Belt System Updates -- June 2nd, 2011

[Grammy 11]

I have decided that I get my 1,000,000 from other peoples' posts, they get theirs from mine. If I get something back on mine, it is a REAL bonus. This has allowed me to stop planting 3 and 4 day crops and fill up my storage bins with orphans like 4 hour and 8 hour stuff. I'm content, will wait out the storm (with my umbrella upside down to catch the goods!) Happy farming!!

[Mare Contrare]

I really enjoy the bonuses. They are especially helpful when you're waiting for trees or flowers to harvest and need some extra for factory production.
But this morning I'm getting a message that I can't receive anything due to a 12 hour limit. Considering I logged off FT more than 12 hours ago, I know this message is inaccurate.
In the meantime, a neighbor's latex bonus is waiting for me to collect it.

[ridgie247]

Originally Posted by Grammy Snowbird

I have decided that I get my 1,000,000 from other peoples' posts, they get theirs from mine. If I get something back on mine, it is a REAL bonus. This has allowed me to stop planting 3 and 4 day crops and fill up my storage bins with orphans like 4 hour and 8 hour stuff. I'm content, will wait out the storm (with my umbrella upside down to catch the goods!) Happy farming!!

This is what I do as well now, 1M in inventory is still 1M in inventory no matter how you get it. Not all do it that way. My point on the 12 hour window is there will be more posts with less clicking. The suggestion of only posting a neighbor bonus, generates clicks and being a bit more interactive if that is the intent. But to post only for the sake of posting that will not encourage people to click something, is spammy. If this is not what happens, then wonderful!

The belt rewards is important to the game as well as posting about it in the forum. It brought out forum lurkers, it changed the game as we knew it and it upset or confused a lot of people.

[StoneFace]

hahahaha

I did one farm of purple grapes just to fill in a 4-hour slot.... and it put me at the 4th Dan whatever.

So 3 neighbors got me the bonus....

I now have 108,600 grapes......

Oh well .... these boots were made for stompin'





.

[Reta J]

Originally Posted by maggiel29

Oh and is anyone still getting only 5 flower PLANTS instead of a few hundred harvested flowers as a bonus? I havent tried posting for anymore flowers since Sunday as I really dont need more plants!

I harvested white roses earlier and got the 3rd Dan, the bonus I received was flowers not plants. When I posted before, I got plants.

[MarlaKay]

Originally Posted by levarti2

I agreed with you about not liking the "begging" ... but I've since noticed that you can limit those notices to go to ONLY who you want them to. For instance if you have 3 neighbors who are really into FT and play regularly, make the default notices only go to them so you're not bothering other friends and family. There's a lock icon next to the box to Share ... click it and customize, then list only the people you know will help or enjoy the sharing.

don't know why I never noticed that option before, but I use it all the time now.

Well, I'm aware of the option to limit who you send things too. But it doesn't matter, none of my neighbors are currently participating in this aspect of the game. So let me get this straight... I can still get a bonus box for all my crops even without sending requests to my neighbors? That is ok, though I already get double crops by fertilizing my fields. I just wish there was some way to see how many crops have to be harvested for each belt in each item, then I could at least have the satisfaction of earning belts, though I never see what I've earned.... Yes, yes, I know if I look at each crop I can see a belt thingy there, but I like something to click on, like the trophy list etc. Would make it more of a personal challenge for those of us who don't like pestering neighbors for things....

[cindy333]

one very said thing, i have lost one of my favorite activity's: helping neighbours who just get started with there farms and facility's those people dont have a lot. i with my highest level could help then out with clicking on there ingredients, after single period of 3 houres when they have publish several stuff! most of the time i didnt need what they publish, but just prefer to help then out. now its so good as impossible :'( i wish that they change it back its so said i can not help then more now .

[PaulaN829]

Originally Posted by Caren Katsmom

Raul, you are breaking my heart. I truly loved this game. You have been a genius, up to now (in my opinion). The belts are a disaster. Your explanation above is clear as mud. I get a headache trying to read it, much less trying to understand it. Shall we all start taking notes?

I've been playing Farm Town for two years now. I left the game for several months when it became boring... started playing Farmville, which was exciting at that time (to me). Zynga made the same mistake you are making right now. They decided to change the whole character of the Farmville game. They started making us post constantly... beg endlessly... build and build and build... makes me shake all over just remembering how frustrated I became with the game. The glitches multiplied with every new bell-and-whistle they added. I quit playing Farmville. Eventually, I quit playing every Zynga game and only send gifts if I can avoid opening the game.

