Cooperatives 101: The Essential Co-op Primer

Seedy Jenn (US1)

I'm trying to figure out how to appoint a deputy. I found some stuff, but the previous Leader left me with no instruction and I'm at a loss.

The Beekeepers, (soon to be renamed Chopped Liver) is under new and befuddled management.
Seedy Jenn

Also, I'm taking all comers to my tiny cooperative. Just apply to Beekeepers.

WascallyWabbit (FormerMod)

Seedy Jenn (US1) said:

I'm trying to figure out how to appoint a deputy. I found some stuff, but the previous Leader left me with no instruction and I'm at a loss.

The Beekeepers, (soon to be renamed Chopped Liver) is under new and befuddled management.
Seedy Jenn

Also, I'm taking all comers to my tiny cooperative. Just apply to Beekeepers.

@Seedy Jenn (US1) 

Hi Jenn,

If you are the coop leader, when you click on any member's name & the info box pops up, you will see a selector for their rank.

You can also start a new thread in Cooperative News, called something like Beekeepers (US1) looking for members & write something about your coop there.

Good Luck!

Costanzomo (AU1)

How do you increase the limit in how many people are in your co opp, just started one and I am wanting to expand it. Thanks

aaabbb1 (INT1)

You have to do a research. You will find it under research -> cooperative.

farmerjohn 22 (US1)

Here's a link to show you how to go about adding members: https://bigfarmtips.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/how-to-add-more-than-5-members/

BlueLight (US1)

I saw this one time before, now I can't find it. Please, direct me how I find my contributions to the cooperative, such as gold & bills.

DuffyKid (US1)

Open the chat window and click on the blue person outline.  Above the shovels is a little window that has a drop down menu to show project activity, $ donated and gold donated.

BlueLight (US1)

I found it, Thank you.

Aztarangela (US1)

DeltaOps44 said:

Donate Collection Items or Gold for Cooperative Projects!



Donate money or Gold for Cooperative Research

so this is how I add people and donate money officially?

david john (GB1)

Please explain the duty of Deputies in a co-op

jess_d (US1)

david john (GB1) said:

Please explain the duty of Deputies in a co-op

Deputies can start projects/research, send invites, accept new members, edit the co-op news section, & change the co-op settings (open co-op, looking for new members, etc.). Only the leader can edit the co-op description & remove members.

boerin hilda (NL1)

hello, how can I remove a co-op?

The active members ( a few) want to leave the co-op and remove the co-op.

boerin hilda (NL1)

thank you Keldeo

boerin hilda (NL1)

I have another question about removing a co-op.
What happens with the money and the gold of the co-op ?

Jiesta (NL1)

If everybody leaves the coop, the money and gold stays in the coop. And only Support can totally remove a coop from the game.

Er is ook een NL draadje voor Nederlanders, boerin Hilda, waar we Nederlands mogen schrijven. Kijk hier eens: https://community.goodgamestudios.com/bigfarm/en/discussion/31508/help-offered-for-dutch-players-hulp-aangeboden-voor-nl-spelers/p107
Het helpt zeker als je dat draadje eens goed door leest, bv de laatste 20 pagina's.

boerin hilda (NL1)

hartelijk dank

rockybalboa1 (IN1)

i want to know is there any way of knowing which mission is going to come in coop championship
and can we transfer gold to a friends account

farmerjohn 22 (US1)

rockybalboa1 (IN1) said:

i want to know is there any way of knowing which mission is going to come in coop championship
and can we transfer gold to a friends account

The missions always appear at random whether in the CC or not. You can't transfer gold to another player's account, but you can buy a Gift Card and give them the numbers so they could use it to buy gold. If you have any Gifts from the Naughty and Nice event, you can use them on your friend's farm to give them a larger harvest in a mission.

lilfae (US1)

I am in a coop but the owner is not available.  There is only 2 of us and I already completed a challenge all by myself.  will i be able to keep my experience if i leave and start one on my own?

Data King (US1)

No once you leave a co op that is it you're done there. The only things you can take with you are any collectibles you may have donated into a co op project and your donated researcher. Note you must take back the donated collectibles be fore you leave. You and what is left of your co op may want to join another rather than trying to start a new co op

lilfae (US1)

how do i take back my collectibles?

Data King (US1)

This will help you with that https://bigfarmtips.wordpress.com/how-to-donate-to-the-co-op-accounts/

mary abby (INT1)

EricaJ (US1) said:

Notice: This is not a recruiting thread.
If you are wanting to join a co-op, go here
If you are looking for members to join your co-op, go here

This is intended to provide an overview of the functions of Cooperatives in Big Farm.

A Big Farm Co-operative is a group of people who come together to accomplish common goals, primarily research and projects.


Organization
A co-op is founded by an individual player (the Founder) who may be the Leader, or pass that role to someone else. The Leader may assign member(s) to act as Deputies. In the case of a newly founded co-op, the first two members are automatically assigned as Deputies. In the event that a co-op Leader does not login to the game for a period of 30 days, the first listed Deputy will become the new Leader.

