Thursday, September 29, 2011

FarmVille Horse Paddock Goals: Everything you need to know


With the launch of the Horse Paddock in FarmVille, many farmers are probably wondering just when the matching set of goals will arrive. If you're like most, you probably don't have them in your game yet, as they are on a very slow rollout. For those that do have them, however, you'll see that this set of six goals has a 16-day time limit (perhaps less by the time these roll around to everyone), and will reward you some Horses for completing them. Here's a guide for doing just that:

Horsing Around
  • Get 6 Horse Combs
  • Place 1 Horse Paddock
  • Buy 3 Orange Hay Bales

The Horse Combs are earned through a general news feed post. The full six people can click on this post to actually send you rewards, so you shouldn't have to ask for it twice. As for the Horse Paddock, note that this goal doesn't require you to have completed the construction on the building - just place its base. Finally, the Orange Hay Bales are available from the store for 125 coins each. Finishing this first goal, no matter how simple it might seem, actually gives you some great rewards: 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Pink Saddled Horse. To be specific, the horse's body is white, but the saddle is pink.

There She Is, Miss Equestrian...
  • Get 6 Horse Tiaras
  • Buy 2 Horse Topiaries
  • Harvest 10 Horses

For this one, we're not sure if Horses placed inside your Horse Paddock (or previously owned Horse Stables will count), so if you try it once and they don't, just pull some Horses out of storage and wait for them to become ready to harvest on their own. To collect the Tiaras, you'll post another item to your news feed asking all friends to help at once. You can then finish this goal off by purchasing the Horse Topiaries, which cost just 100 coins each in the store. For completing this second goal, you're given 50 XP, 2,500 coins, a single Animal Feed and a Fancy Hitching Post decoration.

Sugar High
  • Get 6 Sugar Cubes
  • Complete a Horse Paddock
  • Harvest 100 Vegetables

It doesn't matter which vegetable crop you harvest, so long as you harvest 100 individual squares of them. While you wait for those crops to grow, you can collect the Sugar Cubes via a general news feed post, and can complete the Horse Paddock by collecting its 30 required building ingredients. Check out our guide to the Horse Paddock to see exactly what we mean. Finishing this goal gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Cream Stallion.

Horseplay
  • Get 9 Carrots on Sticks
  • Harvest a Horse Paddock
  • Harvest 75 Wheat

Each Horse Paddock is available to harvest once every 24 hours, so if you happen to collect from one right before you receive this goal, just wait until the next day to finish this one off. In the meantime, you can post a general news post asking for the Carrots on Sticks and can harvest the wheat as well. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins, five units of Animal Feed and a Blingy Water Trough decoration. Apparently, these horses are fairly high maintenance.

Giddy Up!
  • Get 9 Stylish Horse Shoes
  • Master Cream Stallion to Level 1
  • Harvest 50 Mint

The fastest way to master any Horse will be to make sure they're in storage, so that they can be collected from once per day (rather than once every few days when they're outside of buildings). Just place the Cream Stallion into either Horse building on your farm (that is, if you didn't trade in your Horse Stable for feed and prizes) and collect from it routinely to reach Level 1 before this goal series expires. Oh, and you guessed it--the Stylish Horse Shoes come from a general news post on your wall. Finish off this goal and you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins, five units of Animal Feed and something for your avatar: a Jockey Outfit.

Saddle Up!
  • Get 9 Horse Saddles
  • Place 10 Horses in a Horse Paddock
  • Harvest 50 Spinach

If you already have 10 or more Horses in a Horse Paddock and this step doesn't automatically complete for you, just pull them back out and replace them in the building. That should clear up any "bugs." One final news feed post will help you earn the Horse Saddles, which you can collect while waiting for your Spinach to grow, which takes 14 hours. When finishing this goal, you will have completed the Horse Paddock goal series in its entirety, and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Chestnut Mini Stallion (a dark brown miniature horse) as your final rewards.

Just remember--these goals are on a time limit, so if you like these prizes more than those, say, for completing the Chapter 2 Goals in the Lighthouse Cove farm, feel free to prioritize any way you'd like to receive the best prizes in your eyes. Happy farming!

FarmVille Horse Paddock quests guide

FarmVille released the final animal breeding building Wednesday afternoon, along with a new set of quests!
The Horse Paddock is a constructable building you can use to breed your horses, stallions, unicorns (yes, unicorns too), mules, donkeys and more. It works exactly like the other breeding buildings do, except that you will need to pay Farm Cash to grow any of the babies up. Need more info? Check this excellent guide in the Zynga Community Forums.
There are six new quests with the release of the Horse Paddock, let’s take a look at what you will be doing. None of these quests will cost you Farm Cash to complete, and you’ll get some pretty sweet prizes if you choose to do them!
There are photos of each quest and the prizes in the slideshow to the left if you would like to see them before you get to them in-game.

Quest 1: Horsing Around
Your first quest will ask you to get 6 Horse Combs from friends, place 1 Horse Paddock on your farm, and buy 3 Orange Hay Bales. Easy, peasy. Your rewards are 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 1 Pink Saddled Horse.
Quest 2: There She Is, Miss Equestrian…
Your second quest will ask you to get 6 Horse Tiaras from friends, buy 2 Horse Topiaries from the FarmVille Market, and harvest 10 Horses on your farm. Your rewards are 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and one Fancy Hitching Post (decoration).
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Quest 3: Sugar High
Your next quest will ask you to get 6 Sugar Cubes from friends, complete building your Horse Paddock, and harvest 100 Vegetables. Your prizes include 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 1 Cream Stallion!
Quest 4: Horseplay
Your fourth quest will ask you to get 9 Carrots on a Stick from friends, harvest your Horse Paddock and harvest 75 Wheat crops. Your rewards will be 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins, 5 Animal Feeds and 1 Blingy Water Trough.
Quest 5: Giddy Up!
We’re in the home stretch of quests now. Your fifth quest will ask you to get 9 Stylish Horse Shoes from friends, achieve level 1 mastery of Cream Stallion, and harvest 50 Mint crops. Your prizes will be 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins, 5 Animal Feeds and 1 Jockey outfit (for your avatar).
Quest 6: Saddle Up!
Your final quest will ask you to get 9 Horse Saddles from friends, place 10 Horses in your Horse Paddock and harvest 50 Spinach crops. Your final set of rewards will be 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and one Chestnut Mini Stallion. NICE!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

FarmVille: Sheep and Pig Mastery now available


If you've been stocking up on pigs and sheep in FarmVille with the knowledge (or even just hope) that the FarmVille team would launch pig and sheep mastery in the game, your wait is over. Now, if you're wondering how exactly this will work with the literally thousands of possibilities for different kinds of pigs and sheep to be bred in the game, let me calm your fears: this doesn't result in the addition of an equal number of mastery signs; rather, the system is pretty straightforward, once you get past the "rules."

Basically, there are two sets of both sheep and pigs that determine which kind of mastery sign you'll earn. In Sheep Breeding, for an example, if the animal is specifically labeled as a Ram or Ewe, it's considered a "Sheep Pen Ram" or "Sheep Pen Ewe," which makes sense. All Sheep Pen Rams and Sheep Pen Ewes are combined into those two categories and work cumulatively towards a pair of mastery signs. That is, if you have a a purple Ewe on one farm and a pink or yellow Ewe on another farm (or even those with patterns), when harvesting them, they'll all be treated equally, working towards the same mastery sign.

This entire process is replicated when it comes to pigs. If it's a Boar or Sow, it works towards cumulative breeding pig mastery signs. On the other hand, if the animal is a basic pig or basic sheep that can be purchased from the store and doesn't immediately relate to breeding (some examples being a Party Pig, Grape Sheep, Polka Dots Sheep and so on), these do have their own individual signs, giving you plenty of additional signs to work towards.

