30 October 2015

Upgrades to Original Warehouse and Decorations section of Warehouse

The recent proliferation of new Decorations and their role in the various Farm Beauty Contests has made storage once again a potential problem for farmers in Family Farm Seaside.  Those of us who have played the game for three years or more, especially those of us who happen to be packrats by nature, are scrambling to house our Theme items once a Beauty Contest has ended.

When they released the new Warehouse Decorations section, it proviaded  players who had all existing upgrades another place to store Decorations.  You can upgrade your original Warehouse to have a total of 190 slots.  You can store Decorations as well as unattributed items such as the Haunted House in the original Warehouse.  Only Decorations can be stored in the Decorations section, however.

How to Store Items in Family Farm Seaside
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 A good guide writer never forgets how difficult it may be for a beginner to play any game, but sadly I have neglected basic instructions on storing your items in Family Farm Seaside.  I was asked by a new member of my Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group on Facebook how to store items, and therefore will add a section to this post.

In the game originally, storage was an option but not a necessity.  With the proliferation of new items through the years, however, a Warehouse quickly became a real necessity and farmers now tend to complete the Building Plot expansion with the Warehouse as quickly as possible.

To store any item, you first need to go to the Tools Menu in the bottom right of your screen by tapping on the Yellow Arrow that is the first icon seen there.  Doing so will open a number of options that include creating new plots, moving items, setting automatic production of an Animal or Machine, selling items and finally storing items.  To store items, tap on the icon of the box with the blue arrow over it.  You then can tap on any item you wish to store.  If it is an item that can be stored, it automatically will go into the designated storage area in the Warehouse.  A few items cannot be stored at all.  These include crops (for obvious reasons) and pond water.  Trees have their own storage building now in the form of the Tree Nursery.

The Warehouse itself is divided now into two sections.  The first is the General Warehouse area and the second is the Decorations Warehouse.  When you first begin to store Decorations, they will go into the Decorations section but if it is full, they then can be stored in the General Warehouse along with Animals and Machines.  To access all the items in the General section, choose the 'All' tab on the side of the Warehouse menu.  To access the Decorations section, tap on the Decorations tab on the top of the Warehouse menu.  Upgrade information is given below in another section.


Stacked Decorations
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Recently, a concept known as Stacked Decorations was released in the form first of the Bird Home Base and then the Halloween Stage.  A Stacked Decoration has a base as its primary Decoration as well as subsidiary Decorations that can be placed on it according to a jigsaw pattern.  To place any subsidiary Decoration on the base Decoration, choose the Move Tool and then, when your cursor is on top of the base, the little House Icon or Jigsaw Icon on the far right.  The subsidiary Decoration then will be placed automatically in its proper position on the base.

The Decorations given as rewards for the Gallery Missions are not cleanable and it therefore makes sense to place them on the Base as soon as you have registered them.  You cannot register a subsidiary item when it is on a base.

The Halloween Decorations on the other hand are cleanable and you should register them as well as obtain any special rewards such as the 7 days' worth of Yellow Mystrons from the Diva, before you place them on the Base.

The reason that I have addressed this topic in this post is because I believe that part of the reason for the Stacked Decoration, apart from the special animation that results from placement of subsidiary Decorations on a base, is storage.  With all subsidiary decorations on a Base, I believe that the item will take only a single slot when stored in the Warehouse.  Need to confirm this in my own game however.

Warehouse Upgrades
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This is a post in progress.  With my original Harvest Moon Farm, I failed to log the lists of materials needed for the first few upgrades of the Decorations tab.  I thought I had the original Warehouse upgrade on one of my pages but will attempt to log again.  I would like to thank the wonderful members of my Group, Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk, on Facebook, for their help with some of these levels.  In particular, many thanks to Amanda Max and Kathy Marcum.

To upgrade the Decorations section:

The original space has only five slots.  As you will see, you can upgrade twice using only materials that can be requested from your Neighbours.  It is the third upgrade to 20 slots that requires RC.  You will need a total of 6 RC to obtain 20 slots.

To upgrade to 10, you need:

15 Goods Shelves  (Request from Neighbours or buy for 1 RC each)

To upgrade to 15 you need:

20 Goods Shelf (Request from Neighbours or buy for 1 RC each)

To upgrade to 20 you need:

20 Goods Shelf  (Request from Neighbours or pay 1RC for each)
6 Wooden Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
10 Nails (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
2 Fire Extinguishers (Buy for 100 Yellow mystrons each or pay 3 RC each)

To upgrade to 25 you need:

25 Wood Shelf  (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
8 Wood Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
3 Wrench (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
2 Fire Extinguishers (Buy for 100 Yellow Mystrons each or pay 3 RC each)

To upgrade to 50 you need:

30 Goods Shelf (Request from Neighbours or pay 1 RC for each)
20 Wooden Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
9 Diamonds (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
6 Fire Extinguishers (Buy for 100 Yellow Mystrons each or Pay 3 RC for each)

More upgrades have been added to the Decorations section of the Warehouse.  I thought I wrote down the Materials List to upgrade to 60 items but I cannot find it.  From memory though:

To upgrade to 60, you need:

40 Cement Bags (Request from Buddies or pay 1 RC for each)
20 Wooden Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
9 Diamonds (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
6 Fire Extinguishers  (Buy for 100 Yellow Mystrons each or Pay 3 RC for each)

To upgrade to 75 Storage, you will need:

50 Cement Bags (Request from Buddies or pay 1 RC for each)
20 Wooden Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
10 Diamonds (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
7 Fire Extinguishers (Buy for 100 Yellow Mystrons each or pay 3 RC for each)

To upgrade to 90 Storage in the Decorations tab, you will need:

50 Cement Bags (Request from Buddies or pay 1 RC for each)
20 Wooden Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
11 Diamonds (Craft or pay 3 RC for each)
7 Fire Extinguishers (Buy for 100 Yellow Mystrons each or pay 3 RC for each)

Complete instantly for 124 RC

To upgrade to 110 Storage in the Decorations tab, you will need:

60 Cement Bags (Request to Buddy or pay 1 RC for each)
20 Wooden Panels (Craft on Island or pay 1 RC for each)
7 Fire Extinguishers (Pay 100 Yellow Mystrons each or pay 3 RC for each)
12 Diamonds (Craft on Island or pay 3 RC for each)

Complete instantly for 137 RC I believe... need a calculator.

Note that the Yellow Mystrons purchase of a Fire Extinguisher is limited to one per day.

Original Warehouse Upgrades
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The original 'All' Tab of the Warehouse can be upgraded to a total of 190 slots.

The original Warehouse has a total of 20 slots in which any sort of item, including Decorations, can be placed.  As you will see, you need pay RC to upgrade only after the first two upgrades.

To upgrade to Level 2:

10 Tiles (Request or pay 1 RC)
10 Wood (Request or pay 1 RC)

To upgrade to Level 3:

15 Tiles  (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
15 Wood (Request or pay 1 RC for each)

 To upgrade to Level 4:

15 Tiles (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
15 Wood (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
6 Paint (Buy for 1 RC each)

To upgrade to Level 6
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20 Tiles (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
20 Wood (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
12 Paint (Pay 1 RC for each)

To upgrade to Level 7
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20 Tiles  (Request or use 1 RC for each)
20  Wood (Request or use 1 RC for each)
1 Hammer (Pay 10 RC)

To upgrade to Level 8
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25 Tiles  (Request or use 1 RC for each)
25 Wood (Request or use 1 RC for each)
12 Storage Racks (Pay 2 RC for each)

In other words, minimum payment of 24 RC to perform this upgrade.  This gives you a total of 90 Slots now in the regular 'All' Section of the Warehouse.

To upgrade to Level 9
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25 Tiles (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
25 Wood (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
15 Paint (Pay 1 RC for each)
10 Storage Racks (2 RC each)

In other words, minimum cost for this is 39 RC.


Final Upgrade  gives you a total of 190 Slots in the regular Warehouse.  You can store Animals, Machines, Decorations, Collectables, some Buildings and unattributed items such as the Haunted House in the regular Warehouse slots.  Back in the day, you could have a total of 190 Slots in the regular Warehouse by upgrading to Level 9... I think now there are more steps but the end result should be the same.

Island Warehouse
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The Island Warehouse is not that different from the Warehouse on the Main Seaside Farm.  The biggest difference is the need to make the expansions to the plot where it resides in order to obtain it.  Expansions on the Island can be expensive or labour-intensive.

At this point in time, it is very unlikely that Farerms really would need to expand their Island Warehouse much as there are not that many items yet that could be stored.  As the time-restricted Missions continue to give Decorations for the Island as a final Reward, and as new Island Macines or Animals or other options are released, one can expect more crowding to occur.

The Island Warehouse begins with 10 ordinary slots and 5 Decoration slots.

Upgrade to Level 2, for 15 slots:

20 Tiles  (Request or pay 1 RC each)
15 Nuts (Craft or pay 1 Rc for each)
15 Nails (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
Upgrade to Level 3 for 20 Slots:

30 Tiles (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
25 Lag Bolts (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
25 Nails (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
3 Paint (1 RC for each)

Upgrade to Level 4 for 25 slots:

40 Tiles (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
30 Lag Bolts (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
30 Nails (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
8 Paint (1 RC for each)

Island Warehouse Decoration Tab
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The Decorations section offers 5 slots.

Upgrade to 10 slots:

15 Goods Shelf (Request or pay 1 RC for each)
10 Wooden Panels (Craft or pay 1 RC for each)
2 Fire Extinguishers (Pay 3 RC for each)

23 October 2015

Spooky Halloween Quest and Jack O'Lantern Collections Mission


(Sxreenshots show final Reward in the form of the Vampire's Castle, an Island Decoration)


The new time-restricted Quest is the means by which to obtain the Halloween Bulbs that are the third material required to complete the Halloween Stage.  You will obtain one from each of the first eight parts of the Quest.  As usual, there is a Collections Mission in tandem with a traditional Quest sequence of 16 parts.  At the end of Spooky Halloween 8, you will receive a special Decoration for your original Farm in the form of the Vampire Scarecrow.  At the end of the final step, Spooky Halloween 16, you will receive a wonderful Vampire Castle Decoration for your Island Farm.  You will need access to the Island to complete the last half of the Quest.

Update on 28 Ocrober:
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As of today the Halloween Hook no longer is available when fishing.  You can purchase materials for the Jack O'Lantern machine randomly in the Yellow Mystron Mystery Shop.  The cost always is 7 Yellow Mystrons but the amount received depends on the specific material offered as follows:

You will obtain 7 Ghost Candles
You will obtain 3 Dracula Wings
You will obtain 1 Witch Cauldron (I believe)

NOTE ABOUT ISLAND TASKS
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This is a point of strategy actually for future time-restricted Missions.  Many of us have noticed the increasing difficulty level of Island tasks in this Missions.  This one requires 3 Star Mastery of the Pie Machine to make Pumpkin Pies.  When the Island tasks first were added to the time-restricted Quests, they did not require any Mastery of the Island Machines for the most part.  Now you are likely to find a task that requires full Mastery of an Island Machine.  Dev Point level may become more significant as well in terms of the Crops that will be included in the future in this Missions.  My advice, therefore is to make a concerted attempt to gain as much Mastery as possible of every Island Machine and to increase your Dev Point totals as quickly as possible if you are determined to complete these Quests to obtain the final Island Decoration.  The cost of skipping the task of making 30 Pumpkin Pies here is 30  RC, a fair amount of RC.  Pumpkin Pies cannot be made without full Mastery of the Pumpkin Machine.

I hope that, at some point, Seaside will follow the example of the original Family Farm which has different tasks for players of lower levels from the ones given to the high level players.  This would be more fair than expecting all farmers to have the same Mastery level on the Island.

Now, I did post a question to my Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group on Facebook to ask what players intend to do if they do not have the 3 Star Pie Machine Mastery.  Would they opt to spend 30 RC for the chance to have the Vampire's Castle?  I love castles myself and when one considers that there are other Decorations in the Market that cost 20 RC and 25 RC as well as the second Bird Home Base that costs a whopping 40 RC, who is to judge that the Vampire's Castle is not worth 30 RC to players who haven't a chance of obtaining the required Mastery before the end of the Quest?  It is a personal matter of judgment.

