With a Facebook Friends' list larger than most small towns, I get a huge volume of mail and messages every day, asking questions ranging from general FarmVille questions (how can I get a Stallion?) to Politics (you just don't want to go there with me). Here are a few of the most helpful/insightful ones I've gotten this month!
Why won't my Shamrock Pony Foal grow up in the Nursery to become a Shamrock Pony?
This is an age-old FV question, and the answer's simple: money.
Horses and Cows purchased with Farm Cash produce both foals and calves when placed in the Stables and Dairy Farms. Those offspring, however, will NOT produce a similar 'adult' animal - they will only produce 'common' adults.
If Zynga allowed 'Farm Cash' animal offspring to grow up into adults that are otherwise purchased with Farm Cash, nobody (okay, not nobody, but very few people) would purchase the adults in the marketplace. It would also negatively impact player morale - as it does every time a previous 'Farm Cash Only' item is offered for free or for coins. Not only does that lower the relative value of your Farm Cash purchase, but it's really a slap in the face to everyone who shelled out hard earned money for the adults in the first place.
I have limited Farm Cash, and can't decide whether to purchase a new horse or a new tree. What do you recommend?
I see a sharp decline in the Foal Breeding trend in FarmVille.
While there are a myriad of groups available specializing in foal and calf sharing (Sharing Foals and Calves comes to mind, for some reason), the foal breeding microcosm is being quickly overshadowed by sharing specialized trees. There are probably several reasons for this: Zynga's flooded the market with a new horse every week, many veteran players are already maxed out on space for foals and horses, etc.
There's no question that Trees are the new Foals - and if you're looking to get a few rare trees AND share some back to the group, I can't think of a better place to do so than Sharing Trees and Seedlings.
Sharing Trees and Seedlings is managed by the experts who manage Sharing Foals and Calves, so you know there's no spam, no nonsense, and the same spirit of sharing and caring that has launched Sharing Foals and Calves into FarmVille History. Everyone's welcome, but we carefully 'vet' all new members to keep our wall there spam-and-scam free, so if you're one of these folks who just can't help but click on everything you see, this group probably isn't for you.
Why don't you post 'unreleased' items, or sneak peeks into the upcoming marketplace, or anything like that?
I don't generally post things like that because this really isn't a 'fan site' in the traditional sense. I'm not out to make a buck on the hard work and notoriety that Zynga's invested millions of dollars to generate (and have very little regard for those who do). Besides, Zynga would probably boot me from their Focused Farmers Group fast if I started turning this into a 'fan site'.
Can't spot one of these 'fan sites'? They may inform, but they never empower. For example, our Scams site always gives you links to block and report the scams - other sites just draw you to their site so that they can get impression and other monetization credit. They're all about looking out for themselves, not you.
I much prefer to inform and entertain on the rare issue that arises during gameplay - if you're looking for helpful links, current events and all other things FarmVille related, I highly recommend visiting Locke Michaels and his gang over at The Dirt Farmer.
Anything earned on my meager little web page here from impressions or affiliate links is directly passed along to our Farmer's Foundation, which is currently benefiting a fellow gamer and his family facing a terminal illness.
Why do you encourage folks to stop the auto-publishing feature of one of those 'fan sites'?
Another simple answer. They over-spam the newsfeed AND that site openly offers to sell game hacks for cash. Why would anyone support something that's so obviously criminal in nature? Here's the link to the gizmo that does all the publishing. I recommend the old 'report and block' treatment.
I see your posts for The Farmer's Foundation - what is that all about, and how can I help?
The Farmer's Foundation was established with one specific purpose in mind: to help out a specific fellow farmer, mentor, and good friend who's been battling cancer for months now. Many, many generous gamers have contributed to this effort, and like "Ding" himself, we're not giving up or slowing down in that effort now.
Imagine, if you will, being told that you're simply not going to be around much longer. As the primary source of support for his family, Ding has faced not only the realization that he will very likely succumb to his illness, but he's also been faced with astronomical medical bills, normal everyday bills and challenges (just because your primary breadwinner's sick doesn't mean the family stops eating, folks), and concern for his family. In fact, he's been far more concerned with his wife and daughter than he has for his own well being.
Our purpose in establishing the Farmer's Foundation was to try and alleviate a small portion of that worry so that my friend can focus on his treatment and beating this demonic illness. Aside from just being the right thing to do, this really hits home for me personally. It wasn't all that long ago that I sat at this very keyboard, in this very chair, and suffered a heart attack while working on a blog post for our group. I had some of the very same concerns that Ding has now, so I know precisely how helpless that can make you feel, and how negatively that can impact recovery.
Sami Baker and I are covering all fees associated with PayPal, so every dollar donated goes straight to the family. Sami's also created some gorgeous crocheted goodies for sale, with the proceeds going straight to the family as well - we're picking up postage/insurance/etc.
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