Taking a page from the Wheel of Fortune, Zynga has started sending out emails to FarmVille players containing the "Wheel of Fuel." Like the Daily Bonus email, this Wheel of Fuel email offers you free fuel - anything from a single Small can, to three Large cans of fuel.
Unfortunately, this Wheel of Fuel isn't interactive, and overall seems like a rather pointless change. Clicking on the button in your email opens Facebook in a new window where you're simply shown the amount of fuel that you won. There's no flash animation of the Wheel of Fuel actually spinning, you don't get to press a big red button to make it stop. It's all quite a let down, really. Either way, I'm never going to complain about receiving free fuel, so if this is the direction future fuel emails are going to look then bring it on, I say. I just hope no one around me minds when I make up my own spinning sound effects to replace the stationary wheel I see before me.
Have your daily bonus emails started containing the Wheel of Fuel? What do you think of this change?
Thứ Năm, 29 tháng 12, 2011
FarmVille Cows ask: Should cow breeding go the way of pigs and sheep?
Zynga's FarmVille Cows fan page asks us a very interesting question this evening - Would you like to see Cow Breeding in FarmVille change to be similar to Sheep and Pig breeding, or are you fine with the randomized system currently in place? They ask the question via a quick poll that you can answer on their official fan page. It's a yes or no question, and as of right now, the overwhelming majority of users are stating that yes, they would like to see Cow Breeding change.
Actually, it's a bit of an odd setup. It seems as though the Cows (err, Zynga) have forgotten that Cow Breeding exists in the first place. Sure, it's not a great system, as it relies solely on luck when having both Cows and a Bull inside a Dairy Farm, but you can receive calves through that manner. The question's wording here makes it seem as though Breeding is impossible in the game altogether, but we can only imagine, then, that the question refers to the Love Potion / Sheep Breeding method of Breeding, rather than anything more simplistic.
Am I reading too much into this? Perhaps, but if, at the end of the day, this poll allows me to manually breed as many pink and purple calves as I want, then over-dramatize events I will!
Would you like to see Cow Breeding change in FarmVille to a more manual process? What about Horse Breeding? Are there any other animals you would like to breed?
Actually, it's a bit of an odd setup. It seems as though the Cows (err, Zynga) have forgotten that Cow Breeding exists in the first place. Sure, it's not a great system, as it relies solely on luck when having both Cows and a Bull inside a Dairy Farm, but you can receive calves through that manner. The question's wording here makes it seem as though Breeding is impossible in the game altogether, but we can only imagine, then, that the question refers to the Love Potion / Sheep Breeding method of Breeding, rather than anything more simplistic.
Am I reading too much into this? Perhaps, but if, at the end of the day, this poll allows me to manually breed as many pink and purple calves as I want, then over-dramatize events I will!
Would you like to see Cow Breeding change in FarmVille to a more manual process? What about Horse Breeding? Are there any other animals you would like to breed?
FarmVille: White Duckling available in new Spring theme
Just a few days ago, we gave you a sneak peek of the adorable White Duckling that we predicted would be coming to FarmVille in the near future. It was anyone's guess as to when the Duckling would launch in the game, but that time is now, as you can now purchase the White Duckling from the market for 16 Farm Cash.
The White Duckling is available in the new Spring theme of items that first launched in the game just this week, and it will only be available to purchase for a limited time - two weeks, to be exact. You'll gain 1600 experience points for purchasing the Duckling, which can be grown into an adult if you so choose, but really, why would you want to? The entire point of this Duckling being limited edition is because it won't be available anytime or anywhere else (at least in our foreseeable future). Would you really want to get rid of something you paid Farm Cash for, instead of keeping this cute little fella in your Duck Pond just as he is.. forever? Perhaps that's just me, but it's something to think about either way, before shelling out the real bucks for one.
Check out the rest of our Spring / Easter 2011 coverage right here.
What do you think of the White Duckling? Is he cute enough to earn a permanent spot on your farm in his current form, or will you grow him up into an adult?
The White Duckling is available in the new Spring theme of items that first launched in the game just this week, and it will only be available to purchase for a limited time - two weeks, to be exact. You'll gain 1600 experience points for purchasing the Duckling, which can be grown into an adult if you so choose, but really, why would you want to? The entire point of this Duckling being limited edition is because it won't be available anytime or anywhere else (at least in our foreseeable future). Would you really want to get rid of something you paid Farm Cash for, instead of keeping this cute little fella in your Duck Pond just as he is.. forever? Perhaps that's just me, but it's something to think about either way, before shelling out the real bucks for one.