I would like to advise players, however, that there are OTHER methods of obtaining these Final Rewards now if you cannot complete the Mission.  They are sold randomly in the Blue Mystron Mystery Shop.  You do need to complete the ENTIRE Reward Path for the Order Board before you will be able to begin earning any Blue Mystrons.  Each task on the Order Board then will be worth 1 Blue Mystron.  The Decorations sold in the Blue Mystron Mystery Shop cost 300 Blue Mystrons each so it is a slow process at best to earn sufficient to purchase even one Decoration but it gives players who have missed special Decorations that they particularly like some hope for the future.

The Yellow Mystron Mystery Shop does sell decorations randomly as well but they never are Decorations that constituted final Rewards.

Halloween Hook
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The Spooky Halloween Quest requires use both of some of the items caught using the Halloween Hook as well as the temporary Crop, the Halloween Pumpkin.  Note that the Halloween Hook is available only for a few more days as is the Halloween Pumpkin.  Recipes in the Kitchen from the past that use these items have been restored.  You will need to make Cooked Dishes using these items for this Quest as well as for one of the Tasks that will give you the final Material for the Stage in the form of Speakers.  Do not be too quick, therefore to sell your catches.  In particular, save some of the Vampire Clams and some of the Skeleton Fish.   You will need 15 of the Skeleton Fish for one of the Weekly Tasks (and 4th Stage Material) apart from those needed for the Spooky Halloween Mission.

The Halloween Hook requires 125 Bait per use.  I have listed some suggestions for good Bait trades elsewhere, but will add a couple here as well.  The amount that an Item is worth in terms of trade for bait usually depends on the value of the item or, in the case of products or cooked dishes, value of items as well as number of ingredients used.  I suggest always that players refrain from using 'Basic' dishes that are required to cook other Dishes and instead try to use single ingredient Items whenever possible.

Caramel is a great item as it is a single ingredient item that gives 93 Bait.

The Cakes are not single ingredient items but usually are not needed as ingredients:

Love Cake: 155 Bait
Lemon Cake: 95 Bait

Cooking Wine is another favourite with players.  It requires only two ingredients:

Cooking Wine: 328 Bait

Peach Cobbler has one of the highest values but is very labour intensive.

Note that, although you cannot use the raw Halloween catches as Bait, you can convert a couple of them into Cooked Dishes and then use them.  If you have been fishing diligently with the Halloween Hook since its release, you should have more than sufficient for the following Quest tasks as well as for some Bait.

Here are the Halloween Recipes that use the Halloween Pumpkin and Halloween seafood:

Halloween Pumpkin Soup: 2 Halloween Pumpkins, 1 Milk

Spooky Pasta: 1 Pasta, 2 Vampire Clams

Skeleton Fish Chips: 1 Skeleton Fish, 1 Soft Dough

If you do not have access to the Island and cannot hope to complete Parts 9 through 16 of the Mission, you will not need the Skeleton Fish or Vampire Clams for the Mission tasks as they appear in the last half of the Mission.  You will still need 15 Skeleton Fish later for the Weekly Task.

Note that Halloween Pumpkin Soup, requiring 2 Halloween Pumpkins and 1 Milk makes 61 Bait.  This is its best use, in my view.

Collections Mission
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The Reward for the Collections Missionn is another Collectable, which means you will not find it in the Market while the Quest is active.

Collect Jack O'Lanterns

70 Orange Jack O'Lanterns from Halloween Pumpkin
50 Red Jack OLanterns from Beef
30 Yellow Jack O'Lanterns from Pineapple Jam
10 Green Jack O'Lanterns from Spooky Tree

Reward: Coriander Garden, a Collectable

Spooky Halloween Quest
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Felicia:  Hello, Farmer.  Halloween is coming soon, but I still don't have any plans... I am tired of costume parties and trick-or-treating.  It's for children!  Maybe I'll get inspired while working on the farm?

Spooky Halloween 1

Harvest 40 Lavender
  Skip for 20 RC

Harvest 40 Halloween Pumpkins
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 Buffalo Milk Cheese
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 1000 Coins, 60 XP, 1 Halloween Lamp

Felicia:  Ah, still nothing.  Maybe you have some ideas, farmer.

Spooky Halloween  2
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Felicia:  This Halloween I'd like to do something REALLY spooky, no more childish stuff.  Oh, wait!  I have an idea!  But I'll have to ask my dad's permission first...

Prepare 12 plates of Lavender Cheese
  Skip for 12 RC
  Each requires 1 Lavender and 1 Buffalo Milk Cheese

Produce 40 jars of Ketchup
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 Beef
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 1000 Coins,, 160 XP, 1 Halloween Lamp

Felicia:  Let's hope Daddy likes the idea...

Spooky Halloween 3
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Felicia;  I remember Dad has a little cabin deep in the woods.  We used to spend weekends there when I was a little girl.  I wonder if Daddy could let me organise a Halloween party in there.

Harvest 40 Coffee Beans
  Skip for 20 RC

Harvest 8 Lemons
  Skip for 8 RC

Prepare 12 plates of Coffee Cookies
  Skip for 12 RC
   Each requires 1 Coffee Bean and 1 Wheat Flour

Rewards: 1000 Coins, 170 XP, 1 Halloween Bulb

Felicia:  Isn't it an amazing idea?  Let's see what Daddy says...

Spooky Halloween 4
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Felicia:  Great news!  I just asked my dad if I can spend the weekend in his cabin with my friends and he agreed!  We're going to have a spooky Halloween in the middle of the forest this year!

Harvest 40 Corn
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 8 Bowls of Pasta
  Skip for 8  RC
  Each requires 1 Cake Flour and 1 Ketchup

Prepare 12 plates of Coffee Biscuits
  Skip for 12 RC
  Each requires 1 Coffee Cookies and 1 Lavendar Cheese

Rewards: 1000 Coins, 170 XP, 1 Halloween Bulb

Felicia:  Let's get ready for the scariest weekend of the year!

Special Reward:   Mission Gift Box containing Farm Aids

Spooky Halloween 5
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Felicia:  Daddy says we're old enough to spend the night in the woods completely alone.  Just thinking about it gives me the chills!  But that's the point!  We're gonna need some comfort food!

Fish 8 times with the Halloween Hook
  Skip for 8 RC

Collect 50 Eggs
  Skip for 25 RC

Prepare 12 plates of Steak Tartare
  Skip for 12 RC
  Each requires 2 Beef and 1 Egg

Rewards: 1000 Coins, 180 XP, 1 Halloween Bulb

Felicia:  That's a good start!  Let's get some more!

Spooky Halloween VI
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Felicia:  Food, drinks, and ... vampire teeth!  Shh, don't ask me why  I'll explain later.  Let's visit some neighbours and invite them for the cabin party!

Collect 20 Vampire Teeth from Neighbours
  Skip for 20 RC

Fertilise your neighbours' farms 50 times
  Skip for 10 RC

Harvest 50 Pumpkins
  Skip for 25 RC

Reward: 1000 Coins, 180 XP, 1 Halloween Bulb

Felicia:  Awesome!  Every one is really excited about the party!

Spooky Halloween VII
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Psst, farmer... I haven't told you yet, but I've got a special plan for this party... Don't tell anybody but
I am planning a teirrfying surprise for my friends!

Place a Coriander Garden on your Farm
  Reward for Collections Mission
  Skip for 10 RC

Harvest 50 Spinach
  Skip for 25 RC

Prepare 12 Meatballs
  Skip for 12 RC
  Each requires 1 Steak Tartare and 1 Soft Dough

Reward: 1000 Coins, 190 XP, 1 Halloween Bulb

Felicia:  This is going to be so much fun!

Spooky Halloween 8
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Felicia:  Okay, every one has arrived! Welcome to the party!  Food is here, drinks over there!  Make yourself comforable and let's start!  How about we watch a movie about vampires first?

Collect 20 Vampire Cloaks from Neighbours
  Skip for 10 RC

Harvest 8 White Chocolates
  Skip for 8 RC

Prepare 6 bowls of Bloody Eyes
  Skip for 6 RC
  N.B.  This was a temporary Recipe in the past.  It requires 1 White Chocolate and 1 Spooky Eye Fruit

Reward: 1000 Coins, 190 XP, 1 Halloween Bulb

Felicia:  Time for my little ssurprise, hehe!

Special Reward: Vampire Scarecrow Decoration for original Seaside Farm
  It has a small footprint and is worth only 1 Charm Point, and is not listed in the book as a Theme Decoration.  Could that be an oversight or is it not a part of the current theme?

Spooky Halloween 9
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Felicia:  Every one's really into the movie, so I am going to sneak outside and put on my vampire cape and teeth.  And then.... SURPRISE!  Hahaha!  I can't wait to see the fear on my friends' faces!

Prepare 6 Vegetarian Cutlets
  Skip for 6 RC
  This i a new Recipe requiring 2 Batter and 3 Sweet Potatoes each.

Produce 50 Sugar
  Skip for 25 RC

Prepare 12 bowls of Halloween Pumpkin Soup
  Skip for 12 RC
  This is one of the temporary recipes from the past.  It requires 2 Halloween Pumpkins and 1 Milk

Reward: 1000 Coins, 200 XP

Felicia:  I'm going outside not to make any one suspicious!

Spooky Halloween 10
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Felicia:  Uh, it's a little dark in the forest.  Where did I leave my cape?  Must be somewhere here... Huh?  What was that noise?  Where's my flashlight?

Prepare 6 Green Smoothies
  Skip for 6 RC
  This is a new Recipe and each requires 6 Spinach and 2 Coriander
  My advice is NOT to skip this task as you will need these Green Smoothies in the next part of the Quest.

Harvest 8 Chestnuts
  Skip for 8 RC
  This is an Island task.

Prepare 8 plates of Pumpkin Crumble
  Skip for 8 RC
  Each requires 1 Orange Crumble and 2 Pumpkins

Reward: 1000 Coins, 200 XP

Felicia:  It's getting creepy...

Spooky Halloween 11
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Felicia  Not that I'm scared or anything, but I don't like it here.  I'd better go back to the cabin.  Ah, it's so dark I can't see anything!  Wait I just walked into something... Aaaaaaaaah!  HELP!  A Vampire!

Prepare 6 Vegetarian Brunches
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each Vegetarian Brunch requires 1 Green Smoothie and 1 Vegetarian Cutlet

Process 6 Gulfweeds
  Skip for 6 RC

Prepare 6 bowls of Coriander Sauce
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each Coriander Sauce requires 1 Salsa Verde and 1 Coriander
  Each Salsa Verde requires 3 Onions and 1 Caper
  Do not skip this task as you will need the Coriander Sauce in the next part of the Quest.

Reward: 1000 Coins, 210 XP

Felicia:  Oh my, I nearly died!  What was that?

Spooky Halloween 12
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Felicia:  My friends heard me screaming and ran outside.  After they turned on the light, they saw me --  dressed in a vampire cape --- struggling with --- A vampire scarecrow!

Prepare 6 Green Sauce Meatballs
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each requires 1 Meatballs and 1 Coriander Sauce

Prepare 6 plates of Spooky Pasta
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each requires 1 Pasta and 2 Vampire Clams

Craft 6 Milk Facial Masks
  Skip for 6 RC

Reward: 1000 Coins, 210 XP'

Felicia:  Who put a scarecrow in the middle of the forest?

Special Reward: Special Mission Island Gift Box containing much needed Farm Aids

Spooky Halloween 13
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Felicia:  Guess who was responsible for the stupid trick?!  My dad, of course!  he thought it would be funny!  He siad he'd never leave us alone in the forest, so he came to check on us.  And brought the scarecrow!

Prepare 6 Marshmallow Skulls
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each requires 1 Nectar and 1 Sugar

Harvest 60 Cassava
  Skip for 30 RC
  This is an Island task.

Produce 30 Loaves of Zucchini Bread
  Skip for 15 RC
  This is an Island Task

Reward: 1000 Coins, 220 XP

Felicia:  Yeah, very funny, Dad.  Very funny!

Spooky Halloween 14
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Felicia:  Lucky for him, he brought us some treats!  Otherwise, I would be very angry!  Come on, every one!  Let's have some candy!  It's Halloween!

