Boosting Votes in the Farm Beauty Contest

I suppose the first question is: why on earth should I participate in the Farm Beauty Contest if I am at a fairly low level and cannot hope to compete with the 'power farmers'?  Well, if you have reached Level 16 to unlock the Farm Beauty Contest, you really ought to participate because in doing so, you will earn valuable Farm Aids and Farm Aids are useful to every one.  You need to register in order to Vote and if you Vote daily, you can earn a Gold Treasure Chest filled with Farm Aids.  There is a little logistic problem here in that, after voting, you need to return to the Vote screen to claim your Treasure Chest Reward.  Do so, though, because it is worth the effort.

Vote for Harvest Moon or Rosewood Farm by all means if you feel inclined to do so, but the most important aspect of this, for YOU, is to Vote.  Should you try to earn Votes as well?  Again, you can earn Farm Aids another other Rewards with every 200 Votes you receive.  A low level Farmer may not be able to obtain 200 Votes every day, but it is cumulative.  It is here that the following information may help a farmer whose level is not very high.

About a week ago, I asked for volunteers for a project that would help us discover how we could increase our Vote totals in the Farm Beauty Contests.  I would like to thank all the volunteers from my Facebook Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group who performed the tedious tasks of logging their changes and resulting votes day after day.  Now finally, I think I have some idea of how this works.

First of all, the idea that every change will be worth 1 Point is misleading.  Felicia and
Darryl have a total of 80 potential Votes and Dad and Grandma have a total of 72  potential Votes, and these are divided between four different categories as follows:

Felicia:
Charm Points
Theme Items
Animals
Expansions

Dad:
High Level
Expansions
Machines
Theme Items

Darryl:
Charm Points
Theme Items
Large variety of Crops (used to be Trees)
Gallery Registration

Grandma:
High Level
Charm Points
Trees
Gallery Registration

We wondered initially why one Farmer's Vote total with Felicia would improve when additional Animals were placed on the farm and why another Farmer's Votes from Felicia showed no change.

Although three of the Characters give Votes for 'Theme related Decoration' and the description in the Menu states for each that: 'Felicia, Dad and Darryl will give you 1 more votes every day', this is NOT the case at all.  Whether or not you receive a Vote when you place another Theme-related Decoration is based on the number of Votes the Character has given for EXISTING Theme Decorations.  With a total of 80 potential Votes, the maximum number for Theme-related Decorations from Felicia and Darryl would be 20 each.  For Dad with only a total of 72, probably 18 maximum.  Thus, once you have received the maximum for the existing Theme Decorations on your Farm, placement of additional Theme Decorations will not change the Vote.  It is the same where Charm is concerned.  A point was reached on Harvest Moon Farm where even another purchase and subsequent placement of a high Charm valued Theme-related Decoration changed NOTHING in terms of Character Votes.  It raised total Charm Points on the Farm but that was all.

This is the only explanation that makes any sense frankly and would explain why a fairly high level Farm like Harvest Moon would show no change in Vote totals after placing three more Theme decorations but a low level farm's Votes would be boosted by the addition of even 1 more Theme Decoration.

The same would hold true for additional Trees placed or additional Machines.  Grandma likes Trees but once you receive her maximum of 20 Votes for the Trees on your Farm, any additional Trees will not change her Vote total.

Note that the Farm Beauty Contest has a number of different components to it.  The first is the Vote total that gives Rewards listed on a chart and include one Decoration and one Avatar Reward as well as RC for the two final Rewards.  These are earned by raising your cumulative Vote total by 200 points.  You really have to earn at least 200 Votes per day to be able to win all possible Rewards on the chart before the Contest expires.  The Rewards grow better progressively.  They all include Purple Mystrons, used to purchase, inter alia, Materials for the Salad Machine when the activity that initially gave the Material has expired.

The second component is related to your Charm Point total.  Unlike the Votes and those Rewards, this part of the Contest deals with your Global rating, comparing you with all other farmers.  It is here that low level Farms really do not stand a chance, nor do MOST Farms in fact.  Harvest Moon, after loading the Farm with Charm Point Decorations, still ranks only 44th globally.  There is no chance whatsoever that she could win a Trophy at the end of the Contest.

Why then do Farmers with Charm totals of less than 1800 load their farms with hundreds of ladders or fireworks?  It is pointless...  I did it myself to some extent, but now intend to curtail that quixotic activity, because my Charm Point totals NEVER will be good enough to rival those of the top ten or even top thirty.

Nearing the end of the 2nd Farm Beauty Contest, it is clear that BALANCE really is the key to obtaining Character Votes.  In other words, cluttering every plot on your Farm with Firecrackers or even Balloon Doors (Theme-related in this one) is counterproductive after a point.  You would do better to have a balance between Crops, Trees, Animals, Machines and Decorations as well as the greatest number of Expansions and Gallery Registrations.  BALANCE.