Check out the rest of our Spring / Easter 2011 coverage right here.
What do you think of the White Duckling? Is he cute enough to earn a permanent spot on your farm in his current form, or will you grow him up into an adult?
Cafe World Spring is the Season Goals: Everything you need to know
Spring certainly is the season, at least for most Cafe World players, and Zynga is looking to celebrate the turn to better weather with a new series of goals to complete, and a new set of recipes to unlock in the game. The Spring is the Season goal set is eight parts long, meaning that you'll be spending quite a bit of time celebrating the change in seasons, unless you have some able-bodied friends, lots of stoves, or a lot of Cafe Cash to help you out.
The first goal is simple, and requires you to just cook two dishes and help in some of your friends' cafes.
Serve Pumpkin Pie 5 Times
Serve Super Chunk Fruit Salad 7 Times
Spice 3 Neighbors' Stoves
If you're like me, you likely won't see these goals appear in your own game (in terms of seeing the icon appear on the right side of your screen), and you'll need to force it to appear by either serving one of the dishes, or by spicing a friend's stove and then immediately clicking on the black progress window that appears in the top left corner of your screen. Pumpkin Pie takes 12 hours to cook, while the Fruit Salad takes just 15 minutes. You can use the above method to force your quest window to appear at any time, and for any quest, so it's something to keep in mind should you ever have to ask for items (hint: like now) and can't find the window to do so on your own. Part II of VIII sees you doing just that, by replacing the stove spicing task with an item collection task.
Serve Caramel Apples 7 Times
Serve or Ask for Spaghetti and Meatballs 20 Times
Ask for 10 Bags of Asparagas
To be clear, you need to either serve Spaghetti and Meatballs (an 8-hour dish) 20 times, or ask your friends to send you 20 individual portions of the dish, meaning that you'd need to get up to 20 friends to help you in total. If you are lacking in very active friends, it might be smartest to simply wait the eight hours for your dishes to cook on your own. As for the Caramel Apples, they take just two hours to cook.
Moving on, Part III of VIII has the same setup as the second quest, although the recipes and collectibles are different. The prize is also something very worthwhile, all things considered.
Serve Jammin'n Jelly Donuts 15 Times
Serve Angel Fruit Cake 15 Times
Ask for 12 Cups of Almonds
The Donuts take just 20 minutes to cook, while the Angel Fruit Cake is ready to serve after eight hours. While you're waiting for your dishes to cook, you can ask your friends to send you the Almonds via individual gift requests. Once this goal is completed, you'll unlock the Asparagus Almondine dish, which is available to cook for 2200 coins and takes two hours to prepare.
Your first new recipe under your belt, you might think that you have to put it to good use, but alas, that is not the case. You'll instead take on three entirely unrelated tasks in Part IV of VIII.
Restock your Salad Bar 5 Times
Serve 18 Cups of Decaf Coffee
Ask for 10 Spring Flowers
Remember, use the 10 serving setting when restocking your Salad Bar, and you'll be able to run through this task much faster. The Decaf Coffee, meanwhile, can be found under the "Basics" setting in your Coffee Machine, and can be prepared for 35 energy. You'll receive eight servings to share with your customers, meaning that you'll have to prepare the coffee at least three times in order to pass that part of the mission. Completing this mission gives you a Sunshine Flower decoration, which has a painted on face - how cute!
Part V of VIII doesn't reward you with a new recipe, and it doesn't even require you to cook anything even relatively new. It's as if Zynga forgot they just gave you a new recipe, for all of the good it will do in helping you get here, but I guess that's not really a horrible thing. Either way, you'll need to complete three tasks, as usual.
Serve 12 Servings of Ginger Ale
Spice 3 Neighbors' Stoves
Serve Clubhouse Sandwiches 20 Times
Clubhouse Sandwiches take 18 hours to prepare, so you'll have more than enough time to serve your Ginger Ale while you're waiting for them to cook. A single supply of Ginger Ale costs 22 energy to make, and you'll receive just six servings each time. Luckily, this divides evenly, so you'll only have to waste use energy on making the Ginger Ale twice.
Part VI of VIII starts to prepare you for the end of this mission series, which eventually rewards you with two additional new recipes by giving you a hint as to one of the ingredients therein. Can you guess what it is?