Prepare 6 Monster Snacks
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each requires 2 Marshmallow Skulls and 1 Halloween Soup

Produce 60 bags of Cassava Flour
  Skip for 30 RC

Transport 60 Pumpkins to the Island Farm
  Skip for 30 RC

Reward: 1000 Coins, 220 XP

Felicia:  Yummy!  I ate so much my stomach hurts.

Spooky Halloween 15
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Felicia:  Oh well, my scary surprise didn't go as planned, but at least one person got completely terrified... me!  My friends had a good laugh!  Let's give every one a Scarecrow Toy to remember the night!

Prepare 30 Pumpkin Pies
  This is an Island Task
  Skip for 30 RC
  This is a little unfair to low level players as this not only is an Island task but one that requires full mastery of the Pie Machine.

Prepare 6 bags of Skeleton Fish Chips
  Skip for 6 RC
  This is another old temporary Recipe and requires 1 Skeleton Fish and 1 Soft Dough for each

Craft 6 Scarecrow Toys
  Skip for 6 RC
  Each requires 2 Mohair Yarn and 1 Cedar Wood
  This is an Island Task

Coins: 1000 Coins, 230 XP

Felicia: Let's continue the party!

Spooky Halloween 16
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Felicia;  I must admit even though my surprise was ruined, I had a lot of fun tonight.  It was definitely the best Halloween party I ever organised!

Prepare 6 Plates of Spooky Crunchy Pasta
  Skip for 6 RC
 Another old temporary recipe requiring 1 Skeleton Fish Chips and 1 Spooky Pasta for each

Collect 6 Bottles of Bat Milk
  Skip for 6 RC
   The Bat House is being sold in the Market for 18 RC and pollinates specific Trees including the Sakura and the Spooky Tree

Prepare 6 Brain-shakes
  Skip for 6 RC
  Another old temporary recipe, this requires 1 Bat Milk and 1 Spooky Eye Fruit for each

Reward: 1000 Coins, 230 XP

Felicia: It was a great night, but it's time to sleep now.  Thanks for being here with us, farmer!  Happy Halloween!

Final Special Reward: Vampire's Castle Decoration for Island Farm

Gallery Registration
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Coriander Garden: 3 Medals, 2500 Coins
Vampire Scarecrow: 2 Medals, 10 Green Mystrons
Vampire's Castle: 5 Medals, 30 Green Mystrons
Spooky Halloween Collection: Includes Coriander Garden, Vampire Scarecrow and Vampire's Castle
  5 Medals, 1 RC, 88 Green Mystrons

20 October 2015

New Tree Nursery, Time Machine Quests, Halloween Pumpkin Crop and more

Last updated at end of 2017.  Note that the Tree Nursery no longer has the complex system of using Water Drops and that you can harvest automatically all trees in the Nursery.  A basket will appear above the Nursery when any Trees are ripe for the Harvest.

A new update in Family Farm Seaside offers a number of new options, including a Tree Nursery both for storage and tending of trees, a new Gallery tab for special 3 day Quests called the 'Time Machine', a new crop in the form of the Hallowe'en Pumpkin (a temporary crop long ago) and a Bird Base Decoration that is tied to the Quests in the Gallery.

Before I continue here, I wish to thank my wonderful group members for their help in posting many of the tasks in the new Time Machine Missions for me.  Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk may be a relatively small group, but its members are fantastic!  Many thanks to all of you who contributed.  It is especially helpful considering the trouble many of us have with the new updates.  Kindle users do not even have access yet and Android users are finding trouble as well.  On the IPad, I cannot play the game without being cast out every few seconds...  So it is really marvelous to have some assistance from farmers whom I trust!

The Tree Nursery finally has been released to allow us to store the many trees that occupy so much farm space. It costs 50,000 Coins and is placed on the Building Plot area.  You can use it simply to store Trees that you do  not need presently, but do not wish to sell.  You do have the option to water trees in the nursery and collect harvests from them if you wish but this can use many Watering Cans and be expensive in the end.

Originally, upgrading the Nursery required Water Drops and these were obtained only by using Watering Cans to transform them into the needed Water Drops.  Water Drops were used to water Trees in the Nursery as well.  The rooms in the Nursery are small.  The initial room will house only 5 trees and every room after that is the same size.

Since a fundamental update that changed the entire system, Water Drops were eliminated and the requirement was changed to a specific number of Harvests from the Nursery.  You now simply use regular Watering Cans and Super Watering Cans if you wish to speed the harvest of individual trees.

In other words, even if you intend only to use the Nursery to store your trees, you must be resigned to the use of many of your Watering Cans to make the necessary upgrades that will transform it into a large enough Building to be a valuable storage site.  Furthermore, the other materials that are used to upgrade this Nursery, apart from the Fire Extinguishers that can be purchased only with RC, are items that are crafted on the Island.  In other words, you will need access to the Island if you do not wish to spend exorbitant amounts of RC on materials.

For the first upgrade,giving you a 2nd room, you need the following:  15 Wooden Cylinders and 20 Lag Bolts

Both are crafted on the Island and then must be transported to the original Seaside Farm.  You can purchase the materials for 1 RC each for a total of 35 RC.

For the second upgrade, giving you a third room,  you will need the following:

7750 Water Drops  (Increase your total by using them)
3 Fire Extinguishers  (3 RC each)
20 Wooden Cylinders  (Transport from Island)
25 Nuts  (Transport from Island)

The Water Drops are obtained by trading Watering Cans and Super Watering Cans.  You will have a limit I believe of 5300 Water Drops until you actually begin to USE them in the Rooms of your Nursery.  Choose the Watering Can icon to water your Trees, not with Watering Cans but Water Drops.  You then should discover that the number of Water Drops on the upgrade screen has increased.  Keep doing this until you reach 7750.  Incidentally, you can choose to speed the progress of any room of trees by using Water Drops.  This will speed the increase in the total as well..

The Wooden Cylinders and Nuts must be crafted on the Island and then transported to the Seaside Farm before you can use them to upgrade the Nursery.  The Fire Extinguishers must be purchased with RC.  They cost 3 RC each.

Room 2:

  Requires:

15 Wooden Cylinders
20 Lag Bolts

Room 3:

750 Water Drops  (Increase your total by using them)
3 Fire Extinguishers  (3 RC each)
20 Wooden Cylinders
25 Nuts 

Room 4:

The next upgrade, to give you four rooms each of which can house 5 trees requires the following:

16000 Water Drops
30 Wooden Cylinders
30 Nuts
1 Fire Extinguisher (3RC)

Room 5:

28000 Water Drops
40 Wooden Cylinders
35 Nuts
2 Fire Extinguishers (3 RC each)

For sixth room:

43000 Water Drops
20 Wooden Panels
8 Screwdrivers
3 Fire Extinguishers

For the seventh room:

61000 Water Drops
30 Wooden Panels
14 Screwdrivers
3 Fire Extinguishers  (3 RC each)

Eighth Room:

82500 Water Drops
40 Wooden Panels
18 Screwdrivers
4 Fire Extinguishers (3 RC each)

Ninth Room:

107750 Water Drops
55 Wooden Panels
20 Screwdrivers
5 Fire Extinguishers (3 RC each)

Tenth Room:

140250 Water Drops
65 Wooden Panels
22 Screwdrivers
6 Fire Extinguishers  (3 RC each)

There are two new Rooms in the Tree Nursery:

Eleventh Room:

Twelfth Room:

24 Screwdrivers
6 Tree Irrigators (1 RC each)
700 Harvests from Nursery
5 Fire Extinguishers (3 RC each or purchase with 100 Yellow Mystrons each)

Room 13:

6 Tree Irrigators
  (1 RC each)

5 Fire Extinguishers
 (3 RC each or use 100 Yellow Mystrons to purchase)
  Limit of one purchase per day from Mystery Shop

80 Wooden Panels
  (Craft on Island or purchase for 54 TC each)
Collect Fruits 850 times

Room 14:
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To upgrade to Room 14:

26 Screwdrivers
6 Tree Irrigators
5 Fire Extinguishers (3 RC each of 100 Yellow Mystrons each)
Collect 1000 Fruits

Room 15 in Tree Nursery
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Requires:

9 Tree Irrigators (1 RC each)
5 Fire Extinguishers (3 RC each or 100 Yellow Mystrons each)
90 Wooden Panels
Collect 1200 Fruits

(Lists of Materials for Rooms 5-10 contributed by Cherie Austin Johnson from my Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group)


There are new options for interacting with your Nursery Trees as well as follows:

For 50 RC: Butterfly Show
  Butterflies pollinate your trees to directly get Nectar when harvesting.

For 35 RC: Fruit it Up!
  Store 5 more fruits and get a bonus for every 10 produced fruits

For 20 RC
  Use 10$ more Water Drops to let your Trees grow 20% faster

For 20 RC
  Save your Water Drops!
  Get 10% of your Water Drops back after harvesting your fruits!

Each of these will service only one room at a time but you can choose which room will have the service.

Tap on 'Add On' to see these options.

You need to trade Watering Cans or Super Watering Cans for Water Drops.

Trade your Water Drops: For 140 Watering Cans, I could obtain 3500 Water Drops.  By using them to water Rooms filled with Trees, I was able to trade for more which increased my total.  The limit remained 3500.

There are new tabs in the Gallery.  One gives you access to Missions.  When you activate a Mission, you will have a limited amount of time to complete it and it states that you will not have access to any other special missions while this one is active.  Will that include the usual time-restricted Missions?

The rewards from these missions are placed on the Bird House Base which you can purchase in the Market for 25 RC.  You can buy a second Bird House Base for 40 RC.  The Charm Point value of the Decoration is 5 Charm even when unfinished (empty).

Note that you can perform these Missions and place the Decorations directly on your Farm without ever purchasing the Bird Home Base.  I do believe that the Charm Value of the Decorations combined with the Bird Home Base may be greater when the items are placed within it, but that needs confirmation.  The Bird Home Base does have a large footprint so you will need space on your farm for it.  It rather defeats the purpose therefore to place Decorations outside of it if you have purchased it.  If not, however, it is good to know that the little Decorations can be obtained without having it and can be placed directly on your Farm.

The Gallery is not unlocked until you reach Level 5. Although you can purchase the Bird Home Base in the Market for 25 RC even at that Level, the Time Machine missions will not be unlocked until you reach Level 18.

The Missions currently appearing in the new tab in the Gallery are:

Easter Bunny Genie:
  Rewards: 5 Medals, Bird Seesaw
  50 Green Mystrons

Thumbelina
  Rewards: 5 Medals, Bird Ball Pool
  50 Green Mystrons

Queen's Day
  Rewards: 5 Medals, Bird Pool
  50 Green Mystrons

Mother's Day
  Rewards: 5 Medals, Farm Bird House
  50 Green Mystrons

Each of the Decorations can be registered in the Gallery once you have completed the Mission.  If you place them in the Bird Home Base before registering, you must remove them temporarily to register them and then place them back in the Base.  The second Bird Home Base will have its own Decorations.  These are listed in the Decorations section of the Gallery but the actual Missions are not available yet.

EACH OF THE FOLLOWING IS IN TWO PARTS.  AT THE END OF THE FIRST PART, GO TO THE GALLERY PAGE AND SWIPE THE ITEM YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT INTO THE EMPTY SLOT FOR IT ON THE TOP LEFT OF THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAGE. TAP THE OTHER EMPTY SLOT TO ACTIVATE PART TWO.  DO THE SAME WITH THE SECOND ITEM, SWIPING IT FROM RIGHT TO LEFT WHEN YOU FINISH THE QUEST.  FIND YOUR DECORATION IN THE GIFT BOX.

Here is the complete Mother's Day Quest which is in two parts:

Mother's Day I
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Oh Mother's Day will be here soon, even for us Geese.  Can you help me prepare a beautiful day for my mom?  I want to show her how much I love her.  A good day always starts with a good breakfast!

Produce 40 Loaves of Oat Bread
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 glasses of Apple Juice
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 Buffalo Milk Cheese
  Skip for 20 RC

Rewards: 50 Coins, 10 XP

Goose:  The breakfast is healthy and delicious.  Mom loved my breakfast.

