Home EN General Discussions & Questions Tutorials and FAQs

Join the official Goodgame Big Farm Discord today!Join our Big Farm Discord Server


Are you looking for a community of like-minded farmers to discuss your farming experience with? Look no further than the GoodGame Big Farm Discord Server!


Our server is the perfect place to connect with other farmers from around the world. Whether you're looking to chat about strategy, share tips and tricks, or just make new friends, our community has got you covered.


And that's not all - as a member of our Discord server, you'll also have access to exclusive giveaways and other special events. It's the perfect way to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates from GoodGame Studios.


So what are you waiting for? Join the GoodGame Big Farm Discord Server today and start connecting with fellow farmers from all over the world. Just click here to join the fun!

Cooperatives 101: The Essential Co-op Primer

26

Comments

  • Nipre3Nipre3 Posts: 46
    edited 06.06.2014
    Larino wrote: »
    I posted this in the other thread where you asked:



    Yes, at the bottom of this page is a link to a spreadsheet :)

    http://bigfarmtips.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/spreadsheet-spoilers-and-helpful-information/

    If anybody has any additional information for that sheet - please send me a message, it is not complete (though all projects are mentioned on it, not all levels of each project are complete in amount of collectibles)


    Thank you, that was helpful :)
  • raghav agarwalraghav agarwal Posts: 17
    edited 21.07.2014
    thanks for information
  • Bibi1 (US1)Bibi1 (US1) Posts: 2
    edited 06.08.2014
    What exactly do we have to do in a research project? Maybe a silly question.
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 06.08.2014
    Bibi114 wrote: »
    What exactly do we have to do in a research project? Maybe a silly question.

    First of all, research and project are two different things. Please only use the word research for this. And all you need to do is pay money to become a researcher and pay money into the cooperative accounts to be able to pay for the starting fee. After the research has started you wait until the timer has ran out and you will see the benefits.
  • farmerjohn 22 (US1)farmerjohn 22 (US1) US1 Posts: 37,770
    edited 07.08.2014
    Larino, I have a question for you. Have you ever considered posting a list of training coop "graduates"?
    i.e...players who have learned the ropes in a training coop and are ready to find their new home coop?
    I think that such a list would be beneficial for not only those players, but to coop leaders as well. The "graduates" would get a lot of invites to choose from, and coop leaders would have a pool of good prospects to draw from. I know it would require a lot of effort to keep such a list up to date and accurate, but maybe you have a Deputy you could delegate to work on it. lol Just a suggestion, since we all know that the new symbol for looking for a cooperative in the ranking list just isn't working out. Thanks, and keep up the good work! :)

    EDIT: Probably wrong place to post this. Too late!
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 07.08.2014
    Larino, I have a question for you. Have you ever considered posting a list of training coop "graduates"?
    i.e...players who have learned the ropes in a training coop and are ready to find their new home coop?
    I think that such a list would be beneficial for not only those players, but to coop leaders as well. The "graduates" would get a lot of invites to choose from, and coop leaders would have a pool of good prospects to draw from. I know it would require a lot of effort to keep such a list up to date and accurate, but maybe you have a Deputy you could delegate to work on it. lol Just a suggestion, since we all know that the new symbol for looking for a cooperative in the ranking list just isn't working out. Thanks, and keep up the good work! :)

    EDIT: Probably wrong place to post this. Too late!

    Unfortunately I had to give up taking in partner co-ops due to the demand being much much greater than I can provide for. Seen from the fact that that does not work I think a list of graduates may be a bit useless as well.
  • Bibi1 (US1)Bibi1 (US1) Posts: 2
    edited 08.08.2014
    Thank you :)
  • Margit kattMargit katt Posts: 153
    edited 19.11.2014
    Very interesting indeed. Thank you all. But... What if one can't participate due to reason beyond ones own control. After all. We all ave a life outside the computer (or should have). I am not sure yet whether to not join a co-op. Games is a leisure to me and I want to keep it that way. I want to play when I feel for it. Is that even possible when it comes to co-ops?
    I played Farmville through Facebook obnes and that became almost like a full-time job, so I stopped. Good game but way to much time consuming. An yet there were nothing like co-ops in it.
  • RunsWivScissors (GB1)RunsWivScissors (GB1) GB1 Posts: 6,633
    edited 19.11.2014
    Very interesting indeed. Thank you all. But... What if one can't participate due to reason beyond ones own control. After all. We all ave a life outside the computer (or should have). I am not sure yet whether to not join a co-op. Games is a leisure to me and I want to keep it that way. I want to play when I feel for it. Is that even possible when it comes to co-ops?
    I played Farmville through Facebook obnes and that became almost like a full-time job, so I stopped. Good game but way to much time consuming. An yet there were nothing like co-ops in it.

