Helpful Tips for New Farmers

Introduction
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I have written a number of posts like this over the years but the game has changed and expanded so radically that perhaps another is needed.

Family Farm Seaside began as a simple farming game for mobile devices.  Although it was based on the original Family Farm for laptops/computers, it originally had few complications.  A farmer planted and harvested crops, harvested trees, bought and produced various items using Animals and Machines and added neighbours in order to receive free gifts and visits.  Visits to and from neighbours gave rewards that included Coins and XP.  XP allows you to advance in the game by raising your game level.  Initially, however, farmers only unlocked new Crops, Trees, Animals and Machines when levels increased.

Fishing then was added to the game but you had to be at Level 22 to unlock the Pier.  The next new option was an entirely new farm in the form of the Island, unlocked at Level 28.  Farm Beauty Contests initially had no level requirements but now are unlocked only at Level 30.  As your level increases, new permanent Missions appear on the left side of your screen, both on the original Seaside Farm and on the Island.  These permanent Missions are designed as tutorials for the game.

At some point fairly early in the history of the game, they added the Cooking Stand and the Order Board.  The Order Board gives daily Orders that, when filled, give the player rewards that include Blue Mystrons.  The Mystrons were another addition to the game.  Now you have Mystrons in five different colours, each associated with a specific Mystery Mystron Shop.

The Cooking Stand is a time-restricted option that lasts about five weeks.  There are four separate rounds, each of which requires four different Dishes.  You need to place and sell a total of 200 Dishes to complete any Round.  The next Round begins at a set time.  Neighbours who 'eat' at your Cooking Stand receive Rewards in the form of Cooking Bags.  These Bags contain Farm Aids ordinarily. Once in awhile, the game offers a special type of Cooking Bag that contains a material that must be used to complete a time-limited Base or Factory item.

There are time-restricted Missions as well.  They now have a total of 16 parts.  The second half usually requires a higher level than the first.  If you have not unlocked the Mission yet, you may be able to access it later from the Lighthouse.

The concept of cleaning a Neighbour's Decorations was not part of the original game but has been in effect for a few years now.  Visiting a neighbour's farm to fertilise, harvest Crops, eat at the Cooking Stand and clean Decorations is one of the best ways to raise your Level as well as a method by which you obtain Gift Boxes that contain useful farm aids.  Recently, the concept of 'Batch Cleaning' was introduced using Green Tickets.  Using Green Tickets, a Pet can visit up to 20 Neighbours at a time to perform the ordinary Neighbours actions.  You can visit your Buddies as well but there are a few special Buddy actions your Pet cannot perform including the tending of a Buddy Tree and feeding or borrowing a Buddy's Pet.

The simple farming game of the past is almost unrecognisable.  Among other things, players now have Pets who live in a Pet House and service Guests who arrive in groups when invited according to two Maps, each of which has 4 separate regions and 3 levels of Guests.  By completing the Guest orders, you earn Pet Cards that can be exchanged ultimately for new Pets.  At this point in time, there are 11 Pet Slots that you can unlock and use either for Pets that you earn or premium Pets that are sold occasionally in special offers.  The premium Pets have better stats than the ones you earn but are quite costly,

Another Pet function is that of opening the Chests that now appear randomly on your Paths.  Chests contain Farm Aids as well as the Green Tickets that are used for Batch Visits.

The Cooking Stand was the first building for Neighbour interactions with Dishes you prepared on your Farm but now there is a Flea Market/E-Mart where players can buy and sell almost every item in the game.  This has revolutionised the game to some extent.  In the past, the only way to obtain premium items was through purchase of the Tree, Animal, Machine or 'Collectable' that produced it. Now you can request specific items from your Neighbours or find them in the global Flea Market.

With the introduction of the Pet House and Guest Centre, the function of the various Paths, including Water, changed.  They became linked to 'Landscape Points' and the way to maximise these is by placing Decorations with charm value within the sphere of influence of any Path.  Different Paths have different degrees of influence in terms of Landscape Points.  The best are the Macaron Path and the time-restricted Snow Path, each worth 50 Points.  Placing a Base with stackable Decorations on it is the best way to maximise your Landscape Points.

