FrontierVille: Build a Pavilion and Hammer Forge to collect one billion hammers for the Pioneer Trail

Phew, just try saying that five times fast. Actually, where was I? Oh yes, Zynga has officially started rolling out the beginnings of the FrontierVille Pioneer Trail, through a One Billion Hammers event that places the power to open the Pioneer Trail in our hands. Through this event, we'll be able to construct two new structures, and will be able to share Golden Hammers between friends. The entire community will pool their progress together automatically, and when we reach one billion Golden Hammers collectively, Pioneer Jack will finally open the Pioneer Trail to us all. To be clear, it does look like this event has a time limit, as we're told that the Pioneer Trail will launch in the future either way, even if we never make it to one billion, as the end goal will see us receiving the expansion "early."

Unfortunately, this feature is a slow rollout, as all tend to be, but we'll make sure you're as prepared as possible for when the event finally launches in your game. First things first, you'll be able to place both a Pavilion and Hammer Forge on your land. The Pavilion will change in shape and complexity as you collect Golden Hammers, and will then reward you with exclusive new items as you reach certain stockpile levels. The Hammer Forge, meanwhile, allows you to earn free Golden Hammers by collecting its daily bonus. However, you'll need to build it first (c'mon, it couldn't all be that easy).

The Hammer Forge requires 10 each of Forge Hinges, Forge Gears and Forge Chains, all of which can be earned through general wall posts. In addition, you'll need 15 each of Forge Levers, Forge Molds and Forge Bolts, which are earned through individual requests to friends. Once completed, you'll be able to earn Golden Hammers by simply collecting the Forge's Daily Bonus, but you can also add to your progress by clicking on the "Do Your Part" button on the new Hammer meter at the top of the gameplay screen.

You see, as all of our progress is being counted as one total, we'll be able to keep track of how many Golden Hammers have currently been sent using a new bar at the top of the screen. The bar will refresh with the current total every 15 seconds, and by clicking on "Do Your Part," as seen below, you can ask your friends for even more Golden Hammers.

As for the Pavilion, it comes equipped with a new menu that will allow you to track your own individual progress on collecting hammers. As you reach certain amounts (20, 50, 150 and 350 Golden Hammers), you'll receive exclusive rewards as a way to thank you for contributing to the cause. You can also manually send out Hammers to friends by clicking on the Golden Hammer icon, instead of just waiting for them to come to you.

When we as an entire gameplay community reach the one billion hammer level, Zynga will donate $200,000 to Save the Children, and we'll finally gain access to the Pioneer Trail. This means that now, perhaps more than ever before, it really matters that you play the game regularly, as you're not only affecting your own game, but helping to move us closer and closer to this highly anticipated new feature. So what are you waiting for!? Get into your game and see if you can send Golden Hammers already! I'll go and pack our bags for our trip to the Pioneer Trail!

[Image Credit: Zynga]

What do you think of this new One Billion Hammers event? Would you rather Zynga simply announce a launch date for the Pioneer Trail, rather than leaving it in the hands of users, or do you like this amount of power that we've been given? Sound off in the comments.