    There are all types of coops so it shouldn`t be hard to find one to fit - Some are very competetive & focused on rankings & others are not at all competitive & all about having fun. You will also find some wanting high level players & others happy to teach newer players. There is a section on the coop info page that usually says what they expect from members & a forum section called Cooperatives looking for members that is useful. You need to find one on the same server as you, which is SKN1.
  • CM MargoCM Margo Posts: 272
    edited 16.07.2015
    This thread was created by EricaJ from our UK forums, it's a cooperative 101 guide that was greatly appreciated over there so we imported it for y'all!
    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.
    Post edited by CM Margo on
  • Margit kattMargit katt Posts: 153
    edited 05.12.2014
    NOW I found you answer on this. lol In any case. Thank you so much! I have found a small co-op that's not competitive. And that's fine with me. :)

    But it was hard to search for something with my server. I had to search through most threads, open them to see.. until I almost fell asleep over the keyboard. ....
  • jrt (US1)jrt (US1) Posts: 3
    edited 12.12.2014
    Erica J., thank you so much for sharing this information. I feel like Alice in Wonderland...going through doors and finding out information as I go by guessing and clicking. I just found out that I am the leader of my team and as far as I can figure, it's because I have completed several levels in a short period of time and am connected on a daily basis. But, that's just a guess. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing as a leader. This helps a lot. -jt
  • lojtarlojtar Posts: 1
    edited 16.12.2014
    Can I reward the members? if yes how? Thanks
  • BriannospamGame (SKN1)BriannospamGame (SKN1) Posts: 1,803
    edited 16.12.2014
    Yes you can lojtar :)
    2 ways:
    You can write some nice words to them, when you mean they deserve it.
    If you want to give them something more usefull, you can buy some nice gifts to give then from the "Nice and Naughty" when those 2 boys visit us on the market place.
  • Hungry KatnissHungry Katniss Posts: 61
    edited 31.12.2014
    I'm a new co-op leader. I founded Vikings Ahoy when the Viking Island came up. I didn't realize that it was a temporary feature at the time, or that it would demand so much money; but the name sticks until I can get 2000 Gold to change it. I don't have that in surplus....
    So my question, how do you do the first research that requires nine researchers but my co-op is currently limited to five people?
    How do I expand the co-op?
    Next, where does the money go when we donate dollars/gold? Is it a separate co-op account or is it in my own cash pile? I haven't required any investment yet, but I was wondering how that works in terms of keeping my money/gold and the coop's separate.
    It appears that the research requires some big bucks. I can understand why waiting for a higher level can be beneficial in that regard. It can be too demanding for lower levels to contribute regularly!
    Last, how does the watering can work? I water my tree and then I go water the other trees. Sometimes the watering can is orange (to water) and grey (already watered). I don't quite understand what is happening when it changes. If I haven't watered someone's tree, why is it sometimes grey so that I can't water it at the time but others say they can water it? Can I only water it so many times?
    Would appreciate some good advice for a new leader :)
  • PINJO1986 (NL1)PINJO1986 (NL1) NL1 Posts: 1,852
    edited 31.12.2014
    For adding more then 5 workers you could look at this site. Here you can see how to do that, after you have done that you can get more more members and do that 9 researcher research.

    The donated money goes to the cooperative bank, you need that for starting research. Just look at the overview button (the most left one) to see how much you already have. You could also look at this site for any questions about your cooperative.

    Watering the tree works like the dog, you can water your own tree every 8 hours (just like feeding the dog every 8 hours) and you can water the tree of your cooperative members every day (the dog will give you points every day). The day will reset at 00:00 German time.
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 31.12.2014
    I'm a new co-op leader. I founded Vikings Ahoy when the Viking Island came up. I didn't realize that it was a temporary feature at the time, or that it would demand so much money; but the name sticks until I can get 2000 Gold to change it. I don't have that in surplus....
    So my question, how do you do the first research that requires nine researchers but my co-op is currently limited to five people?
    How do I expand the co-op?
    Next, where does the money go when we donate dollars/gold? Is it a separate co-op account or is it in my own cash pile? I haven't required any investment yet, but I was wondering how that works in terms of keeping my money/gold and the coop's separate.
    It appears that the research requires some big bucks. I can understand why waiting for a higher level can be beneficial in that regard. It can be too demanding for lower levels to contribute regularly!
    Last, how does the watering can work? I water my tree and then I go water the other trees. Sometimes the watering can is orange (to water) and grey (already watered). I don't quite understand what is happening when it changes. If I haven't watered someone's tree, why is it sometimes grey so that I can't water it at the time but others say they can water it? Can I only water it so many times?
    Would appreciate some good advice for a new leader :)

