CityVille Havering Manor: Add citizens to your town the expensive way

While I would like to tell you that CityVille's newest limited edition home is affordable, I unfortunately can't. No, the Havering Manor costs a whopping 70 City Cash, and that's just for a single building! Granted, this estate is quite large, taking up a lot of space on your land, but isn't that also another negative? With expansions and land space going for high costs now, is it worth building this large of a structure, especially when it costs this much to do?

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this. Either way, if you're interested in purchasing the Havering Manor, you'll receive a starting population of 1750 citizens, which can be expanded to a huge number - 4,500 citizens - over time (by randomly receiving population boosts when you or your friends collect the Manor's rent).

To add a bit of a complication to the Havering Manor, even if the price tag isn't too high for you, but you do need to save up some City Cash, you unfortunately don't have that luxury. The Havering Manor will only be available in the store for the next day, and whether it will ever be re-released after this initial launch is anyone's guess. Who knows? It may come back, but at an even higher price (don't put it past Zynga). Ultimately, purchasing one will be up to you, but I wouldn't blame you for turning your nose up at the idea and moving on.

Will you / have you purchase(d) the Havering Manor before it expires in CityVille? Do you think 70 City Cash is an acceptable price, considering the large boost in population this one provides?

FarmVille Fairy Hollow Items: Butterfly Dog, Fall Ribbon Flower Tree and more

It's unusual for Zynga to launch a new theme in FarmVille right before a major holiday, but apparently, with Halloween being tomorrow, the developer has decided to launch a new theme now, so that it will be available in the time after, between Halloween and Thanksgiving. That theme is Fairy Hollow, and the first batch of items in the theme has launched in the store this evening. There are trees, animals, decorations and even avatar costumes available in this theme - here's a look at what's available.

Trees

Fall Ribbon Flower Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Big Fall Ribbon Flower Tree - 14 Farm Cash
Golden Fairy Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Golden Fairy Tree - 14 Farm Cash

While these pairs of trees are brand new, if they look a bit familiar, it's because they're re-colorings of trees we've seen in the game before. Keep that in mind, the rehashing technique is used throughout this entire theme. As usual, you'll only need to purchase the normal version of each of these two trees, as the Big Fall Ribbon Flower Tree and Giant Golden Fairy Tree can be earned for free from Mystery Seedlings.

Animals

Butterfly Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Butterfly Dog - 12 Farm Cash
Butterfly Rabbit - 12 Farm Cash
Butterfly Sheep - 20 Farm Cash
Yellow-Eyed Penguin - 1 million coins
Butterfly Pig - 18 Farm Cash

Here, many of these animals are, without the wings, just basic versions of animals you likely already have on your farm(s). Add the wings and you have these new animals, so ultimately, whether or not you purchase them will depend on how much you like their wings. As for the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, this one looks almost identical to the regular Penguin in the game, so you'll need to look closely at its yellow eye to really tell the difference.

Buildings

Fairy Mill - 20 Farm Cash

Other than the pastel colors, which go along with many of this theme's items, there's nothing really here that scream "fairy" to me, but I won't argue. If you're a building collector, you'll have to make the splurge either way.

Decorations

Wooden Gate - 10,000 coins
Fairy Godmother Gnome - 12 Farm Cash
Wooden Fence - 5,000 coins

The Wooden Gate and Wooden Fence were first sold back in the Fairy Garden event in August, and the Fairy Godmother Gnome was given away for free as a goal reward during that time. If you finished that goal then, you can save the 12 Farm Cash and just pull your old gnome out of storage to decorate for this theme.

Avatar Costumes

Butterfly I - 8 Farm Cash
Butterfly II - 8 Farm Cash

These costumes will allow even your avatar to join in on the butterfly / fairy fun, and could even work as a Halloween costume, if you've yet to choose one, but are willing to do so fast (that is, before Halloween proper passes). Just remember that you can try on these costumes to see if you really like the way your avatar looks with wings before you purchase them.

All of these items will be available in the game's store for the next two weeks. It will be interesting to see if this is a single-release theme or if more items are released in the future. If more items are launched, we'll make sure to let you know.

What do you think of these Fairy Hollow items? Were you hoping the end of October would see even more Halloween items released, or are you ready to move on?

CityVille Crew Pack saves you time on staffing your buildings

Along with the new Zoning Permit Expansion Packs launched in CityVille over the weekend comes a new Crew Pack that serves a similar function. This Crew Pack costs 25 City Cash and will give you a 20 Crew Member bonus that stays on your account until all 20 crew members have been used.

So, how does this work exactly? It's simple: When you go to build any kind of structure that requires you to staff your building by asking your friends to help, these 20 bonus crew members will be put to work instead, saving you the time it takes to ask your friends to help you (and wait for them to respond), along with saving your friends from some annoyance if they're tired of being sent to many requests.

Is this Crew Pack worth 25 City Cash? I suppose if you have a very limited supply of in-game neighbors, it would be the saving grace for actually being able to finish some community buildings and the like, but I personally don't think I'll be investing in this particular shortcut. Why? Just look at all of these farm-themed goodies that are still begging to be purchased!

Whatever your opinion on these Crew Packs, they won't be available to purchase forever, but are only available for a "limited time." Unfortunately, Zynga hasn't announced when the actual expiration date is, so your best bet would be to stock up now if you're interested in using these bonus crew members, even at a later date.

Will you purchase any Crew Packs for future use in your buildings? Let us know in the comments.