CityVille Holiday Decorations still without payout increases

While you're building that massive Holiday Tree for your city in CityVille, why not add some places for your citizens to finish that last minute shopping? In a recent update the game, Zynga added a few new Businesses to the game in addition to some decorations, but they still have no stats attached to them. Check it out:

    Gingerbread Man (2 City Cash)
    Saint Bernard (5 City Cash)
    Lawn Carolers (10 City Cash)
    Mall Santa (30 City Cash)


In what we hope is a bug, those four decorations have zero payout increases attached to them. A word to the wise, avoid these decorations until an official statement has been made by Zynga in the forums or the developer stealthily changes them. Until then, enjoy some new Businesses to prep your people for the big day.

Find the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

Have you purchased any of these decorations yet? Would you buy those decorations regardless of what we hope is a bug?

CityVille Franchise update patches issue with deleting HQ

Franchise Deleting Confirmation
You can lift your fingers from that big red button now, mayors. Zynga introduced a small update to CityVille yesterday that, when opting to delete a Franchise Headquarters, causes a pop up confirmation message to appear. The message, pictured above, asks players to confirm whether they would like the HQ to be sent to their inventory, which is somewhat old news.

Before this change, all deleting a Franchise HQ did was send it to your inventory. This change, well, informs you of that, giving you a chance to stop it. This must have been a pretty major issue to warrant what appears to be a reactive update. This change comes after several recent tweaks to the game's interface, optimizing several aspects of gameplay that before took several actions to perform. Considering the game is little more than a month old, we doubt this marks the end of game fixes and changes.

CityVille: Energy supplies now limited via Inventory Cap

If you're a CityVille player that has yet to take advantage of the stockpiling energy strategy to complete your tasks in CityVille; that is, if you don't already have dozens or even hundreds of Batteries in your inventory, I'm sorry to say that you won't be able to in the future either, as Zynga has introduced a seemingly small, but actually huge alteration to the way inventory works in the game.

First and foremost, all items currently in your inventory are unaffected, and you will not lose anything that you have. However, a new energy (Battery) limit has been introduced that will all you to only have 15 of each kind of Battery (+1, +2, or +3 energy) in your inventory at once. Again, if you have more than this number, you will not lose these items, but you will also be unable to add anymore to your inventory until the number drops back down below 15.

So much for a never-ending supply of energy. Zynga says that this previous stockpiling issue has negatively impacted the game's balance, and that they would like users to be strategic with their energy use, just as they encourage strategy with building new businesses or expanding your land. It's possible that this limit might change in the future, based on user feedback, so if you'd like to share yours, make sure to give it to Zynga in the appropriate thread.

What do you think of this new change? Will this make the game more fair for users that didn't have enough friends available to send them mass amounts of energy, or should users be able to accumulate as many energy points as possible?

CityVille: Sweeping inventory changes have users ready to quit

Zynga has made some... questionable changes to CityVille this week, that has many users virtually screaming at the developer, and quitting the game altogether. In addition to the new Energy cap that allows users to only hold 15 of each variety of Battery in their inventory, Zynga has also capped a number of other items to, as Zynga says, help the game's balance and introduce another element of strategy to the game.

The new caps concern items that are used most frequently in the game, so I suppose I can understand why users are crying foul.
Zoning Permits are now capped at 60, while Marble, City Seals, Building Grants, Gold Plating, and Ribbons are capped at 25. If you have more than this number of items in your inventory, you won't lose the extras, but you also won't be able to add anymore to your account until the number drops back below 25, or 60, depending on the item.

Another change worth noting is that you are now unable to user batteries from your inventory if your energy is at its maximum - it looks like energy stockpiling has been squashed in all forms, I'm afraid. If you try to accept a free gift from your friends, offering you one of these items, you will simply be told that you have too many, and that the item has not been added to your inventory.

This was enough to have users swamping the Feedback thread for this release over on the game's official forums, which has reached a whopping 173 pages in less than 24 hours.

Most users' posts are those like this of claymore1977's, who says:

    Yep, that's the last nail in the coffin. ....or the straw that will break the back of the players. I was actually enjoying Cityville 10x better than all your other games and *almost* got myself to the point where I was going to start putting money into it. I'm a believer in free software, but I also believe in paying for a good game. Good thing you all made this change *before* i started shelling out my hard earned money.