As you might have guessed, the amount of mastery points required for these cumulative breeding signs are fairly substantial. In the case of pigs, the Pig Pen Boar sign's first star comes at 467 harvests, while the Pig Pen Sow's first star is earned after 588 harvests. For sheep, the Ewe sign's first star is earned at 840 harvests, while the first Ram star is acquired at 560 harvests.

Keep in mind, while pig and sheep mastery is fairly exciting, we still haven't seen the launch of Calf and Foal mastery in the game. That too is "coming soon," and we'll make sure to let you know when it launches in full.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Get a free FarmVille Monkey in new Adventure World promotion

Zynga's latest game Adventure World is taking the online gaming industry by storm. With over 4.3M active daily users, it has certainly made a mark for itself in the short time it has been released. FarmVille players can get in on the adventure and earn a free monkey in a hot new cross-game promotion making an appearance in FarmVille this weekend.

If a FarmVille player reaches level 5 in Adventure World before October 5, 2011, they will receive a free monkey for their farms! Many players are reporting seeing an in-game popup for the promotion, it is pictured to the left.

It does NOT say you will immediately receive the monkey. It only states you must reach level 5 in Adventure World before 10/5. If you've never played Adventutre World, it is fairly easy to play through the first few levels. It's a quest-based game, so you'll be doing a little work and you will likely need some friends to help you along the way.
This isn't the first Zynga cross-promotion to hit FarmVille - players were offered a Hot Rod Tractor for Farm Coins a while back for leveling up in Mafia Wars. There is also an ongoing CityVille promotion to send gifts from one game to another.

Of course, players are not required to participate in the challenge, but if they want the free monkey, they will have to at least give Adventure World a try.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Model Farm rewards free items daily


While the Model Farm has long been a fairly useless feature in FarmVille, that merely lets you look at limited edition items currently available in the store in all of their "life-size" and (sometimes) animated glory, it seems that the FarmVille team really wants you to pay attention to this "neighbor" on your friends list, as they've taken to rewarding you for doing so. In this newest case, we see the Model Farm taking on a Lighthouse Cove theme, with plenty of trees, animals and buildings giving off that "resort town" feeling.

For visiting the Model Farm, you should receive 1,000 coins for free. Don't worry if the window doesn't pop up right away; there are simply tons of items to load (and plenty of price-tags as well), so it might take the game a few seconds longer than normal to reward you with your prize. We're not sure if the 1,000 coin prize is static across the game just for today's visits, or for your first visit to the Model Farm, so make sure to take advantage of the daily prize giveaways on this farm while you can.

We're told that we can "come back tomorrow to win again," and while the prize may just be more coins, free is free, right?

FarmVille: Double Mastery on for this weekend on trees and crops


Even though there's no real holiday going on, that hasn't stopped Zynga from celebrating this weekend in FarmVille by turning on double mastery. This double mastery event will take place from now until Monday evening at 9:00 PM PDT. Within that time, all of your crops and trees harvested will count for double the mastery points, so there's a great opportunity here for mastery sign earning!

A couple of things to keep in mind: If you're going for crop mastery, you can activate a bushel when harvesting to earn three points of mastery for each square with this bonus. For tree farmers, you can also employ the orchard rotation technique, while earning double mastery on each orchard you harvest as well. Also, if you happen to own a Platinum Mastery Statue or recently re-released 2X Mastery Statue on your farm, this bonus will not stack on either crops or trees - you'll simply miss out on this event on that particular farm, as it only applies to those without such statues.

As one final note, this event does not give you double mastery points on animals. Why the FarmVille team hasn't decided to include our (mostly) furry friends in these updates hasn't yet been revealed, but I'm sure Zynga has its reasons. Either way, remember - this event will only last for the next couple of days. If you've ever needed extra incentive to play FarmVille on the weekends, this is about as good as it gets.

FarmVille Milking Shorthorn Lonely Animal: Everything you need to know

Over the past few months, we've seen a few animals come and go as Lonely Animals in FarmVille, and now that the Cow Pasture has been launched (a new storage building specifically for cows), we see the addition of one more: the Milking Shorthorn. This particular lonely animal functions the same as the others, but here's a rundown for those that haven't seen this feature before.

You'll have a period of just three days to gather the help of five friends to "lure" the Milking Shorthorn onto your farm. You see, the cow is actually sitting outside of your farm area, and you aren't allowed to interact with her as you would a normal animal. Only when you lure her into your farm will you be able to place her inside a building, harvest from her, etc.

To gather the help of friends, you can click on the Cow and then ask for help via individual gift requests. You can also purchase the cow outright, skipping this feature, by paying Farm Cash (within the same window). One final option comes in the form of ignoring her altogether, if you don't care about earning this free cow, and you can do so by clicking on the "Ignore It" button inside the Lonely Animal menu window. It's presumable that this would then delete the cow from your screen entirely, but I'm not going to ignore the animal to find out!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

What You Can Learn About Business from Farmville


What You Can Learn About Business from FarmvilleOne thing that we've learned from playing all that Farmville: If you're not in the game, you're really missing out.
Fun, in the form of "gamification," has become a win-win way to sell and increase engagement with your brand, says entrepreneur and blogger Gabe Zichermann, co-author of the acclaimed Game-Based Marketing (Wiley, 2010) and chair of the Gamification Summit conference. Gabe Zichermann spoke at this week's Entrepreneur Winning Strategies conference in Miami Beach, Fla., to a packed ballroom of about 550 attendees.
Savvy business owners are figuring out ways to use game platforms and social media tools to generate longstanding customer loyalty, engagement and, ultimately, revenue.
Consider Zynga games. The company doesn't actually provide any products or services in "real life," yet its Farmville game boasts more users than viewers of any television show in history, and the game's most fanatically loyal users spend upwards of $10,000 every month on virtual goods that mean nothing outside the context of the game.
There are "game thinking" lessons here that can be applied to any business, like the freemium model approach: By offering gameplay for free, everyone in the world becomes a potential customer. Once hooked, it's easier to get people engaged and funnel them into paying customers. The business application? Take time to engage people on Twitter and other forms of social media, but don't ask for anything. Just demonstrate your value, and sooner or later, so the theory goes, they'll love you.
Gamification is not putting badges on a boring site, or making an Angry Birds game that features your product, Zichermann stressed. "It's not the theme that makes [Farmville] fun, it's the mechanics."
In order to successfully "gamify," you have to design a strategy around your customers' emotions and unlock their motivations. Figure out what kind of "players" they are. If they're achievement or experience oriented, maybe Foursquare deals and badges will work. Are they motivated by socialization? Focus on building a Facebook community, or do something that involves a team competition. Basically, the closer you align your engagement strategy to whatever motivates your audience, the better off the results will be.
Finally, you have to decide on a reward system for that loyalty, which will vary depending on the audience. Zichermann sums it up with the acronym SAPS, going in order from cheapest to most expensive: status, access, power and [free] stuff.
No matter what you do, though, the point is that you need to be trying. The emergence of gamification is a huge advantage for small business, Zichermann said. It's a great leveler because it can have such an incredible impact on customer engagement and cost next to nothing. "Every mention in social media of your business is expression of loyalty," he declared.

FarmVille Friends feature finally launches; add neighbors without being Facebook buddies


For the past few weeks, we've been given you details about a then unreleased feature in FarmVille called "FarmVille Friends," which will - to put it simply - allow you to add new FarmVille neighbors without being Facebook friends. Finally, this feature has launched in the game, allowing you to browse through a list of possible neighbor suggestions to find just the right people for you.