Mother's Day II
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Goose:  Something is missing.. We should decorate the table with a bouquet.  Which one is Mom's favourite flower again?  Oh, I know!

Produce 40 jars of Pineapple Jam
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 10 Orange Jam Cookies
  Skip for 10 RC

Get 20 Ribbons from Neighbours
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 70 Coins, 14 XP

The flower bouquet looks great!  Thank you!  Mom is always busy at taking care of me, now I want to do something for her.

Mother's Day III
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Even the prettiest table won't look nice if the room around it is messy.  I will  tidy up and make our home beautiful, my friends can help me make some lovely decorations to hang on the walls.

Harvest 8 Lychees
  Skip for 8 RC

Produce 40 bottles of Ketchup
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 10 sticks of Cotton Candy
  Skip for 10 RC

Reward: 85 Coins, 18 XP

Goose:  Wow!  Our house looks so pretty now!  Thank you, my dear friends!
COMPLETED!

When you complete this first part, you will be taken to the new Gallery Page for this Mission where you will see a little card with the name of Love.  Sweep this card into the first of the two empty slots on the top left of the page and you will gain access to the second half.  You will be asked, however, if you wish to activate the next part of the Quest as you only will have three days for it as well.

This is only the first of two quest sequences for this Story as indicated above.

You receive a Love Token for the first part but then must unlock the second.

Mother's Day IV
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Goose:  Hmm, I want to get mom a gift that she will remember forever.  How about we make a carpet so that we can roll it out when the summer comes?

Produce 60 Wool
  Skip for 30 RC

Produce 60 Angora Wool
  Skip for 30 RC

Produce 60 Steak Burgers
  Skip for 30 RC

Reward: 100 Coins, 22 XP

Goose:  The materials are ready!  We can start making the carpet now.

Mother's Day V
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Goose:  Just a card is missing.  I want to give mom a Card as a surprise, we can hide it under some Love Cakes.  I know you are good at drawing, you will not refuse to help me, right?

Harvest 60 Love Fruits
  Skip for 30 RC

Produce 60 Love Cakes
  Skip for 30 RC

Produce 60 bags of Sugar Popcorn
  Skip for 30 RC

Reward: 120 Coins, 22 XP

That's great!  We can go out and have a picnic with Mom!

Mother's Day VI
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I've got a great idea!  Let's get some special mugs full of love for breakfast.  Some hearty breakfast filled with love and something sweet!

Prepare 10 bowls of Egg Soup
  Skip for 10 RC

Prepare 10 Polish Donuts
  Skip for 10 RC

Produce 60 Maple Sugar
  Skip for 30 RC

Reward: 120 Coins, 24 XP

Goose:  Hmm, I wonder if I am making the Love Cakes for Mom, or because I love them too!

Mother's Day VII
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Goose:  Lastly, as the cherry on the top, I want to get Mom a reward for 'Best Mom Ever'.  Let's drink champagne to celebrate! Oh, we kids better drink some juice instead!

Produce 60 Daisy Bouquets
  Skip for 30 RC

Craft 10 Rose Facial Masks
  Skip for 10 RC

Prepare 8 Wild Rose Marmalade
  Skip for 8 RC

Reward: 300 Coins

Goose: Mom will never forget this day!

COMPLETED!

Go to the Gallery and find the page with the Mother's Day Quest information.  Swipe the Mom card on the right into the slot on the left.   Find the Farm Bird House and Mystrons in your Gift Box.  Choose 'Use' for the Bird House and take it to the Bird Home Base.  Tap on the icon of the House with jigsaw pieces inside and it will be placed correctly to allow placement of other Reward items when you complete those quests.  The Farm Bird House is worth 3 Charm Points.

Queen's Day
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Queen's Day I
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Felicia:  I've been feeling strange lately, a little light headed and having mood swings.  I laugh and I'm happy for no apparent reason!  And suddenly love the colour orange!  How strange!

Produce 40 bottles of Milk
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 20 Milk Cookies
  Skip for 20 RC

Complete the Orders on the Ordar Board
  Skip for 10 RC

Reward: 50 Coins, 10 XP

Felicia:  I know what it is!  Today is Queen's Day in the Netherlands.  Let's celebrate the birthday of the Queen!

Queen's Day II
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Felicia:  The Queen is going to abdicate on Queen's Day.  We will have a King after more than 100 years!  Let's put on an Eccentric Hat, just like the Queen  Oh, and we need some Tulips to decorate the place!

Harvest 40 Rice
   Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 sacks of Rice Flour
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 20 lots of Butter
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward:  70 Coins, 15 XP

Felicia:  Queen's Day means that the Dutch princes will take part in activities with their people.

Queen's Day III
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Felicia: Every one is having fun with all sorts of activities on the streets.  Let's also organise a tin can alley match on the farm!  Hmm, how about Cheddar Cheese and Black Forest Cake as prizes?

Harvest 8 Oranges
  Skip for 8 RC

Produce 40 jars of Orange Jam
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 Cheddar Cheese
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 80 Coins, 20 XP

Felicia: Look, I'm not the only one!  There seems to be Orange Madness everywhere.  It looks like Grandma Blair is the only one immune from it.

COMPLETED!

This is the end of the first part of this Quest.  Go to the Gallery and find the Quest page to swipe the little blue wooden shoes on the right side of the page into the empty slot on the left.

Now tap on the empty slot beneath it that is the same shape to activate the second part of the Story.

Queen's Day IV
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Felicia:  Grandma wants to sell Orange Juice in the Queen's Day Market.    I 2remember that last year it was really crowded and every one was wearing orange clothes.  I sold a lot of old stuff that day!

Harvest 8 jars of Birch Tree Syrup
  Skip for 8 RC

Prepare 8 glasses of Birch Tree Kvass
  Skip for 8 RC

Prepare 20 bowls of Cottage Cheese
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 200 Coins, 24 XP

Felicia:  Hey, look there!  There is a girl crying in the middle of the crowd!

Queen's Day V
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Felicia:  Aw, poor kid, she is hungry and lost her Doll in the middle of all that orange madness.  Let's help her out!

Collect 8 jars of Nectar
  Skip for 8 RC

Collect 50 Duck Eggs
  Skip for 25 RC

Produce 50 Mayonnaise
  Skip for 25 RC

Reward: 80 Coins, 20 XP

Felicia:  Wow, that was an awesome Queen's Day!  Looking forward to next year's King's Day now!

Queen's Day VI
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Felicia:  We should get a beer and have a toast in honour of his Majesty!  Oh, and of course have a dance too!  Will you dance the traditional Dutch Clog Dance with me?

Harvest 25 Tulips
  Skip for 12 XP

Produce 60 Tulip Bouquets
  Skip for 30 RC

Craft 6 Lemon Facial Masks
  Skip for 6 RC

Reward: 300 Coins

Felicia:  A toast in honour of his Majesty!.

You have completed the second half of the Quest.  Go to the Gallery page for the Quest and swipe the golden Wooden Clogs from the right side of the page into the empty slot on the top left of the other side.  Now fetch your Reward from your Gift Box and place it either on your Farm directly or in the Bird Home Base.

Final Rewards;  5 Medals, Bird Pool

N.B.  The Bird Pool gives 2 Charm when placed outside the Bird Home Base.  When I took it from the farm and used the Jigsaw puzzle icon to place it properly in the Bird Home Base, I saw +1 Charm, which I take to signify that you receive an added Charm Point, making it worth more inside the Base than outside of it, which would make sense.

Thumbelina Quest
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Story page:   Once upon a time, a peasants wife kissed an oat bud and I,Thumbelina emerged from it.   One night a toad carried me away, so I had to ask the butterflies for help.  They carried me to a safe place...

Contributed by Minh Le, Jean Murray Johnson and Janett Megapolis from my Facebook Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group:

Thumbelina:  You don't know who I am?  I will tell you my story.  Once upon a time, a peasant's wife kissed an Oat Bud.

Thumbelina I
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Harvest 40 Oats
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 60 Loaves of Oat Bread
  Skip for 30 RC

Produce 40 Beef
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 50 Coins, 10 XP

Thumbelina:  I emerged from an Oat bud!  Yes, I'm Thumbelina!

Thumbelina II
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Thumbelina:  The peasant and his wife often cooked some delicious food for me.  Oh, I miss the taste of their food.  Could you make some?

Produce 40 Steak Burgers
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 20 jars of Apple Jam
  Skip for 10 RC?

Collect 20 Napkins from Neighbours
  Skip for 20 RC

Thumbelina:  I love delicious food!  Life is good!

Reward: 70 Coins, 14 XP


Thumbelina III
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One night, I was carried off by a toad.  I had to ask the butterflies for help.  They used my ribbon to carry me to a safe place.

Harvest 50 Lavender
  Skip for 25 RC

Produce 50 Angora Hair
  Skip for 25 RC

Prepare 10 Apple Tarts
  Skip for 10 RC

Thanks, I wanted to go home, but then winter came.

Reward: 85 Coins, 18 XP

Thumbelina IV
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Brr, winter was on its way.  I had to prepare something to keep me warm!

Produce 50 bundles of Wool
  Skip for 25 RC

Prepare 12 Blueberry Krispy Bars
  Skip for 12 RC

Produce 12 glasses of Mango Juice
  Skip for 12 RC

Reward: 100 Coins, 22 XP
COMPLETED!
Thumbelina:  At least I wasn't cold or hungry during winter.

This marks the end of Part I.  Go to the Gallery Page and swipe the little red butterfly on the right page to the top left corner of the left page into the empty slot with its pattern. Now when you are ready to start Part II, tap on the empty slot beneath it.

Reward: 100 Coins, 22 XP

Second part of mission:

Thumbelina V:

When spring arrived, I walked out.  Then... can you imagine what I saw?  I bet you can, if you plant some of these flowers.

Harvest 6 Grapefruits
  Skip for 6 RC

Craft 10 Blue Hearts
  Skip for 10 RC

Prepare 20 sacks of Cake Flour
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 120 coins, 22 XP

Hard to believe!  But it's true!

Thumbelina VI
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He was just my size and looked like me:  a flower fairy prince!  He asked me to marry him and I said yes!  Did you see my ring?

Produce 50 Peacock Feathers
  Skip for 25 RC

Harvest 50 Fern Flowers
  Skip for 25 RC

Produce 50 Lily Bouquets
  Skip for 25 RC

Reward: 120 Coins, 24 XP

I received a pair of wings and traveled with him from flowwr to flower!

Thumbelina VII
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He introduced me to Darryl and Felicia and showed me their farm.  Could you help me prepare some food here on your farm?

Produce 50 Loaves of Black Bread
  Skip for 25 RC

Prepare 12 Grapefruit Pies
  Skip for 12 RC

Produce 50 jars of Grape Jam
  Skip for 25 RC

Reward: 140 Coins, 26 XP

Thanks, Friends!  We will back  and have a party!

Thumbelina VIII
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Oh, thank you!  My parents will be so happy!  Which reminds me... Can you help us prepare some dinner?

Harvest 50 Daisies
  Skip for 25 RC

Produce 50 Beef Salami
  Skip for 25 RC

Fertilise your Neighbours' Farms 50 Times
  Skip for 25 RC

Reward: 300 Coins

Thanks for your help!  We have a happy life together!

Go to the Gallery Page and swipe the pin butterfly from the right page to the top of the left page into the empty slot.   Now go to your gift box

Find the Decoration and place it on your farm first to register it before placing it in the Bird Home Base.  By itself, it is worth 1 Charm Point.

Easter Bunny Genie
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At present, contributions from my group members, including Nadia Carta, Minh Le, Deidania Medina:

Easter Bunnie Genie I
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Easter Bunny:  Hi there!  I am the Easter Bunny Genie!  I have a problem: being a Genie, I can't build a Toy Easter Bunny myself.  Can you help me>  But before you do, I am kind of hungry.

Produce 40 Buffalo Milk Cheese
  Skip for 20 RC

Harvest 40 Tomatoes
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 Loaves of Oat Bread
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 60 Coins, 12 XP

Well done!  Thanks for your help.

Easter Bunny Genie II
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Ah!   Your tomatoes are great!  Now let's get to work.  The Toy Bunny should ride a bicycle.  I think you can handle  that, right?

