Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is adding more options for how your operators appear in-game.

The recently released Modern Warfare 4 beta has given players their first look at a ton of features, maps, and other content that will be available in the final game. Some of these things were heavily advertised before launch, such as the fluidity of movement and a new system that randomly generates gun builds for you.

One feature that was kept under wraps, however, allows players to equip different cosmetic items on the fly in-game. Ghost, for instance, can remove his mask (which comically reveals another cloth mask underneath) and put it back on. Valeria can equip a hockey mask. And Captain Price can smoke a cigar, which will appear on-screen in first-person at all times unless you take it out.

You Can Remove Ghost's Mask in Modern Warfare 4 using the NEW 'Operator Variant' Feature in the Emote Wheel: pic.twitter.com/ABJma6tvsy

this is the best MW4 mastercraft the cigar actually stays in ur mouth until you respawn lol pic.twitter.com/sFWQUrV02k

It's a fun touch and one that will almost certainly be taken advantage of in premium skins. As of right now, we're not sure what skins to expect in MW4, but Call of Duty has promised to keep things more grounded after fan backlash to previous games. Specifically, they said there will be "no Lady Gaga. No Omni-Man. No Teletubbies. No SpongeBob."

The fan reception on Modern Warfare 4's beta has been fairly divisive so far. Some fear that the game is a bit too fast, especially for having relatively small maps. The time-to-kill is extremely rapid, but Infinity Ward has addressed much of this feedback from fans so far. The studio has released patches for the beta addressing TTK, spawns, and is also looking to make improvements to the gunsmith system for launch.

IGN spoke with some of MW4's multiplayer leads last week ahead of the beta, and they made it clear this playtest is essential in helping shape the final game. "To me, this beta feels like the start of the conversation with the public, you know what I mean? We're excited to basically put that out there and we'll see what happens next. We want to just keep talking and keep learning and trying to find out what we can do better," said Jackie Reynolds, Modern Warfare 4's multiplayer design lead.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

We’re starting a new series at IGN called The Long Game, where we focus on things you can invest in early in new or popular games that will pay off in the long run. We’re starting this series with Stardew Valley, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary this year and is one of the most successful indie games of all time.

If you’ve never played Stardew Valley before, it’s a farming and life sim where you leave your job at a soulless corporation to manage a farm left to you by your deceased grandfather. The farm has seen better days, so it’s up to you to restore it to its former glory. That means clearing the land, tilling the soil, planting and watering seeds, and upgrading your home and equipment to gather items more efficiently.

As you might expect, those upgrades cost money. There are several ways to make that money, like fishing and mining, but harvesting and selling crops is the best way to keep a steady stream of income. And there are four specific plants that are the most cost-effective options at your disposal.

But before we get into those specific plants, we have some general farming tips for you to be aware of. First, you normally need to water your seeds every day for them to properly grow. But if it’s a rainy day, you can skip that step and let Mother Nature handle it for you. Check the TV in your farmhouse to see the weather report, which will tell you when rain is coming and help you plan ahead.

We also highly recommend crafting scarecrows and sprinklers as soon as you’re able to. Birds can sometimes swoop in and eat the crops you worked hard to grow, but scarecrows prevent that. And sprinklers will automatically water the area around them, allowing you to skip hand watering even when it’s not raining.

And finally, the seasons change every 28 days in Stardew Valley and almost every crop is seasonal, meaning they will wither when a new season begins. Since the game starts in spring, those are the crops we’ll be focusing on to gain wealth as early as possible and set you up for success.

This starter crop will be the foundation on which you build the rest of your farming journey. You get your first few seeds for free, and after that you can buy more for 20 gold each at Pierre’s General Store. They grow in four days, then can be sold back to Pierre for 35 gold each. Getting back nearly double what you paid for them can really add up in the long run, and it’s a good idea to keep a handful of parsnips planted throughout your first spring.

Because they have such a short growth time, if you stagger them with other crops, you’ll have consistent money coming in. But of course, this is just the start. Once you’ve made a little cash, you can incorporate the next crop into the mix.

You don’t need to boil ’em, mash ’em, or stick ’em in a stew to make potatoes worthwhile. They cost 50 gold at Pierre’s and can be sold back for 80, so there’s obviously more upfront cost but the profit is double that of parsnips. They also take six days to sprout, which is why you shouldn’t move on to exclusively farming these, just add them to the rotation.

While that’s all well and good, the true value of potatoes comes from the possibility of getting a double harvest. Every time you pull a potato from the ground, it has a 20% chance of having a surprise second potato with it. That requires some luck, but it’s a nice boost to your profits when it happens. And its sell price can help you move on to farming the next crop on the list.

A cauliflower seed costs 80 gold, the same amount you get back for selling a harvested potato. And you can sell cauliflower for a whopping 175 gold, giving it one of the biggest profit margins of any spring crop. The downside is that it takes 12 days to grow, which is nearly half the season. So you have to pay attention to the timing of when you plant them.

But if you’re patient and use the funds from harvesting potatoes to grow cauliflower, then you’re basically starting with a 50 gold investment into potato seeds and getting back 175 gold in the end. Plus, you’ll get a letter from Jodi requesting a fresh cauliflower, which she’ll give you 250 gold for. So it pays to be prepared ahead of time.

Our last recommendation is the most involved and requires a different approach to get the most out of it, but it’s the poster child for an early investment having a huge payoff down the line. You’ll first be able to buy strawberries during the Egg Festival on the 13th day of spring, where they cost 100 gold each. That’s expensive, but trust us, it’s worth it.

Make sure you have enough money to buy at least a handful, then plant most of the seeds immediately. Notice that we said most, not all. You should save some, and you’ll see why in a minute. Strawberries take eight days to grow, but once they mature, they’ll regrow a new strawberry in four days. And there’s a chance of you harvesting an extra strawberry, though the odds are much lower than potatoes. They sell for 120 apiece, and if you plant them ASAP, you’ll be able to harvest them twice before the first spring ends, meaning you can get 240 gold back for the 100 you spent on the original seed.

That’s a nice profit, but you’ll really start making bank once spring comes back around. In the second spring, on Day 1 you can plant the strawberry seeds you saved. With the ability to now take advantage of the full season, if you use a Speed-Gro fertilizer when you initially plant it, you can harvest strawberries six times. That’s a total of 720 gold made from the original 100 gold purchase, with any double harvests you luck into adding even more profit.

And that’s our list. If you’re hopping into Stardew Valley for the first time, was this helpful? Or if you’re a seasoned vet, was there something we missed? Let us know in the comments, and for more in The Long Game series, stay tuned to IGN.

Article authored by IGN Global and presented by Charles Schwab. IGN Global and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. are separate, unaffiliated companies.