Serve 15 Servings of Triple Berry Cheesecake
Serve of ask for 15 Pizza Margherita
Ask for 10 Cups of Sliced Rhubarb
You guessed it - one of your eventual new recipes contains Rhubarb, so you'll need to prepare by collecting some from friends. While you're waiting, you can cook your Pizza Margherita and Triple Berry Cheesecakes, which take 30 minutes and 12 hours to cook, respectively.
Finally, with Part VII of VIII, we start to get to things that are a bit more interesting, even if only for the prize you'll receive at the end. You'll need to purchase two items from the store, and complete a catering order that was released quite a long time ago, which make save you any real effort in completing this mission now.
Have 1 Pink Egg Clock
Have 1 Bunny Hostess
Cater Sunday Brunch
First things first, the Sunday Brunch catering order launched in September, and if you haven't completed it yet, make sure to check out our complete guide to doing so. If you're like the many players that have already completed that order, however, you can simply head into the store, purchase the Pink Egg Clock for 150,000 coins and the Bunny Hostess for 80,000 coins and call this one done. Finishing this mission gives you a new recipe in the form of the Rhubarb Betty. This American dish can be cooked for 1,550 coins and will be ready to serve in eight hours.
All of this work brings us to the final part of this mission series. Part VIII of VIII flips the proverbial switch yet again, asking you to serve tons of pizza, and collect a single ingredient for a new pizza recipe you'll receive at the end.
Serve or Ask for 30 Pepperoni Pizza
Serve 30 Sausage Deep Dish Pizza
Ask for 25 Heads of Artichoke
Luckily, you can save your gift requests for the Heads of Artichoke, and can simply cook your own Pepperoni Pizzas, with a single pizza taking eight hours to cook. Sure, this would be much more quickly solved if you simply asked your friends to send you these pizzas instead, but another method is even better - don't forget to look inside your gift box for extra servings of the pizza that your friends have shared with you. Even if you've held onto them for weeks or months, simply serving them out of your gift box will help complete the task that much quicker, which is definitely something I can get behind. This final mission unlocks one final recipe in the form of the Garlic Artichoke Pizza, available to cook for just 120 coins and ready in five minutes.
All told, these missions aren't so complex as they are simply time-consuming. While many users will fly past Part VII with little to no effort, simply getting there is a long and arguably hard process, so get started now to make the most of your time before these goals eventually disappear (that is, while no expiration date has been announced, we can't imagine goals celebrating Spring could last after the season is over).
The first goal is simple, and requires you to just cook two dishes and help in some of your friends' cafes.
Serve Pumpkin Pie 5 Times
Serve Super Chunk Fruit Salad 7 Times
Spice 3 Neighbors' Stoves
If you're like me, you likely won't see these goals appear in your own game (in terms of seeing the icon appear on the right side of your screen), and you'll need to force it to appear by either serving one of the dishes, or by spicing a friend's stove and then immediately clicking on the black progress window that appears in the top left corner of your screen. Pumpkin Pie takes 12 hours to cook, while the Fruit Salad takes just 15 minutes. You can use the above method to force your quest window to appear at any time, and for any quest, so it's something to keep in mind should you ever have to ask for items (hint: like now) and can't find the window to do so on your own. Part II of VIII sees you doing just that, by replacing the stove spicing task with an item collection task.
Serve Caramel Apples 7 Times
Serve or Ask for Spaghetti and Meatballs 20 Times
Ask for 10 Bags of Asparagas
To be clear, you need to either serve Spaghetti and Meatballs (an 8-hour dish) 20 times, or ask your friends to send you 20 individual portions of the dish, meaning that you'd need to get up to 20 friends to help you in total. If you are lacking in very active friends, it might be smartest to simply wait the eight hours for your dishes to cook on your own. As for the Caramel Apples, they take just two hours to cook.
Moving on, Part III of VIII has the same setup as the second quest, although the recipes and collectibles are different. The prize is also something very worthwhile, all things considered.
Serve Jammin'n Jelly Donuts 15 Times
Serve Angel Fruit Cake 15 Times
Ask for 12 Cups of Almonds
The Donuts take just 20 minutes to cook, while the Angel Fruit Cake is ready to serve after eight hours. While you're waiting for your dishes to cook, you can ask your friends to send you the Almonds via individual gift requests. Once this goal is completed, you'll unlock the Asparagus Almondine dish, which is available to cook for 2200 coins and takes two hours to prepare.
