Optimal Coin Farming

Welcome to our Coin Farming Guide. . .

\The contents of this guide are organized to provide you with an example of the direction that we have taken in developing first a basic strategy and then refinements with the idea being for you to use that as the foundation for a Coin Farming Plan that will become specific to your town. The idea is to use the information we provide as a starting point.

In addition to providing a road map we also examine - in the most general way - the various philosophical and economic theory points applied to the question.

In case you are wondering I am a fan of the Veblen school of economics. I am not going to go into too much detail about that because (A) you don't care about which economists I think are smarter than others, and (B) it would take a lot of effort to explain why one school is preferable to the other.

So I will just be satisfied with telling you that I think Thorstein Veblen had the right idea in terms of the institutional focus for economic drive, and that John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, and his narrowed focus upon economic theories not only have proven to have shaped modern macroeconomics, but nicely integrate into Veblen's institutional economics movement. 'Nuff said.

While I will not be exploring the economics details, what I will do is communicate the single most valuable and important rule of economics - which is also the title of the following section...

While the issue of maintaining the revenue stream is not something that we have harped upon in the body of the guide, it is also not something we have ignored.

On the one hand it is an obvious concern - after all, despite all of the cool things you can purchase with Clams, the reality is that far more items - and the lion's share of the game and story Progress happens not using that form of crustacean currency, as premium as it is, but rather change and the principal economic influence and growth takes place in the game via its free currency.

I estimate that 99.9% of all of the Tasks, Missions, and Quests pay off in Coin. All of the property tax paid on structures of every type pays in Coin. All of the structures that are required builds for the quests and missions use Coin.

Due to that, and the established need for a system ensuring the constant unchecked revenue stream of Coins is a critical element for your success. It really is as simple as that.

"Out of the mouth of babes" is a Biblical Reference - that won't help us... But wisdom from the mouth of a dog will.

Specifically my wife's dog Charley, who is -- as I write this -- running back and forth in the hallway outside my office chasing his lime-green tennis ball.

That tennis ball did not do anything to Charles to make him mad; he is chasing it because he likes to chase it. And it makes him happy to do things like that. Happiness is vastly underrated by most people.

The reason Charley can help us has to do with my combined habit of anthropomorphism and s willingness to translate his side of the conversation into English on-the-fly. I tend to do that for the same reason that Charles chases the ball. It makes me happy. Besides it would be rude not to at least listen to and consider what he has to say on the matter.

The problem is that Charley can be pedantic and he likes to lecture... Here is what he had to say:

"The actual process of ensuring adequate income in Quest for Stuff is not so much a game-specific method but rather the simple application of committed effort, fortitude, and the willingness to tolerate what is really a repetitive and boring set of tasks for an obvious and worthwhile goal.

"With that in mind, and taking note of the efforts that you have already made in creating a Coin Farm based upon building and deploying structures chosen for the combination of their cost, timer is an excellent foundation.

"The critical point however is making use of the Task System along with the normal harvest routine of structure taxes.

He paused here, and with casual aplomb proceeded to lick himself.

"With that in mind," he resumed. "And having consulted your town, I recommend you continue the process of combining tax collection and Tasks with an eye towards uniformity in your approach. Consistency is crucial of course, but so is patience. You could learn a lot about patience by studying Calvin.

"Increasing the frequency of your collections efforts by scheduling regular log-in and harvesting efforts on a temporary basis at the top of each hour will help, but you probably should limit the sustained period because if you don't you will quickly start to hate that game. Or worse, resent its intrusion into your life.

"Once you have attained sufficient Coin for your current needs you can reduce the frequency of your efforts though ideally not so severe a reduction that it interferes with your ability to predict your income level," he observed.

He may have had more to say on the matter - I will never know - because just then a rogue, lime-green, bouncing tennis ball meandered past the open door, and Charley shot through the door and into the hall as if he had been fired from a cannon. The conversation was over.

The important points that I took away from it was that Patience and Structure were key but only as long as there was a well-defined goal present.

Based upon Charley's observations we should summarize the revenue sources for the town, and then compare the different schedule options to contrast the difference in results... Of course you should always try to keep i tin mind that there is a point to all of this.

Paying particular attention to Charley and his warning to avoid burn-out, we want to structure the collection and game play process as an exercise in maintenance. . .

Ideally we are logging in to accomplish specific goals - generate revenue - via a combination of tax and task that follows these simple rules:

1. We log in at the top of the hour;

2. We decide the frequency in advance using the tables below to determine what makes the best sense;

3. A session should take no more than 5 minutes to complete from log in to log out;

4. Whenever we begin to experience the game as a burden we take a break or switch to a longer and easier to maintain session schedule.