Another player, bashlee, sums up the fear that even I have due to this change. That the game's userbase is going to drop... and fast.

    This is the most horrible thing you have done with the game yet. Wth can i do with 15 +3 energies?? That doesn't even cover everything in my city. This was a stupid decision on your part zynga. And your popular game is going to lose a ton of players because of this nonsense.

It will be interesting to see how Zynga responds to this overwhelming cry from users. Ultimately, it's unlikely that the almost 93 million current players will all stop and leave the game at once, but I can definitely see many of these upset users keeping true to their word of not playing, or at least not putting anymore money into the game until Zynga can "see the light."

While having a large player base is one thing, Zynga needs to make sure that those users are happy enough to spend money on the product (it is a business after all), and it looks like they might have just really hurt themselves, and the game's money-making potential, with this one.

We'll make sure to let you know if Zynga goes back on any of these changes, or at least alters the caps to something more "reasonable." Keep checking back with us for more.

What do you think of these game-changing updates? Do you stockpile energy, or will these changes not affect the way you play the game?

CityVille Sneak Peek: New amusement park rides coming soon

With the launch of the Street Carnival in CityVille, Zynga apparently isn't satisfied with the amount of items we've been given to decorate with, and plan to do something about that in the coming days and weeks. Specifically, we've been told that a whole set of amusement park rides will be coming to the game. But wait - don't we have amusement park rides already?

Let's examine this for a minute. If you've been collecting Carnival Tickets, you have the opportunity to redeem them for a large Fun House, Fun Slide, or Rocket Ship Ride. A Carousel was made available in the game for months before finally being removed, and decorations like a Bounce House and Tea Cup Ride (Ferris Wheel) are also available for purchase via the game's store. So, that being the case, what exactly could Zynga be talking about here? If we look at the sneak peek picture they've provided (ignoring the Strength Test), we aren't told much, as another Ferris Wheel is pictured, along with something that looks like a Sky Coaster.

Even if those are the only two (three, counting the midway game) items that come to the game in the future, there's still the issue of how they'll be released. Will they be decorations or actual businesses that require Goods and earn a profit? Either way, I'm excited about this potential to create a miniature theme park in my city (perhaps even with roller coasters!), so I can only hope that Zynga comes through here in a big way. We'll make sure to let you know if they do.

What sorts of amusement park rides would you like to see released in CityVille? Are there particular roller coasters from real-world theme parks that you'd be excited to see?

CityVille: Oddities Museum and Lemonade Stand continue our fun in the sun

Looking for something cool to do inside on this blisteringly hot weekend? Why not add a few new decorations to your town in CityVille? Conveniently, Zynga has released two such decorations in the game just this morning, but they'll only be around for a limited time.

The Oddities Museum is a new business that costs 25 City Cash, and requires 140 Goods to operate once you purchase it. It produces 784 coins by default, unless you add some nearby decorations to boost this number - perhaps the Girl Flying Kite decoration which is also now available for 1,000 coins. If 25 City Cash is too high of a price, what about 15 City Cash? That's the price of the new Lemonade Stand, which is unfortunately just a decoration, rather than a business. As is stands, it gives off a 6% bonus to the payout of nearby buildings, but it is (admittedly) rather expensive, considering its function.

Both the Oddities Museum and Lemonade Stand will only be available in the game for four days, so shop fast if you want them.

With all of the summer-themed items released in CityVille over the past few weeks, have you taken advantage and created a large summer boardwalk, park, or beachfront area in your town?

CityVille Governor's Run Toy Maker Goals: Everything you need to know

So, you've already helped the farmers in your quest to be governor in CityVille, and now it's time to help another group of citizens in your town: the toy makers. This newest trio of Toy Maker goals can be found after you've helped the farmers, and they'll also introduce a new Community Building to your town. Here's a complete rundown of what to expect, and how to earn the vote from these toy makers. Note: you must be at least level 50 to access these goals.

