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Cooperatives 101: The Essential Co-op Primer

EricaJ (US1)EricaJ (US1) Posts: 202
edited 29.07.2015 in Tutorials and FAQs
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 EricaJ (US1) on
«136

Comments

  • sonolumina2sonolumina2 Posts: 34
    edited 03.08.2013
    Nicely written. Deputies can't edit the coop description though. They can only edit news.
  • EricaJ (US1)EricaJ (US1) Posts: 202
    edited 03.08.2013
    Thanks for the correction - I updated it.
  • Kat Nip (GB1)Kat Nip (GB1) GB1 Posts: 3,796
    edited 03.08.2013
    You've done a great job Erica - nice work! :D

    Kat. Kittie_by_otomosc.gif
  • montuosmontuos Posts: 1,275
    edited 24.03.2016
    This is the post I so desperately tried to find all those months ago when I was a new player! Thank you for pulling it all together so nicely and putting it here!


    [Egg already found]


    Post edited by CuddlyFoxes (FormerMod) on
  • ss02092ss02092 Posts: 772
    edited 03.08.2013
    Great job Erica. It really helps newbies.
  • edited 03.08.2013
    This is really useful information and very well written
  • SystemSystem Posts: 106,969
    edited 03.08.2013
    Excellent - I've bookmarked it. It will be so useful for answering questions :) Thank you
  • EricaJ (US1)EricaJ (US1) Posts: 202
    edited 04.08.2013
    *blush* Thanks for all the kind comments.

    I needed to be able to bring new members up to speed, and between the severe character limitations and general wonkiness of in-game messaging, that option just wasn't working.

    I'm glad it can help others.
  • stephaniec903stephaniec903 Posts: 1
    edited 12.08.2013
    How do we keep track of what we donated to a project? For example we need 22,000 eggs, I gave, but would like to know how much I contributed.
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 12.08.2013
    You cannot track that in game. If you would like to know, get a pencil and a paper and write down every time you harvest within the project time limit and how many you harvested. At the end you can see how much you contributed to the project :)
  • mipie11mipie11 Posts: 130
    edited 12.08.2013
    Larino, I thought you could see the progress on the bottom panel.. :/
  • ss02092ss02092 Posts: 772
    edited 13.08.2013
    mipie,

    you can see the project progress but not the individual contribution.
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 13.08.2013
    Like Ss said, you can only see the project progress. Stephanie wanted to know how she can see what she alone contributed to the project. And that you cannot see in game. You can see there is progress, but that progress is from all members of the cooperative and therefore you will need to calculate for yourself if you want to know exactly how much you personally contributed :)
  • FireSnowFoxFireSnowFox Posts: 2
    edited 15.08.2013
    Can a Leader remove the co-op founder? I have a Deputy that I would like to promote, but I feel uncomfortable with the idea of someone being able to remove me from my own co-op
  • SystemSystem Posts: 106,969
    edited 15.08.2013
    Can a Leader remove the co-op founder? I have a Deputy that I would like to promote, but I feel uncomfortable with the idea of someone being able to remove me from my own co-op
    Yes they could boot you. The Founder has no special rights different to any other deputy or member if they give up the Leadership
  • FireSnowFoxFireSnowFox Posts: 2
    edited 19.08.2013
    Ok, thank you very much :)
  • camii893camii893 Posts: 251
    edited 17.11.2013
    This is fantastic!
  • sokka6sokka6 Posts: 2
    edited 22.12.2013
    Very useful informations.
  • sokka6sokka6 Posts: 2
    edited 22.12.2013
    hey friends can i know how to get money . coz i dont have money to join in researches and donate dollars to my co-op team.And to upgrade things
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 22.12.2013
    sokka6 wrote: »
    hey friends can i know how to get money . coz i dont have money to join in researches and donate dollars to my co-op team.And to upgrade things

    You need to work your farm and sell produce to get money. The best way to go is: corn on fields - chicken feed from mill - eggs and dung from chicken coops - fertilizer form silo - apples from apple orchards. That would give you the most money to start with. If you cannot start any of these buildings, make some wild flowers until you can. Wild flowers have no costs and therefore they give you 100% profit on selling.