In addition to those four rules, there are also some qualification items that we must observe:

- We do not choose Tasks that require additional Characters to activate;

- To limit burn-out potential when following the 1h scheme we limit game play to a total of 10 sessions per day.

- For longer durations we participate throughout the waking day, which is roughly 16 hours;

- We avoid addressing story missions during harvesting efforts to keep things less complicated.

The Tax Table

Determining which sessions schedule you follow is a matter of fusing expectations with needs. Choosing which schedule to follow is necessary because the Tax Collection schedule dictates the Task schedule.

The following Characters are included for this estimate: Peter, Joe, Glen, Bonnie, Lois, Chris, Jerome, Bruce, Mort, Herbert, Seamus, Consuela, Buzz, Jake, and the Brain Damaged Horse.

The Task Table

• Bonnie Swanson

  1h Task: Chug a Bottle of Wine (1h) $20 and 12XP - Panties (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Chug a Bottle of Wine (1h) $20 and 12XP - Panties (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Twerk it (4h) $50 and 30XP - Jewels / Gloves (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Go the Ladies’ Night (6h) $65 and 45XP - Lipstick / Pink Champagne (x2 = $130)

• Brain Damaged Horse

  1h Task: Let Loose (3h) $45 / 28 XP -Tattoo Ink (x10 = $450)

  2h Task: Let Loose (3h) $45 / 28 XP -Tattoo Ink (x6 = $270)

  4h Task: Let Loose (3h) $45 / 28 XP -Tattoo Ink (x4 = $180)

  8h Task: Lick Sugar Off (7h) $150 / 100 XP -Bone (x2 = $300)

• Bruce No-Last-Name

  1h Task: Pass Out Fliers (2h) $30 / 20 XP -Coupons / Fancy Pants (x10 = $300)

  2h Task: Pass Out Fliers (2h) $30 / 20 XP -Coupons / Fancy Pants (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Be a Good Listener (4h) $50 / 30 XP -Wood / Sparkle (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Make Bathtub Gin (8h) $80 / 50 XP (x2 = $160)

• Buzz Killington

  1h Task: Drinks at the Clam (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pawtucket Ale (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Drinks at the Clam (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pawtucket Ale (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Drinks at the Clam (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pawtucket Ale (x4 = $80)

  8h Task: Drinks at the Clam (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pawtucket Ale (x2 = $40)

• Chris Griffin

  1h Task: Nose Goblins (1h) $20 and 12XP (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Nose Goblins (1h) $20 and 12XP (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Fat Kid Hula Hoop (4h) $50 and 30XP (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Eat a Large Ham (8h) $80 and 50XP (x2 = $160) *

• Consuela No-Last-Name

  1h Task: Tidy Up (2h) $30 / 20 XP (x10 = $300)

  2h Task: Tidy Up (2h) $30 / 20 XP (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Tidy Up (2h) $30 / 20 XP(x4 = $120)

  8h Task: Clean the Town (6h) $65 / 45 XP -Lipstick / Skechies (x2 = $130)

• Glenn Quagmire

  1h Task: Do a Jaunty Jig (1h) $20 and 12XP (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Giggity Strut (2h) $30 and 20XP -Hawaiian Shirts / Exotic Extract (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Let the Gerbil Loose (4h) $50 and 30XP -Gerbil / Jewels (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Enjoy Carrots (8h) $80 and 50XP -Carrots / Handcuffs (x2 = $160)

• Jake Tucker

  1h Task: Eat Ice Cream (1h) $20 / 12 XP (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Eat Ice Cream (1h) $20 / 12 XP (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Be a Jerk (4h) $50 / 30 XP (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Be Normal (8h) $80 / 50 XP (x2 = $160)

• Jerome No-Last-Name

  1h Task: Play Ball (1h) $20 and 10XP (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Host Happy Hour (2h) $30 and 20XP (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Grow His Fro (4h) $50 and 30XP (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Be a Superior Athlete (8h) $80 and 50XP (x2 = $160)

• Joe Swanson

  1h Task: Beer Skeet Shooting (1h) $20 / 10 XP -Pinup (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Beer Skeet Shooting (1h) $20 / 10 XP -Pinup (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Patrol the School (4h) $50 / 30 XP -Toad (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Do Target Practice (8h) $80 / 50 XP -Guns (x2 = $160)

• John Herbert

  1h Task: Declare his Love for Chris (1h) $20 / 12 XP -CD (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Declare his Love for Chris (1h) $20 / 12 XP -CD (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Buy Candy for Kids (4h) $50 / 30 XP (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Read to Children (8h) $80 / 50 XP -Balloons / First Editions (x2 = $160)

• Lois Griffin

  1h Task: Practice Tai-Jitsu (2h) $30 / 20 XP -Headband / Bone (x10 = $300)