The Misfit Toy Maker

    Place and Build a Toy Factory
    Collect from the Toy Factory 10 Times


Unfortunately, this goal requires you to build a new community building in your town, so I hope you have enough room to do so. The Toy Factory sits on a 4x4 square plot of land, and would normally cost 1.25 million coins to buy in the market, although there are rumblings that you'll receive one for free in your inventory once you start these goals (I personally didn't receive one, but whether that's a glitch, or by design I can't say). The building adds a whopping 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap, and requires 12 staff members to complete. That is, you'll need to ask 12 friends to help you complete the construction of this one, so I hope they're helpful! For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 2,800 coins as a reward.

Toy Soldier

    Ask friends for 12 Toy Blocks
    Upgrade Toy Store to Level 2
    Place 20 Hearts in your city


As we've told you before, the Hearts are markers you can place in your town to let your friends know exactly which items to interact with whenever they visit. You can add them to your town by accessing the "Get Help" button in the cursor menu in the bottom right corner of the screen. As for upgrading the Toy Store, you can find a complete guide to doing so right here. Finish this goal and you'll receive 1,400 Goods.

Playtime is Over

    Ask friends for 15 Wooden Duckies
    Build Toy Tower
    Collect from Toy Tower 15 Times


The Toy Tower is a new business that costs 1.75 million coins to purchase from the store. Hopefully we'll receive a free one of these as well, but if not - we've been warned! Once built, it requires a whopping 475 Goods to operate, and will supply you with 2,393 coins by default when collecting its profits, if you don't surround the building with payout bonus decorations. As for the Wooden Duckies, just ask your friends to send them to you, and you'll eventually finish this one off (not that it'll be easy, but it's not impossible either). Finish this final Toy Maker goal and you'll receive 100 XP. Whether or not that's worth all of the Goods you've spent on your Toy Tower or not will be up to you.

At this point, you will have finished helping the Toy Makers in your run for Governor, but still have one more group to help before Act 2 of this new political feature will start. We'll make sure to let you know what that final part entails as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.

Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.

What do you think of these Toy Maker goals? Are they too complicated to be in the middle of a larger feature, possible causing some users to get stuck, or do you appreciate such a challenge?

CityVille: Post your in-game achievements to the Facebook ticker

Here we are again, mayors. Another Zynga game is asking for additional permission to share your gameplay information with friends via the new Facebook ticker that appears along the right side of the screen when playing games on the site. First it was FarmVille, and now comes CityVille.

This "new permissions" set is at least far more detailed than the FarmVille request, which left many users wondering exactly what they were giving Zynga access to. Here, we're told straight up that by giving Zynga these additional permissions, you're simply allowing it to share your gameplay activity in the ticker (including achievements you've earned or goals you may have completed while playing) with your friends. Facebook apparently requires it to do so, so here we are.

You'll be able to give Zynga permission (or deny it) when you see a window like the one at right appear in your screen. From there, you can either hit "Allow" to let yourself appear in the ticker, or "Don't Allow" to keep yourself hidden. Your own gameplay experience won't change, and nothing in the game itself will change either. This all goes back to how much information you want to share with friends about your gameplay activity, all in the Facebook ticker. That being the case, feel free to choose whichever option you wish without the fear of penalty.

Will you allow Zynga to share your gameplay activity with your CityVille friends? What do you think of the Facebook ticker as a whole?

CityVille: Finish your Bridge, Dam and more with discounted materials

If you've been putting off building one of the larger structures in CityVille (like the Bridge or Dam, as examples), because you didn't want to gather the required building materials from friends, or simply didn't want to pay the high prices to purchase those materials with City Cash, the team at Zynga is hoping that buy putting these items on sale (well, some of these items anyway), it might be enough to persuade you to open your wallet.

To be specific, a sale is now being held for up to 40% off building materials in the game. The materials are unfortunately limited to a specific set of buildings: the Bridge, Sailboat Hotel, Dam, Mall, Mall 2, Pirate Ship Attraction and Go Kart Attraction, and the rest of the game's many, many buildings are left unaffected. To make matters worse - between the two of us - the sale really isn't that good.

For example, let's say you wanted to finish your Pirate Ship Attraction. This one's building materials still cost 3 City Cash each. Perhaps if that were three City Cash in total for all of a particular ingredient I needed (say, two Ship's Prows or five Overhead Bars), that might be an acceptable price, but in our particular example, we're still looking at six City Cash for the Ship Prows and 15 City Cash for the Overhead Bars. Wouldn't it still be smarter (if not more time consuming) to ask friends for these items instead?