Harvest 40 Carrots
  Skip for 12 RC

Produce 40 Sugar
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 10 Carrot Cupcakes
  Skip for 10 RC

Reward: 75 Coins, 12 XP

Excellent!  I feel great right now!

Easter Bunny Genie III
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Bunnies have long, hairy ears, so that's what we need right now!  Do you know a way to get them?

Harvest 40 Cane
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 12 plates of Lavender Cheese
  Skip for 12 RC

Feed Carrots to the Angora Rabbit to produce 40 Angora Hair
  Skip for 20 RC

Reward: 80 Coins, 18 XP

Great job!  I love its beautiful ears!

Easter Bunny Genie IV
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This is awesome!  The Toy Bunny will look super cute!  But how will it be able to see?

Harvest 6 Cherries
  Skip for 6 RC

Harvest 40 Pitaya
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 8 Jugs of Lemon Champagne
  Skip for 8 RC

Reward: 100 Coins, 20 XP

Awesome!  The pink eggs are lovely!  Share the news with your Neighbours!

My comment to the Easter Bunny Genie: What pink eggs, dear chap?

This marks the end of the first part of the Quest. Go to the Easter Bunny Genie page and swipe the icon of the Green Bunny on the lower corner of the right page into the top empty Bunny slot on the left page to receive your Reward.  You then need to tap on the second empty Bunny slot on the left page to activate the second part of the Quest.

Easter Bunny Genie V
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Another essential part of Bunnydom around Easter time is the tail.  The Toy Bunny needs one... a cute one!

Produce 50 glasses of Grape Juice
  Skip for 25 RC

Produce 50 Cheese Burgers
  Skip for 25 RC

Fish 12 times with Bone Fishhook

Great!  I love the little short tail!

Reward: 100 Coins

Easter Bunny Genie VI
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Easter Bunny Genie:  I see you are doing great on the coloured eggs!  But as an Easter Bunny, I also must ring chocolate eggs and bunnies and stuff to the people.  Can you help me with that, too?

Process 6 Crayfish in the Seafood House
  Skip for 6 RC

Harvest 8 Chocolate
  Skip for 8 RC

Prepare 12 Chocolate Eggs
  Skip for 12 RC

Reward: 150 Coins, 25 XP

Well done!  Thanks for your help!

Easter Bunny  Genie VII
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It looks like you have everything!  I'm so excited!  But how will we transport all the eggs you found?  We need baskets!

Get 20 Baskets from your Neighbours
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 50 Love Cakes
  Skip for 25 RC

Make 6 Milk Facial Masks
  Skip for 6 RC

Reward: 150 Coins

Excellent!   Go to Gift Box to see your Toy Bunny on Bike.  Let's transport  the Easter Eggs!

In fact, this declaration has no meaning.  You need to go back to the Gallery to find the Easter Bunny Genie Quest page, and swipe the Pink Bunny on the right page over to the top of the left page into the empty slot.  When you have done this, you will be able to find the Bird Seesaw in your Gift Box with 50 Green Mystrons  but you will not receive the Toy Bunny on Bike Decoration at all.  The Bird Seesaw  is worth 3 Charm by itself.  Place it directly on the farm first to register it in the Gallery and then move it into the Bird Home Base, using the puzzle piece icon to place it properly.

COMPLETED!

Gallery Registration
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The Time Machine Quest Decorations have been added to the Gallery now for registration along with the remainder of the special Halloween Sale Items.   They are as follows:

Bird Home Base:
   4 Medals, 15 Green Mystrons

Farm Bird House
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Stone Bird House
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Mini Water Pump
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Bird Seesaw
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Hamster Friend
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Bird Swing
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Bird Pool
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Bird Hot Air Balloon
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Bird Ball Pool
  1 Medal, 5 Organic Fertiliser

Inflatable Chair
  1 Medal, 5 Organic Fertiliser

Letter Blocks
  1 Medal, 5 Organic Fertilisers


These obviously cannot be placed in a single Bird Home Base which probably is why you have the ability to purchase two in the Market.  The price for the second is higher at 40 RC, making it similar to Island price patterns for duplicate item purchases.

13 October 2015

Hallowe'en Events, Jack O'Lantern Machine, Hallowe'en Stage






 Above, you will see some screenshots of the newly completed Halloween Stage.  The first shows it empty but complete.  If you have the Skeleton Rockstar Frontman, the Skeleton Rockstar Diva, the Stereo Coffin and the Ghost Broom, they can be placed on the stage by using first the Move tool and then using the jigsaw puzzle icon to place them properly.  Doing so will gain you a total of 6 extra Charm Points.  Do note, however, that items must be registered separately while they are off the stage and, if you have not received your full quota of 7 days' worth of Yellow Mystrons from the Diva, you should not have her on the stage until you do!  More about this below in another section of this post.  Note that you receive only 1 Blue Gift Box with items on or off the stage.  If you are a farmer who needs all possible Gift Boxes, remove the items after taking a photograph for the Beauty Contest in order to receive the other Gift Boxes from the individual items.  The Ghost Broom will not give you a Gift Box but the Stereo Coffin gives a Gold one, the Frontman gives a Purple one and the Rockstar Diva, once you have collected 7 days' worth of Yellow Mystrons, will give a Blue Box when cleaned.

Update on 28 October:
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The Halloween Hook has disappeared from the fishing pier and you no longer therefore can find the Blue Bricks for the Stage or the materials for the Jack O'Lantern Machine.  Materials for the Jack O'Lantern Machine now will appear randomly in the Yellow Mystron Mystery Shop.   The price is 7 Yellow Mystrons for any Materials but you will obtain different amounts depending on the nature of the Material offered as follows:

You will obtain 7 Ghost Candles
You will obtain 3 Dracula Wings
You will obtain 1 Witch Cauldron (I believe)


Halloween Events and Decorations
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Well, we knew they would be offering some of the Hallowe'en Decorations from the past as well as giving farmers another chance at the Jack O'Lantern Machine.  The Hallowe'en Event has started and includes a special sale, a special Quest sequence that involves the construction of a new Decoration in the form of the Hallowe'en Stage and finally, the ability to purchase and construct the Jack O'Lantern Machine.

Fishing is a part of all this, as they have brought back the special Hallowe'en Hook that allows players to catch the materials needed to complete the Jack O'Lantern Machine.  Be warned... it is a long labour.  I am grateful that Harvest Moon completed that Machine when it was offered in the past!

As of Tuesday, 20 October, I believe that the final Hallowe'en Decorations offered in special sales now are available.  They are the Stereo Coffin, sold with a Lime Tree and 14 RC and the Skeleton Rockstar Diva, sold with Super Watering Cans and 40 RC.

Incidentally, I discovered today that there is another woman who named her farm Harvest Moon but if you wish to vote for my farm, it is always Freyashawk and an icon of a hawk in a tree against a blue sky.  Thank you.

Hallowe'en Stage 1/4

Help Darryl to make the farm more spooky!
Task1 : Get a Halloween Blue Brick from every 7th Hallowe'en Hook Bag when fishing with the Hallowe'en Hook.  Activity ends on 27 October

N.B.  EACH catch with the Hallowe'en Hook appears to be accompanied by a Lucky Bag that will contain either a material for the Jack O'Lantern Machine or a Blue Brick.  It is only every 7th Bag, however, that will contain the Brick.  This does make the business of completing the Jack O'Lantern Machine easier than it was last year when the catches only were accompanied randomly by a material and only specific items in any case at that!  It required endless fishing...

Hallowe'en Stage 2
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Only available until 19 October, eat at your Neighbours' Cooking Stands to receive a special Gift Bag that randomly may contain a Hallowe'en Cable.  Harvest Moon opened 9 of them without receiving a single one, but there's always tomorrow...

Note that there was a Kindle issue wherein no Cables were to be found in ANY of the special Bags. As of 19 October, that issue finally has been fixed.  You still can find the special bags at your Neighbours' stands.  Furthermore, if you are playing on the Kindle, you will see a special Balloon float across your screen today.  Open it to receive 3 Halloween Cables.  They did extend the event until 22 October now.

Time to Scare People Quest
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Time to scare people!

Fish 3 times with the Hallowe'en Hook
  Skip for 3 RC

Harvest 30 Pumpkins
   Skip for 30 RC

Place the Hallowe'en Stage on your Farm
  Skip for 10 RC

  The Hallowe'en Stage is an unfinished Decoration that you can purchase in the Decorations section of the Market for 3000 Coins.  To complete it you will need the following:

  38 Halloween Bricks
  10 Pink Ropes
  8 Pink Light Bulbs
  4 Speakers

Note that these are items that will be available on a weekly basis, much like the Mini-Garden project.  Apart from the Bricks, available now, they actually may have different names when they become available.  I simply am describing what I see.

Finally, I expect that the Halloween Stage ultimately will give a Blue Cleaning Bag when cleaned as the Mini Garden does, but THAT is long in the future.


Reward: 1000 Coins, 100 XP

Darryl:  Oh, that is looking good already!  Let's finish this before Hallowe'en!

The first Event was to fish with the Halloween Hook.  Each catch came with a special Gift Bag and every 7th Bag contained a Blue Brick, the second material needed for the Stage.  As of 25 October, you still can find the Bricks in the Lucky Halloween Gift Bags when you fish with the special Halloween Hook.

Second Event

The second Event was to eat at Neighbours' Cooking Stands.  For a limited period, doing so gave a special Halloween Gift Bag.  These randomly contained Pink Ropes, the second Material required for the stage.  These no longer are available.  When you eat at a Cooking Stand, you now receive an ordinary Gift Bag.

Third Event:

The third Event is the current Spooky Halloween Mission.  Parts 1 through 8 each include a special Reward in the form of a Halloween Bulb, the third Material required to build the Stage.

Fourth  Event
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The fourth Event is the Weekly Task.  You must complete more than one of these to obtain all the Speakers, which are the final material needed to build the Stage.

The first task is:

Prepare 20 plates of Egg Custard in Pumpkin.  You should receive two Speakers for completing this task.  The next task, now live is to  prepare 15 Skeleton Fish Chips.  Completing this activity will give you the final 2 Speakers that you need to complete the Stage.

Each Egg Custard in Pumpkin requires 2 Pumpkins and 1 Egg.  Each Skeleton Fish Chips requires 1 Skeleton Fish and 1 Soft Dough.

Completed Halloween Stage
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The Halloween Stage, when complete, acts like the Bird Home Base in the sense that you can place your Skeleton Rockstar Frontman, your Skeleton Rockstar Diva, the Stereo Coffin and your Ghost Broom (if you managed to obtain it in the current Beauty Contest as a reward) on the Stage by first using the Move tool and then the jigsaw puzzle piece tool on the far right to set them on the Stage.  You should make certain that the individual items are registered before you place them on the Stage.  Furthermore, if you have not received 7 days' worth of Yellow Mystrons from your Diva, wait until that occurs before setting her on the Stage.

As with the Bird Home Base, you will receive more Charm Points if the items are placed on the Stage.  You will receive 2 extra Charm Points for placing the Skeleton Rockstar Frontman, 2 extra Charm Points for placing the Sksleton Rockstar Diva, 1 Point for the Stereo Coffin and 1 extra Charm Pont for placing the Ghost Broom.  A total of 6 extra Charm Points, therefore, if you place all four on the stage.

Charm Points
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The items that are being offered in the sale are both Theme-related and imbued with Charm Points.

They are as follows:

Running Mummy: 18 Charm Points and 4 Theme Votes
  Gives Gold Cleaning Box

Witch Legs: 2 Charm Points and 2 Theme Votes
  Gives Silver Cleaning Box, least valuable of all

Skeleton Rock Star Frontman: 6 Charm Points and 3 Theme Votes
  Gives Purple Cleaning Box

Stereo Coffin, 7 Charm Points, 2 Theme Votes
  Gives Gold Cleaning Box

Skeleton Rockstar Diva, 8 Charm Points, 5 Theme Votes
  Gives 10 Yellow Mystrons for 7 Days, then Blue Gift Box

The nice thing about the Skeleton Rock Star Frontman is that he has a very small footprint, but is worth 6 Charm Points, even though he occupies less space than any other Decoration that has only 1 Charm Point.  The Witch Legs have a small footprint but are worth only 2 Charm Points.  The new Skeleton Rockstar Diva is both the most expensive and most valuable with a small footprint offering 8 Charm Points.