  2h Task: Practice Tai-Jitsu (2h) $30 / 20 XP -Headband / Bone (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Teach Piano (4h) $50 / 30 XP -Dulcet Tones (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Shoplift (8h) $80 / 50 XP -Skechies / Baby Powder / PB&J Sandwich (x2 = $160)

• Mort Goldman

  1h Task: Restock Ipecac Syrup (1h) $20 / 10 XP (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Retreat Cowardly (2h) $30 / 20 XP -Toad / Vicogin (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Swallow Jewels (4h) $50 / 30 XP -Jewels (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Scrounge for Coins (8h) $80 / 50 XP -Metal Detector / Subpoenas (x2 = $160)

• Peter Griffin

  1h Task: Hang Out at the Clam (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pawtucket Ale (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Stub His Knee (2h) $30 / 20 XP -Hawaiian Shirts / Fabric Scraps (x8 = $240)

  4h Task: Cook Disgusting Vegetables (4h) $50 / 30 XP -Gloves (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Dance the Shipoopi (8h) $80 / 50 XP -Skechies (x2 = $160) **

• Seamus Levine

  1h Task: Practice Cartwheels (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pinups (x10 = $200)

  2h Task: Practice Cartwheels (1h) $20 / 12 XP -Pinups (x8 = $160)

  4h Task: Sing Shanties (4h) $50 / 30 XP -Poncy Hat / Dulcet Tones (x4 = $200)

  8h Task: Visit Siblings (6h) $65 / 45 XP -Rope / Ship-in-a-Bottle (x2 = $130)

Using the first table you can easily determine what your ideal schedule will be - at which point you can go with the best Tasks for that. Having done that for our town, the table below displays the results.

Total Estimated Revenue Stream

* Selecting this Task pays double dividends since it applies to the Achievement Make Chris Eat Large Hams 25 Times.

** Using this Task also has the bonus of applying to the Achievement Make Peter Shipoopi 100 Times.

If you read the mini-guide above you are now intimately aware of the economics of Coin Farming in Quest for Stuff. You should understand the tax system and how it varies from building to building thanks to the timers, and you are now better aware of your options in terms of Tasks, also based on timers.

What you may not have realized is that there was actually a point to the exercise that is this mini-guide: its function is to help with your awareness of the current timer-based revenue stream so that you can establish where you are in terms of your Quahog, right now, and how to best work towards your revenue goal.

Ideally what we want to do is get our revenue stream as close to or above $10K per day in Coin, and this mini-guide is designed specifically to help you do that. Remember - Information is Power!

The Example + This Guide

If you followed the example above you now know to a farthing what your potential Coin Harvest is - which is all to the better - but now we will address the actual point of all of this - using our Quahog as the example.

There are two areas to this - Tax and Task - the latter is the element you have very little control over since you cannot just whistle up extra Characters to do extra work, because this game does not work that way.

The former on the other hand you DO have control over - as you are about to see.

The Importance of Land Expansion Slots

If you have been following the guide you may recall that we have been rather anal about encouraging the habit of unlocking ALL of the Land Expansion Slots in the active District PRIOR to advancing the story to unlock the next District.

The entire point to going the extra miles and grinding out the Coin you needed to unlock those Land Expansion Slots is quite literally this mini-guide... All will be clear in a moment or three as this exercise is the reason for our focus on getting the Land Expansion Slots unlocked! Seriously.

We are not bragging when I point out that we have been playing this type of game for a long time - we have, it is a statement of fact - having racked up nearly 700 hours of game play between The Simpsons: Tapped Out and The Sims: FreePlay - and while they are not exactly identical to this game, they are close enough in terms of general strategies.

Anyway we have been playing this type and genre long enough so that we understood almost from the start that we would have to take the specific steps and make the specific decisions we are in the process of making now, but we know that it will help you a lot and will help with the learning curve if we illustrate the process here rather than simply directing the action.

At this point in the re-construction of your Quahog you have advanced the game and your town to a critical stage, but now things are getting a lot more expensive, and hitting the building goals quickly is getting a lot more difficult.

Fortunately now that you have a very firm grasp on the elements that you, the player, can influence, and the elements that you cannot influence, we have reached the critical point at which strategic decisions AND plans must be made!

Because of our extensive experience in this type and genre game we knew after the first few days that it would be crucial to have all of the Land Expansion Slots unlocked and available when we reached the mid-point of the game, which is where we are at now.

Having all of that land available is a critical element for success in the game specifically in terms of revenue stream because we have reached the point in the game's development where that is now THE issue.

Let me restate this: you have reached the juncture in the game where you need to be able to afford to spend large and round blocks of money, and you need to be in a position to rapidly replace those funds once you have spent them.;

As we have illustrated above there is no single solution to this issue, but rather there is a synergistic process via which you can hit that mark by combining the two base revenue streams of Task and Tax.

