FrontierVille 'Mutton Bustin' Timed Mission: Everything you need to know

Mutton Bustin'
Still working on preparing for the holidays? Well--think fast--Zynga is about to throw us another fastball in FrontierVille with the new "Mutton Bustin'!" Timed Mission. According to Frontier Jack, mutton bustin' is rodeo for kids... only it's done on sheep. And what do you know, it checks out!

Once accepted, you'll only have three days to prepare for the runts' rodeo, but the requirements are simple enough:

    Tend to 40 of your neighbors' sheep
    Collect 5 Rodeo Vests
    Collect 10 Rodeo Gloves



Again, this isn't anything you haven't done before, you just might want to find some more friends to visit to get this done in three days considering every requirement calls for friends. Better yet, gifting just got a whole lot easier thanks to the Zynga Message Center finally being introduced to FrontierVille. Complete the mission in time to win a Hitchin' Post decoration, one Dinner and 1,000 XP. Now, get out there and let those kids live out their dreams of riding war sheep onto the battlefield. At least that's what rodeo should be like.

New FrontierVille Mystery Animal Crates ready to butt heads (literally)

Mystery Animals
If you were at all worried about your options when it came to adorable animals to collect, have no fear. Zynga just added yet another set of Mystery Animals to FrontierVille. Coming in a barrel rather than a crate, actually, you can have one of three varieties of Ram, Chipmunk and Armadillo for 50 Horseshoes. Here are all nine animals you might find inside:

    White, Black or Pink Ram
    Brown, Beige or Blue Chipmunk
    Tan, White or Prismatic Armadillo



Honestly, I don't think any Mystery Animal ever will be able to beat the Prismatic Armadillo. It's one step away from Happy Pets' psychedelic pets. Unfortunately, there are no special versions of these Mystery Animals to be found in Goals, but any one of these critters would make for an awww-inducing addition to the homestead. The question is are you willing to risk $6 on getting an animal you might not want?

FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Goals: Everything you need to know for Day 4

On the Foruth Day O' Christmas
As the 12 Days of Christmas wind down in FrontierVille, it appears that things are getting slightly simpler. In "On the Fourth Day O' Christmas," it's all about those pink, corkscrew-tailed bacon machines: Pigs. In this Goal, all you need to do is tend to four Neighbor Pigs, sell four Adult Pigs and buy one Lunch from the Market. If you haven't four Adult Pigs to sell, this Goal will cost you a total of 1,460 coins and 165 Energy.

Though, if your friends are cool, Pigs are available as a free Gift, so feel free to ask around and save some dough. However, this Goal will take much longer if you're starting with baby Pigs--54 hours longer, to be exact. When you visit Neighbors, just remember to resist the temptation of harvesting their crops for extra Food. Pigs are your number one objective. Complete this Goal and you'll be 400 XP and one Pig richer.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

Gamasutra names Zynga's FrontierVille Best Facebook Game of 2010

Are any of you surprised? We didn't think so. Among games like Millionaire City by Digital Chocolate, CrowdStar's It Girl, Zuma Blitz by PopCap and LOLapps' Ravenwood Fair, Gamasutra named FrontierVille the number one Facebook game of 2010. The article was written by Worlds in Motion editor Eric Caoili, who chose each game based on "compelling gameplay and metrics-based design" instead of viral strategies. As a result, some of the more robust Facebook games obviously made the cut.

Some of the more interesting picks, or lack thereof, include Ravenwood Fair, which, in the number 3 spot, suffered a roller coaster of issues as a result of a certain Wall Street Journal investigation only to bounce back as one of the top Facebook games out there. Another intriguing choice is It Girl, second only to FrontierVille on this list and one of the most successful Facebook games to date geared specifically toward women (social games' largest demographic) with 6.6 million monthly players. While it hasn't even been around for a month, CityVille still managed to snag an honorable mention, which is most likely due to its insanely rapid growth.

And, of course, who could forget FrontierVille, now Zynga's third most successful game and arguably the most advanced in many ways. The game launched at a time when it was uncertain whether another game could emulate the success of FarmVille given the since debilitated modes of discovery on Facebook, but once again Zynga proved the naysayers wrong. Caoili claims that through veteran game designer Brian Reynolds, Zynga released a game that evolved the traditional farming sim with a largely different, quest-heavy focus, neighbors to visit and more features including several playable and non-playable characters, badges to earn and enemies to defeat. Don't forget the hilarious if lecherous News Feed messages, guys.

