How to: Get free keys

Howdy farmers! We all know that keys are highly coveted and hard to come by. I remember the biggest mistake I made when I first started playing was using my keys willy nilly; I had no idea they were so costly. I thought I would share the small things I do when I play in order to earn free keys. Please bear in mind that all of these options are not available to beginning players, so if something below doesn't make sense to you it may mean you need to reach a higher level.

1. Trading in Ribbons earned through Prized Animals at the Prize Tent: Probably my biggest source of keys. I always have my Farm Hands (headed by Dr. Vivian and usually an Animal Trainer) working at least one of my Prized Animals at all times. You will receive 15 keys for trading in 20 Yellow Ribbons, 15 Red Ribbons, and 13 Blue Ribbons.

2. Completing Achievements: Tap your white house and then the second tab down to see what Achievements you are eligible to work toward. The one I received the most keys for was Search Party- Search all plots in the Cove 10 times. This got me 50 keys. You only get about 2-3 keys for most Achievements, but they're better than nothing! Although the Achievements may seem difficult they are actually pretty doable if you remember to keep your eye out on the Global Market. For example, I always buy any Blueberry Pancakes I spot because if you sell 100 you earn 2 keys for completing the Flipping Out Achievement.

3. Watching Ads: The Movie Projector located next to the Farm Stand allows you to watch three ads a day in exchange for three keys. Although I don't play every day I try to remember to take a few minutes to watch the ads daily.

4. Spinning the Prize Wheel: The odds aren't great that you will win keys, but there's always a chance. I would say I've earned about 20-25 keys total with all the spins I've spun, keeping in mind that I have 2 spins a day (I spent 15 keys to get an extra spin every day).

5. Using Gold Nets at the Cove: I have found that using Gold Nets at the Cove will likely get you 2-5 keys per Treasure Chest.

6. Completing Quests: Tap your Quest Book in the lower left hand corner to see what Quests you can complete.

7. Completing Events: Zynga presents events pretty regularly, and the prizes often include keys.

8. Completing orders at Marie's Order Board: this is no longer an option now that Zynga has upgraded the Order Board (big grumble!), but with the old board I completed orders consistently (focusing on the easy crops) for a chance at winning keys.

I personally have never spent any actual money on Farmville (gotta draw the line somewhere, and that's mine), which means I have never purchased keys. It's not worth it for me, although I certainly understand why others choose to buy keys. Where do you stand?


Good luck and happy farming!

How to: Request technical support

Help! If you are experiencing technical problems with your farm, I would first suggest reading through Zynga's support site here. If you are unable to locate an answer to your problem, you can contact Zynga directly.


STEPS
1. Open your farm. Tap the gear button located in the top right corner of the screen, under the People icon.
2. Tap the 'Help' tab, which is in the middle.
3. At the bottom of the screen you will see an 11 digit number, which is your Z-ID. Make note of this to provide to the support team.
4. Tap 'Player Support' located in the middle of the screen. You will be redirected to the Zynga support site.
5. Once the website loads you will notice a red 'Contact Support' button located right in the middle of the page. Click it and complete the 'Contact Support' form, including your Z-ID for reference. Press submit.

That's it! I have contacted Zynga Technical Support once before and someone responded within a day to correct my issue. I was very pleased with their prompt and helpful assistance, and hope your experience is just as positive.


Good luck and happy farming!

How to: Use Friendship Fertilizer

You can be a friendly neighbor every day to members of your co-op by fertilizing their farm. You can fertilize up to five crops and/or non-Prized animals daily to double their yield when harvested! For example, if you fertilize someone's lemon tree they will receive 6 lemons instead of 3 when harvesting.

STEPS
1. Go to your co-op by tapping the co-op sign located by your barn/mailbox. 

ALTERNATIVELY, you can access your co-op by tapping the Social icon on the top right corner of your screen, then tapping the second tab from the bottom where you can "Buy from your Friends and Co-Op." 

2. Choose the co-op member whose farm you want to fertilize and tap on their picture. 

3. Tap 'Visit Farm.'

4. You will be taken to that member's farm. You will notice raindrop-like graphics above all the crops and animals you are able to fertilize; tap away! A watering can on the top left of your screen will help you keep track of how many Friendship Fertilizers you have left to use.

5. Tap 'Go Home' at the top right corner of your screen when you are finished. You may choose to use all 5 Friendship Fertilizers on one member's farm, or spread the wealth among several members.

TIPS
*Ideally, you would ask your co-op members if anyone would like anything in particular fertilized. However, as a general rule of thumb, common sense would tell you not to waste Friendship Fertilizer on crops or animals that have quick harvest times. Examples would be wheat, apple trees, cows, chickens, and corn.

