Wishful Features: Helping friends in CityVille for personal gain

I've been really enjoying CityVille. I'm level 16 now, and it seems as if leveling up is faster in CityVille than a lot of other social games. I'm actually appreciating the fast pace, and it's keeping the game fresh for me. One thing that has been getting on my nerves, is how helping out within your neighbor's city does not give you quest benefits. Here's an example.

Right now, I have the "Harvest Bird Feed" quest, and I need to harvest 6 corn. I planted six corn yesterday, and because it takes a full 24 hours before it can be harvested, I logged in today to harvest it and complete the quest. Before I harvested it, I accepted my friend's help accidentally without checking to see what they would be helping with, and my friend harvested all my corn. I was very disappointed because 1 full day is a long time to wait to harvest a crop.

I presumed that all I needed to do was harvest 6 corn, since that is what the quest told me to do. I visited each of my neighbors and finally found one that had corn grown and ready to harvest, so I happily clicked on the two remaining corn that I needed to complete my quest. Lo and behold, they didn't count for the quest. Disappointedly, I went back and planted more corn and now I have to wait a day before they're ready to harvest.

I wish that quests in CityVille were more literal. If it wants me to just harvest a crop, why does it matter why I harvest it from? It is a social game after all, where my actions that I take with friends should matter. Needless to say, I'm a bit irritated at the moment but I'll be back tomorrow to finish this silly pigeon quest.

Wishful Features is a new regular column on Games.com - The Blog in which we talk about the features we wish were present in our favorite social games. Leave your ideas and feedback in the comments!