You'll be greeted with this feature automatically once the update has rolled around to your game. From there, you'll have to take a trip to the "Add Neighbors" tab at the top of the FarmVille game page to see a list of five strangers at a time that you could add as FarmVille neighbors without actually adding them as Facebook friends. You'll see their first names, in-game levels, profile pictures (where available), locations and the last time they played. You'll then either have the option of sending them a neighbor request directly or visiting their farm to see if they have many of the game's newest features to be sure they're really an active player.


If you happen to have any mutual Facebook friends with that person, that information will be displayed as well, and you can tell who the mutual friend is by hovering over the orange banner, as seen above. If you don't wish to add any of those five strangers as FarmVille neighbors, you can click on the "See More" button at right to refresh your selection.

Keep in mind, as you're able to see others in this feature, so too can people see you. You may appear in players' groups of five, where others can add you as FarmvVille neighbors instead. You'll see these requests in the Zynga Messaging Center upon logging into the game, and can simply click to accept or ignore the request as you see fit.

If you'd rather remove yourself from this feature entirely (that is, remove yourself from the pool of possible neighbors, and not add any strangers as neighbors yourself), this is accomplished by scrolling all of the way down the Add Neighbors tab and unchecking the "FarmVille Friends" box, as seen below. Should you change your mind later, you can always check the box again to put yourself back in the pool.

Once you've become neighbors with these users, you'll be able to visit their farms and send them free gifts as normal, but it doesn't look like our interactions can spread much beyond that as of this writing. That makes this feature questionable in quality, but you can always try it out on a few neighbors to see if it positively changes your gameplay around the farm.

Friday, September 23, 2011

FarmVille: 2x Mastery Statue comes back for 12 days only

While many users voiced their concerns upon the initial release of the 2x Mastery Statue in FarmVille (that Zynga had created the ultimate money-grabber), that didn't stop many other farmers from purchasing one for their farms. Apparently, the initial release was so successful that they've decided to bring the statue back around for another go. That's right, the 2x Mastery Statue is once again available to purchase in the store, but only for a limited time (12 days, to be exact).

As a reminder, this 2x Mastery Statue gives you double the amount of mastery points on all crops and trees harvested during a two-day period. A single statue costs 25 Farm Cash, and if you're already the owner of a Platinum Mastery Statue (which has the same effect, but permanently), you'll want to skip out on buying these re-released statues as the status effect doesn't stack.

Also, let me once again point out that this double mastery boost doesn't apply to animals, so if you've really taken to Animal Mastery, there's no reason to waste your Farm Cash on these statues either. Perhaps one day we'll see a double mastery statue released just for animals, but that still doesn't solve the conundrum of whether or not these items should exist to begin with. With enough hard work and some patience, you'll be able to earn dozens, if not hundreds of mastery signs for your farm. Do we really need to pay Farm Cash to speed up the process? We'll leave that up to you, farmers.

FarmVille Cow Pasture Goals: Everything you need to know

Even though last night's FarmVille update brought with it the new Cow Pasture animal habitat, the corresponding goal series didn't appear for many users (myself included) until today. Luckily, we don't seem to have lost any time in the process, as these goals give us a full two weeks to complete them. Interestingly, with the launch of these goals, some users have lost access to previous habitat goal series, so we can only hope that Zynga will sort things out with time. In the meantime, however, here's a look at these Cow Pasture goals, so you'll know what to expect as you move through them.

Cow Cookies
  • Get 6 Cow Treats
  • Place 1 Cow Pasture
  • Harvest 100 Grain Crops

If you're having trouble deciding which crops fit the "Grain" distinction, just head into the store's crops section and click on the "Grains" tab to automatically sort the store to show you just grain crops. Pick the one you like most (perhaps one that takes the shortest time to grow) and plant away. Finishing this first goal gives you 50 XP, a Red Heart Cow and 2,500 coins.

The Tethered Heifer
  • Get 6 Cow Tethers
  • Buy 2 Cow Topiaries
  • Harvest 30 Plain Cows

Just ask your friends for these Cow Tethers and then buy two Cow Topiaries from the store - they cost just 300 coins each. After that, you'll need to harvest 30 original, regular cows (of the brown and white variety) to finish this last step. If you've long outgrown such "normal" animals and need to buy some in the store, you can also do that for 300 coins each. They can be harvested once per day, so make sure you have enough on hand to not slow yourself down too greatly while waiting for them to become ready to harvest. Finish this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Grey Yak.

Lickety Split!
  • Get 6 Salt Licks
  • Complete the Cow Pasture
  • Place 3 Green Hay Bales

To see what you'll need to complete the construction of a Cow Pasture, check out our guide. The Salt Licks can be earned by posting a general help request on your feed, while Green Hay Bales cost 125 coins each in the store. For making it past this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Black Shorthorn Cow.

Born and Grazed
  • Get 9 Cow Collars
  • Achieve Level 1 Mastery of Cow
  • Harvest 125 Strawberries

If you're into animal mastery, you'll likely already have the Cow mastered to this point, but if not, just keep those 30 cows you had (or purchased) earlier and harvest them until you reach that point. As for the Cow Collars, they are also earned via a general request posted on your news feed. As for the Strawberries, please note that Super Strawberries do not count, and you'll simply waste your time by planting them. These must be the original Strawberries only. After completing this goal, you will have cross the halfway mark and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and five units of Animal Feed.

Milk Master
  • Get 9 Milk Buckets
  • Harvest one Cow Pasture
  • Harvest 150 Vegetables

It doesn't matter which kind of vegetable you choose to harvest here, so feel free to plant something you need bushels for, or just something you've yet to master to complete two tasks in one. The Milk Bucket request is a general one to your news feed, while harvesting the Cow Pasture can happen once every day. Finish off this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, one Grey Jersey Cow and 2,500 coins.

Moovin' In
  • Get 9 Brass Cow Bells
  • Place 10 Cows in a Cow Pasture
  • Harvest 150 Fruit Crops

If you haven't removed your Dairy Barns from your farm (which is a voluntary process, mind you), you can simply pull cows out of them and place them into the Cow Pasture until you've reached ten (don't worry - you can always put them back later). Finally, to collect the Brass Cow Bells, you'll need to - you guessed it - post a general request on your news feed for all of your friends to help. Finishing this final goal in the series gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a B0v1n3-11 - a very pretty two-toned red alien cow.

Again, these goals, as so many others in the game, are time limited, so you'll have two weeks to finish them off and earn all of the prizes therein. Good luck completing everything in time!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove: Splurge on an Unwither Ring for your new farm

Even though the actual act of farming isn't the main focus of FarmVille's third farm the Lighthouse Cove (rather, the focus is on creating a resort village with buildings, trees or even animals), if you really don't want to have to worry about farming (specifically, losing your crops) ever again, you can purchase an Unwither Ring specifically for your new farm so that your new crops will never wither... ever. Even if you happen to forget you've planted crops in your new farm, or plant short-growing crops that happen to wither quicker than you imagined, this Unwither Ring will prevent all that.

Of course, just because you're purchasing one for a new farm doesn't mean the price of this luxury / convenience has gone down. A single Unwither Ring costs 250 Farm Cash, and you can either keep one for yourself, or purchase one to send to a friend (a very, very lucky friend). If the color matters, this new version of the Unwither Ring comes in a lovely purple box.

As usual, this Unwither Ring release isn't permanent, as you'll only have 12 days to purchase one for your Lighthouse Cove. While the item will permanently function on that farm, your ability to purchase is fading fast. Still, is the current equivalent of over $45 US worth the convenience of never having to worry about your crops' time limit? We'll leave that up to you to decide.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

FarmVille Capital One Free Gift: What's inside?