    In addition to Pinjo: you may also consider checking the other research categories. The 9 researcher research isn't the first research you should do. In fact, there are many more researches that I would do first. There is a research that needs only 3 researchers in the main farm category. I suggest you check them all out and see what their benefits are before you decide on a research.

    Also take into account that paying for a research spot is level dependent. The amount you need to pay for that spot is different for any of your members if they do not have the same level. The starting fee can be donated in bits and pieces so everybody can donate however much they like, whenever they like. You can also set a low fixed amount per day or week.

    And about the trees, grey means the tree is blooming. You need to wait until the owner of the tree has collected it before you can water it again. It does not mean it has already been watered, since the green check mark is the sign that shows you that. So in short: green check mark means already watered today. Grey can means tree is waiting for its owner to collect. Orange can means you can water it right now.

    There are many more articles on the website Pinjo linked to. The link to that site is also in my signature. Consider checking the articles for co-op members and leaders in the FAQ section of that site to learn the basics. You can also enter one of the basics tutorials designed for a training co-op. Unfortunately the co-ops have been closed, but you can still use the tutorial to get acquainted with the co-op menu.

    Good luck!
  • Hungry KatnissHungry Katniss Posts: 61
    edited 01.01.2015
    Thank you, Pinjo and Larino, for these helpful tidbits of information. I will get to work right away.
    Happy New Year!
  • BrentAwesome7773BrentAwesome7773 Posts: 1
    edited 02.01.2015
    how do you promote people in your co-op????

    I am part of a co-op and the leader said they would promote me, but didn't know how?

    Thanks,
    BrentAwesome777
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 02.01.2015
    how do you promote people in your co-op????

    I am part of a co-op and the leader said they would promote me, but didn't know how?

    Thanks,
    BrentAwesome777

    The leader should click on the name of any of his members in the member list and use the drop down menu to promote them to deputy. Do note, as a deputy you will have extra tasks. The leader can also step down and appoint anybody else leader. He does lay the power in their hands after he confirmed his action and could not get the leadership back other than asking the new leader to give it back and pray he actually will.

    Recommended reading:
    What are my tasks in a co-op? (click here)
  • kayla289kayla289 Posts: 1
    edited 04.01.2015
    Thank you for the info :-) will have to read and digest *lol*
  • CRAZY CRITTERCRAZY CRITTER Posts: 60
    edited 04.02.2015
    thanks I found it
  • Lydia Kleit (US1)Lydia Kleit (US1) US1 Posts: 2
    edited 13.02.2015
    How do I change to another coop? The one I'm in never does anything. I think most of the people in the group have stopped playing.
  • AthenaRoseAthenaRose Posts: 54
    edited 10.03.2015
    U can be in my co-op it is called Athena co-op.I am a beginner but me and my mom will play daily
  • DeltaOps44 (US1)DeltaOps44 (US1) Posts: 243
    edited 22.07.2015
    Donate Collection Items or Gold for Cooperative Projects!

    572bf5c842.jpg

    Donate money or Gold for Cooperative Research

    f35f8635c0.jpg
    Post edited by DeltaOps44 (US1) on
  • CM MargoCM Margo Posts: 272
    edited 20.03.2015
    Great thread! Stickied.

    I've also made the images easier to see :)

    ~CM Margo
  • JennyWrenJennyWren Posts: 2
    edited 27.03.2015
    Thank you. Well done !
  • edited 31.03.2015
    I PRAY GOD BLESSES EVERYONE.
    Robert Cragg
  • The Laurel (US1)The Laurel (US1) US1 Posts: 31
    edited 19.04.2015
    thanks for the tutorial DeltaOps44. It really helped. When does one donate? Most of our co-op projects are already at 100%, except the one we are in process of doing, and it does not have a collection box, that is where the 'refresh' button is. thanks.
  • GoodRhonda (US1)GoodRhonda (US1) US1 Posts: 7
    edited 29.04.2015
    Please explain the duties of deputies and also when does the shovels show up if you participate in coop projects
Sign In to comment.