It is here that Harvest Moon Farm never will reach the maximum of 80, 72, 80, 72 Votes with the four Characters because I am too attached sentimentally to the Iris Crop that no longer is available in the Market.  As long as many plots on my Farm are occupied by the Iris flowers, I cannot raise my Votes with these Characters much.  I could remove some Decorations and replace them with Animals or Machines and that might gain me a couple of Votes with Felicia and Dad respectively but at this point, I am too weary of it all.  With all the Charm points I could cram onto Harvest Moon, I never reach a global rating that would give me any Trophy, even the lowest grade.  Thanks, however, to the Votes of other Farmers, I hope to receive all the Rewards this time, including the Avatar of the Ferris Wheel.  Even Rosewood, thanks to Farmer support, may obtain the Whale Decoration.

I embarked upon the research project mainly in order to try to help low level farmers.  Having created a new farm on a friend's Kindle device recently in order to ascertain how the game had changed since I first wrote my Missions Guide and how difficult it would be to make progress without investing in substantial amounts of RC, I began to wonder how low level Farmers best could succeed in the monthly Farm Beauty Contests.

My suggestions now are as follows:

First of all, your Votes with the four Characters are based on your CURRENT Farm photo.  Whenever you make any improvements, make certain that you take a NEW photo before evening when the Votes are counted, so that the Characters' Votes will reflect your Changes.

Second, remember that each aspect of farming that a Character likes has a maximum value of 20 Votes.  Log your own changes to see when you have gained the maximum in each situation.  In other words, add Animals for Felicia until her Vote no longer changes when you add one more Animal.  Add Machines until Dad's Vote no longer changes when you add another Machine.  Add Trees until Gransma's Vote remains unchanged and add a variety of Crops for Darryl until his Vote fails to change with the planting of a new Crop.

Other aspects of the game that will increase points are Expansions and Gallery Registration.  Register as many Items as possible BEFORE you take your daily Photograph.   Two Characters like Gallery Registration although it is possible that Grandma's rules for giving Points for this are different from Darryl's rules.

Three out of four Characters do give Votes for Charm Points but remember that in each case, the maximum number of Votes you can gain from any of these Characters for Charm is 20.  This is quite separate from the global rating that has no limit, by the way, but know that, once the Votes of Felicia, Darryl and Grandma no longer increase with the placement of a new Decoration, it means that you have reached 20 with them.

Obviously, the goal is to rate 80/80 Votes for each Character, although I suspect that is difficult indeed.  I certainly could not manage it myself.  As previously stated though, you need only 200 Votes per day really to be able to collect all the Rewards before the current Contest ends.

The Votes of other Farmers can help you reach this goal.  I certainly am extremely grateful to all the Farmers who have cast their Votes for Harvest Moon and Rosewood Farms.  Thanks to them, I may have a chance this time round!  Rosewood was unable to win the Backpack in the first Contest and both Rosewood and Harvest Moon failed to win the avatar and RC that were the final Rewards on the board.

For low level farms, then, your best option is to plant as many different Crops as possible, add as many Animals, Machines and Trees as possible, expand your Farm as many times as you can and register as many items as you can.  Actually, for all of us, the main goal is to make certain that we receive at least 200 Votes per day.



MYSTERY SHOP AND FARM BEAUTY CONTEST
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This is really a note for low level farmers or fairly new farmers.  Do not underestimate the value of the Mystery Shop and the effects of your daily Votes in the Farm Beauty Contest.  Your Votes will give YOU a Treasure Chest filled with Farm Aids, including Purple Mystrons.   The Purple Mystrons have a new department in the Mystery Shop where you can purchase Salad Machine materials when the activity that gave them has expired.

The Yellow Mystron Department is invaluable to farmers who have missed many of the time-restricted Quests of the past.  Here you can purchase some of the special Decorations that were given as Rewards in these old Missions.  Some of them actually are cleanable Decorations, but they ALL have Charm Point values.

Blue Mystrons are given only when a Farmer has completed the entire Reward Path on the Daily Order Board.  Each Order then will yield a single Blue Mystron.  The Blue Mystron Shop has the final Decorations for many of the time-restricted Missions from the past.  It takes forever to earn sufficient to buy one Decoration but at least you have hope that one day you will have a special Decoration you missed initially.

Finally, the Coin Mystery Shop sells EVERYTHING, from Farm Aids, to Avatars, to Crops you may not have been able to unlock yet.  It does not sell  Machines or Animals or Trees but those can be found in the Green Mystron Shop. 

FARM BEAUTY CONTEST TROPHIES
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Your total number of Charm Points is not really going to determine the number of Votes you receive from the Characters once you reach their ceiling of 20 each for Charm.   All it does is place you 'globally' and it is so unlikely that most of us ever will make it into a place that will gain us a Trophy that it probably is a crying shame to ruin our Farms by cramming them full of unnecessary and sometimes unattractive duplicate Decorations.  For example, with over 1600 Charm Points, Harvest Moon Farm is only 49th globally... what chance there???

