vague, what I meant was what I said in the last sentence, that you can enjoy playing a traditional game without rewards. It is fun to play on its own merit. If you take away the rewards from a social game, it can't stand up on it's own as a 'fun game'.
In Farmville, there are gameplay elements, but its very minimal. In Cow Clicker, another social game, there are no game mechanics at all. There are some 'hardcore' social game companies, like Kabam, but they end up just having more elaborate reward feedback mechanisms.
'strong game loop' was vague, what I meant was what I said in the last sentence, that you can enjoy playing a traditional game without rewards. It is fun to play on its own merit. If you take away the rewards from a social game, it can't stand up on it's own as a 'fun game'.
In Farmville, there are gameplay elements, but its very minimal. In Cow Clicker, another social game, there are no game mechanics at all. There are some 'hardcore' social game companies, like Kabam, but they end up just having more elaborate reward feedback mechanisms.