Please see my Halloween Farm Beauty Contest post for details on how the votes of the four Characters work.  You only will receive the Theme Votes if you have not yet reached the maximum points for Theme from that Character.  It probably is 20 for Characters with 80 Votes and 18 for Characters with 72 Votes.  In other words, Harvest Moon, having the maximum Votes for Theme even before this sale, will not increase the Votes of Felicia, Darryl and Dad by purchasing ANY of these items and placing them.  The farm will get the Charm Points but that applies only to global rating as the farm achieved the maximum of 20 and 18 Votes given for Charm from the Characters long ago...

I did confirm the 'ceiling' for theme decorations when Harvest Moon FDC placed both of the new Decorations and votes from the Characters did not increase at all.

Gallery Registration
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Remember that Gallery counts with two Characters, so register your items.

Witch Legs:
  4 Medals, 3 Super Fertiliser

Running Mummy
  8 Medals, 2 Rain



Jack O'Lantern Machine
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This is a Machine that was offered last year as well.  It costs 1000 Coins and is unfinished when purchased in the Market.  It will be available only for 15 days.

To complete it, you will need:

300 Ghost Candles

150 Dracula Wings

50 Witch Cauldrons

Yes, a formidable task and one I do not look forward to repeating with my Rosewood Farm now.
These 'materials' are caught by using the Hallowe'en Hook when fishing, not by the individual items caught but by the new Hallowe'en Lucky Bag that accompanies each catch with the special Hook..  Each use of the Hallowe'en Hook requires 125 Bait.


Hallowe'en Hook Catches
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With the Halloween Hook, you can catch the following:

Skull Anchor
Kraken
Humpback Anglefish
Ghost Jellyfish
Vampire Clam
Skeleton Fish
Skull Anchor

It appears that each catch now will be accompanied by a Lucky Bag.  Each 7th Bag should contain a Hallowe'en Brick for the stage.  This is a formidable project as well if you consider how much fishing is required to earn the Bricks.

Note that the Hallowe'en Lucky Bags contain both materials for the Jack O'Lantern Machine and the Bricks required for the stage.

For example, in opening 10 of them, I received: 1 Witch Cauldron, 4 Dracula Wings, 4 Ghost Candles and 1 Brick, I believe.  Note that you then must access your Gift Box and after opening all the Bags, find the Materials and add them to the Machine and Stage respectively.

Added Income
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Despite the extraordinary amount of labour required to build the Jack OLantern Machine and Halloween Stage, there are other advantages to the temporary Halloween Hook and its catches.  Once you have obtained the Lucky Bags from each catch, you will be free to sell the actual items caught and they are quite valuable.  It gives lower level players a wonderful opportunity to make enough Coins to purchase expansions and if the option has been unlocked, pay for access to the Island and its expansions.

Here are the values:

Skeleton Fish: 641 Coins
Humpback Anglerfish: 515 Coins
Skull Anchor: 1838 Coins
Kraken: 4236 Coins
Vampire Clam: 522 Coins
Ghost Jellyfish: 753 Coins

The numbers speak for themselves, but it is only just to have a good value on these fish, given the amount of bait required to catch them!  You will find all the Halloween catches at the very end of the last section of your Fishing Book.

When these Halloween Fish were introduced in the past, special temporary Recipes were released that used at least one of them in the form of the Skeleton Fish.  It will be interesting to see if the last Halloween Mission that begins on Friday will have these Recipes included in it.


Bait
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Bait is expensive and you will need an enormous amount of it for the Halloween Hook.  You can find Bait for sale sometimes in the Coin Mystery Shop.  You can receive it randomly in one of the Special Sheep Gift Bags when you clean one of the Special Sheep on a Neighbour's Farm.  You can receive 200 Bait as a bonus when you process the Opossum Shrimp in the  Seafood House.  For the most part, however, you will have to use items in trade for bait.  Here are some suggestions:

Caramel: 93 Bait  (This is a single ingredient item made in the Sugar Machine)
Venison Steak: 76 Bait (This is a single ingredient item produced by Deer)
Sunflower Bouquet: 88 Bait (A single ingredient item made in the Flower Packing machine)
Love Cake: 155 Bait  (All the Cakes made in the Cake Machine have decent trade values)
Steak Burger: 80 Bait (All the Burgers made in the Burger Machine have decent trade values)
Blueberry Candy: 88 Bait (All the Candy produced in the Candy Machine have decent values)

Cooking Wine: 328 Coins  (A favourite trade item for Bait for many farmers, including myself.)
Peach Cobbler: 953 Bait (This is one of the highest values but it is a labour intensive recipe with many Cooked Dishes as ingredients)

You will find that many Cooked Dishes have high bait value but in many cases, they are items that you will need in Quests or to make other Cooked Dishes.  For example, I never would convert Condensed Milk, Cake Flour, Soft Dough, Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream or some of the other Basics into Bait. It would be counterproductive in the long run.  The items I have suggested above make good trade items partly because they are not needed to produce other items and have, apart from the Peach Cobbler, few ingredients.

Theme Items in Market
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The current Halloween Farm Beauty Contest overlaps somewhat with these Events and some of the old items from previous years and quests now have been added to the market.  To wit:

Spooky Tree: 8 RC  (I do believe this is available always)

Bat House: 18 RC  (temporarily available, once the reward for a quest, steep price, but produces Bat Milk when Bats pollinate specific trees including the Sakura and Spooky Trees)

Pumpkin Tombstone: 10 RC, produces 6 Charm (temporarily available)  Limit 1

Halloween Fence: 5000 Coins  (temporarily available, Charm 1, no limit)  Unlocked at Level 26 unfortunately for low level farmers, jolly unfair, that

Theme Decorations and Values
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Pumpkin Fountain: Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Hallowe'en Fence: Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Pumpkin Light:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 2 Votes each day for this.
Flower Torch:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Ghost Broom, Reward of the 3rd Beauty Contest:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 2 Votes each day for this.  This will be the Decoration that is awarded for a specific number of Votes like the Backpack and Whale Decorations from previous Contests.  Every time you reach a specified total, you will receive rewards.  Most of them consist of Farm Aids and Purple Mystrons but somewhere in the middle of the list is a Decoration and at the very end, there is a special Avatar with RC Rewards.  The Ghost Broom gives 9 Charm Points.
Scarecrow: Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Strange Scarecrow: Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Spooky Tree: Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 2 Votes each day for this.
Bat House:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Pumpkin Tombstone:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Stereo Casket:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 2 Votes each day for this.
Straw Witch:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 2 Votes each day for this.
Running Mummy:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 4 Votes each day for this.
Witch Legs:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 2 Votes each day for this.
Jack O'Lantern Machine:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 3 Votes each day for this.
Pumpkin Tower, Reward for Month of October 2015: Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 1 Vote each day for this.
Skeleton Rockstar Diva:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 5 Votes each day for this.
Halloween Stage:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 3 more Votes each day for this when it finally is completed
Skeleton Rockstar Frontman:  Felicia, Darryl and Dad will give you 3 more votes each day for this.

Now, it is important to remember that 'theme-related Decorations only account for a quarter of the Votes given by Felicia, Darryl and Dad.  I believe that once you achieve the total that is the maximum those Characters can give to you for theme, you will not be able to earn any more Votes from them for THAT, irrespective of the number of Theme Decorations that you purchase and place. Bear this in mind when you are tempted to go mad in the upcoming sales.  I personally believe the total is 18 or 20 Votes, depending on the Character.  Dad only has 72 Votes to offer.  I therefore believe his Theme total might be two Votes lower... 

Some of the Theme Decorations can be purchased using Yellow Mystrons.  These are the Pumpkin Fountain, Hallowe'en Fence and Flower Torch.  Each will cost 100 Yellow Mystrons.  They cannot be cleaned, by the way.

The Scarecrow was the only Theme Decoration that could be purchased in the ordinary Market for Coins until more items were added temporarily.  See the section on Theme Items above for a full list. The Spooky Tree costs 8 RC.    Some of the Decorations, including the Running Mummy and Witch Legs were offered in a special Hallowe'en Sale last year and are being offered again in sale parcels that include RC and trees.  These at present are the Running Mummy and the Witch Legs, for old items and three new  in the form of the Skeleton Rockstar Frontman, the Stereo Coffin and the Skeleton Rockstar Diva.

Gallery Registration
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The Halloween Theme sale items and other Halloween items finally have been added to the Gallery for registration as follows:

Skeleton Rockstar Frontman
  3 Medals, 12 Green Mystrons

Stereo Coffin
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Skeleton Rockstar Diva
  4 Medals, 15 Green Mystrons

Halloween Stage
  4 Medals, 16 Green Mystrons

Ghost Broom: 
  2 Medals, 2 Power

Remember that two of the four Characters give Votes for your Gallery.

11 October 2015

Starting a New Farm on Family Farm Seaside

Starting a New Farm
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Whether you are a veteran farmer who wants a second farm or a new farmer, the business of creating a new Farm may offer some challenges, especially if you are the sort of player who wishes to participate in every option as quickly as possible.

Having created a new farm recently in order to improve my guide, I became reacquainted with many of the difficulties a new farmer faces.

First of all, you really need to link your farm to a Facebook account. Recently, the rules of Facebook appear to have relaxed with respect to multiple accounts with the advent of the ability to use Facebook and be anonymous.  Creating a new Farm linked to Facebook will give you a reward of 4 RC immediately.  It will allow you to switch farms on a single device if that device is a Kindle simply by logging in and out of Facebook when you are logged into Family Farm Seaside.  Finally, for all those farmers who named their farms, 'Please Like!', it is important to recognise the fact that without being linked to Facebook, YOU CANNOT LIKE ANY NEIGHBOUR FARMS.  This is an option that is available only to farmers who have linked their farms to Facebook.  The avatars on FFS that show only a blank blue silhouette are Farmers who have not connected their farms to Facebook. They can be good neighbours but they will not be able to 'like' your farm.

The initial challenges that a new Farm will face include lack of funds and lack of Neighbours.  You can obtain Neighbours more easily now by using the new Drift Bottle option.  it is available I believe when you reach Level 5... certainly not at a very high level if later... and will remain available until you have obtained a total of 100 Neighbours.  it then disappears from the centre top of your screen.  It is an improvement to the game, and a way to connect to other farmers throughout the world.  Unfortunately, many of the Neighbours gained through this method are new farmers and most of them do not continue to play the game.  You therefore need to make certain that the Neighbours you obtained with the Drift Bottle do not become inactive.  A little golden horn is found on the top right of the screen of your Neighbour's farm if he/she has become inactive.  There are two stages of inactivity that are indicated.  The first is a lighter horn for players who have not played for 3 days.  The second is a darker horn for players who have not played for a fortnight or more.

The other way to obtain Neighbours is by joining a group on Facebook.  My Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group was created precisely in order to provide a list of good, active Neighbours for other Farmers, whether new or veteran.  Any one is welcome to join.  Simply do a search for it on Facebook and then ask to Join.  I try to access the group on a daily basis so you should not have long to wait.

Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group
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Neighbours are an issue for many new farmers.  If you connect through Facebook, you can send requests to your Facebook friends, but I do not like to trouble my friends with requests for games if they do not play games.  You can share your Farm I.D. in a post on Facebook or you can join a Facebook group and share it there.  I have created a little Facebook Group for Family Farm Seaside simply for the purpose of publishing the Farm I.D.s of my readers on this site...  So look for a Family Farm Seaside Group called Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk and add your ID there if you wish.

Basically, success in Family Farm Seaside now is very much influenced by Neighbours and money, both Coins and RC.  You need Farm Aids to progress quickly and these can be purchased in the Market or obtained in the Cleaning Gift Boxes that you receive either from Neighbours who visit your Farm and clean your cleanable Decorations or by visiting Neighbours and cleaning their cleanable Decorations.  Other ways to obtain Farm Aids are by logging into the game more than once during the day to collect the Dedicated Farmer Bonus.  Sometimes this will contain even RC!.  Another way to obtain Farm Aids on a daily basis is by completing Tasks in your Daily Quests path to earn Treasure Chests.  The tasks that you can complete will depend on your Level, which is another reason to level up as quickly as possible.  Finally, the time-restricted Quests usually have two special Mission Gift Boxes as Rewards and these will contain specific Farm Aids.  Other Gift Boxes contain RANDOM items that include Farm Aids.

