FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Goals: Everything you need to know for Day Eight

It's time to go huntin' this Christmas in the eighth day of FrontierVille's 12 Days of Christmas Goals series. Today, in "On the Eighth Day O' Christmas," it's all about clobbering some Groundhogs, but you'll need to coax them out of the ground. Thankfully, part of this Goal is to do just that. Apparently, these little buggers love Potatoes, so plant 28 of them and another 38 Tomatoes for good measure.

Your total cost for all 66 crops is going to be 3,740 coins and take over four hours to plant and harvest at least, but that's if you even have the room for so many crops. Between 66 crops harvested, you're sure to find at least 8 Groundhogs, but remember that the chance is random. If you're looking to get this Goal done quickly, you could always use a Boost from the Upgraded General Store, but that will set you back pretty far. Complete this Goal and a Boost Set for both Potatoes and Tomatoes is all yours. Gee, thanks for giving us something we could have used four hours ago. (Don't you hate when that happens?)

Find the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

FarmVille scams are out of control; Zynga can stop them with Goals

It seems that at least once a day a new FarmVille scammer emerges, and we're always here to report the news, spread the word in warning. Unfortunately, that's about where our powers of prevention stop. Admittedly, I am no security expert, so suggesting methods for either Zynga or Facebook to track and thwart these scam artists is beyond my knowledge. However, the creators of FarmVille have one tool to impede the scammers' progress: the game itself.

Thanks to the release of FrontierVille, there has not been a more powerful feature at the hands of Zynga: Goals. In fact, these series of requirements guiding players into new content have been incorporated into every one of its games since. Even the original FarmVille has seen its fair share of Goals. These Goals make themselves known before the player can even resume their daily routine of farming or city management.

FarmVille Scam
It's been said that the ultimate prevention is education, and considering that stopping these scammers would be a job in itself, this is likely the best method to bring their impact to a screeching halt. Isn't this exactly what Goals do? They educate players in new ways to interact with features and content, most times without the player even realizing it. It's a brilliant method, really.

Zynga could easily create Goals detailing the dangers of News Feed scams and the like through all of its games. Of course, the Goals would have to be available to all players regardless of their progress. More importantly, they would have to be included in the first few levels of each for brand new players months from now to learn of the dangers of News Feed scams. Sure, some players are likely asking their computer screens, "How does fit in with the overall theme of the game?"

FrontierVille Goals
It doesn't nor does it have to. When is the last time the words "This doesn't fit with our theme" stop Zynga from introducing McDonald's to FarmVille? It sure didn't stop the company from adding a new building surrounding Intuit, the business website builder service to the game. (Not to mention a bear using a laptop within the loading screen.) So, somehow simulating a scam situation and tasking players with making the right moves to prevent its effects--and later spread--doesn't sound unreasonable.

How the Goals would look and play is entirely up to Zynga. In fact, this would be in the company's best interest, no? Surely the FarmVille scams have scared plenty of players away. Better yet, this would likely reduce call after call into Zynga customer support for something that's generally out of their control. But it doesn't have to be. Instead of releasing the next big feature, push it back and release some educational Goals--this is far more important than the next Crafting Building.

[Image Credit: Virus Removal Support]

Have you fallen victim to a FarmVille scam before? Do you think this would be helpful in preventing future successful scams?

Cafe World 4X Cooking Station Goals: Everything you need to know

Earlier this evening, we brought you a detailed guide on how to build and use your new 4X Cooking Station in Cafe World - a helpful tool that will see you saving space by combining four stoves into one, without losing the functionality of any of them. To help further introduce us to this feature, Zynga has also announced the release of a six-part goal series entitled simply " 4X Cooking Station." Without further ado, let's jump straight into our goal guide, so you can start using your new toy sooner, rather than later.

4X Cooking Station

Place your Cooking Station
Serve Chips and Guacamole 7 Times
Ask for 4 Seating Charts

The ultimate prize of these goals is a new recipe, but to get there, you'll have to first place your Cooking Station, which is available for free the next time you login. You'll need to ask your friends for the Seating Charts, and in the meantime can finish off the Chips and Guacamole, which take just three minutes to prepare. Ok, so you'll likely have those finished long before you can earn your four Seating Charts, but at least the cooking portion of this one was easy, right?

I Can Fix That

Serve Pita and Dolmas 15 Times
Ask for 7 Handwritten Jokes
Have 6 Gas Pipes

The Gas Pipes are a building ingredient for constructing the 4X Cooking Station, so you'll earn them by default if you're actually attempting to build it (check out our guide to doing so). As for the Pita and Dolmas, a single serving takes four hours to prepare.

Elbow Grease

Serve 30 Savory Stuffed Turkeys
Ask for 8 Copper Coils
Ask for 6 Multi-tools

Here's where things become a bit more time-consuming, as you'll not only have to ask for more materials from your friends, but the Savory Stuffed Turkeys take 22 hours to prepare. Allow me to remind you that you can also bust out some extra servings from your Gift Box, or use some spices to speed up the process.

Kitchen Support

Serve 35 Voodoo Chicken Salad
Ask for 8 Rust-Proof Bolts
Have 10 Steel Panels

Again, the Steel Panels are another building material for the 4X Cooking Station construction, so this isn't an extra step (thank goodness). The Voodoo Chicken Salads, meanwhile, can be prepared in 12 hours.

Eggy for All

Serve Gem Cake 50 Times
Ask for 9 Atomic Eggs
Ask for 8 Wonderous Bread

While this goal itself may not unlock your new recipe, it does give us an idea of what to expect: eggs and bread. To find out exactly what the recipe is though, we'll need to push on, cooking each of the 50 Gem Cakes for 12 hours. Finish this goal and you'll receive the Eggy Award, a wall plaque of sorts, celebrating Siggy's many achievements in inventing culinary masterpieces.

It's Alive

Finish Building the Cooking Station
Cook with the Cooking Station 3 Times
Ask for 12 Quark Cheese

By this point, if you have already completed construction of the Cooking Station, you should be able to finish the cooking portion with incredible ease, depending on the cooking time of the dishes you choose to prepare. If you'd like, you can make more profits by cooking a dish with a longer prep-time, as you'll likely be stranded waiting for your friends to send you the Quark Cheese anyhow. Either way, when finishing off this goal series, you'll receive the Eggy in a Basket recipe, and will now be the proud owner of a space-saving 4X Cooking Station.

While these goals aren't terribly complicated, a few of them might be a bit time-consuming even if only for the fact that their required dish(es) take so long to cook. With a little perseverance though, you'll be able to finish them eventually. Luckily, there doesn't appear to be a time limit associated with them either, so take your time if you're feeling overwhelmed by what is probably a really full plate in your game right now.

Are you happy to see more goals released in Cafe World? What do you think of the 4X Cooking Station? Is it worth completing these goals and building a new item, just to save a few squares of space?