If you've played FarmVille at all in the last 24 hours, you're likely aware that a Capital One cross-promotional farm has appeared in the game, giving you a chance to earn a free Capital One Goat and some "Capital One" instant grow. What you might have missed, however, is the release of a Capital One Gift on the game's free gifts page. This box can be thought of as a mystery box, as you'll never know which item you'll receive when opening one.

There are quite a few items that can be found inside each Capital One Gift, but unfortunately only a few are really "exciting." Here's a list of items that we've received from those boxes so far:

Pygmy Goat
Animal Feed
Passion Fruit Tree
Flower Sheep
Farmhand

While the Pygmy Goat and Farm Sheep are cute little animals, we've easily received an overwhelming amount of Passion Fruit Trees, and little of everything else. Whether that means those are the most common prizes, or we're just "unlucky" remains to be seen. This Capital One gift will only be available to send for the next nine days, so make sure to send some now while you still can (and ask for some in return!).

FarmVille: Free Crab Shack with any Farm Cash purchase

While the "free-gift-with-purchase" feature in FarmVille has continued to grow, giving users a way to stock up on extra animals that they may have missed in their original releases in the game, until recently, that's all the feature has been: a way to earn animals. Now, though, we're starting to see trees and even buildings come into the mix.

For example, the latest offering is the Crab Shack, which was originally released during the New England event way back in July of 2010, and then again in the Birthday Classics even earlier this year. Interestingly, this is one building that cost coins during its previous releases in the game, but if (for whatever reason) you never picked one up, here's a chance to earn one for as little as $1. For that price, remember you'll also earn 4 Farm Cash.

The reason this building is so significant is that it basically screams to be added to the Lighthouse Cove farm, which all players were given access to earlier this week. And since we can't (as of this writing) pull items out of storage from our others farms into the Lighthouse Cove, this is as close as you're going to get to having any of this theme on your land for the foreseeable future.

As usual, this free Crab Shack offer will only be around for a limited time, so make sure to login to your farm sooner, rather than later, if you want to take advantage of this deal.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Intuit Business promotion

It's been a few weeks since we've seen a rush of free FarmVille farm cash promotions being launched by Zynga, but it has finally come through for us this morning with an activity with Intuit. This Intuit Business promotion can be found under the bottom right of your gameplay area, but it may just be labeled as "complete this brand activity," rather than anything specific to Intuit. Trust me, this sponsored link window works the same as all of the others, it just comes labeled differently.

Once you start the promotion, you'll be asked to share your love for a small, local business in your community. This requires some thought on your part, as I found it to be incredibly difficult to enter something that the fields could actually recognize. That is, you're asked for the name of the business, along with your city and state location, and it will then search for any addresses matching that business description. Once you find one (perhaps you'll just be luckier than me and score a hit on your first try), you'll have to fill in a form asking for your name, email address and why you like this business the most. If I were you, or are just in this for the free Farm Cash, feel free to give them an out-of-use email address as, let's face it, that's an instant sign-up for Intuit's newsletter right there.


Either way, once you jump through these hoops, you'll finally be given your two free Farm Cash. Remember, these Farm Cash should automatically update into your account, but if they don't, refresh the page and see if that sets things right. As always, we'll make sure to bring you more news about free Farm Cash offers in the future, just as soon as they pop into the game. Keep checking back for more!

FarmVille: 24x24 and under land expansions 50% off this weekend

If you're a new(er) player to FarmVille that hasn't had a chance to expand their Home or English Countryside farms, or, if you've just held off until expanding your farms until now, Zynga is offering some major incentive to doing so this weekend. All expansions in both the Home Farm and the English Countryside farm that are 24x24 and smaller are now 50% off. This sale will last until Sunday evening at 9PM PST.

Let's put this into perspective. The two most recent expansions to the Home Farm are for 30x30 and 32x32. While the 32x32 land expansion is technically still on "sale" for 5 days only, it still goes for 180 Farm Cash. Both of these expansions, then, wouldn't be part of this weekend sale. As for English Countryside expansions, there are four that many farmers have likely not unlocked: starting with 26x26 and up, simply because of their prices (2.5 million coins, 5 million coins, 195 Farm Cash and 195/215 Farm Cash respectively). This, again, takes us to the 32x32 sized farm, but none of these are included in the sale.

What's even more disappointing about this sale is the fact that Lighthouse Cove expansions aren't included. As we're limited (in Lighthouse Cove only) to a certain number of crops based on how big our farm is, and since these early expansions start out costing 30 Farm Cash each, it would have been great to see them included in this sale. Whether this means the prices will soon turn to coins instead is anyone's guess, but for now, I suppose this is one sale that most of us will simply have to miss out on.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

FarmVille: New Craftshop recipes use Lighthouse Cove crops

If you thought your Lighthouse Cove crops in FarmVille were only going to be good for completing goals or earning new mastery signs, think again. Zynga has released a series of new Craftshop recipes using these new crops which will see you combining "old" crops with these new bushels. Here's a complete rundown of the new crops so you know exactly what to grow (and what to stock up on) should you wish to craft any of these items in bulk.

Bright Yellow Tractor: 4 Clam, 10 Tarragon and 6 Elderberry Bushels

Mechanic Scarecrow: 3 Hay Bushels, 3 Apple Wood Baskets and 4 Wheat Bushels

Sheep Topiary:
4 Tarragon Bushels, 2 Wool Bundles and 5 Green Tea Bushels

Apple Red Seeder: 4 Seafood, 10 Dill and 6 Onion Bushels

Bonsai:
3 Kennebec Potato, 2 Cherry and 4 Basil Bushels

Tree House: 4 Lady Slipper Bushels, 2 Apple Wood Baskets and 4 Chandler Blueberry Bushels

Apple Red Harvester: 4 Lobster, 10 Daylily and 6 Basil Bushels

Post Office: 10 Cove Cranberry Bushels, 4 Poplar Wood Baskets and 6 Cauliflower Bushels

Evergreen Train: 10 Red Clover Bushels, 4 Poplar Wood Baskets and 6 Hay Bushels


Keep in mind, farmers, that if you're new to crafting these items, you won't be able to craft many of them until you earn mastery stars by crafting other things. Luckily, ones like the Bright Yellow Tractor and Sheep Topiary recipes are open by default, so at least you can earn some mastery stars while completing these new recipes. Also, keep track of how long each of these recipes take to complete, as some of them aren't exactly fast (the Harvester, for instance).

FarmVille Livestock Pen quests guide

FarmVille released a new animal breeding building Thursday night – the Livestock Pen!

The Livestock Pen works exactly the same as the previous animal breeding buildings that have been released in the game. You place various different animals inside, and upon harvesting, you can find a mystery baby. If you need a rundown on constructing the Livestock Pen, check this excellent guide in the Zynga Community Forums.

