I'm still bummed about the 24 hour wait for each ship. The thing I don't like about it is this:

Say I start ship #1 at 7am my time. That's cool if I'm ALWAYS available at 7am to start my next ship. But I'm not. Life gets in the way. So eventually, I'm an hour late - can't launch whatever ship I'm on until 8am. Still not a major problem, I guess, but next time I'm an hour late, I'm now up to 9am, etc., and eventually I'm launching ships so late in the day that it's hard to get them full before bedtime.

What I'd LIKE to be able to do is know that I'll be able to launch my next ship when I first get up in the morning. Quests are like this because they're on a 20-hour schedule. That gives me lots of leeway about when I do my morning farming and yet I always know I'll be able to do my quest first thing.

I think the problem is, right now, we can only have one ship going at a time. That's one of the rules. So if we change the 24-hour wait time before we launch the next one, that means we'd also have to change the amount of time that gives a farmer to load a ship (i.e., we'd only have 20 hours to load it, too). That would be ok with me but some farmers wouldn't like get shorted on that end.

So now I'm wondering . . . do we have to only have one ship going at a time? I think other issues might come up if that gets changed - I'm not sure what they are, but it might get confusing. Just looking at my 7 ships, they're travelling at different rates. Some are going through ports like crazy, others are much slower. Maybe we could launch one as soon as it comes in? And each ship would still get 24 hours to load? Are there issues with that?

I hope to eventually have a suggestion on this issue but right now, I'm not sure what to suggest so was hoping maybe others have some input. :confused:

I have two ships out and going slowly. I have looked for two days and no ship at my port. Others have said they helped several people. What is my problem? Do I just need to be patient?

Hi Joyinlife,

There no way of telling without asking your friends if any ships are going to yours. You just might be one of the later ports to visit.

Good morning, firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to the team for creating and maintaining the best game on Facebook...
I have been working the ships since there appearance and I love the concept. I think the notifications in the toolbox are excellent, I think the manner in which we help dispatch our neighbours ship are excellent. BUT and I do say but... these ships are very time consuming and high maintenance... with the trains you send them off, pick your neighbours and sit back.. with the ships it is full on 24/7 if you want to be supportive and proactive. I have over the past week bought and dispatched all my ships.. currently I have 4 sitting empty because we can only prepare one ship in any given 24 hours...could we be able to work on 1 ship, finish it, send it on its way and then work on the next ship, finish it and send it on its way etc etc... having empty ships sitting idle it not being productive, too much time wasted.. no shipping would sit idle for any amount of time if they want to be productive....just a thought and would be happy to hear any opinions from other farmers... Happy famring!!!

This happened to me at first, Joyinlife. I got very few ships in my port while others were saying they had a lot. Now I seem to be getting a steady stream. Maybe it does just take awhile for things to gear up.

Thanks for the responses. Is there a way notifications can be set up on Facebook when ships have arrived in your port? (Similar to what they do for games). I think it would speed up the process for everyone involved; the ones who need help and the ones to help.

I don't think so. But several of us have felt we'd like other ways of being notified. I'm not sure if that's been put in the Suggestion thread yet or not.

If one has a stopwatch and stays awake 24/7, it will take 32-34 between ship launches. In practice, it will take 36-48 hours. Why not be more realistic and make it 20 h or 24 h between STARTS of boat preparation?

I would like something to tell me when my ship has returned home, and made that in the Suggestion section.

I think the ships are a huge pain in the bum. I have two and I set them off using tabs because there is no way I am going to muck about for hours setting up one container at a time. I can smell the whiff of FC being asked for in the very near future so we can set them off faster and if this happens they can stick the ships and the game right up where the sun don't shine. I am so over all this money money money to play this game. It used to be fun and now everyone is complaining ( amongst my friends anyway) about these stupid ships and constant messages ( some nasy so I have heard) to move on ships. People do have a life outside FT and they do sleep and we are all in different time zones!! Rant over... As you were.

my ships have sailed and will never be seen again.. totally over them, I will forward any that arrive but doubt I will send out any more...frustration overload here...

With you on that one Aussie. It's a rort, first they bring it out right on Christmas Eve they kill the tab loading asap and everyone is in a total tizz about them. I am not going to bother with them at all. I reloaded my facs after I collected from my first ship and didn't come close to my highest DV. I would much prefer to spend my time and energy on FT doing friends facs. Totally over them here too.

