New Release -- December 22nd, 2009 - UPDATE

[LunaDementia]

This new build is a disaster. It's not a little slower, it's a LOT slower. I spent 2 hours on the game tonight and it was positively agonizing to harvest and plow. I just don't have days to play the game. My computer is fast, my connection is fast, and the game is chugging worse than it EVER did.

[Chicky's Place]

Originally Posted by SparkleSprite

What if you just remove the avatars altogether? I mean, maybe some people will scream over that too but seriously, if there is no avatar, the crops can just instantly delete when we click, allowing them to disappear as fast as we can possibly click and no need for the avatar graphic to be involved and slowing us down at all.

if it could be set up so that the game automatically divides the number of crops by the number of harvesters/plowers? but each harvester would see (only) their portion of crops to harvest, and they would be required to actually do the clicking to earn their share. While harvesting/plowing their own section, it would be the same old "click ahead" system so they could go as fast or as slow as they want.

I really like the first idea. Maybe not get rid of them completely, but being able to turn them off. They could be turned off automatically when you are hired by somebody, but left on for when you are talking to people in the MP, inn etc Then it wouldn't ruin the social aspect of the game, but (I assume) would make loading times faster.
As a side note which I might suggest elsewhere, the hiring farmer could have a list on the side of their screen with the names of everybody they have working on their farm. They could click that person's name to rehire for plowing or if a fire button is brought out in the future. Sometimes when you are trying to hire someone their avatar is moving to fast to click on them, or they are behind a building.
I think the 2nd idea of giving workers an allocated number of plots to harvest could be a compromise if people are worried about how fast they can harvest. I have a fast connection and know I can do it faster than someone on dialup. I wouldn't mind getting less plots, doing it at my faster speed and leaving the rest for people on slower connections. It would be frustrating for the hiring farmer to have a slow worker, although they would have the option of not hiring them again and the job would get done, albeit slowly.

Anyway, thankyou for listening to us regarding the problems with this update and I look forward to playing the game in the future

[Sapai]

Originally Posted by Raul

Hi There,

We have been monitoring you feedback and most likely we will be reverting to the old version early tomorrow and try to find a better compromise.

One of the alternatives that we considered was to only allow one worker harvesting and one worker plowing on your farm at the same time. This was also suggested by several other users on the other thread, however we thought that was going to be even more problematic.

Please provide some feedback about this other alternative on this thread, or if you rather prefer the way it was before, unlimited hiring, faster work but more potential for collisions and lost coins/XP.

thanks

--Raul

I usually hire no more than two people at a time. Limiting to one would not be the best solution for me.

I think many people would agree that the social aspect is one of the finer points of the game. When I want neighbors to meet each other, I can invite them both to harvest and then plow to have some time to get acquainted. Have done this more than once. If you want to limit numbers, PLEASE do not make it One.

Personally, I would rather just have it the way it was before. There are other ways to deal with the rude players. Self management and time management are the best tools. I don't take requests to plow when there is more than one other. I've been accused of being "selfish", but it IS my time after all. I've also been hired to plow solo because I was the only one not begging to plow!

Most of the players are adults, if I'm not mistaken. Please treat us that way. Decent people will find other decent people to play with. We will have a bad experience now and then, but that's minor compared to the many other wonderful people who play.

Expect the best from us. I am sorry some people feel the rude players are such an issue as to make the developers go to such drastic measures. If they themselves are decent players, they should just move on along and find those like themselves. We have plenty of work to share with them!

[CPfarm]

You are never ever going to please everyone, that's a fact. People will either deal with the changes, or quit the game. (more server space for those of us who stay!)

I actually LOVE the changes you made. (aside from the extremely large size of the seed bag and scythe), because it makes it SO much easier to see what you have and haven't harvested. The way it was before, it was very difficult to tell sometimes whether you got everything or not, especially when doing trees. I love not having to wait for mini me to walk to every spot I harvested and collect her 100%. This way is much faster, and MUCH easier on the eyes, as everything disappears as soon as you harvest it.

I hate to see it reverted back to the old way, but it won't stop me from playing...just as other changes haven't and I'm sure future changes won't. There will be things I like and things I don't like...but I like the game and will adapt.

Also wanted to give kudos to the team for the last update, with all the new crops and new levels. Great job! (still would like to see my white Christmas kitty with the red bow) Heehee.

[farmer worzel]

Reverting back to the old way and limiting the hiring 2 for harvesting and 2 for plowing at the max would be a better idea.
It is annoying when there are many people on a farm harvesting and plowing when it clearly isn't needed, that is when you get what i call "random harvesting or plowing". If people are rude enough to come right infront of me when there is plenty of crops, i just simply do the same back

We are very lucky here on Farmtown, the developers LISTEN to the players and respond quickly to our concerns unlike the developers of other games who don't give a c**p about the players and 9 times out of 10, ignore player feedback.

[susan0962]

Thanks for listening to the users. Fast learners/clickers shouldn't be penalized because others are slow. I really like the limited hire possibility. But with that, a fire option should be available. Some users are simply incompetent and there should be a remedy. (fire) Thank you again.

[CPfarm]

Originally Posted by Sapai

I think many people would agree that the social aspect is one of the finer points of the game. When I want neighbors to meet each other, I can invite them both to harvest and then plow to have some time to get acquainted. Have done this more than once. If you want to limit numbers, PLEASE do not make it One.

Very good point. On the weekends, I get together with my mom, my aunt, and 2 other friends and we all go around doing eachothers farms. So limiting to ONE hire, would kinda suck. It's our Saturday routine, and if we couldn't all work together...well, we wouldn't like it very much.

[HippeeSandee]

Originally Posted by Raul

Hi There,

We have been monitoring you feedback and most likely we will be reverting to the old version early tomorrow and try to find a better compromise.

One of the alternatives that we considered was to only allow one worker harvesting and one worker plowing on your farm at the same time. This was also suggested by several other users on the other thread, however we thought that was going to be even more problematic.

Please provide some feedback about this other alternative on this thread, or if you rather prefer the way it was before, unlimited hiring, faster work but more potential for collisions and lost coins/XP.

thanks

--Raul

I like the change, you go into a field and harvest/plow.. You dont find the greedy farmers that harvest and plow all over the place and leave it for someone else to clean up, times you didnt know it was plowed or not..... They also jump in front of you

This updated new way (needs tweeking) has leveled the playing field... made it fun for everyone..

This game is for everyone and the ones that play fair, get S*****D

[Shining Starr]

The amusing thing is that the "new" way is really the old, old way... this is how it was when I first started playing back in April. I prefer it. It is a PITA to harvest with someone who just clicks randomly all over the farm - a plot here a plot there. They do it on purpose to disrupt other players. Leave it this way (needing to follow adjacent fields to keep moving expediently). I think limiting hiring to one person is a bit extreme, but I don't like harvesting with 8 or 10 either. Maybe something in between?

[sminick1]

Thank you for trying to solve the missing XP/Coin issue. Slowing things down may have been a way to go but the tide of opinion disagrees. Oh well..

One thing I noticed but did not see addressed was that, when swapping work, my storage used to reflect my partners work. Does not do so now. I know harvests are safely stored, but it can be scary. Limiting the number of helpers is great (I hate working with a dozen more people), but maybe limit to 5, with some coin penalty for each over 1.

The biggest issue I see is that I lose connection to the server after what seems like a short time (saw it once while planting on the new rev). Also I am often not informed until nearly finished on the large field I am on, which wastes a lot of effort. May be the answer to the missing XP/coin issue lies there.

Else I love the game. Am at level 60 and saving coins for the manor. Bigger or more farms always welcome.