Once again, by joining a good group like my Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group, you have an instant opportunity to add over 100 Neighbours who all are active players.  Visiting Neighbours on a daily basis is the quickest way not only to increase your Level but to obtain Gift Boxes and earn extra Coins.

Why are Farm Aids so important now?  Well, when a Quest has a time limit, the ability to speed the growth of Crops and Tree Harvests as well as being able to use OP in Batch Production to collect products from Machines and Animals automatically can make a tremendous difference.  You still can do it all the old-fashioned way and wait for a Crop that takes 20 hours to mature to mature naturally but it can be daunting.  If you can plant a Crop and harvest it instantly, you then can replant...

Of course, it becomes tempting to use Farm Aids on a constant basis, but that can prove expensive in real money.  What I do ordinarily is collect Gift Boxes and then keep them in my Gift Box unopened until needed for a time-restricted Quest.  I do this with Power and OP that is in my Gift Box as well.

Unlocking new Options and Quests
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Many of the 'fun' options in Seaside, as with all online games are unlocked only when you reach higher levels.  For example, the fairly recent Farm Beauty Contests are unlocked only when you reach Level 16.    I do believe part of the reason for this is to prevent farmers from creating additional farms simply in order to vote for their primary farms.  Unless they are willing to work on the secondary farm and bring it to Level 16 at least, they will be unable to vote in the Contests.

The time-restricted Quests or Missions that are released every fortnight on Friday and consist now of 16 parts are unlocked at higher levels as well. Ordinarily now, the first half of the Quest sequence will be unlocked at Level 16, and the Collections Mission only at Level 18.  The second half requires a higher level, unlocking only at Level 26 or Level 28.   Many of the tasks in the second half require access to the Island.

I see new farmers as well as farmers who are unwilling to spend any real cash on the game complaining sometimes that they cannot perform the time-restricted Quests or raise their Charm Points by buying Theme Decorations.  You MUST remember that patience is part of the farming business.  You cannot expect to do everything at once.  Secondly, there have to be some rewards for those farmers who ARE willing to invest real money in the game.  This is a FREE Download.  You can play the game forever without spending any real cash but you will not be able to participate fully in some of the special Quests.  All the regular Quests can be performed without any real investment.

You can earn RC or premium Cash by playing the game.  There are machines that require a part that costs RC instead of Coins but you will earn 1 RC each time you advance one level.  By remaining in the game or logging into the game periodically throughout the day, you can earn the Dedicated Farmer Bonus which will give you 1 RC at a certain point.  (Not certain if it requires you to collect 10 times or more but it DOES give you 1 RC and you can earn this at least every other day if not daily.  The Achievements usually give from 1-3 RC when you reach the final 5 Stars.  You will find the Achievements Building in the top left corner of your Farm, above and to the right of the Gallery. It is ordinary farm actions such as harvesting Crops, Animals, Trees or Cooking and Fishing and processing items that earn you Achievements.  Having and visiting Neighbours regularly will earn you Achievements as well.

At low levels, you may find that it is difficult to earn sufficient coins to buy the Crops, Trees, Animals and Machines as well as completing Farm Expansions.  There is a solution to this early in the game, however.

Your best option is to visit your Neighbours on a daily basis.  Simply by doing this, you can earn Coins and XP, allowing you to advance to higher levels more quickly as well as being able to afford the items you need.  Furthermore, with the ability to clean one Decoration on each Nieighbour's farm, you can obtain valuable Farm Aids.  The Decoration that give the Blue and Gold Gift Boxes tend to contain the best rewards, but for a farmer at low levels, ANY Gift Box is valuable.  Once you are able to purchase or earn cleanable Decorations through Quests or advancing to higher levels to unlock them in the Market, you will have another source of Gift Boxes in that every Neighbour who visits to clean YOUR Decorations will give you the Gift Box that is associated with your Decoration.    I really cannot stress the value of visiting your Neibhbours enough.    Your neighbours are a potential gold mine.

A possible reward for harvesting mature Crops on a Neighbour's farm is the possibility that you will receive the Crop you harvested.  This is a way by which Farmers can obtain a Crop that has not been unlocked yet.  Another way to obtain items that have not been unlocked yet is by spinning the Wheel of Fortune.  You may think that the rewards received from the free spin are not that significant for the most part, but they can include both RC and Green Mystrons as well as items not yet unlocked.  Furthermore, 1 Spin of the Wheel of Fortune is one of the Daily Quests that will give you Treasure Chests containing valuable Farm Aids.

When you reach the Level when you can unlock the Kitchen, do so as quickly as possible.  No RC is required for the materials.  You can request all of them from your Neighbours.  Once you have completed the Kitchen, expand to the first Building Plot as quickly as possible to unlock the Cooking Stand.  This is another option that will give you Coins that are desperately needed in the early stages of the game.  By completing all the 'rounds' in any Cooking Stand Contest, you can earn a valuable cleanable Decoration that yields a Blue Gift Box.  Even if you cannot complete all rounds, however, the Cooking Stand is a wonderful source of income.  Farmers who visit your Farm will be able to collect a Cooking Bag containing Farm Aids as well.

Prepare for the Future
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Any real Farmer will tell you that Farming requires patience and time.  Any farming simulation game that allows you to do everything instantly, offering instant gratification, is entirely unrealistic and somewhat pointless in my view.

What you need to do is to prepare for the future.  One way of doing this is by stockpiling Crops, Fruits, Animal Products and Machine Products in your Barn whenever possible.  Many veteran farmers keep 500 of each Crop in their Barns for use in future time-restricted Quests or Cooking Stand Contests.  it is a good strategy!

Earn Farm Aids for use in future Quests.  I do not even open my Gift Boxes until I need them during one of the time-restricted Quests.  They contain the Farm Aids that allow you to speed the growth of Crops and Trees, OP that allows you to complete production of a Machine or Animal instantly and Power that allows you to make more Dishes in the Kitchen.  I would suggest that you do not use them for ordinary Quests but instead exercise patience and allow harvests to occur at their natural time.  Ordinary Quests have no time limit.  Why use a Farm Aid that you will need to complete tasks later when you have only 11 Days to complete a sequence of 16 parts and therefore 48 tasks?!

In terms of the Kitchen, when you are not involved in creating dishes demanded by the current Cooking Stand Contest, begin to cook and stockpile the 'basic' Dishes such as Condensed Milk, Cake Flour, Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream, Coconut Milk, Batter, Butter and Cornmeal.  The way the Kitchen operates is different from other farming actions.  Each Dish you make takes 1 Power and your Power is limited.  it will replenish in time and you can earn Power as one of the Farm Aids contained randomly in the Gift Boxes, Dedicated Farmer Bonus Bags and Daily Quest Treasure Chests but why not take advantage of your Power when it is not needed for a current task?  You will need all of the Dishes I have mentioned again and again.  Prepare for the future and find satisfaction in your growing stocks of items.

You can ask for one Free Gift Item each day from each of your Neighbours.  I persoonally recommend that you ask for Honey, Wheat Flour, Milk and Cheddar Cheese when you are at low levels as these are ingredients in many, many Recipes in the Kitchen.  Some farmers ask for White Rose Bouquets or Wine in order to sell them for coins but a low level farmer with access to the Kitchen would be better served by taking the basic ingredients above, making them into a Dish in the Kitchen and then selling them if coins are needed, but otherwise storing them for the future.

Gallery Registration is another fairly recent option that can benefit farmers at any level.  Once you have unlocked the Farm Beauty Contests at Level 16, your Gallery will give you Votes from the Characters in the game, but registration takes time and you should begin it as early as possible.  As soon as you purchase a new Item in the Market, you should register it in the Gallery.  There are Rewards in the form of Farm Aids and even RC for Gallery Registration.

I should mention the Mystery Shop here.  It has been expanded recently to include departments for four different colours of Mystrons, a currency that is earned through various aspects of the game.  The Coin department of the Mystery Shop is unlocked first, however and allows Farmers to purchase items with Coins.  You can refresh the list of items offered once you have purchased them or decided you do not wish to purchase them.  I personally purchase as many as I can  usually as they often offer items you have not yet unlocked including fishing items.  I do not like fishing much in this game, so the Coin Mystery Shop offers me valuable chances to replenish my stocks of fish.

When you have unlocked the various Mystron sections of the Mystery Shop, you will be able to purchase Decorations, Premium Trees, Machines and new Avatars as well as other items not ordinarily sold in the Market.  Note that the Coin Mystery Shop is the source of new Flowers for your Botanic Garden on the Island.  Unless you actually are on your Island Farm, those Flowers will not appear in the List.  Finally, the Coin Mystery Shop randomly offers 1 RC for 5000 Coins, yet another way to earn RC in the game.

Being a Good Neighbour
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Not only can you increase your own profits and Experience Level by interacting with Neighbours, but you can help your Neighbours as well.  Make certain that you never leave your field empty of Crops.  Even if you wait to harvest the Crops, it is better to do that than leave the plots empty.  A visiting Neighbour can harvest mature Crops but cannot interact with a fallow field.

If you can plant new Crops, however, on every plot, you will benefit both yourself and your Neighbours as their fertilisation of your Crops will speed their growth.  Make certain that you do harvest any Tree that is ready as a Neighbour cannot interact with a Tree that is ready for harvest but CAN fertilise any Tree that is not ready, speeding the process for you.

As previously discussed, your participation in any current Cooking Contest, once you have unlocked the first Building Plot with the Cooking Stand, will earn you Coins whenever a Neighbour visits it to 'eat' a dish.

If your Farm is connected to a Facebook account, do 'Like' each Neighbour's Farm on your first visit. This is accomplished very simply by tapping on the 'smiley face' icon in the top centre of your screen.  A total of 300 Likes gives your Neighbour a final Achievement with an RC Reward which is why Neighbours beg for the action.  Personally, I think there is no need to beg for it.  Farmers should be aware of the option and perform the action without requiring that you eschew a proper farm name for the sake of a message begging every one for 'Likes'.  Rosewood does not have 300 Likes yet, but it should occur naturally in time.

What happens inevitably, unfortunately, is that some of your Neighbours no longer will play the game actively.  When any Neighbour fails to play for a total of 14 consecutive days, you will see a red horn at the top right of the screen when you visit that farmer.  If you do not have the maximum number of neighbours yet, there is no reason to delete that neighbour from your list, but if you do, it is better probably to delete an inactive neighbour in the interest of being able to add a new active Neighbour to your list.  To find inactive Neighbours easily, you should change the display option on the Neighbour screen temporarily to 'Call Back'.  This will bring up the list of farmers with a bullhorn on their farm that indicates they have not been playing every day.  Some farmers will only have a 3 day hiatus.  I would not delete those farmers.  Delete only the number of inactive farmers that you need to clear out in order to be able to add new neighbours.  There are valid reasons why a farmer may not have played for a brief time.

Naming your Farm and Choosing Your Avatar
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The name you choose for your Farm is your own affair but I see this error so often that perhaps it should be addressed here.  When you first begin a new farm and have the option of naming it, clear out the default name first!  So many farms are named My Farm's Farm simply because the default name was not cleared from the box before typing the new name.

A new option is that of the Avatar associated with each farm.  You can use the default Avatar which is a Clover or your Facebook Icon as your Avatar.  All sorts of new Avatars are offered now, however, in the various Mystery Shops.  They include Crops, Tree Fruits, Animal Products as well as items that were requrested in past Quests.  The only problem with this is the fact that so many Farmers choose the same Icon and in certain situations, this can lead to confusion about identity.  In particular, whenever a Neighbour places a Friendship Flower in your Garden, only the Avatar is displayed...  Another consideration is simply that of being unique.  The Iris is my favourite Crop in Seaside and I wish that they would add it to the Market on a permanent basis.  Apart from the fact that the Iris Avatar has not appeared once in Harvest Moon's Mystery Shop, I doubt I would replace my Facebook Icon, which is that of a hawk on one of the trees in our old garden, with the Iris, because I have at least 4 Neighbours now who use that Avatar.  I do have friends who love to change their Avatars in the same way that they change their outfits in real life on a daily basis but I am not one of them.  I would prefer that Neighbours should be able to identify me quickly in Family Farm Seaside.