I to am over the ships and will do nothing with them. Funny thing is I would have paid fc for the ships, i also would have paid fc for a tool to prepare the containers faster. But ft got greedy and closed the way to prepare the ships faster, even with that cheat open to us I would have paid fc for a tool to make it faster. But like you Corogirl I see a fc tool in the future and I will not buy it now, since the closed the faster way to prepare containers. If ft wants me to do anything with ships they need to make the time to prepare containers less with out it being a fc tool.

Actually, if you go to your friends farm and look at their ships logbook, you can see if it's scheduled to come to you.

True columbonet, but first you'd have to know everybody that has you as a neighbour and what farm(s) their ships are on. Asking would be quicker :D

I am so over these cargo ships
 

I have a life outside of farmtown! I use to enjoy the game but this is the worst thing to happen to it. I don't want to be at my computer 24/7 to get my ships loaded and launched. and everyone sending messages to neighbors when their ship just arrived in their port. The timing of the launch of this feature was the worst timing ever. It's making for a very unfriendly game. Neighbors are removing neighbors, people are unfriending people, it has brought out the worst in people. I can see what would happen in a SHTF situation. I want the friendly atmosphere of the game back

That's a good idea. I'd like that, too.

Oooooh . . . so sorry to hear this! I know you and I both were so excited about them to begin with. Mine are running smoothly now - even though we can't replace people on our itineraries yet. When we can do that, they'll be even better. What has you so frustrated? I think the only thing I don't like at this point is having to wait 24 hours to load a new one.

Ha! That's cool to know. Although I doubt that I'm going to be THAT interested to want to do that with all my neighbors. However, it's still pretty cool.

Ladydiva, I'm loving the ships but I definitely understand what you're saying about the unfriendly feelings. I've been pretty much glued to my computer because for about a week I was staying with a friend who was hospitalized so I had nothing to do but FT. However, I'm home now and last night went to a party - gone maybe 5 hours. I dispatched all neighbor ships before I left for the party and as soon as I got back to my car, I pulled out my phone, opened Puffin and dispatched new ones that had come in (about 7 of them). However, during that time, I had received two messages from a neighbor - asking me to move his ship. He sent the messages an hour apart and had eventually decided to skip me. NOW . . . here's the deal . . . my first reaction was to feel all defensive - hurt and huffy because I've been SUCH a good neighbor, yada yada. But then I (being a psychologist so I think weird like this) thought, "WAIT a minute. Yes I AM being a good neighbor! How many people would grab their phone and load ships on Puffin before driving the hour home just to get to neighbor ships faster? Anyone who has a problem with me can skip me or unfriend me or whatever they want to do, but I'm being a good neighbor and I'm loving the ships - so don't let this one guy ruin in for you."

Ironically, one of the things I've been asking for is a way where we can notify people if our ships are stuck. But when I got notified, I didn't like it. And the guy was as NICE as could be. No complaints at all about how he phrased it. Even taught me how to do ships if I wasn't doing them. So . . . again, the psychologist in me . . . realized that it had been all my own stuff that got me upset. Once I figured that out, I wasn't upset anymore and am back to loving the ships. :)

When i was doing ships I had one person send me a message after the ship it my port for about 10 minutes. I told the person if they could not wait 10 minutes then ships in ft were not for them.

not lovin the time it takes to get them fully loaded!
 

Farmer Susan, like I said I have a life outside of farm town. I am not loving the ships because of the time involved. I can't and won't spend the time required at the computer. I also don't like the negativity they have stirred up. I've been playing the game since 2009 and have never seen people so riled up over a game. The reward isn"t justified by the time spent.

Maybe time was running out on that ship, so he pushed it through the rest of its itinerary as fast as he could.

Hi Ya'll,
I am completely confused. I bought my first ship without reading all the details. I don't have any idea where it went but I'll find it.
Is there a thread that explains it all in detail, like do I need large Bodies of Water and if I do, where do I get it?
Do I need a Port? Where do I get that?
Do I need the Freight Containers and where do I get those? Are they interchangeable with the Trains?
If you could just point me in the direction of specific details, that would be wonderful!
Thank You,
Sheera

You buy the ship in the store under trains/ships
Next you put it on your farm it can go anyplace that is free of anything, just bare grass.
next you open it and click prepare ship
next you start to prepare containers one at a time, have to be done in 24 hours or you start over also dont have to do all 10 containers
next you launch the ship and wait for it to come back
once it is back you unload it and start the process over again
you move ships on by going to the sea port manager and click on a ship til it is full.

