Wow, thank you for listening to the masses! I guess maybe I will have to carry this Farm Town monkey on my back for some time to come
Some of the biggest problems I saw with the new method was that since those who planned to work methodically, by observing the others for a moment then picking an unpopular corner to start in, were basically penalized by the fact that we how have to wait for our avatar to walk all the way over (possibly around fences, hedges, and bridges) before we can even get started. By the time we begin, the other 6 people that were hired have already chewed up the middle beyond recognition and are now hacking their way into our planned field of attack. We spot yet another unpopular corner, but now we have to wait yet again for our avatar to make it's way all the way across the screen before we can begin.
When we finally do get to start clicking, there are so many messages popping up, and our pointer and avatar are dead smack in the way where we can't even see where to click, let alone the fact that our avatar is right there making it difficult to click at all on the intended target around its big fat head. And if you miss a spot....forget about it (wait, I'm busy)!
I too agree that a potential better solution would be to limit the number of people that are able to be hired, but I think one harvester and one plower might be a bit extreme. I would propose two of each, or maybe three at the very most.
As for the problem of some being so fast that others don't get much work done before the job is finished....boohoo! I mean seriously, when I first started I was slow as molasses, but over time I developed more disciplined control of the rate and aim of my clicking and my speed improved to the point where I was often accused of somehow cheating. I was NOT cheating. If you want to go faster you have to practice!