With the new breeding building, players are also given six new quests to work on. If you make your way to the end of them, you’ll be rewarded with a Black Laxta Sheep! Here’s a rundown of the new quests, what you will be doing, and what your prizes are along the way:

Quest 1: Farmin’ Ain’t Easy
Your first quest will ask you to get 8 Farmer’s Overalls from friends (via your newsfeed), place 1 Livestock Pen on your farm, and place 4 Whitewash Fences on your farm. The fences are available for 300 Farm Coins each.
Rewards:50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 1 Grey Mouflon Goat
Quest 2: These Boots Were Made for Farmin’
Your next quest will be asking you to get 8 pairs of Farmer’s Boots (again, via your newsfeed), buy 3 Barrels and harvest 5 Sheep.
Rewards: 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 1 White Llama (HINT) Place it down now!
Quest 3: Perqs for the Talent
Your next quest will ask you to get 8 Wool Blankets from friends, complete construction of your livestock Pen, and harvest 50 Vegetables.
Rewards: 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 5 Animal Feeds
Quest 4: Hay-Ho the Dairy-O!
Your fourth quest will have you asking for 8 piles of Hay (yes, another one via your newsfeed), harvest your livestock Pen, and harvest 75 flowers.
Rewards: 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 1 Special Flower Sheep (NOTE: This is a Sheep. Not a Ram. It will not pass on its pattern.)
Quest 5: Keeping Up With Baby
Your next quest will ask you to get 8 Livestock Tags (newsfeed), raise 1 Livestock Baby, and harvest 90 fruit.
Rewards:  50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 5 Animal Feeds
Quest 6: Get Oat!
Your final quest will ask you to get 9 Oat Sacks from friends (via newsfeed), master the White Llama to level 1, and harvest 100 vegetable crops.
Rewards: 50XP, 2,500 Farm Coins and 1 Black Laxta Sheep

Friday, September 16, 2011

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary & Lighthouse Cove Animals: Canada Lynx, Morgan Stallion and more

As was the case with trees this evening, tonight's FarmVille update has seen the launch of not only new Animal Sanctuary items, but also animals in the Lighthouse Cove limited edition theme. These Lighthouse Cove items can be purchased for other farms, not just your Lighthouse Cove farm, if you wish to carry the theme throughout your properties. This is also a great way for those who choose not to pay to get into Lighthouse Cove early to add to their animal collections while they wait.

Lighthouse Cove

Canada Lynx - 12 Farm Cash
Standardbred Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Bufflehead Duck - 18 Farm Cash
Morgan Stallion - 35 Farm Cash

With these animals, we see two horses for collectors that cost the expected high numbers, and reward appropriate XP in exchange: 2,600 for the Standardbred and 3,500 for the Morgan Stallion. The Canada Lynx and Standardbred Horse will only be in the game's store for the next 11 days, while the other two animals will be around for a full two weeks, to give you an idea of when you really need to shop.

Animal Sanctuary

Clouded Leopard - 15 Farm Cash


Unfortunately, that's the only animal released in the theme this evening, but at least it isn't so expensive that it's guaranteed to break the bank. For purchasing this little fella, you'll receive 1,500 experience points, and will be able to harvest him every two days. He'll be available in the game's store for the next two weeks.

Regardless of which animal you choose, remember that (again), these Lighthouse Cove animals can be placed in other farms, so if you'd like to place them inside your Horse Stables and the like (where applicable), go right ahead and do that. Just make sure to not let these guys expire from the store before you have a chance to shop.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary Items: Melaleuca Tree, Zebra Unicorn, Zoo Lodge and more

Whether you're growing tired of the Animal Sanctuary theme in FarmVille, or if you've been eagerly awaiting more, the market has been updated this evening with even more items in the theme for your shopping (or just browsing) pleasure. There are new animals, trees and more available to choose from, and as usual, we're here to give you a breakdown of each and every item released this evening, so you can make the most educated shopping experiences possible (because, let's face it - that Farm Cash doesn't come cheap).
Trees

Eucalyptus Tree - 7 Farm Cash
Melaleuca Tree - 15 Farm Cash

In this case, the Eucalyptus Tree is the level one tree, allowing you to save those 15 Farm Cash and earn a Melaleuca Tree (or two... or ten) for free via Mystery Seedlings either grown in your own Orchards, or claimed from friends' wall posts. As usual, both of these trees can be mastered, with the first star coming at 75 harvests (each).

Animals

Zebra Unicorn - 30 Farm Cash
Sloth Bear - 12 Farm Cash


Yes, I said it --err, typed it. A unicorn is available with tonight's update, which should make horse and unicorn collectors alike really excited. As with most other unicorns, the price here is pretty high, but I suppose that's the price you pay for a zebra-striped unicorn with a baby blue mane. Also, if you happen to login to your game and see prices that are different from those mentioned and pictured here, keep in mind that Zynga likes to "price test," to see just how high they can price an item and still have users pay the fee. You may have just come across one such test, so don't be alarmed - a single price will be decided upon soon enough, I'm sure.

Buildings

Zoo Lodge - 20 Farm Cash

This building doesn't necessary scream of being perfect for a zoo, but it has the "lodge" portion down. This fairly large building has an angled ceiling with skylights that make it an interesting sight to say the least. You'll receive 2,000 experience points for purchasing one.

Decorations:

Aviary Fence - 5,000 coins
Koala Bear Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Crocodile Pond - 16 Farm Cash
Hummock Grassland - 10,000 coins

Alright, let's just take a moment to look at how cute the Koala Bear Gnome is - adorable, isn't he? Now that our moment is over, we can get back to the topic at hand: at least there are two coin items here, unlike previous releases, but unless you plan on creating some farm art with these fence tiles, you'll likely not feel that counts. Still, the pieces of Hummock Grassland look really nice next to one another, so if you're looking for a way to change the appearance of a large section of land, and don't mind losing the ability to place anything on top (say, if this land were in a garden or animal pen), feel free to buy them in bulk.

All of these items will be available to purchase from the game's store for the next two weeks. Hopefully, in that time, we'll see even more coin items released in this theme (or even in a new theme), and we'll make sure to let you know if that's the case.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Will Lighthouse Cove cost 45 Farm Cash?

According to an unreleased market image, that answer is yes. Before we start panicking, let's dig a little further into this. The folks at FarmVille Masters came across this image, which looks to say that a single ticket into Lighthouse Cove in FarmVille costs 45 Farm Cash. The Farm Cash option isn't a shocker, as we saw the same thing happen with the launch of the English Countryside earlier this year.

What will be interesting is whether or not the free tickets to Lighthouse Cove (assuming they exist, and the third farm isn't solely open to paying players) will launch at the same time as Farm Cash tickets, or if non-paying players will have to wait for the third farm to open up to them at a later date, in the same way we see expansions taking weeks or even months to be released for coins after they've launched for Farm Cash.

Either way, this 45 Farm Cash price tag opens up a whole list of possibilities for debate. Is that too expensive, or a fair price? What if non-paying players really are left out of this farm, even if temporarily, until Zynga decides to let them in for free? How will users react to such a setup? There's potential for conflict and drama here, farmers, and we'll make sure to stay on top of things as we see just how it all plays out.

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove: First look

FarmVille players are being offered early access to Lighthouse Cove expansion for Farm Cash Monday evening.  If you choose to pay for early access, you will be greeted with all-new quests just for those who arrive early! Get a rundown of them in this article.
We’ve got our early access, and we’re sharing what you can expect below!
What Do I Start With?
When you first log into the Lighthouse Cove, you will see some plots, a partially built Orchard, a partially built Wildlife Habitat, a Bed & Breakfast and a Market Stall. You’ll also have a basic Cow, a Black Chicken, a River Otter, an Eastern Red Cedar and a White Cedar Tree on your land. Yes, both trees and all animals mentioned can be harvested and mastered.
New Crops
There are 12 new crops in Lighthouse Cove. Before you go crazy plowing, you should know that your plots are VERY limited on this new land. With the size of land you’re initially given, you can only have 35 plots on the farm. That’s all. If you want more, you’ll need to pay Farm Cash to expand at this point.
New Animals
There are 17 new animals currently available, and some cute ones for Farm Coins (including the Milking Shorthorn, Pine Marten and Maine Coon). See all of them (and their cost) in the slideshow.
New Buildings
We’ve got several new buildings available, and several from our other farms we’ll be using on our new land. First things first, purchase the Restaurant for 100,000 Farm Coins. You will absolutely need this to craft new recipes in upcoming quests. See all the new buildings in (you guessed it) the slideshow over there on the left.
New Crafting
You'll need the Restaurant and a Market Stall to craft new recipes. Each day, you will harvest your Lighthouse Cove and possibly find seafood bushels (like Clams).
Restoring the Lighthouse CoveWhen you arrive in the Cove, you’ll see a short video showing you the beauty of the Cove and the damage it sustains in a storm. You’ll be working on restoring it. This is fairly easy with the help of your friends. You’ll be on the lookout for Stones, Logs and Steel Beams to rebuild it. As you get these parts, add them to the Cove. There are several levels you can improve to, and if you’re like us, you will want to get them all in there as soon as possible. Each time you gain a level, your Cove looks a little nicer.
My Land is Small
Yes, we have a pretty small space compared to our other farms at the moment. If you have spare Farm Cash, you can expand your land (and get more space to plant crops). See photos of the expansion costs to the left as well.
What About My Animal Buildings?
All of the animal storage buildings you know and love are available in the FarmVille Market. You can buy unconstructed buildings for Farm Coins, and fully built buildings for Farm Cash. Even the new buildings (Aviary, Wildlife Habitat, etc) are available for you to purchase if you choose.