I suppose if you're looking for an easier way of completing these specific buildings, then you'll want to take advantage of this apparently limited time opportunity. Just don't feel any unneeded pressure to purchase building materials; the free way is still available, and doesn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Will you spend City Cash on any of these discounted building materials, or have you already completed the construction on all of these buildings? Let us know in the comments.

CityVille Governor's Run Family Goals: Everything you need to know

In your quest to become Governor in CityVille, you've had to help the farmers and the toy makers, but now it's time to look a little closer to home. Your third and final portion of Act I of this event will see you earning a family's vote in your campaign. Specifically, you're looking to impress the Stumpford family (remember them from the Family Vacation goals released back in August?). Why the Stumpfords wouldn't automatically be on your side after helping them before is anyone's guess, but here's how to earn their vote of confidence officially.

Family Matters

    * Ask friends for 10 Magazine Subscriptions
    * Collect from the Executive Driving Range 4 times
    * Collect from Community Pool 6 times


As you might have guessed, the Magazine Subscriptions are earned via a general news post you'll post to your wall asking all of your friends to help you at once. As for the Executive Driving Range, this is the game's newest attraction that you can find the guide to building right here. Finally, the Community Pool is a Community Building that can be purchased from the store for 150,000 coins. By finishing this first goal, you'll receive a prize of 85 coins.

School of Thought

    * Ask for 15 Tutors
    * Upgrade Middle School to Level 3
    * Harvest 70 Brussel Sprouts


The 15 Tutors, again, need to be earned via friends. As for the Middle School, you've been able to upgrade this particular Community Building since late August, but if you don't have it done already, you can check out our guide to doing just that. Finally, Brussel Sprouts are available to plant for 48 coins and are ready to harvest after eight hours. Finishing this second of three goals gives you 4,500 coins.

Exterior Decorator

    * Ask friends for 20 Street Sweepers
    * Remodel 6 Residences
    * Unwither 24 Neighbor Crops


If you have any friends that stopped playing the game and left some crops growing (which most of us probably do), you should have no problem finding 24 individual squares to unwither. Just click on them when visiting friends' towns and you'll finish that task fast. For the residence remodeling task, this can turn into an expensive one, depending on the houses you choose to upgrade and the particular upgrades themselves, but you can see how to start the process in our guide. Finishing this final goal will complete your work with the Stumpfords (although I'm sure they'll be back in another feature in the future), and you'll receive the Mega Nail Salon business as a reward. This is a massive building that requires 410 Goods but supplies 3,050 coins each time those Goods are used.

Again, after you finish helping the Stumpfords (so long as you've also finished with the farmers and toy makers), you'll have finished the first portion of the Governor's Run event, but there's still a lot more waiting down the line. As the event continues to expand, we'll make sure to give you all of the details you need, so keep checking back with us!

[Via CityVille Wiki]

What do you think of these Governor's Run Family goals? Are they the most difficult of the three goal sets in this event so far? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Most Valuable Palace allows your citizens to live like MVPs

It looks like one final item has been added to the sports theme of items in CityVille, in the form of a new house that's only available for a very, very limited time (we're talking less than a day). The MVP - Most Valuable Palace home costs a whopping 80 City Cash to add to your town, but it adds an equally large figure of 2,500 citizens to your town.

If you're lucky enough to have that number upgraded through random boosts (remember, your friends "tending" to the home can trigger those same boosts), you can eventually raise that 2,500 number to 4,500 citizens! That's a huge group of MVPs (how will they all share that tiny basketball court?)! Once you've built this one (it takes up just a 5x5 square), it will generate 494 coins and can be collected from once each day.

Again, this is an incredibly limited time offer. In the time you're reading this, the house is slipping farther and farther out of your grasp, so what are you waiting for?! If you have any interest in this one whatsoever, head into the store before it expires (perhaps for good).

Is 80 City Cash too much to pay for a single home, even one with such impressive stats? Will you purchase the MVP - Most Valuable Palace for your city in CityVille? Sound off in the comments.