*Examples of good crops/animals to fertilize are: sheep, lemons, peaches, strawberries, blueberries.

*You can tell your own crops/animals have been fertilized when you see that raindrop-like graphic above them. When you tap them as you might to check when they will be ready, you'll notice the harvest amount listed is doubled.


Good luck and happy farming!

How to: Time travel

Time traveling in Farmville 2 refers to changing your device's time settings so that you can harvest crops, craft items, and collect items found by your Helping Hands without having to wait the usual preparation time. However, you must be very careful because if you make an error the harvesting, crafting, and foraging time required will actually increase by a full day or more- yikes!

STEPS

1. Send Helping Hands to the desired foraging spot or prized animal. Add ingredients to workshops for items you are crafting. Make sure all of your crops are watered.

2. Exit the game and change your device's time settings to a future time that is the same or longer than what is required for your desired crop, item, or Helping Hand (i.e. 2 hours ahead for the Merryweather Mine). I usually keep it simple by just changing the date to the next day (i.e. a full 24 hours), so that I don't have to keep track of the different time requirements, and so I know everything will be ready.

3. Go back to your farm. You can collect the items found by your Helping Hands. However, DO NOT send Helping Hands out again. DO NOT collect any items from crops, animals, or workshops. DO NOT make any purchases from the Globe. DO NOT spin the Prize Wheel. Basically, don't touch anything outside of collecting items from Helping Hands. Doing so during this step will significantly increase the harvest time when you change back your time settings.

4. Exit the game and change your device's time settings back to the correct time.

5. Return to your farm. All of your crops and items should be ready. It is now safe to harvest them, to spin the Prize Wheel, etc. Repeat steps 1-4 as desired.

TIPS

*If you have the space, store plenty of the 'Supplies Needed' by your Helping Hands to complete their work. This way your Helping Hands can time travel several times in a row.

That's it folks! Time traveling can be a bit tedious but sometimes it really is worth it. Again, please share any additional tips in the comments, and let me know if you have any requests for future posts.


Good luck and happy farming!

How to: Clone, copy, double items

Copying (doubling, cloning) is a strategy that allows players to duplicate items without crafting them. By the end of a round of copying everyone participating will end up with more of that item than they started with. This is especially helpful for event items; rare/costly items (i.e. quartz); or completing orders for Eagle Eye Eddie and the Mariner, who often ask for large quantities of items or items that take a long time to craft.

STEPS
Copying requires at least three participants

1. Decide what item to copy. One person (“Sue”) who has that item will begin by asking, “Ready?” Everyone participating confirms: “Ready”; “Yes"; "K."

2. Once everyone confirms, Sue says “Posting” and posts the item. It is recommended to protect it as a CO-OP EXCLUSIVE when posting.

3. Everyone participating opens the Co-Op store (right above the Co-Op chat, second tab from the bottom). If you don't see the item in Sue's farmstand immediately keep refreshing until you do. When you see the item, tap back to the Co-Op chat and say “C.” DO NOT EXIT THE CO-OP CHAT/STORE AREA during this step.

4. Wait for everyone participating to say “C,” DO NOT EXIT THE CO-OP CHAT/STORE AREA while you wait. Once everyone has said "C" you can buy the item.

5. The next player posts the item. Repeat steps 1-4 until every participant has posted. Then decide if you want to continue on for another round, or choose a new item to copy.

TIPS
*The more players who participate and the more of the item that is posted at one time, the faster the copying will go. Your co-op may therefore choose to copy using 2, 3, or even 4 slots. In that case keep refreshing your Co-Op store until you see Sue has posted in ALL of the agreed slots, and then chat “C2” “C3” or “C4” depending on the number of slots.

*It is considered rude to leave before a round is over, especially if you have yet to post, as that would mean you benefit from everyone else posting without giving yourself.

*Make sure you have 'Liked' every player in your co-op who is participating, so that their farmstand shows up when you check the co-op store. You can do this by clicking the heart next to their name. If they are new members you may have to scroll all the way down in the co-op store to find them.

*Just as an example: Let’s say Sue, Bob, and Jim are copying quartz. Sue has 3, Bob and Jim have 0.
Sue posts 3 quartz first: Bob gets 3, Jim gets 3, Sue now has 0
Bob posts 3 quartz next: Jim has 6, Sue gets 3, Bob now has 0
Jim posts 3 quartz: Bob gets 3, Sue has 6, Jim has 3
One round completed. Each person ends up with 3 more quartz than they started with. 


Please share any additional tips on copying in the comments, as well as any additional questions or requests for help. My next 'How to' post will be on Time Traveling!


Good luck and happy farming!