I am being absolutely sincere right now: this is what we saw coming weeks ago.

Bringing Your A-Game

Do you want to take your game to your A-Level? Do you want to be better, faster, and more effective than all of your mates? Because that is the level of play and the game play experience that this mini-guide combined with our WTG will help you to attain!

Before you do anything else, take the two tables above and clear the data from them, then survey your town and insert the data that applies to YOUR Quahog. Once you have done that, total up the figures - do the math - and you will now have a complete picture of your revenue stream - your Tax and Task income.

Of the two the only one you can directly influence is the Tax.

Until you complete more of the story and unlock more Characters, you really do not have much in the way of discretion in terms of increasing revenue from Tasks.

The tables above illustrated perfectly what your limitations are at present; what your maximum potential revenue stream is, and how you go about processing it. The tables ALSO reveal the path to improving it - but now is when we have to make decisions about how we will go about making those changes - so let's make those decisions!

The first decision that we must make is to determine which of the time-based schemes we will use for Coin Farming?

After running through the numbers, and based upon factors like game play time, the first decision is to go with the 1-hour Coin Farming Schedule.

The logic for that is simple enough: the one-hour scheme only requires us to play the game for a grand total of 50 minutes each day in terms of Coin Farming. Remember that the one-hour scheme is based on a 10-hour-a-day game play schedule, whereas all three of the other schemes are based on a 16-hour-a-day schedule for very logical and practical reasons.

So to recap, the one-hour scheme has us log in to play at the top of each hour, where we spend five minutes or less collecting all of the taxes, completing Tasks, and assigning new Tasks.

We do that for the typical working day plus lunch and commute - which for most of us adds up to 10 hours, which means that we will be able to complete the bulk of our Coin Farming during the part of our day when we are mobile and not at home, where our significant other might get annoyed by the time and effort we are expending.

The second reason for choosing the 1-hour scheme is that it will help to prevent burn-out from the grind, which is actually a pretty significant danger when you consider that ideally we are going to be grinding $10K each day, with our target goal being to obtain the estimated warchest of in Coins!

Why so much? I did not just pull that figure out of a hat, it is based on the following forward-looking assessment of upcoming expenses including a desire to have at least one of each of the Buildings in your town...

This was written after clearing District 5 and on the cusp of unlocking District 6 - so that is the point at which you can get a "fix" to compare Progress in your game.

If you have been following the guide you should have at least one of each of the following Buildings already in your town (possibly more than one for some of them): Average / Common / Typical / and Standard Office, Flappy Jack's, Bank, Mini-Mart, Furniture Store, Anal Point, Playground, Buddy Cianci JH, Tiny Tots, James Wood HS, Day Spa, Pharmacy, Stop N Shop, McBurgertown, Clam, Founding Father, Worker Bunks Shack, Al's, Madeleine's, Cable Antenna, Thrift Shop, Used Clothes, Yacht Club, Oceanland, and Lighthouse.

In addition you should also have the following homes: The Herbert / Griffin / Quagmire and Swanson House. You probably also have the pool, ball field, Boy's Club Stand, some Popsicle Stands, a Hillbilly ATM.

A Quick Assessment

The final 2 Land Expansions for District 5 = $22K

Le Croissant Degoutant = $3K

Quahog Fire Station No. 5 = $10K

Dansu Dansu = $7,500

Awful Person Hattery = $5K

Video Arcade = $10K

Classy Office = $1,050

Sleek Office = $1,225+

See-Through Office = $1,400

A conservative assessment taking into account the bumps for structures for the next two Districts suggests a reasonable target in the range of around $60,000, but a short range goal of half that will still keep the average player engaged.

Basically we are talking around six days of committed farming after you complete the adjustment below - a chore that is easily within your grasp without the worry of burning out.

The Adjustments Phase

Having completed the tables for your Town you should now have the details of your coin flow at your fingertips. For our town we have a combined income (using the 1h Scheme) of $9,440. Our target was a minimum of $10K per day, so we need to do some adjustments.

The Common Office is the obvious choice as it is cheap at $150 per unit construction cost, it is fast, taking only 30m to build from placement, and it has the best ROI of all of the offices.

We are just $560 short of our goal - though going over it is certainly not unwelcome :)

To adjust our town to attain the goal we simply need to add and additional set of Common Offices to the town. A set of 10 will add $1000 to the daily total, bringing the final number at $10,440, a perfectly acceptable figure indeed.

All that is left for us to do is log into the game at the top of every hour a total of ten (or more if you like) times a day and collect the Tax / Tasks and assign new Tasks as needed until we obtain our desired totals.