Daily Tasks:
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Tasks that should be performed daily if possible to earn Coins, XP and Farm Aids:

Order Board
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Order Board: Complete Orders for Rewards of Coins and Blue Mystrons and special Sheep Decorations

Daily Quests
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Daily Quests:  Complete as many of the Daily Quests as possible to be able to claim and open the reward Chests

Cooking Stand
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Cooking Stand:  If there is a current Contest, fill the Cooking Stand so that you can obtain Rewards

Guest Centre
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Guest Centre:  Invite one or more groups of Guests in the various Star Levels to earn Pet Cards, Coins and other Rewards

Neighbour/Buddy Visits
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Visit your Buddies and Neighbours: Use Green Tickets for Batch Visits as well as visiting Neighbours individually if you have time

Use your Pets to open Chests on your Paths.  The number of Chests that appear will depend on the number of active Pets you have outside the Pet House and you need to claim an open Chest to generate another.  The maximum number of Chests that can appear on any given day is 40.

Flea Market/E Mart
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Flea Market/E Mart:  Fill all slots in your Flea Market and sell a specific number to obtain a Market Bag containing Farm Aids each day.  This is where new players often become confused.  If you are selling the items in order to obtain the Market Bag, you need to sell to DIFFERENT farmers.  If you do not limit purchases by indicating a restriction in the box in the top right of the market Stand, one farmer can take everything...  Players become irate often with a farmer who buys everything that is on offer so try to limit your purchase to one item even if you could buy more.

There are two very different functions here.  One is earning Coins by selling items to others.  If that is what you wish to do, you should stock your stand with as many items as possible but still limit purchases to one per farmer unless some one sends a specific request to you for an item.  There is

Island Tasks
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The Island is very different from the original Seaside Farm.  I have written posts about the Island that are fairly comprehensive.  The main point in dealing with the Island is to obtain all possible Crops, Trees, Animals and Machines when they are unlocked and use the Machines to obtain Mastery.  It is Mastery rather than game level that unlocks new products with respect to any Island Machine.  You can use Batch Production on the Island now but it is far more costly than Batch Production on the original Seaside Farm.

Development Points or Dev Points and Island expansions are the other keys to unlocking new options on the Island.

Options that are unlocked through farm Expansions include the Helicopter Pad, the Botanic Garden and the Mine.  Expansions are made in a specific order until you reach the last three plots when you will be able to choose which one to unlock first.

The Boat Pier is another.  It is here that you can send our your Boats with Orders and fetch Neighbour and Buddy Boats to fill Orders.

Being a Good Neighbour
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The first point I would like to make here for ALL farmers is that this is a game.  It is not a job and should not be burdensome.  People play games now for all sorts of different reasons.  Mobile games are becoming more and more popular but your access to the game may depend partly on your life and other real obligations as well as the device on which you play.  A farmer who plays on Kindle may have less access than one who plays on a mobile phone.  Be understanding and patient with your neighbours.

Neighbours once were simply other farmers who played and who could respond to a request for free gifts once each day as well as visiting your farm to perform a limited number of actions.  Now, Neighbours are vital to success and the reason I formed my Facebook group initially (Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk) was to give players access to a good Neighbour list.

The concept of the Buddy as a sort of Super-Neighbour was added to the game a couple of years ago. You can have a maximum of 15 Buddies.  They perform all the usual Neighbour functions as well as having added options, such as the ability to tend special Buddy Trees and to feed and borrow a Pet from you.  The latter can be quite important if you pursue the Pet option to any extent as Guest Lists often include a Guest who will not emerge from the water.  If you do not have a Turtle or Hippo of your own to bargain with such a Guest, you can borrow one from a Buddy, provided your Buddy Level is sufficient to do so.

Buddies have access to the Share Box as well once you reach Level 2 with any Buddy.  This is a menu where you can place items you have won in the Lucky Wheel.  The Decorations offered each month usually are Theme Decorations for the current Farm Beauty Contest.  You can buy them from your own Lucky Wheel if the arrow lands on one but often it is easier to find them in Buddy Share Boxes.

This is a post in progress... will expand upon these options as time permits.