Monday, September 12, 2011

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Lighthouse Cove Barn and Garage


If you were starting to doubt just how functional the upcoming Lighthouse Cove farm in FarmVille would be, some of those fears should be put to rest with Zynga's newest teaser image. While this is the same section of the farm that we've seen time and time again (with the mermaid, whale and boat dock), this picture also shows us what's going a bit further to the west, in the form of the farm's barn and garage (the red and blue buildings, respectively).

The text for this teaser image states that we'll be able to "[r]estore the cove, create a thriving restaurant, master your animals and crops and complete the ultimate farming cove experience with the coastal lighthouse!"

Of course, we already brought you details on this restaurant, in that it will be this third farm's Crafting Cottage, but the idea of restoring the cove is an interesting one. Perhaps this will be more like the English Countryside than not, seeing us fix the Barn and Garage using excess building parts, rather than starting them from scratch. Whatever the case, this farmer is incredibly excited to see more, and we'll make sure to let you know all additional details surrounding Lighthouse Cove as we know more.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

FarmVille Sneak Peek: FarmVille Friends feature finally detailed

While the FarmVille Friends feature has yet to go live in FarmVille (we're told that it's still a "couple of weeks" away), Zynga has finally detailed just how it will work. Not entirely unlike the Cafe World Chef Circle (which, again, is still unavailable to the mass public), you'll be able to browse through a list of FarmVille players that aren't your Facebook friends, and can send them neighbor requests. In this way, you'll be able to access some of the social features you can take part in with actual Facebook friends with these strangers.

Unfortunately, your interaction with these new FarmVille neighbors will be limited to simply visiting their farm or sending them free gifts. It doesn't look like we'll be able to see any of their News Feed requests or bonuses, which diminishes the value of this update immensely, if you ask me. To actually add these folks, you'll simply visit the "Add Neighbors" tab at the top of the screen. From there, you'll see five players at a time, and can see their names, current profile picture, country, in-game level, and when they last played. In this way, you can pick and choose the best "crop" of neighbors to help you out. You'll have to send a neighbor request to this individual, and they'll have to accept on their end for this to work. On that same token, you may find yourself swamped with neighbor requests if you continually show up in players' results when using this new feature. Note: You can remove yourself from the pool if you don't care to be found by strangers.

To be especially clear, these new FarmVille neighbors will have no additional access to any information you have made private on your profile, and do not have to be your Facebook friends. If, however, you find that they are incredibly helpful when it comes to visiting your farm, tending your crops or Chicken Coop, and you wish to add them as a real Facebook friend to open up further interaction, you can do that as well. Again, this feature has yet to launch, but we'll make sure to let you know when it does over the next couple of weeks.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Sneak Peek: Restaurant Crafting Cottage revealed


Another day, another Lighthouse Cove teaser image in FarmVille. But I assure you farmers, this update isn't boring - it instead offers us as look at the new Crafting Cottage we'll be able to use once Lighthouse Cove opens up in full!

To be specific, the new Crafting Cottage comes in the form of a restaurant with lovely striped awnings and even seagulls hanging out on the roof. You might recognize this building from the Loading Screen image released just days ago, although this of course shows off much more of the building's detail.

In terms of new recipes, you'll be able to craft items like Cheddar Cheese and Clam Chowder. Here's the full scoop from Zynga:
Harvest your new crops and collect new bushels because Lighthouse Cove has all new recipes. Craft and master new recipes like Farm House Cheddar Cheese and Clam Chowder in your very own restaurant!

Of course, we'll also likely be able to upgrade the restaurant to earn more recipes and crafting tables, although it hasn't been made clear yet whether this pictured Restaurant will be the permanent appearance for the building, or if it will change in shape or size as we upgrade it. We'll make sure to bring you those details, and more, as soon as Lighthouse Cove launches "soon."

Friday, September 9, 2011

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary Items: Acacia Tree, Red Kangaroo, Safari Tent and more

With tonight's FarmVille update, we see a continuation of the Animal Sanctuary theme containing a pair of new trees, some animals, decorations (Gnome-collectors watch out!) and more! As usual, we'll take a thorough look at these new items before we send you off to do some shopping of your own so you'll know exactly which items you want once you get there.

Trees


Acacia Tree - 7 Farm Cash
Candelabra Tree - 15 Farm Cash

First things first, Zynga has added level markers to all of the trees in the store, which is a welcome addition, even if a bit unnecessary. After all, I think we're all accustomed to Level 2 trees costing more in the store (in fact, this Candelabra Tree is the Level 2 tree of the pair), but a quick reminder before you spend Farm Cash is always nice. Just don't think that you have to purchase this Candelabra Tree, as you can use some patience and wait to receive one or more for free as Mystery Seedlings.

Animals

Red Kangaroo - 8 Farm Cash
Cassowary - 10 Farm Cash
Black Friesian - 35 Farm Cash


I don't know if Zynga is feeling generous, or if I happened to have stumbled upon a "low" period in their price testing routine, but the Kangaroo and Cassowary prices are far lower than those for most other animals released in the store. If you've wanted some exclusive animals, but didn't want to pay 20+ Farm Cash per animal, here's your chance. Again, if the prices are higher when you look in your own store, that's probably due to price testing and it can't be changed.

Buildings

Safari Tent - 20 Farm Cash

Again, for a building, this isn't a horrible price, as we've routinely seen items priced at 35 Farm Cash or more. Is this Safari Tent a bargain? Definitely not, but it's also not something that will entirely break the bank.

Decorations

Safari Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Sunset Flower - 4,000 coins
Safari Rock - 3 Farm Cash


With these items, Gnome collectors obviously have something to be excited about, but those shopping on a coins-only budget will likely walk away disappointed (yet again). It's not that the Sunset Flower isn't pretty, but with that being the only new coin item, frustration will (understandably) be high. Hopefully, with enough public outcry, we'll see a return of more coin-only items, but for now, we'll just have to accept Zynga's arguably greedy ways.

Avatar Clothing

Safari Outfit - 10 Farm Cash

All of these items will be in the game's store for the next two weeks. Shop now while you can, as there's no guarantee that any will return after they've been retired.

FarmVille Aviary Mystery Box offers re-released birds for your new habitat

If the re-released birds that have hit the FarmVille marketplace tonight aren't enough to stock your new Aviary habitat to capacity, why not take a look at the new Aviary Mystery Box that's also launched in the game? The Aviary Mystery Box contains re-released birds, with some of these birds having originally launched in the game back in March and April of this year. Needless to say, we haven't seen some of them for quite a while, so you'll want to keep them in mind when deciding whether or not to purchase a box.

