Optional Growing Time Event Plants

Specialized event plants often do not work around real life responsibilities. I would like to suggest that with each new event you offer three different times for each event plant.

I will use the current event crop for an example.

Farsight Flowers - 6:00h - 80 EP

Instead of only offering the 6h version, you could offer an additional 8h and 12h versions of the crop.

As for implementation, there might be some concern over a possible confusion between versions of the same crop. To this I suggest two options. The first would be to place a large number over the tool tip which corresponds with the length of the crop. The second would be color code the crops. Normal for the normal time, blue for the medium time, and red for the longer time.

One last concern would be a need to link the seeds. It simply wouldn't be a worthwhile implementation if a player planted the 5 or 10 starting seeds as 12h crops and be locked into only having 12h seeds. Thus, as suggested, the seeds would be the same amount regardless of growing time. The only difference is that the player is allowed to determine how long the growing time is based off the seeds they decide to sow.

This would allow players to face less choices between their farm and real life. If they know they are going to be at work then they can choose a longer time. If they plan on actively playing, then they can choose the faster time.

Just a suggestion to try and keep this game viable for all life situations.

 

That is a very intriguing idea indeed DecreeI for one love this idea I work 12 hour shifts and miss out on a lot of game playing opportunities and prizes. I am about ready to throw in the towel....I can't afford this game anymore.

 

I think that might be worth a try. From 2010-2014 I had limited computer access so most of those events went unfinished and I missed out on a lot of good rewards. If this feature had been available I might have been able to finish some of them.

 

This is an excellent idea providing we can donate a mix of crops of our choosing and drops are in relation to the time of the crops.

 

I like the concept of having to choose the time of the event plant. For me it could be as simple as having 2 different crops, with different times and a choice on what to use/mill/donate. Crops could be like 4h-8h, then you would need 2x as much of the 4h crop as the 8h crop.

 

We had something similar to this in the past where you could select which crop length you wanted but it locked you into that crop. If you wanted to switch, it cost BB. The value of the crop was different for the different crops.

The events that I am thinking of are Easter 2013 and Farmerama's third birthday (also 2013). I don't think this forum goes back that far for me to link the FAQ.

 

I don't think the suggestion was for any regular crops. I think it was for the event crop only.

You would have 3 versions of the same event crop. For example on the current running event you would have Farsight Flowers that could be harvested in either 6 hours, 8 hours or 12 hours depending on your work/life schedule. The players could also switch from a 6 hour version to a 12 hour version during the event.

 

Yes, I did understand it would only be event crops but in the past BP still told us how much to donate of each crop. . Perhaps I did not make my point clearly. We would not choose the crops from our barns which we have stockpiled but would be allowed to donate any combination of the event crops to the required value.

 

Since we no longer get weeds on a field, you can plant the event crop and just let it sit on maturity. The only benefit to a multiple tier of times would be a multiple tier of quantity. (BTW, over level 60, comfort fields can be used to change the timing.) I personally don't really care if the EP were tiered. The current events are quantity driven, not EP driven.

 

There are more benefits than that. We're talking about event crops, and the worst thing you can do is let them sit unharvested when they are ready to harvest. Since drops are determined by the base time of the crop, being able to adjust the event crop to your real life schedule means players will be able to able to harvest more often without worrying about the lost drops they are missing out on while they are at work. Comfort fields are a poor option which come with a penalty, 4x the amount of growing time but only 3x the amount of harvest. Are we really wanting to penalize players during events because they have to go to work? Without work they certainly can't afford to buy in game items. Maybe the suggestion should be to include more comfort field type options which increase the growing time by 2x or 3x instead of only one option.

This option simply helps players to enjoy this game and complete events by giving them options to work around their real life responsibilities. Without this flexibility many players are stuck unable to complete events, not because of effort, but because of time. If more players were able to finish events regularly, then you would see an increase on in game goods, because the game itself would feel more valid to these players.

I'm not even advocating for multiple tiers in quantity. I'm more focused on drop equality and player flexibility/choices. I could care less if I get the same amount of crops from harvesting a 4h or a 12h crop, as long as I was able to harvest it when it was ready and not 4 hours later.

 

If players choose a 4h crop and other choose a 12h crop it would not be fair to have to grow the same amounts. If they do then I don't see why it is bad to harvest the event crops 4 hours later.
I mean what's they point of having a longer hour crop if you don't have less requirements?

 

I think the idea would be to donate according to the EV amount , e.g. 4 hour crop 60 ev. 8 hour crop 120 ev. We have to donate sa total of say 2000 ev.

 

Yes that would be very good!

 

It would be fair, I'm not contesting that. However, that was not my intention with the suggestion. As stated before, my intention is to help increase drops for players who cannot slave away at their computer all day long on short crop lengths.

Because harvesting a 4h crop four hours after it is ready will not increase the amount of drops. A 4h crop will only ever award 4h worth of event drops, thus the extra 4 hours that crop sat on the field was idle time and does not help the player.

The longer a crop sits ready to harvest, the more a player loses out on drops which could have been gained. It's a simple equation. A player who can harvest two 4h crops in 8 hours of time will have twice the amount of drops as someone who harvested a single 4h crop after 8 hours. Players who work full time cannot be expected to harvest every 4 hours.

An 8h crop should provide the same amount of drops as two 4h crop harvests. Meaning that when players are at work, they don't have idle time with longer crop times. Thus, they don't lose drops, even if they only get the same amount of seeds in return.

The point is to allow players with full time jobs the opportunity to not fall behind in event drops while still allowing them to progress toward the event crop goal. A higher crop time would increase the amount of drops a player could from that harvest. It would also allow people the flexibility to to farm around their real life responsibilities and maintain an equitable amount of event drops.

Farmers aren't consistently complaining about not having enough event crops, they're complaining about not having enough event drops to complete the events, and that's the problem my suggestion aims to fix.

 

Now I understand your suggestion completely! And I really like it because I always have problems with drops and I can't harvest that frequently.
At first I wasn't sure what you meant about drops but now you have explained it perfectly

 

did you try using the comfort fields? they are free now.

 

The topic of comfort fields were covered in a post above.

Comfort fields were designed with weeds in mind, not events. As such, you could choose one penalty (extended growing time for less benefits) over a different penalty (weeds). This game shouldn't penalize anyone for playing at all, which was probably a big factor in why they eliminated weeds from the game.

 

I like this idea. But i don't see how getting the drops help when you don't have the crops? if there is a way around the missing crops we need.. then i'm all for this..... I had a thought with what Decree said earlier and depends how BP wanted to add it to the game.. Could be a good idea.....

You pick what crop to seed and once you do you locked into that crop. A,B or/and C crop.... which in turn will depend how much crops/drops you will need. The drop(item)s be same as always, for all.event also be the same.. And if they wanted to do more programming/twist to the game then we all can pick what part of the event we all want to be locked into as prizes can be different. Now if one thinks this is unfair.. i don't see that less BP offers different CR. But rotate the rewards for new events (CR too if they did have different CR's) . or have the same event like 3 times a year... that way we can all have a chance to play it all 2 or 3 ways...I like this idea the best....sorry just my way of playing.... always like twists to a game...

The only good fire way around this issue we have with drops and crops and people who work for a living is this.(also for working people and not working people we have a thing called life which one way or another will take us away from game... shopping, family etc).. instead of short crops for events its 8 hrs or 12 hrs.... the stuff we need will have to be reduced..