Hi Sheera,

Adding to what Tom has said. We have the ships explained in the Game Guide. Here's the link for that >>
http://r1.slashkey.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626622

You place the ship anywhere on your farm. If you wanted to place them on top of waters that can be fished you will need to use the green hand for that after you have initially placed it.

The ports are not physical, in the sense that you need to buy and place one. You just need to check your seaport manager for any ships that come to you.

The ships are not connected to the trains, they just can bring you the same products that the trains do, it's just they are more labour intensive to do as they only cost coins and you are not guaranteed to get the same as what the trains bring. How much they bring will depend on how many ports your ship goes to and how much was loaded at each port.

Susan, the whole experience frustrated me... the last couple of ships I had out, sat in ports for days...time was running out so there was no way those ships would return with a half way decent load on board.. so I skipped my way through all the remaining ports..the final ports were done in record time.. all ships are now in storage.. I had the best nights sleep since they came out!! :) perhaps once we can pick who they are sent to I might be tempted again, but have taken note of all those who held my ships hostage so won't be sending to them at all.. life is so much better with out frustration, :)

Definitely agree with that! I was frustrated at first but mine are running pretty smoothly now and I've only had to skip at most 2 people on any one ship. One of my ships actually got through all 30 ports with no skips. Very exciting! Of course . . . I get excited by very small things at times . . . but still, I'm enjoying them.

Heck with telling me when the ships come in. I just want to know when ships are at my port so I can help them get on their way. Someone said they show up on her farm. Where on the farm? This seems to be the one flaw with the game. I love Farm Town but cannot be on 24/7

30 Ports with no skips!
Who do you know that I do not know? :p

Hi Joyinlife:)

If you have ships in your port you will see a number in red in your yellow tool box. So you can open the tool box and then click in the Seaport Manager icon, which it is above the Facility manager icon, and then load your friends ships.

You have full information in the Game Guide for Ships http://r1.slashkey.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626622

i be glad when we get a tool to change neighbors .we need to be able to change a few even if the tool is cash.

Ha! It was just a lucky draw - a good group of people who all happened to be home and working their ships. But it WAS pretty exciting! LOL

It's interesting that I care more about sending on someone's ship than I do about their trains, considering I don't get anything for my farm from the ships, and I do get products from trains. I suppose it's because I know most everyone has more neighbours than can support the train, so if I don't log in soon enough and I miss helping, the farmer won't suffer because everyone else is helping. But if I don't log in and the ships just wait for me, that hurts my imaginary friends playing with an invisible farm, and that bothers me. I do wonder, though, why we don't get products from the ships we load and send on.

As a psychologist, this kind of thing fascinates me, and I'm the same way, btw. Signing on like an ADDICT to see if I have a ship in my port - not worrying nearly so much about the trains. For me, it's like I don't want to be seen as a "bad neighbor". With trains, if I don't boost them, someone else will, so the only loss is mine. But if I don't load a neighbor's ship, then I'm holding up their entire process - they're likely to not get as much just because I didn't sign on in a timely fashion.

I've decided that there are 3 possible groups of people who can be happy with the ships the way they are now.

EITHER:

1. You're exceptionally sturdy psychologically OR
2. You're able and willing to sign on a lot throughout the day OR
3. You have at least a few sociopathic/narcissistic tendencies

I like playing the ships and I'm not tellin' which category I fall into. :D

Rosee, I am now down to 87 neighbors because of the ships. You might consided me for a neighbor as I am now looking for a couple of good players.

LOL, love it Susan. Guess 'm all three

Any chance there will be a change in being able load one ship in a 24 hour period. I have 4 that need loading. I just sent one out and I have to wait 5 hours to start another one, by then I might have another one come in. It is impossible to keep 7 ships loaded and sailing. I just want to load them and send them.

i wish there was someway when we have an unknown ship that is at our port that we could remove it or pass it or something... its been last 1 sitting for maybe 3 days and it dont have a spot to skip it and let me take what was loaded.. i have to wait the 3 days for it to be at port..all because of an unknown person... maybe someone i unfriended cause they hadnt played ft in a yr or more.. :(

Ha! That works, too. :)