Your first new recipe under your belt, you might think that you have to put it to good use, but alas, that is not the case. You'll instead take on three entirely unrelated tasks in Part IV of VIII.
Restock your Salad Bar 5 Times
Serve 18 Cups of Decaf Coffee
Ask for 10 Spring Flowers
Remember, use the 10 serving setting when restocking your Salad Bar, and you'll be able to run through this task much faster. The Decaf Coffee, meanwhile, can be found under the "Basics" setting in your Coffee Machine, and can be prepared for 35 energy. You'll receive eight servings to share with your customers, meaning that you'll have to prepare the coffee at least three times in order to pass that part of the mission. Completing this mission gives you a Sunshine Flower decoration, which has a painted on face - how cute!
Part V of VIII doesn't reward you with a new recipe, and it doesn't even require you to cook anything even relatively new. It's as if Zynga forgot they just gave you a new recipe, for all of the good it will do in helping you get here, but I guess that's not really a horrible thing. Either way, you'll need to complete three tasks, as usual.
Serve 12 Servings of Ginger Ale
Spice 3 Neighbors' Stoves
Serve Clubhouse Sandwiches 20 Times
Clubhouse Sandwiches take 18 hours to prepare, so you'll have more than enough time to serve your Ginger Ale while you're waiting for them to cook. A single supply of Ginger Ale costs 22 energy to make, and you'll receive just six servings each time. Luckily, this divides evenly, so you'll only have to waste use energy on making the Ginger Ale twice.
Part VI of VIII starts to prepare you for the end of this mission series, which eventually rewards you with two additional new recipes by giving you a hint as to one of the ingredients therein. Can you guess what it is?
Serve 15 Servings of Triple Berry Cheesecake
Serve of ask for 15 Pizza Margherita
Ask for 10 Cups of Sliced Rhubarb
You guessed it - one of your eventual new recipes contains Rhubarb, so you'll need to prepare by collecting some from friends. While you're waiting, you can cook your Pizza Margherita and Triple Berry Cheesecakes, which take 30 minutes and 12 hours to cook, respectively.
Finally, with Part VII of VIII, we start to get to things that are a bit more interesting, even if only for the prize you'll receive at the end. You'll need to purchase two items from the store, and complete a catering order that was released quite a long time ago, which make save you any real effort in completing this mission now.
Have 1 Pink Egg Clock
Have 1 Bunny Hostess
Cater Sunday Brunch
First things first, the Sunday Brunch catering order launched in September, and if you haven't completed it yet, make sure to check out our complete guide to doing so. If you're like the many players that have already completed that order, however, you can simply head into the store, purchase the Pink Egg Clock for 150,000 coins and the Bunny Hostess for 80,000 coins and call this one done. Finishing this mission gives you a new recipe in the form of the Rhubarb Betty. This American dish can be cooked for 1,550 coins and will be ready to serve in eight hours.
All of this work brings us to the final part of this mission series. Part VIII of VIII flips the proverbial switch yet again, asking you to serve tons of pizza, and collect a single ingredient for a new pizza recipe you'll receive at the end.
Serve or Ask for 30 Pepperoni Pizza
Serve 30 Sausage Deep Dish Pizza
Ask for 25 Heads of Artichoke
Luckily, you can save your gift requests for the Heads of Artichoke, and can simply cook your own Pepperoni Pizzas, with a single pizza taking eight hours to cook. Sure, this would be much more quickly solved if you simply asked your friends to send you these pizzas instead, but another method is even better - don't forget to look inside your gift box for extra servings of the pizza that your friends have shared with you. Even if you've held onto them for weeks or months, simply serving them out of your gift box will help complete the task that much quicker, which is definitely something I can get behind. This final mission unlocks one final recipe in the form of the Garlic Artichoke Pizza, available to cook for just 120 coins and ready in five minutes.
All told, these missions aren't so complex as they are simply time-consuming. While many users will fly past Part VII with little to no effort, simply getting there is a long and arguably hard process, so get started now to make the most of your time before these goals eventually disappear (that is, while no expiration date has been announced, we can't imagine goals celebrating Spring could last after the season is over).
Playmatic's Shadow Government social game will use real world news and data, says CEO Margaret Wallace
Shadow Government is the brain-child of New York-based game developer Playmatics. According to Gamasutra, the game is "based on the gamification of real countries, systems, and worldwide events." To make Shadow Government a reality, the company has secured $1 million from a group of Swiss-based investors.
