City of Eternals, the vampire-themed role-playing game on Facebook, isn't exactly getting the stake, but in a talk at Casual Connect conference in Seattle, ohai founder Susan Wu says the MMO won't be getting any more updates. Wu says the game, which has roughly 4K users according to its Facebook page, is serving as a "test case" for the company's next projects, including the already announced Project Unicorn Parade.

Looks like there haven't been updates to the game for some time, and players seem to be catching on. On the City of Eternals Facebook fan page, Daniela La Dan writes:

"I'm sorry to use this tone, but ive been quite surprised about what happened this last week in the game. Sth like two of the best players leaving, one of whom has alone spent more ohais than half of the players altogether. I dont think we were ever told that buying ohais was a way to finance another project and get in time the game we like neglected... of late i really have the impression your only concern is the development of the new project, whatever the other consequences."

Another player, Samantha Ohrman, writes:

"Saddened that y'all aren't actively present anywhere on this game anymore but I do still dig it. Hope to SEE an Ohai presense and active interest again soon."

Here's a longer rant from CoE player Calan on the game's official message boards.

This highlights the importance of realizing that -- if you decide to buy virtual goods in a game -- make sure you keep in mind that that games might lose support or close altogether if they're not popular enough. It's also a call to all social game developers to do a better job communicating these changes to devoted players and possibly consider giving some form of compensation to big spenders so they don't feel ripped off, pissed off and swear off these games altogether.

Hidden object games, generally adventure games with puzzles that require you to find objects hidden in an environment (think Where's Waldo, but with lush environments and relaxing music) is one of the most popular casual game genres on the market. And Big Fish Games makes some of the best hidden object games out there, with brands like Mystery Case Files and Hidden Expedition under its belt.

Today, Big Fish announces the release of Everest: Hidden Expedition for iPad. In the game, which has already been released for PC and iPhone, you tackle a virtual version of Mount Everest by making your way through 30-some-odd hidden object games as you climb to the top. Mountaineer Ed Viesturs (remember the Everest IMAX movie? he was in that), doles out advice along the way, and as a bonus, the game includes real-life photos from Viesturs' Everest climb. There's a single-player mode and a competitive multiplayer mode where you can flick snowballs across the screen to slow down your opponent's progress.

Everest: Hidden Expedition HD is available for $6.99 starting today on the iTunes App store. Race ya to the top!

Note: Image above is from the PC version of the game.

Mafia Wars Las Vegas is officially open for business for VIP players, i.e. virtual mobsters who scored early access to the game by collecting Chip Racks as gifts from friends and then trying their luck to get in. If you are a VIP, then it's time to head to Vegas, baby! Developing...

Did you get into Mafia Wars Vegas yet? What do you think? If you got 'em, send pictures to libe@games.com, and they'll be featured here.

Crafting Buildings is a more complex feature in FarmVille. It utilizes several existing FarmVille features such as Bushels, Farmer's Market, and the usual harvesting and neighbor interactions. If you would like to understand how the Crafting Building will work or for those of you who do not have access to Crafting Buildings yet, you can get a jump start by reading this FarmVille Freak Guide.

NOTE: FarmVille is slowly rolling out this feature for everyone over the next few days. Not everyone will be able to access Crafting Buildings at this point.

"This game is too casual for us hardcore gamers. It's probably so obvious how to accept a request, but hell if I can figure it out. I sent you a goat, though."

-Destructoid's Nick Chester comments on he and his co-workers' inability to accept a simple neighbor request in Zynga's Frontierville. As fellow Destructoid player Jim Sterling added later: "As hardcore gamers, we don't expect to be shunted around an archaic menu system, waiting for a brand new screen to load every single time we want to interact with someone or something. It's frustrating and it's a waste of time, and as you've seen here, it's such an alien concept to us that we actually didn't understand how to deal with it." Read