Leaders and Deputies (Leadership) may

1) View and accept or deny applications for membership
2) Extend invitations to other players to join the co-op
3) Start projects and research
4) Update the news board

Only Leaders are able to remove members from the co-op and edit the co-op description.

All other co-op activities, including sending a message to all members, are available to all members of the co-op.


Project Collectibles
Project Collectibles are items such as tickets and tractors that you receive when you harvest or collect from something. They are needed to start co-op Projects and serve no other purpose in the game. Each Project requires 3 different types of collectibles. Each type may be supplied by a different member, but the entire quantity of each type must be donated by a single member. If, for example, a project requires 50 tickets, 50 registers, and 50 tractors, then player a may donate the tickets and tractors while player b donates the registers. If player a and player b each have only 25 tickets, neither of them could contribute tickets to this project at this time. Once the Project Collectibles are in place, the Leader or a Deputy may start the Project.

If you have donated Collectibles to a Project that has not been started, you may remove them - perhaps to move them to a different Project.

For more information about collectibles and how to donate them, please visit Larino's Co-op Blog.


Projects
Projects are somewhat similar to missions in that they generally require you to produce a certain amount of something within a specified timeframe. For example: The 'Wild about apples!' project may require the co-op to collect 21,000 apples in 48 hours. During the time this project is running, all of the apple harvests of all of the co-op's membership will be accumulated until the goal of 21,000 is reached or time expires. The apples are retained by the members for their own use; there is no need to donate them.

Successful completion of a project earns Solidarity Points for the co-op, which helps the co-op to level-up. Just as with individual player level-up, the co-op level-up unlocks new things - and for the co-op, these new things are projects and research. If the goal is not met when the allotted time expires, the project attempt fails and co-op's Solidarity Point total does not change; any collectibles used to start the project are forfeited.


Research
The farmdollars and gold donated to the co-op are used to start Research, which can provide a variety of different types of benefits to the co-op. The various Research trees available are categorized as follows:

1) Cooperative - includes Recruitments to increase the number of members in your co-op and Subsidies, which provide a bonus to farmdollars donated.
2) Cooperative Project - includes Optimize Processes to decrease the number of collectibles required to start Projects and Negotiation Skill to increase the amount of time allowed to complete Projects.
3)-5) Main Farm, Gourmet Farm, Flower Farm - These research trees will increase the prices received for various products from these 3 farms.

To complete any Research, the co-op must first hire the required number of researchers. Each member may hire one researcher at a time with farmdollars and as many as desired with gold (players under level 30 who have not purchased gold may not hire researchers with gold). Higher level players pay more farmdollars for researchers than lower-level players. Researchers hired with farmdollars may be removed from any Research that has not yet started, perhaps to move to a different Research instead. Researchers hired with gold may not be removed.

Once all of the research slots are filled and the co-op has collected the required funding, the Leader or a Deputy may start the Research. The co-op will enjoy the benefits when the Research is complete (the required time has elapsed).

More information about hiring researchers may be found in Larino's Co-op Blog.


The Big Six - Ways You Can Help
Each co-op sets its own rules and expectations, but these things are universal:

1) Donate Project Collectibles to Projects, especially Projects the co-op plans to do in the near future.
2) Participate in Projects by helping to meet the Project's goals, e.g., steadily producing and harvesting apples. Consider what you might do to prepare in advance of the Project's start, such as making sure you will have plenty of fertilizer or feed.
3) Hire Researchers as requested by Leadership.
4) Donate farmdollars and/or gold. Those donations are investments that will pay long-term dividends.
5) Water co-op trees and collect from yours.
6) Communicate. Check in on the chat/activity log, read the News Board, respond to messages, let your co-op know if you will be off the farm for any length of time.



...and a few things that may not be very helpful.

1) Hiring Researchers for Research that has not yet been selected by Leadership.
2) Spending gold to skip (immediately finish) research. Depending on circumstances, your co-op may be better served if you would donate that gold instead.

mary abby (INT1)

hi i just wanted to know how can i build my own cooperative

Data King (US1)

mary abby (INT1) said:

hi i just wanted to know how can i build my own cooperative

This will help https://bigfarmtips.wordpress.com/faq-about-cooperatives/

Sabbykins (GB1)

OK I got the basics figured, watering co-op trees, research, starting projects and donating money etc.

Whats the deal with the Co-op village? Do we need specific conditions for building etc? Or are they just not available yet? 

Uncle John (AU1)

Right second time  :¬)     just not available yet.

sari2006 (INT1)

Sorry for asking suddenly. Where i can change the setting of my cooperative. i accidentally make my cooperative open to anyone.

Data King (US1)

sari2006 (INT1) said:

Sorry for asking suddenly. Where i can change the setting of my cooperative. i accidentally make my cooperative open to anyone.

On the bottom of your screen click on the "Multiplayer feature" then click on the "Cooperative" in that window bottom right click on the "Cooperative settings" 

Letty.liongamez (GB1)

sari2006      go to the cog wheels, on the bottom of the  main coop page you change settings there.