    Also, do not underestimate decorations. Build enough of them to make your running costs go down. You want the arrow at least in the green to start with. Try to get it as far as possible for now before you look for the best balance.
  • keith 01 (US1)keith 01 (US1) Posts: 42
    edited 04.01.2014
    Thats GREAT.
    Do you know how i can send it to my members?
    Thanks Keith
  • rhon (GB1)rhon (GB1) Guest, GB1 Posts: 1,542
    edited 04.01.2014
    You can send the URL in a message. Individual or Group message

    I ask all co-op applicants to read it and then confirm that they understand what is expected of them. Everyone, so far :), has said have found it useful, even those who have been in other co-ops and were booted. They understand also then why their first steps into a co-op were not succesful and turn into really good members
  • Pingo42Pingo42 Posts: 537
    edited 04.04.2014
    This is such useful information! I wish I had found it sooner but it was on page 3 of this board and I didn't find the thread until now. Would it be possible to have this thread stickied to make it easy for new people to find?
  • enochnock (US1)enochnock (US1) Posts: 878
    edited 07.04.2014
    EricaJ- Thank you so much for this very helpful/useful post. I had seen it a few months back and read it myself and forgotten all about it due to it not being visible, but I knew it was out there. I have sent my coop members a message about this and asked them to read it and Larino's blog. (I am always referring them to Larino's blog, I have to say it is very very good & nicely put together.) Again EricaJ thank you for taking the time to put this together.

    Pingo42- Thank you also for digging it up I really appreciate that you found it and brought it back up so I will have to bookmark this when I get home tonight. Thanks again.
  • AdomDominAdomDomin Posts: 16
    edited 30.04.2014
    Permission to subscribe!

    Thankfully I found this thread, I founded my coop just for quest, until some players applied.
    Thanks EricaJ, this really helps me!
  • Kaizos2Kaizos2 Posts: 3
    edited 31.05.2014
    Does anyone know the maximum number of deputies available to a co-op? There is somebody angling to become a deputy, but our co-op already has six. I doubt he'll make deputy here, but I'm curious nonetheless.
  • Kat Nip (GB1)Kat Nip (GB1) GB1 Posts: 3,796
    edited 31.05.2014
    The maximum number is limited only by the amount of people in the coop. Basically, if the Leader wishes it, every member of the coop can be a deputy. :)

    Kat. Kittie_by_otomosc.gif
  • Sallie13 (US1)Sallie13 (US1) US1 Posts: 29
    edited 04.06.2014
    This is great information, and very well written. Thanks very much, EricaJ!
  • Nipre3Nipre3 Posts: 46
    edited 05.06.2014
    Hi!

    Is there somekind of list of the different projects co-ops can do and what level the co-op has to be when the project is available? I remember that for a few month's ago I was I able to see all the projects but some of them were grey and when you moved the mouse above the project it said "available at co-op level XX". But after some update those "grey projects" were gone.

    My co-op is at the level 18 and we have 6 different projects we can do. I would like to know, if there will be some new projects when we level up? And which level we have to be to be able to see and do those projects?
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 05.06.2014
    I posted this in the other thread where you asked:
    Nipre3 wrote: »
    Hi!

    Is there somekind of list of the different projects co-ops can do and what level the co-op has to be when the project is available? I remember that for a few month's ago I was I able to see all the projects but some of them were grey and when you moved the mouse above the project it said "available at co-op level XX". But after some update those "grey projects" were gone.

    My co-op is at the level 18 and we have 6 different projects we can do. I would like to know, if there will be some new projects when we level up? And which level we have to be to be able to see and do those projects?

    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)
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