Each Aviary Mystery Box costs 16 Farm Cash. You unfortunately have no guarantee that you won't end up with duplicates as you go for the complete set of six, but you can thankfully stop at any time should you decide the risk is too great. Here's a list of the six available birds:


  • Chrome Duck
  • White Stork
  • Gray Heron
  • Golfer Duck
  • Gallic Rooster
  • Tufted Duck

Again, these animals can all be stored inside your new Aviary habitat, but if you'd rather leave them outside to show off to your visiting neighbors, feel free to do that as well. Just make sure to purchase this box fast if you want any of the birds inside, as it will only be available for a week.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Sneak Peek: Chandler Blueberry crops in the wild


Here we go again, farmers. More news about FarmVille's upcoming Lighthouse Cove has been released today by Zynga itself. This new "news" comes in the form of a single screenshot, containing two animals and an area of nine crops. To go along with this screenshot, we're given the following text:

Not only Lighthouse Cove will have exclusive animals, but there will also be new crops like the Lady Slipper and the Chandler Blueberry. Will you be ready to master more crops?

While we already knew that Chandler Blueberries existed, based on Mastery Signs we've previously seen, the Lady Slippers do look to be new. We can also spot two animals in this picture, with one looking to be a new kind of Rooster, and a fluffy gray sheep.

What we still haven't been able to determine is where exactly our farm will "end," and where the Cove landscaping will begin. In this new picture, the crops and sheep are placed incredibly close to the water, without a dark line separating interactive farmland from background picture. If this is deliberate, it opens up a whole world of possibilities for new game features out on the water, which would further explain why so much is going on out there in the Lighthouse Cove loading screen we discovered just days ago.

Whether this screenshot really sheds light on big features or not (I suppose it doesn't, depending on your viewpoint), it does continue to raise at least this farmer's hopes for something fantastic. We'll make sure to bring you all of the continued news about Lighthouse Cove as we know more, so keep checking back.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

FarmVille Sneak Peek: No angry birds in this upcoming Aviary

FarmVille Aviary
We already knew that Zynga would release a total of six Breeding Pens to FarmVille. In its mission to run this whole "breeding" concept into the ground forever (hopefully), the developer will most likely release the Aviary next. Based on these leaked images, the Aviary will host all sorts of fowl from Chickens to Ducks and Turkeys.

While we're going off on a simple promotional banner, we're going to guess that the Aviary won't operate much differently than its five counterparts including the recently released Zoo Habitat building. We also know that either building the Aviary or completing its Goals will require items like nests, binoculars, whistles and ... weird, dangly chimes. (Can you tell I don't know much about birds?)
FarmVille Aviary items
Once the Aviary releases, it will be accompanied by a whopping six Goals. As an added bonus, we get a glimpse at what the eggs will look like from when these little birdies get down. (Extra bonus points for the use of purple!) Stay tuned for more as we learn it.

Win early access to FarmVille's Lighthouse Cove

FarmVille will be releasing their latest expansion, Lighthouse Cove, sometime in the near future. Tuesday evening, a new contest was released that will grant 25 lucky players early access to the expansion, and we've got the info on how to enter!
In a post made in the Zynga Community Forums, we're told about an all-new contest with a tight deadline to enter. All you've got to do is make a story about your FarmVille farm, using your original words and pictures from your farms. Twenty five winners will be chosen by the Zynga team, and they will receive early access to lighthouse Cove!
Sound intriguing? Here's all the official stuff about it:
It's Story Time!!!
Love FarmVille? Want to be the first player to play FarmVille's upcoming feature? Then show off your skills and tell a FarmVille Story! By using images of your own farm and adding text, create a FarmVille tale that captures the essence of your favorite game. Paint the best story and be one of the 25 lucky Farmers to have early access FarmVille's newest expansion, Lighthouse Cove!

DETAILS
  • Farms do not have to have any specific "theme" to win. Just show us your best work! Farm Art is allowed.
  • For your entry to be eligible, it must be posted in this thread.
  • The FarmVille team will select 25 favorite farm stories
  • No photoshopped (or edited) images are allowed. And yes, we can tell.
  • No flaming or insulting pictures that other players have posted.
  • Posting will start at 7 PM PST Tuesday 9/6.
  • Posting will end at 3 PM PST Friday 9/9.
  • We will announce the 25 winners on Friday 9/9.
  • Make sure you are creative! The FarmVille team will be judging the pictures based off of originality, effort and presentation.
  • You are not allowed to make an empty post to "reserve" your space for later. Posting ealry in the thread does not help you win!
RULES
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE POSTED IN THIS THREAD!
  • One entry per person with a maximum of 7 images.
  • Be creative. Tell a story in 20 sentences or less.
  • Please keep your entries Rated G! We cannot publicly display graphic or inappropriate content on our Fan Page, so if you wish to be a winner, keep it clean!
  • No inappropriate content is allowed in the photos. (The forum rules still apply)
  • Pictures must be original. No going and getting an image off of the internet.
  • Your entry must be an image of your Farm. No posting images of your friends or neighbors farms.
  • If you are selected as one of our winners, you must provide us with your Facebook User ID. These user ID’s can be sent to TerriHelper via Forum PM. (Please do not send your User ID number to me unless you are selected as a winner!)
  • Do NOT post your Facebook User ID on the forums. Entries that are sent to any members of the FarmVille team via PM or email will not be considered valid.
  • No spamming of the thread is allowed. This includes any content that is not relevant to the Decorating Contest.
  • One entry per person,per week. Choose wisely! (This means that creating an additional forum account to post multiple entries is NOT allowed.)
REWARDS
25 winners will receive early access to Lighthouse Cove for Free and boasting privileges for LIFE! 25 winners will also be granted exclusive items and an exclusive questline that has handome rewards!
NEED HELP?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

FarmVille Mystery Game (09/04/11): Zoo animals available for one week only

It's another Sunday in the world of FarmVille, which means that the Mystery Game has updated once again, this time bringing us a set of six (ok, make that seven) animals that can either be kept as normal and displayed on your farm, or placed inside your Zoo. For this week's game, you'll need to pay 20 Farm Cash per dart, but remember - you won't have any idea of which animal you'll win, should you be so lucky.

Here's a rundown of this week's available animals:


  • Honey Badger
  • Oryx
  • Rhino
  • Wallaby
  • Water Buffalo
  • Wombat

If you've got the Farm Cash on hand to win all six of these animals, you'll receive a free Hippo as your bonus prize. Again, this is only available to those farmers that win all six of the animals listed above (remember, duplicates are a real possibility in the process), so you can expect to spend, at the very least, 120 Farm Cash for this Hippo, when all is said and done.

This week's game will only be available for - you guess it - a week. Next Sunday, another set of items will release, and we'll make sure to let you know what they are as soon as we know.

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary Items: Chicle Tree, Rain Forest Flower, Mandrill Baboon and more

With tonight's FarmVille update, we've seen another set of items release in the Animal Sanctuary theme. That being the case, if you're still looking for items to use to decorate the land around your Zoo(s), here's another set of options to choose from. There are trees, animals, buildings and decorations available to purchase here (as usual), and also as expected, we're going to give you a full look at these items so you'll know what to expect before you shell out those hard earned coins / Farm Cash.

Trees

Brazil Nut Tree - 7 Farm Cash
Chicle Tree - 15 Farm Cash

The Brazil Nut Tree is the level 1 tree in this equation, meaning that you should skip purchasing the Chicle Tree altogether in favor of receiving one for free as a Mystery Seedling or fully grown tree from a friends' wall post.

Animals

Bongo Antelope - 9 Farm Cash
Mandrill Baboon - 10 Farm Cash
Black n White Mini Horse - 26 Farm Cash


These sorts of animals tend to be those that the FarmVille team will try "price testing" on, giving one user one set of prices, only to have those prices change the next time they login. If you see that these prices are different in your own game, it'll be up to you to decide whether or not to refresh the game, hoping for a better price, or if you'll simply pay the current price.