Shadow Government will allow players to build up, manage, and then destroy entire nations, virtually. With a set of simulation tools that have been designed to help test reactions to massive world-scale events, the game looks to offer a bit of educational content in addition to what may come across as an in-depth city-builder. While the game may sound violent, Playmatic's CEO Margaret Wallace claims that the game isn't really as "serious" as it may sound.
"It's not a 'serious game,' really, because we aim to design an entertainment experience. People can use Shadow Government to destroy their own little country, or to wreak havoc where they can."
To me, this sounds a heck of a lot like the original Sim City games, in that users could build their city, taking real world economics and the needs of their citizens into account, only to pillage everything with a tornado or earthquake, as examples. To a greater extent, it also sounds as though Playmatics might have been inspired by Jennifer Government: NationStates, which also gives players the power to completely form and run a self-created country by answering questions around what they would do given a certain political uproar or environmental crisis, as examples.
Of course, this is all speculation, as we've yet to see a final product come out of the Shadow Government idea, but it will be interesting to see how the developer balances what could become some nasty cultural and political disputes, should the game's focus on real-world events suddenly backfire.
What do you think of the idea of Shadow Government? Do you think you'd want to create a country bent on world-domination, or would you crush your enemies with a single blow?
Shadow Government will allow players to build up, manage, and then destroy entire nations, virtually. With a set of simulation tools that have been designed to help test reactions to massive world-scale events, the game looks to offer a bit of educational content in addition to what may come across as an in-depth city-builder. While the game may sound violent, Playmatic's CEO Margaret Wallace claims that the game isn't really as "serious" as it may sound.
"It's not a 'serious game,' really, because we aim to design an entertainment experience. People can use Shadow Government to destroy their own little country, or to wreak havoc where they can."
To me, this sounds a heck of a lot like the original Sim City games, in that users could build their city, taking real world economics and the needs of their citizens into account, only to pillage everything with a tornado or earthquake, as examples. To a greater extent, it also sounds as though Playmatics might have been inspired by Jennifer Government: NationStates, which also gives players the power to completely form and run a self-created country by answering questions around what they would do given a certain political uproar or environmental crisis, as examples.
Of course, this is all speculation, as we've yet to see a final product come out of the Shadow Government idea, but it will be interesting to see how the developer balances what could become some nasty cultural and political disputes, should the game's focus on real-world events suddenly backfire.
What do you think of the idea of Shadow Government? Do you think you'd want to create a country bent on world-domination, or would you crush your enemies with a single blow?
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.
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.
Thứ Hai, 26 tháng 12, 2011
FarmVille Scotland Decorations Sneak Peek: Violet Fountain, Scottish Mansion, Purple Martin and more
We've come across a whole slew of unreleased items in FarmVille, which we believe will be launching in the game as early as this weekend. Most of these items appear to come in the current Scottish theme of limited edition items, and we believe that three of these nine items will be separated into this week's Mystery Game (as purple looks to be the theme).
The new items are the Purple Martin, Lavender Garden, Violet Fountain, Scottish Thistle Flowerbed, Scottish Bridge, Scottish Fence and the Scottish Gate. Remember, it's likely that the Purple Martin will be one of the many decorative bird pairs that are just that - decorative, and aren't able to earn a profit for you on your farm. As for the fencing, that will likely cost anywhere from 5,000 coins to 10,000 coins for a single piece, so you'll be able to create an entire themed area on your land using these items for relatively cheap.
We'll make sure to let you know when these items officially launch in the game and how you can add them to your farm, so keep checking back.
What do you think of these Scottish decorations? Do you think this week's Mystery Game will be purple in theme?
The new items are the Purple Martin, Lavender Garden, Violet Fountain, Scottish Thistle Flowerbed, Scottish Bridge, Scottish Fence and the Scottish Gate. Remember, it's likely that the Purple Martin will be one of the many decorative bird pairs that are just that - decorative, and aren't able to earn a profit for you on your farm. As for the fencing, that will likely cost anywhere from 5,000 coins to 10,000 coins for a single piece, so you'll be able to create an entire themed area on your land using these items for relatively cheap.
We'll make sure to let you know when these items officially launch in the game and how you can add them to your farm, so keep checking back.
What do you think of these Scottish decorations? Do you think this week's Mystery Game will be purple in theme?
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