New Release -- December 22nd, 2009 - UPDATE

[lizjfox]

I like this compromise. As farmers we have options. As farm hands we also have options. I personally like to straight-line in small blocks. The new automated clickers are spoiling it for those organized farmers like me. THat's why I have lots of wonderful buddies and neighbors. We all work well together! Merry CHristmas to all the hard-working programmers and graphic artists who try so hard to please everyone. Thank you. God bless you.

[Kelsey]

I would like to pop in and say that I LIKE the new update - besides the very first click which you have to wait for little avi to walk over to ... business as usual and it is awesome to see no progress bar waiting waiting waiting - done immediately, and I found that once I used it a bit, it was just as easy and will really save people a lot of hassle. I vote KEEP THE CHANGE! I also love the larger size objects - as someone who is legally blind, I can actually see them now! Yippee!

[esramelda]

I actually think by only letting one person plow or harvest at anyone time is an excellent idea..... I only ever hire one person at any one time... So I agree

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

[esramelda]

Please Please stop doing what you are doing, I am finding farmtown soooooo SLOW its doing my head in.... Why are you messing around with it

[jan1205]

Hi Raul...

Thank you to all you guys for the great game...I may have a suggestion that will work as far as hiring. Give everyone the option to hire two people to work at a time. I know I prefer to work by myself, just to avoid the arguments and having to work with someone who has a much faster computer than mine getting all the crops. So, when I hire people for my farm, I hire one person, and then ask them if they want help or want to do it alone.

Everyone really appreciates me asking and always chooses to do it alone...this way they get all the money, and they didn't have to fight anyone for the plots..I'd rather do a few big farms myself every night, than a bunch of farms filled with nasty people yelling at each other who are trying to take all the spots before someone else does....Some people hire alot of people to work, and its like being dropped into a piranha tank!

This is a great game, and its sad, I've lost a lot of good people I've met on here, because they just couldn't deal with all the fighting over the plots.....

[Profstout]

I like having the already harvest pop up.. but C'mon.. you took all the fun out of harvesting. As it is the $ incentive is to do your fields solo. The fun came from the clicking frenzy. It gave you some sense of competition, somewhere in the game. Plus, you can't see where your clicking because now your avatar is in the way, plus your tool. I understand that people get upset fighting over crops, but the easier way to fix that is to limit the # of people a person can hire to harvest/plow based on # of crops planted.. I Want my speed back!

[val upton]

I wondered what was going on last night, it was horrible, so glad it is changing back!!! other things that happened yesterday, I harvested my own fruit trees, but did not get the harvest in storage. ??? they just were gone. ? lost money after working job 2, then this morning came back to FT and money was back, but points were gone??? I hav e lost a lot of points along the way, but I am/ have not been sure if it was a correction, the program was doing, or just what. sometimes, its 4 pts, and some 2000. pts. most of the money is smaller amounts 200.00 to 600.00. I've also lost gifts. some of the times, it is the program hanging up and nothing goes thru. Think the thing as timed out a few times too.
I have not noticed, the tie in with a lot of workers and lost points. What I have noticed, is if there are a lot, meaning 8 or 10+ workers and usually on a smaller farm, that it slows the system up, and it crashes. I and others started telling peope they were hiring to many, and what it was doing, and it seemed to help.
I don't think, that more than one working at a time is bad, but I don't know the tech side of the program. I have always tried to go to an empty corner to work, and I think most people do, BUT you are going to have people who try to mess people up, and others who do nothing, and then yell to plow, when the harvest starts... Its just people and their diferences. Wether you like them or not. Some people talk to you, some take instruction, some do a good job, some are polite, some you like and others aren't/don't. You can not control everything, wether its this game or real life! Part of the point of this game is that you can interact with others, and that should not be taken away. It would make it like the other games.
I think, not hiring to many is something the players need instruction on, just like how to turn the trees and such off and on. Maybe make some of the "How to's" eaiser to learn.
Other item, I would like to have you think about changing is the neighbors. Not all of us, have 300+ people on our facebook, with a lot playing this game! So how do we get neighbors, ??? we have to accept someone we don't know, and thats ok, but then, they are on our facebook, with all the postings and info, that we might not want them to have, or want to know about them! Why can't it be set up to ok, some one that is playing, and not have them on our facebook as friends???
thanks for all your work! Val

[bradwill]

Originally Posted by Wild

5) ALL of the people out there using cheat programs (bots) to do their farming WILL hate this new, latest release because it will prevent them from using those programs (which are in violation of the game's TOS anyway).

People who are to "cheat" will always found a way to cheat, regardless of any updates or upgrades. No different than new variants of computer viruses that are developed to get around existing anti-virus software.....it's a mentality that I find very self-defeating and asinine, but that's the reality. People spend inordinate amounts of time trying to find ways to cheat instead of just enjoying what they are doing.

As far as the general outcry of disgust, there may be a "silent majority" that feels differently, but I sure don't see it. In the marketplace and on farms all I see is the same complaints that were posted last night for 70+ pages or so when I last looked, especially from farmers on the higher levels that have full-sized farms or two farms. It's painfully too slow. The original way of harvesting was actually quicker than the 12/22 update because you could at least get in front of a row if you moved your avatar right and not have to move square-to-square. I guess some probably felt that was "unfair" also.

[Little Hoss]

Originally Posted by Travis (The Plower)

Nah, you are actually wrong. I get compliments on every job that I do and I think that this new update sucks!! Lack of skill and coordination is not why people are upset. They are upset because it is sooooo much slower this way than it was before the update. I was hired for a harvest job last night on a farm full of blueberries and I asked the farmer to hire other people to help me because I got so frustrated at how long it was taking me to harvest. I felt bad for the farmer who was waiting for me to harvest for her.

The new method is not "acually good". I think the new method is the the worst idea since Daewoo decided to build cars, LOL.

You obviously don't get it. I'm a FAST WORKER, and I can harvest or plow a farm just as fast (if not faster) with the new update as I could before. It just takes a bit of Skill, Co-Ordination and Stratedgy. Unlike the old way.

What's it matter anyway? The Devs have already decided to give in to the people who like the easy way.

(That Daewoo joke was a good one lol)

[free1indeed]

I personnally like the changes. Keeps from having to race to get anything when there are too many hired.