Buildings

Amazon Tree House - 30 Farm Cash

Not only do we not have a coin-option for purchasing buildings this week (not that I was really expecting one), but we also only have one building to choose from in the first place. This one will reward you with 3,000 XP for purchasing it.

Decorations

Tree Fern - 20,000 coins
Rain Forest Flower - 1 Farm Cash
Hyacinth Macaw - 18 Farm Cash
Rainforest Falls - 20 Farm Cash

I'll leave it to you guys to form your own opinions about tonight's update, but only one coin item? That's pretty low, even for Zynga's standards. Either way, I suppose the Rain Forest Flower can be considered a coin item, since it only costs a single Farm Cash, but that's still a major disappointment.

All of these items will be available in the game for the next two weeks (we'll assume that includes the building, even though it doesn't have a time limit listed). Hopefully, by the time these items expire from the store, we'll see more coin items released in the theme, and if that's the case, we'll make sure to let you know.

FarmVille: Free GagaVille Pink Ponytail Horse with Farm Cash purchase

I know I've said it before farmers, but these free-gift-with-purchase events in FarmVille have definitely become a regular thing (whether that's a good thing for our wallets remains to be seen). While most of the animals that are available in these promotions are fairly forgettable, tonight brings back one from the Lady Gaga "GagaVille" event that just can't be ignored. I mean it - even if you got one during the event, its bright pink hair is too bright to not look at!

To boost your memory about this lovely animal, this Pink Ponytail Horse was given away for free after completing the "Fashion of His Love" goal that was released during the GagaVille vent proper. But what if you didn't have a chance to complete this goal, or even better, what if you weren't playing FarmVille during that event? Well, now you can make up for lost time by purchasing this Pink Ponytail Horse for as little as a dollar. For that price, you'll earn this animal (which was also available in the store at the end of the GagaVille event for 26 Farm Cash), along with 4 Farm Cash all for $1. For something this fantastic, I'd have a hard time saying the price isn't a bargain.

Remember, if you're using this opportunity to stock up on Farm Cash that you may need anyway, it might be worth it to lose out on the few Farm Cash you'll earn as a bonus for purchasing larger bundles, in favor of simply paying dollar after dollar and earning more of these horses in the long run. After all, the more Horses you have, the more chance you have of breeding a Pink Ponytail Foal, and the faster you'll have that elusive mastery sign!

Either way, you've got the next five hours to make up your mind about this beauty; just don't forget to take your second (third?) chance before it disappears, if you are indeed interested.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

FarmVille: Double Mastery Weekend on now for Labor Day holiday


Well, you can't say this wasn't expected... Zynga has launched a Double Mastery weekend in FarmVille to celebrate Monday's Labor Day holiday. As they tend to hold Double Mastery events when anything even remotely resembling a holiday rolls around, you might already know how these work, but for the uninitiated, here's a rundown.

Even though Animal Mastery has been released in the game, this Double Mastery weekend will only give you double the mastery points on any tree or crop harvested; all of your animals will remain the same. Another thing to note is that if you've purchased a Platinum Mastery statue (which gives you permanent double mastery), this event will not stack, and therefore you'll see no change in your points.

If you don't have one of these statues, and you wish to make the most of this event, make sure to activate a Bushel of the crop you're about to harvest, so you'll really earn three points - instead of one - for every crop that you harvest. This particular double mastery event will last until Tuesday, September 6. at 9:00 PM PDT. Hopefully, within that time, you'll have mastered plenty of crops and trees alike to make this event really memorable! Happy farming!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Sneak Peek: There will be dolphins?

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove screen shot
Flipper Goes Farming? (Boy, does that sound like a straight to DVD release or what?) Just yesterday, we discovered that Zynga is working on a third FarmVille farm--known as Lighthouse Cove--after releasing English Countryside just months ago. Now, we have a sliver of an idea of what the new territory will look like, thanks a screen shot posted to the FarmVille fan page on Facebook. "Great News Everyone," the caption underneath the image reads. "FarmVille is taking farming to the coast! So stay tuned to find out more about your new farm with a cove!"

Oddly enough, the image shows absolutely nothing to do with this new farm, so we can't help but guess as to why that is. First of all, the image is one of a cove with a lighthouse, which is to be expected given the name of this expansion. But not one crop, tool, tree or farm animal? Well, there is one animal featured in the shot: two dolphins.

We can't even begin to explain why dolphins will be involved in this version of the game, but our best guess is that this adventure will focus a little less on tending to crops in the new farm and more on enjoying the scenery. Perhaps we'll see even more character development than the cursory storyline in English Countryside as farmers venture away from the soil for awhile. Either that, or we'll ride dolphins to an underwater farm off the coast of Lighthouse Cove. (Too much of a stretch?) Stay tuned.

Friday, September 2, 2011

FarmVille Animal Sanctuary items available for a limited time

While the new announcement that the Lighthouse Cove "coastal farming village" actually exists in FarmVille is incredibly exciting, don't forget that tonight also marks a market update, as we've seen a new theme of items launch in the game. That theme is called "Animal Sanctuary," and while that may not immediately convey any sort of image as to what the theme contains, why not take a look at our overview below before you spend any of your hard earned Farm Cash (or even coins).

Trees

Chinese Tulip Tree - 7 Farm Cash
African Tulip Tree - 15 Farm Cash

First things first - the Chinese Tulip Tree is the only one that really "matters" here, as you can purchase it, place it in your Orchard and then wait for an African Tulip Tree to appear as a Mystery Seedling. You could even be lucky enough to have a friend post a fully grown tree on their wall for your to claim - even better! Both of these trees can be mastered, with the first star of mastery coming at 75 harvests each.

Animals

Capuchin Monkey - 18 Farm Cash
Arabian Stallion - 35 Farm Cash


While 35 Farm Cash might seem expensive for a horse (and it is), if you're going for a complete collection of all horses ever released, you'll either have to purchase one yourself or go in with a friend, so that they'll give you a Arabian Foal if and when one is born (then, you can have the Foal grow in your Nursery Barn, which could admittedly turn into a very time consuming process). Either way, the Stallion will give you 3500 experience points upon purchasing it (what? I'm looking for a silver lining after my sticker shock). One final thing: Zynga speaks of a Giant Anteater on the FarmVille fan page, but it has been removed from tonight's update, as of this writing. It will likely return shortly and will almost certainly cost Farm Cash.

Buildings

Botanical Garden - 15 Farm Cash
Garden Cafe - 20 Farm Cash

You know, it's times like these when I really miss the ability to purchase one new building for coins and one new building for Farm Cash, as I would gladly pay a few hundred thousand coins for either of these buildings. But alas, such is no longer the case. What is funny, however, is the fact that both of these buildings are technically new, but have been given the names of items already released in the game. For one, the first Garden Cafe was originally released back in April in the English Countryside event, while the Botanical Garden is a long-forgotten building project (apparently also forgotten by the big Z) that launched way back in April of 2010. That being the case, if you suddenly see these items' names change, don't be surprised.

Decorations

Garden Fence - 6,000 coins
Herb Garden Stand - 20,000 coins
Butterfly Garden - 3 Farm Cash
Gardener Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Garden Fountain - 18 Farm Cash

As usual, the only coin items here are those that are fairly forgettable, save for the fencing if you do plan on creating a themed area on your land using these items, or simply like the pattern. As for the Butterfly Garden, its price tag is fairly low, and the item is animated with three butterflies flying around the flowerbeds and butterfly-shaped bench, so I think I might personally make a little splurge on a it.

All in all, tonight's update could turn out to be just the first of many Animal Sanctuary releases we'll see before all is said and done. These first items will expire from the game in two weeks, but if anything new shows up in the meantime, we'll make sure to let you know.