Inactive Farmers

I did try to search, but the results kept bringing me to another game's forum... not sure what other games SC does :D didn't read them that closely

Meanwhile, I'm dangerously close to my 140 friend limit in game. I don't like adding people to facebook just to game with them. It hasn't gone well with other games in the past...
This only leaves me the option to cull. But I don't want to remove someone who plays when I'm away. We might both miss out on something. And I can't keep tabs on over 100 players. Of course I recognize some people as active, but there are lots of question marks.

So I'm wondering, is there any way to tell if a farm is inactive?

A few have been obviously inactive. For example, a building was purchased and sat for a good week without anyone opening the pretty package. That was an easy one to remove. Then some others who are very low level (when its fairly easy to level up), I give them a week to gain a level or make some RSS sales or something, and if there's no movement, I have to assume they quit and remove them.

This was working for a while, but now I'm really down to the minimum amount of people without REALLY getting into stalking them to figure it out. And who wants to stalk a dead farm? LOL (sorry if that's a bad joke, I have noticed the stalker complaints).


If there isn't a way to tell for sure... what is your strategy? or do you just get full and not care anymore?

I will look at their machines to see if any of them are running. I know my machines are pretty much constantly running, regardless if I am online or not. If not a single one is producing, that's a fairly obvious indication of inactivity. Also, all animals are either hungry or ready to collect from.

You can try checking to see if there is any land that has not been opened. Such as big tracts of land that were added sometime last year. On low level farms, you can try to make note of what level they are and come back to them in a a week or so to see if that has changed. Usually a player will level up whether they are trying or not early on.

I usually check to see if theres any changes with their crops that have been planted. Or if there are changes of the trees that need watering.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TroutnessEverdeen

I will look at their machines to see if any of them are running. I know my machines are pretty much constantly running, regardless if I am online or not. If not a single one is producing, that's a fairly obvious indication of inactivity. Also, all animals are either hungry or ready to collect from.

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I used to think that the machines running and animals being active was a sign of activity, but is not. I have a baby farm that I have not been able to access for a year, but if I visit my baby farm, the cows look like the have just been fed and my sugan and feed mill are running; so it is possible to have an inactive friend and their farm still showing signs of activity.

When I'm curious I do a screenshot & compare with new shot a few days later.

The easiest way for me is to check the status of their bees.

if the bees are working, then the person has been actively playing in the last 20 or so minutes

if the bees are not working, then I take a mental screen shot of the nectars, how many, any white?

if the nectars have changed the next time I look, then there has been activity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WussyPuss

The easiest way for me is to check the status of their bees.

if the bees are working, then the person has been actively playing in the last 20 or so minutes

if the bees are not working, then I take a mental screen shot of the nectars, how many, any white?

if the nectars have changed the next time I look, then there has been activity.

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I play every day but I dont have my bees working all the time.

some very good ideas here! maybe not any single one, but I didn't think to check for bees - that's a good sign - for lower levels I also consider how long the same items have been sitting in their shop. I do border on stalking (I visit everyone like at least once every couple of hours), but that doesn't work for higher levels. They may not collect because they don't need the coin.

I was really hoping for an "Aha!" moment :D but still, some things to consider, and I very much appreciate your feedback :)

part of me wishes I could add more people, but it already takes me 10 minutes to do a single round of visiting, so 140 is optimal for me.

Well there is one person in my friend list who still has 'happy new year 2017' in their name... :D But other than that, I don't know! :saywhat:

I know I'm not a very efficient player, so there probably are times when none of my machines are running. I play every day, though!