The Farmville Discovery: Mastery Billboards
The question of whether to display the Mastery Signs is an important one for many players -- after all, why wouldn't they want to do so? Mastery of each of these animals, crops, recipes and trees represents significant effort on the part of the gamer, and in the case of crops or trees, presents a visual record of the types of Bushels that a farmer can create if requested to do so, which is itself a desired process in assisting friends and neighbors in the more advanced crafts efforts.
The point to all of that is a simple one: having a compact form of both storage and display for Mastery Signs is a desirable outcome for the game and for the players.
-- Animal Billboard (free but requires that parts be added to it to "build" it)
-- Animal Billboard (24 Farmville Bucks, Level 1 storage, Ready-to-Use)
-- Animal Billboard ( 318 Farmville Bucks, 500 Sign Capacity, Ready-to-Use)-- Crop Billboard (free but requires that parts be added to it to "build" it)
-- Crop Billboard (24 Farmville Bucks, Level 1 storage, Ready-to-Use)
-- Crop Billboard ( 318 Farmville Bucks, 500 Sign Capacity, Ready-to-Use)
-- Recipe Billboard (free but requires that parts be added to it to "build" it)
-- Recipe Billboard (24 Farmville Bucks, Level 1 storage, Ready-to-Use)
-- Tree Billboard (free but requires that parts be added to it to "build" it)
-- Tree Billboard (24 Farmville Bucks, Level 1 storage, Ready-to-Use)
-- Tree Billboard ( 318 Farmville Bucks, 500 Sign Capacity, Ready-to-Use)
With the exception of the Recipe Billboard, all of the different types include the basic (free) version that requires the player to obtain the necessary parts either as gifts sent to them by their mates or by purchasing them from the Market, the basic Level 1 version that is placed completed and ready-to-use (meaning that the player does not need to collect the parts and apply them), and a fully-capped-off version that will hold up to 500 Mastery Signs, which costs an impressive 318 Farmville Bucks -- or depending upon the exchange rate of your purchase in real-world money that works out to $79.50 / $63.60 / $57.24 / $54.06 / $50.88 or $47.70 -- the actual value of which in real-world money varies depending upon how favorable the exchange rate was for the type of purchase that you made in their acquisition.
To put that in simple terms, if you purchased your in-game money at a discount (for instance during a sale) the cost of the capped-off version of the sign will be different than if you purchased it at the regular exchange rate. On any given day the following options are available from directly inside the game for the purchase, using real-world money*, of Farmville Bucks (in-game currency):
-- $1 for 4 FB (.25 per 1 FB)
-- $5 for 25 FB (.20 per 1 FB)
-- $10 for 55 FB (.18 per 1 FB)
-- $20 for 115 FB (.17 per 1 FB)
-- $50 for 310 FB (.16 per 1 FB)
-- $100 for 650 FB (.15 per 1 FB)
On any given week if you are contemplating a purchase of a Farmville Game Card specifically so you can exchange it for FB (note that they can also be exchanged for in-game Coins, but the ease at which Coins -- also called FC -- can be acquired in the game is such that exchanging real-world money for them is widely considered to be a foolish transaction by most players), only minimal effort is required to find a retailer who is offering the cards for sale at a discount. Sale discounts for Farmville Game Cards ranges, on average, from 20% to 50% depending upon the time of year, whether it is a holiday, and whether there are any special promotions under way or special events in the game.
In addition to obtained FB at a discount through sales at retail outlets, redemption of the Game Cards almost always includes special bonus content, which can range from a free throw in the Mystery Dart Game (which currently can score you one of a series of Mardi Gras-related content). Depending upon the retailer and your relationship with them, it is possible to obtain additional discounts -- for instance when the retailer Target has the cards on sale for 20%, shoppers who are members of their loyalty program and have a Target Card can obtain an additional 5% in savings. eBay routinely has the cards on sale for as much as a 40% discount, as does the games retailer GameStop, both online and in-store. In addition to this, it is possible to purchase Farmville (or the universal Zynga) cards with points in the GameStop loyalty program, so in theory you can get the card for "free" doing that.
* Real-world money for the purposes of this comparison is based upon the US Dollar. FB = "Farmville Buck"
No comments yet. Tell us what you think to be the first.