FrontierVille: Zynga working on fix for missing Bears, will increase frequency of Rock appearance

Over on the official FrontierVille forums, Zynga has announced a series of updates or bug fixes that the FrontierVille team is currently working on. Two of these issues are those that have been causing a lot of hurt with players trying to complete not only the final 12 Days of Christmas mission (missing Bears, anyone?), but also those trying to finish the New Years Resolution missions in time to earn the 50 free Horseshoes being given out to those that can complete the goals by January 14.

First, Bears will apparently be coming back out of hibernation soon. No, the Bears aren't technically hibernating - this just seems like Zynga's clever way of acknowledging the fact that Bears have gone missing, and that they are working on bringing them back with a greater frequency of appearance. Whether or not they'll actually pull through with fixing the missing Bear issue before the final 12 Days of Christmas mission can expire in less than 3 days, however, remains to be seen.

Likewise, for those users trying to complete the first portion of the Hale and Hearty New Years Resolution mission, which requires you to clear 10 Rocks, we've found that Rocks have begun doing a disappearance act just like the Bears have. Fortunately, users are finding some Rocks on their Homesteads, but they are appearing slowly - too slowly for most users to feel comfortable about being able to finish the first part of this mission, and still have time to finish the second part before January 14, when the free Horseshoe offer expires.

Zynga has announced that they will be increasing the frequency of Rock formation or "appearance" on users' Homesteads, but again, whether or not the fix will come in time or not is the main question at hand.

Either way, I suppose it's nice that Zynga has at least acknowledged the fact that there are some issues that require attention in FrontierVille, and we can only hope that these issues are addressed before its too late.

FrontierVille Cheats and Tips: Reaching 'Insane' on the Bonus Bar

The Pony Express Goals in FrontierVille are some of the most challenging the game has seen yet. The most difficult, of course, is the final Goal in the series titled "Special Delivery." While the first requirement is simple, it's reaching "Insane" on the Bonus Bar that has proven impossible for many players, according to FrontierVille Info. Pioneers are reporting that even if they have reached that level, the game has not been counting it toward the Goal.

So, FrontierVille Info recommends this little trick to Firefox users: just clear your browser cache. While we haven't tried this out personally, it's worth a shot considering several issues in social games stem from hang-ups within your browser. That being said, go to the Tools menu, then click on Options and choose the Network tab. From there, click on the "Clear Now" button.
frontierville insane bonus
Finally, restart Firefox and attempt to get the Insane rating again on the Bonus Bar. The best way to make this happen is to harvest all of your animals or trees at once with full Energy. Bonus Tip: For Mac users, here's how to clear the cache. Click on the main Firefox menu next to the Apple icon, then choose Preferences. From there, go to Advanced, then the Network tab and click "Clear Now." Refresh the browser and give it another go.

[Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]

Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Did this trick work to get you an Insane bonus that counts? What have you done differently to make this requirement take?

Poll: Would you ever remove a FarmVille, Facebook game friend?

FrontierVille forum contributor Purselamplady (how do folks come up with these names?) suffers a dilemma. One of her high-level friends, for all intents and purposes, is a load. For all of her request she responds to and Lunches she sends, this gal sends nothing, nor does she help at any point. She just reaps the benefits, as if she needs them more than anyone else. In other words, she's not the type of friend that ... works in FrontierVille. So, to leave or not to leave, that is the question:

Would you ever remove a neighbor?
If they can't contribute like I do, away with 'em!No, because some features require numbers of friends.Yes, but I would try to communicate first.I barely contribute myself--who am I to judge?
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Have a unique answer?

FrontierVille: Tend trees to find a Spring Quail critter

A new critter has been added to FrontierVille today, as Zynga has officially launched the Spring Quail in the game. You'll be able to find this Spring Quail egg in the same was that you find the Spring Robin, by simply tending to your trees (whether fruit trees, oaks or pines).

Once you find a Spring Quail, you'll need to confirm that you want to help the animal via a pop-up like the one above. Then, you'll be tasked with collecting a whole slew of Fuzzy Blankets to warm up the Quail egg and help it hatch. This seems like one of the most difficult animals to "heal," as, while the Fuzzy Blankets are fairly easy to come by (just ask your friends to send them to you via wall posts), it will take a lot of Fuzzy Blankets to fill the Quail's meter to the point that the egg cracks and you have a true, ready-to-be-fed animal for your Homestead.

With more birds being released in the game, it almost makes me wonder if some sort of Aviary is in the works for the future. Sure, that's a complete speculation out of left field, but now that I think about it, it would make sense. Either way, keep stocking up on those pink Fuzzy Blankets, as you never know when one of these cute little eggs will drop from your trees.