Failing to give your farm a name that is unique can confuse your Neighbours and prevent you from receiving special rewards from them, such as Friendship Flowers.  Name your farm and give it a special Avatar! You can do this by tapping on the square portrait frame in the top left corner of the screen.  This takes you to a very useful Menu that includes the options to rename your Farm, choose an Avatar and see useful data such as how many points you need to reach the next level and how many visitors you have had within the past day.

How to Rename your Farm
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To rename your farm, tap on the little pencil icon at the top centre of this Menu.  The default name for any Farm is 'My Farm' or the equivalent of this in whatever language you have chosen for the game.   When you open the name box, you will be able to choose the frame for the name as well as typing a new name.  Make certain that you erase the default name first though, because often I will see a Farm named  ... Farm Farm because the player failed to erase part of the original name.  Use backspace to erase.  When you have finished, tap the green chequemark and you will have a new name!

Changing your Avatar
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To change your Avatar, tap on the square portrait icon in the far top left corner of the Menu.  The default Avatar is a clover.  You now can choose your Facebook Avatar or any Avatars that you have purchased or won in the game.   You can change the Avatar frame as well if you choose.

If you have not connected your Farm to Facebook, you will be unable to use your Facebook Avatar.  It is really important to connect your farm to Facebook actually as it prevents loss of your Farm if something goes terribly awry.  If they farm is connected to Facebook, you can recover it easily on any device.

The game basically was designed for anonymity, but I have found that one of the best aspects of belonging to a good group on Facebook is the ability to communicate with and become truly acquainted with your Neighbours on FFS.  Our members are wonderful, caring, active individuals.  We welcome new members and help one another as much as possible.



Other Tips
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Please see myy old post on farming for more details, but I will mention a few farming tips here as well.  First of all, as a member of my group reminded me, having more than one Beehive is very useful.  As well as multiple Beehives, as soon as you unlock the option, build more than one Butterfly House.  Both the Beehive and Butterfly House are considered 'animals' and you will find them in that department of the Market, but they both operate more like the Collectables.   In many of the time-restricted Quests, you may be required to produce x amount of Honey or Nectar.  Having more than one Beehive and Butterfly House allows you to do this quickly.  Furthermore, Honey, although an item that can be requested daily as a free gift, is invaluable.  It is used in many Recipes and, when you have access to the Island, you will need it for more than one Machine.  You never can have enough Honey.  Nectar, while a little less vital, still is very useful and appears in Recipes.

Multiple Machines in general are a good idea until you have sufficient Farm Aids to speed production without spending RC.  Unfortunately, some of the Machines require materials that cost RC but if this is not the case, you have nothing to lose by a purchase or construction of a second Machine as well as purchase of a second Animal.  The game actually encourages you to purchase multiple Trees as having a specific number of Almond Trees or Lemon Trees as an example, are tasks in Quests you will encounter.  Ultimately, however, as your levels are increased, you will find that your Trees occupy far too much space on your Farm.  Always opt to sell those that can be purchased for Coins rather than those that cost RC.

Mystery Shop
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I discussed this a little in an earlier part of this post, but perhaps it would be useful to write about it in more detail.

The Mystery Shop is a fabulous resource.  Your experience level will determine which departments are unlocked for you, but ultimately you will have access to all the Mystery Shop departments.  Access it frequently as you will find very useful items in all the departments.  The Coin Shop will offer a number of random items, including Crops, Materials and Avatars.  You can purchase fruits from premium or other Trees as well.  Importantly, it offers Farm Aids such as fertilisers and watering cans, OP and Power.   It even may offer 1 RC for 5000 Coins randomly.   At higher levels, once you have access to the Island, you can purchase flowers for the Botanic Garden in the Coin Shop.   The Green Mystron Department will offer RC for a different price each day as well as Trees, Animals and Machines that ordinarily must be purchased with RC in the Market.  The Yellow Mystron Shop offers Decorations that were Rewards for time-restricted Quests in the past.    The Purple Mystery Shop offers avatars and more importantly, materials for the 'special' Machines that were completed in the past by performing specific activities.  Currently, it is offering the materials for the Salad Machine.  It is only the Coin Department that can be refreshed to offer different items in a 24 hour period.  For the other departments, the offerings will change every day.

The new Red Mystron Shop is linked to the Buddy System, discussed below.

When should you purchase RC?
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One question that new players often ask is when to spend real money and when to spend RC (premium cash in the game).

Real money is used to purchase RC, Coins or special items offered during Sales.  Sale items usually cannot be obtained in any other way and seldom are offered more than once.  There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, if you want a specific item offered in a sale, you need to purchase it during the sale.

What are the advantages of purchasing sale items?  Well, these items usually if not always are cleanable Decorations with a sum of RC included in the deal and sometimes offered with a premium Tree and some Farm Aids.  When cleaned, they sometimes will yield a special item such as RC or Yellow Mystrons for a specific number of days before they begin to give out the usual Gift Boxes.  As previously indicated, Gift Boxes are extremely important now in this game.  You need to have cleanable Decorations on your Farm if possible as well as cleaning Neighbours' decorations as often as you can.

Unlocking Cleanable Decorations
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By the way, on the new Kindle farm, it appeared that one only begins to unlock the cleanable Decorations that give good Gift Boxes upon reaching Level 17.  At Level 17, I saw one could purchase the Clothes Drying Rack, the Christmas Candle, the Chinese Pavilion, the Panda Lantern, Market Stall, Swimming Pool, Willow and Mini Beach.  Of these, however, only the Market Stall yields the best Gift Box in the form of the Blue Gift Box.

Do be warned that Cleanable Decorations that can be purchased for Coins usually yield no more than Coins when cleaned...   Nonetheless, it is important to purchase and place these as soon as possible for two reasons: one is to be able to enter them in your Gallery by registering them and the second is to be able to earn Buddy Points when your Buddies visit you.  A section on the Buddy System is located at the end of this post.

Sale Offers and the Millionaire Cow
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Note that the amount of RC that you obtain in a sale offer will be less than the amount you would receive for the same price if you simply purchased RC.  The advantages of a sale offer are in the special Decoration and whatever other items are included in the offer.  You do need RC to survive.  You will earn 1 RC for each level that you reach in the game.  Sometimes you can receive RC for logging into the game and the fifth and final Achievement of any kind usually gives you 1 or 2 RC.  Collection Registrations in the Gallery and sometimes the Registration of a special item can give an RC Reward as well.  Finally, there is the Millionaire Cow that, when purchased yields 1 RC per day.  All of these have their own advantages to a serious player.  Most players, including myself, find the Millionaire Cow a wonderful method of recouping RC.

Skipping Tasks and purchasing Ingredients
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Your RC should be used judiciously, however.  Purchasing a missing ingredient for a Dish in the Kitchen is a bad use of 1 RC unless you have not reached the level where you can obtain it yourself otherwise.  Skipping a Task in a Mission is a poor use of RC unless you could not complete the Task because of your Level or any other reason.

Use of RC to complete Farm Expansions can be good or bad depending on the Task that you are skipping.  When your Farm is too small and crowded, you may be tempted to move forward by skipping an Expansion task.  That is your call, obviously.  If there is any way to amass the item required in a Task, it is better not to skip it.  A Level requirement usually is best met rather than skipped.  It is the Coin total requirement that sometimes may be worth skipping by paying RC if you are a fairly low level player, mainly because it is hard to earn Coins and you will need them for so many other purposes.  Better to buy all the Trees, Animals and Machines that you can, because they will be used again and again...

Cooking Stand Contests
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A very good way to earn Coins is by participating in the Cooking Stand Contests.  You do need to unlock the Building Plot that contains the Cooking Stand now and you must have a Kitchen.

The Cooking Stand Contests not only allow you to earn Coins and Buddy Points but also give you a chance to obtain valuable farm aids and a Cleanable Decoration that gives the most valuable Gift Box in the form of a Blue Gift Box.

Fishing
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Fishing has become increasingly important in the game.  Often, a material required to build a Base is linked to Fishing.  Many Recipes require ingredients that can be obtained only by fishing and there are many Tasks in Quests that require Fishing.

Raising Your Level
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Raising your Level is the key to unlocking new options, whether it is the Kitchen and Cooking, the Fishing Pier, the time-restricted Missions or access to the Island.  Unfortunately, the Island is a very expensive options and it requires a great deal of Level-raising and Mastery in order to be used with any degree of success.

Do not be too quick to use RC to skip Tasks to unlock new options such as the Island if you cannot afford to unlock any options there.  My Island Guide give the Level and the Mastery requirements as well as Tasks for every optiona and Island Expansion.  The Garden there as well as the Mine are linked to specific Expansions.  I think where the Island is concerned, patience is the key unless you wish to spend a great deal of real money on this.

As far as the time-restricted Missions are concerned, they now are divided between Seaside Tasks and Island Tasks.  You can complete half of the Quest sequence without having access to the Island. The second half of any time-restricted Quest now has a Level requirement attached to it as well.  I believe it only is unlocked either at Level 26 or Level 28.

Mystery Shops
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One point should be mentioned here.  The Mystery Shop has given players the hope of obtaining Decorations that were the Rewards for Missions from the past.  There are five different Mystery Shops now: a Coin Shop, a Yellow Mystron Shop, a Purple Mystron Shop, a Blue Mystron Shop and a Red Mystron Shop.  Even in the Coin Shop, you often can purchase items you have not unlocked yet, so access it and use it!  The Yellow Mystron Shop allows you to purchase some Decorations that are not available in the regular Market.  It is the Blue Mystron Shop that allows you to purchase the very special Decorations that were given as Rewards in past Missions but you need to complete the entire Reward Path for the Daily Order Board, earning all the special Sheep, before you will begin to earn Blue Mystrons.  Even then, one earns only 1 Blue Mystron for each Order filled, so it is a slow process!  Again, patience is the key here...

Selling Items from your Barn
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Should you sell as much as possible from your Barn?  My answer is in the negative now, because so many items are needed to complete the Daily Order Board orders, Recipes and so on.  Wait until a Task or Order requests the item before you sell it!  The best way to earn Coins is by visiting Neighbours and completing Quests really.

Buddy System
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Recently, a number of new options were added to the game.  One of these is the Buddy System.  This allows you basically to have up to 15 Neighbours as special friends who visit daily to perform the ordinary actions of fertilising/harvesting, cleaning any Decoration and eating at your Cooking Stand if a dish is available.  Beyond that, though, advancing to Level 1 in the Buddy System with even one Buddy will allow you to purchase, plant and grow a Buddy Tree.  Special 'heart' actions are performed on these trees to upgrade them and each 'Heart' action is worth Buddy Points as well.  When the tree is upgraded, the Buddies who helped will obtain a special Reward.  At level 2, you will have access to your Buddy's Share Box, another new option.

The Share Box is linked to the new Lucky Wheel which is a second Wheel that you can spin.  Unlke the first Wheel that can be spun at no cost on a daily basis, the Lucky Wheel requires Lucky Tokens.  The Rewards, however, can include Decorations that are no longer available in the Market as well as premium Trees, farm aids and even RC.  Apart from the Decorations, all other items are sold at discounted prices.  When a player obtains one of the items that can be shared, he/she can buy it or share it into the 'Share Box'.  This is accessible only to Buddies at Level 2 or higher.

Primarily, the Buddy System is designed to give you at least 15 visits per day, if you have the maximum number of Buddies.  Here, it is most important to have cleanable Decorations on your farm as even one that gives Coins delivers the same number of Buddy Points as one that gives a Blue Box. You need to make certain that you have crops on your plots, even if they are ready for harvest, because, once again, a Crop that is mature gives the same number of Buddy Points as one that can be fertilised.  What gives NO rewards is an empty plot.

I do not know how helpful this post is, but I was disconcerted by the difficulty that new players now face in this game unless they are willing to spend a fair amount of money.  Neighbours really do help here and that is why I have formed the Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group.

Specific Guides
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The following are links to posts that address specific aspects of the game in detail:

Tips on Being a Good Neighbour

Comprehensive Guide to the Island

How to Speed Crop Growth and other Options