What an ordinary Farmer should do with respect to the Farm Beauty Contest is to try to earn as many of the Rewards as possible without fretting over it too much.  My second Farm, Rosewood, failed even to gain sufficient Votes for the Backpack in the first Contest but having created the Farm only a year ago, never will have 100% completion in terms of Gallery Registration so what difference can it make really?

If Development does not consider the suggestions of players to remove the various Trophies from the Gallery, even Harvest Moon will have lost the potential for 100% completion and, in practical terms, that is poor marketing on the part of FunPlus because one of the reasons many of us BUY every new Decoration released is to try to keep 100% completion a possibility.  With no hope of gaining 1st Place ever in a Beauty Contest, or even 2nd or 3rd, might as well stop buying Decorations we don't particularly like or want!  I hope they will remove those Trophies from the Gallery.  After all, there are other items, such as the Special Sheep you are given when you have registered all four of the Sheep from the Daily Orders Board Rewards, that do not appear in the Gallery.

The main reason I began my little research project was for the low level or new farmers  They will not receive that many points for Expansions, High Level or Decorations but if they know how much each Animal, Tree and Machine will count, they can raise their points each day with those.   I started a new farm recently on a friend's Kindle to see how hard it would be, and it can be frustrating and difficult... time-restricted Missions only are unlocked at specific levels and it is hard to complete Activities.  If they do not feel that the Farm Beauty Contest is hopeless, it will make the game more fun while they attempt to raise their Levels and unlock new options.  By the way, the Contest is only unlocked at Level 16.

Actual Examples:
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One Farmer wrote:
 1 test starting numbers: 66/80. 62/72, 66/80, 56/72 - day 2 numbers the same after adding 1 tree but not changing snapshot - day 3: 67/80(1 tree), 63/72(1 machine, 1 beehive), 55/80, 56/72. and I changed the snapshot. So I'm guessing beehives don't count but why oh why did I lose 11 points for my crops? Now that's a lot and I know they were all planted.

Interpretation:  Day 1 and Day 2 are the same because she did not submit a new photo.  On Day 3, she received 1 additional Vote from Felicia for the Beehive.  She received an additional Vote from Dad for the new machine.  She probably had the maximum of 20 Votes for Trees from Grandma before she added a new one, so that did not change.  As for the Crops, it is a 'variety' that increased Darryl's Votes... Day 3 Crops may have had less types than Day 1, thus losing her some Votes with Darryl.

Harvest Moon added new Theme-related Decorations and other Decorations with better Charm Points, boosting her Charm point total by over 30 points but, even after taking a new photo, all four Characters gave the SAME Votes!   She planted a greater variety of Crops as well.  To me, this means that she has reached the 'ceiling' of 20 Votes for Charm and for Theme-related Decorations.  The reason she does not have full 80 Points with Felicia is few Animals now on Farm and with Dad because of few Machines being placed.  Grandma's Votes remain a mystery.  HM has registered ALL possible Gallery items apart from Flamingo and new Trophies and has ALL Trees on Farm.  But Votes remain low at 55/72.  The only possible reason would be her Level which is neither high nor low at 83.

Low Level FArms who planted a wide variety of Crops substantially increased their Votes with Darryl and new Machines, Animals and Trees counted as well... because they had few on the Farm previously.


Preparing for the Next Farm Beauty Contest
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As the current Farm Beauty Contest is set to end in less than two days, it is rather pointless for Farmers who have not close to a significant Reward such as the Whale Spring Rider Decoration to scramble to attempt to achieve the impossible.  A balance bctween Crops, Animals, Trees, Machines and Decorations is the key to obtaining Votes from the four Main Characters.   Theme related Decorations as well as Charm Points count as well but you need to divide the potential total of Votes for each category that appeals to any Character by four, as previously stated.  In other words, I doubt that Charm Points can give more than 20 Votes from a Character who likes them.

Instead of loading your Farm with duplicate inexpensive Decorations such as Laadders or relying now upon a few more Votes from fellow farmers, it would be a good idea to organise your farm for the next Contest.  You can do this by achieving a balance between the different items that can be placed.  Use the final day or two to see how substitution of one type of item by another affects the Votes of the four Characters.

Your Charm total determines your Global rating but frankly, it is almost impossible for an ordinary farmer to boost Charm to the point of winning a Trophy.  Harvest Moon Farm at best has found itself on occasion at 35 globally.  The reward for this, should it remain between 100 and 11, is one of the dull lowest Treasure Chests.  One has to be at a rating better than 11 to receive a Silver Chest.  At 35, what was the point of ruining the real Charm of my Farm?

Rosewood is at 7718 Rank globally.  Quite hopeless!  In other words, don't bother with this unless you are in the top ten!

It is the Votes you receive from the four Characters that are more valuable really than Global Rating.You can obtain various farm aids as well as Purple Mystrons both by achieving totals and by voting.  in fact, it is the act of Voting that gives you the best rewards throughout the course of the contest, as I have explained earlier.  Work on balancing the items on your Farm and simply try to improve totals by a few Votes for each Character if you can.