FarmVille: Mozilla Developers Thank Zynga for Firefox Fix

Firefox and Zynga: Connecting the World Through Games
Mozilla's Firefox 3.6.4 came out last week on June 25th, with the team excited about a new crash protection feature meant to "reduce the number of Firefox crashes experienced by users who are watching online videos or playing games." Ironically, this crash protection ended up crashing most of Zynga's games (including FrontierVille), leaving a gray error screen, and the message, "The Adobe Flash plugin has crashed."

FarmVille Freak published a help guide for its community yesterday, shortly after the problem was officially recognized by Zynga. Players who hadn't updated their Firefox browsers, or who use Internet Explorer were unaffected and unaware of the issue. But the multitudes who had to deal with the downtime made their voices heard, and Mozilla itself has recognized Zynga's help in getting the Firefox browser speedily updated.

    We would like to thank vendors, such as Zynga, for working with us to ensure that Firefox continues to provide the best user experience for our shared users. [Source: The Mozilla Blog]

Mozilla developers reported that the crash protection feature was tested on "a beta audience of close to one million users." But it seems the browser's true testing ground was FarmVille's nearly 64 million monthly active users.

    Although complaints about Firefox's quick killing of hung plug-ins were not limited to Farmville, that game was the squeaky wheel that got the update grease.

    "A lot of people play Farmville. To ignore those people for any length of time could have a significant effect on Firefox's share of browser users," said Firefox user Jeff Rivett on Bugzilla Sunday. "The problem already existed, but the perceived impact suddenly changed, giving it a much higher priority." [Source: Computer World]

FrontierVille Fox
Speaking of which, one of those 64 million MAUs is gonna go chase some 'real' foxes off her FrontierVille homestead now. :)

FarmVille: Purple Magnolia Trees grow from Mystery Seedlings

Just in time for Mothers Day (you know, the day you honor the woman who helped create you?), Purple Magnolia Trees have begun to sprout from Mystery Seedlings in FarmVille. As most new Trees are wont to do these days, sprouting from Mystery Seedlings means that Purple Magnolias are Level 2 Trees. Of course, this lavender beauty can be fully mastered.

    Mastery Level 1: 75 harvests / Rewards: 25 XP and 500 Farm Coins
    Mastery Level 2: 150 harvests / Rewards: 75 XP and 1,500 Farm Coins
    Mastery Level 3: 225 harvests / Rewards: 250 XP and 5,000 Farm Coins


Puple Magnolia Tree in-game
And, as with all trees that have Mastery ratings, you can imagine that there is a Purple Magnolia Tree Mastery Sign to look forward to. If you've yet to be so lucky as to find your own Purple Magnolia, they should be circulating News Feeds soon enough and should be available on the Market sometime after that. While this would make a fine Mother's Day gift, just don't forget to give her some real foliage--flowers preferably.

[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Have you found any Purple Magnolia Trees through Mystery Seedlings or News Feeds? How else will you be celebrating Mothers Day?

FarmVille 2nd Birthday: Cupcake crops sprout up once again

And you know what the best part is? No baking required. Cupcake crops have returned to FarmVille to celebrate its second birthday. Zynga first released the sweets this time last year to celebrate the game's first year of hooking Facebook gamers, so it makes sense for Cupcakes to become FarmVille's honorary birthday crop. And unlike the Birthday Cake crop that costs Farm Cash to plant, these cost mere coins. (Though, the lot of you likely already mastered this crop.) Well, thanks for the freebie, I guess.

Cupcake Crop:

    Harvest in 8 Hours
    1 XP
    Seeds Cost 25 Farm Coins
    Sells for 60 Farm Coins


[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Second Birthday coverage right here.

Have you already mastered this crop last year, or are you a newbie who is excited to plant the ground-growing sweets? What do you think of how Zynga is handling FarmVille's second birthday?

Zynga celebrates FarmVille's 2nd Birthday with, yes, even more items

Lavender Pegasus, Purple Bedazzled Horse and Blue Ponytail Horse
The deluge of items in celebration of FarmVille's second birthday continues, and the big day is still over a week away. Overnight, Zynga released several decorations, trees and animals to the Market, all of which call for Farm Cash, unfortunately. Regardless, the lot of them are interesting, even if they're re-skinned versions of previous items. Getting right to the good stuff, three new magical horses have arrived, one of which is a Lavender Pegasus:

    Lavender Pegasus – 35 Farm Cash (On Sale for 25 Farm Cash)
    Purple Bedazzled Horse – 26 Farm Cash (On Sale for 20 Farm Cash)
    Blue Ponytail Horse -26 Farm Cash (On Sale for 18 Farm Cash)


Purple Gum Ball Tree, Giant Purple Gum Ball Tree, Red Gem Tree and Giant Red Gem Tree
Still busy with the trees released yesterday? Well, consider your weekend booked, as Zynga has released four more birthday trees to the game. Again, these trees are differently-colored versions of previous releases. But hey, as long as they have new Mastery ratings, we're in the clear. Right?

    Purple Bubblegum Tree – 7 Farm Cash (3 Farm Cash on Sale)
    Giant Purple Bubblegum Tree – 12 Farm Cash (12 Farm Cash on Sale)
    Red Gem Tree – 7 Farm Cash (4 Farm Cash on Sale)
    Giant Red Gem Tree – 12 Farm Cash (8 Farm Cash Sale)


And again, all of these trees have their own Mastery ratings. Though the rewards are standard fare across the board, who doesn't want some extra XP, coins and automatic bragging rights through those signs?

Purple Bubble Gum Tree:

    Mastery Level 1: 75 harvests / Rewards: 25 XP and 500 Coins
    Mastery Level 2: 150 harvests / Rewards: 75 XP and 1,500 Coins
    Mastery Level 3: 225 harvests / Rewards: 250 XP and 5,000 Coins, Mastery Sign


Giant Purple Bubble Gum Tree:

    Mastery Level 1: 75 harvests / Rewards: 25 XP and 500 Coins
    Mastery Level 2: 150 harvests / Rewards: 75 XP and 1,500 Coins
    Mastery Level 3: 225 harvests / Rewards: 250 XP and 5,000 Coins, Mastery Sign

Birthday Tree Mastery Signs
Red Gem Tree:

    Mastery Level 1: 75 harvests / Rewards: 25 XP and 500 Coins
    Mastery Level 2: 150 harvests / Rewards: 75 XP and 1,500 Coins
    Mastery Level 3: 225 harvests / Rewards: 250 XP and 5,000 Coins, Mastery Sign


Giant Red Gem Tree:

    Mastery Level 1: 75 harvests / Rewards: 25 XP and 500 Coins
    Mastery Level 2: 150 harvests / Rewards: 75 XP and 1,500 Coins
    Mastery Level 3: 225 harvests / Rewards: 250 XP and 5,000 Coins, Mastery Sign


Pink Whispering WillowFinally, a lone decoration has been introduced to the farm, the Pink Whispering Willow. It may look like a tree, but this is not a tree in traditional FarmVille terms. The pleasantly pink tree is available now for 3 Farm Cash, though that's a sale price.

If you're interested, pick it up now before it bumps back up to 5 Farm Cash. Considering how far away we are from the actual birthday, expect plenty more where this came from.

[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak, FarmVille Feed]

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Second Birthday coverage right here.

Have you already picked up any of these items, or do you plan on it? Which of these new birthday items is most exciting? What do you think of this year's birthday celebration?