I came back to Farm Town, and I was enchanted. You took a tired game and brought it to life. It was exciting again... and kept getting better and better with each new update. Raul, you achieved something that no other game on Facebook had ever done. You got me to spend real money on your game. I never gave Zynga one cent, in spite of playing many of their games for long periods of time. You got my money because Farm Town was different; special. At last, I could come home from a long day at work and just relax and have fun playing a game.

I trusted you, and I trusted Slashkey. I invested quite a lot of real money into Farm Town. I've recruited friends to play the game, and/or to return to playing the game. I can only speak for myself, but based upon many comments I've been reading today from other loyal Farm Town players... many long-time players who have invested in this game are feeling betrayed right now. I definitely am. The Belts feature is much more than just a new thing in the game. It represents a major change in policy... a change in the whole character of the game. You are taking away the game we love, and turning it into a Zynga game clone. You are introducing LIMITS. I hate limits. You are introducing pressure to post and spam the news feed. I hate spam posting and begging. People who leave Zynga games and feel at home in Farm Town are not going to stick around if you change this game to a Zynga clone.

I have a long list already of glitches in the modified Belts feature. I'm posting them on my wall. I feel my blood pressure rising, like it used to when I played Zynga games. I work hard all day, Raul. I won't play games that stress me, or put Stop signs in front of me... make me watch a clock... pressure me to choose which friends to help... frustrate me with glitches every day. I want to control my own game. I will not play a game that insists on controlling what I do, when I do it, or makes me beg others to be able to do it.

Limits are bad enough in a game, but... three hour limits? Raul, wake up. People work. They have jobs, and families to take care of. It's nice that you want to give an advantage to the unemployed or disabled, or whomever else is able to stay home all day and night and play games whenever they want to; but it's a very bad policy.

It will break my heart to walk away from Farm Town, and find another game that makes me (once again) feel relaxed and comfortable; but I will do it. I've done it before. I beg you to reconsider the direction you're taking this game, before it's too late. Get rid of the Belts -- and limits -- and anything else that is not what Farm Town is about.

Thank you for letting me express my thoughts and opinions. If I didn't care so much about Farm Town, believe me... I wouldn't waste my time doing this.

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TOTALLY AGREE!! EXPRESSED MY FEELINGS AS WELL!!!!
my farms are now empty...

[ridgie247]

Sometimes I think it’s hard to explain a point when writing but giving it another whirl in one reply thread.

The progression of the belt rewards:
First – a gazillion posts it was quick to see for many of us that only posting a higher level of belt rewards is what we would do. It was overwhelming and not too much being clicked.

Second – a three hour window was implemented with 250k limit and 3 posts and only posting brown belt and above. Why this was nice is because if someone posted 3 bonuses. I could go back every 3 hours if I wanted to, a neighbor could post 3 other belt bonuses as well in 3 hours if they had items. These posts were clicked whether or not I received the bonus because of someone may have clicked mine as well. Not every day do we all need the same things, it was nice to see other posts besides just wheat, tomatoes and rice. My neighbor may have needed apples the day they posted the bonus, just because I have a lot of them doesn’t mean she/he does. They got a click from me.

Now – a 12 hour window with a 5 post limit. If my neighbor posts 5 items, 10 in a 24 hour period, I can only click 2 of those in a 24 hour period, making the other 8 posts only noise on my newsfeed. I cannot click for them to give them the bonus or gain a bonus myself. If people are only creating one post per day, then all of this is a lot of extra clicking to close windows to NOT post. If a persons posts a high level dan belt and really needs that item clicking a neighbors post for the day will most likely go unclicked until they get their bonus as their neighbors may not be posting the same item.
For me the belts weren’t a race to get to the top level by tomorrow…but perhaps that is what the devs were intending to make room for more facilities and crops take a major part of anyone’s farm who doesn’t have one of the unmentionable type farms but still has facilities.

With a 3rd drastic change to the system it was yet another confusing update to those who like the belt rewards. With animals, fishing and facilities coming next for belt levels perhaps they should have left the 3 hour a lone so we all could get used to it. This thread is for the belt updates and thanks for letting me voice my wee opinion

[dbozzy]

Could someone please direct me to the full explaination of this belt system and time limits start? Personally I could care less. What I do care about it the slowness of how products are processed. I have sold more raw lama wool, wood logs and other stuff--TRADE IT? pusha no one wants it-- because I have more than 15 days processing--in fact all my facilities are full and it is nearly pointless to grow anything.