Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Well here we are..4 days into 2015 and hopefully everyone is off to a great start! 2014 was such a great year for us here at Addicts. We saw tons of new features (like Open Thread, Showoff etc), LOADS of new Players (we love you newbies!), tens of thousands of comments (we LOVE what you guys have to say!), and tons of giveaways! And now we want YOUR help to make 2015 even better!
Here’s the deal….we want to hear from YOU…the most amazing readers on the planet….about what you love about our site, what you hate about it & what you think we could be doing better (or would love to see). Here’s your chance to sound off and let us know exactly how you feel, please don’t hold back. We want to hear it all…the good, the bad & the ugly. Leave us a note in the comments below about what you think. Not comfortable leaving your name? Not a problem, write it up as anonymous. Not comfortable leaving us your thoughts in the comment section? Not a problem, email them to us at TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com.
We value your opinion greatly here at Addicts and want to do everything we can to make this site your favorite spot for all things TSTO, so please don’t leave anything out!
For example…Do you:
-want to see us do more YouTube videos?
-want more game posts, or less posts?
-want more of our personal lives or want us to shut up about them?
-want more from Bunny or less?
-want to hear more from Wookiee or you want me to lock him back up in Attic?
-want more 2D? Or less design posts?
-think we need guest writers?
The list could go on and on….Nothing is off limits, so please share your thoughts with us. We can’t wait to see what you have to say!
Hey Addicts,
Sorry it took me so long to post, but I just came up with a great idea to make an already great website greater! Would you guys be open to the idea of having conspiracy games?
Explain… Send us an email. tstoaddictsblog@gmail.com
Hi, I think you guys do a great job and this isn’t a criticism at all, but one thing I would like to see is less (or quicker) moderation. There are a lot of questions that the community can answer, we shouldn’t have to rely on your expertise all the while – in fact the community can often provide better answers than just the 3 of you. Obviously I’m not talking about questions that require specialist knowledge, but more along the lines of “Is anyone else experiencing ….?” or “What would you recommend I do about…?”.
Maybe there could be a thread for general chit-chat, like the Sunday one, but all week, which is less moderated. If two folk in Europe have a thread exchange going on it can be that there’s only 1 post per day – which doesn’t make for a very dynamic exchange of ideas!
If we had that ability… we would be happy to give it. Our forums are there for that purpose. The site, well… we have to follow the standards of WordPress. The ONLY options are ALL or NONE. So we have to let ALL comments auto post or NONE. Sadly, with all the trolls and others out their that use this for their abuse tool, we can’t allow auto posting. If we did, the site gets flooded with hacks, cheats, hate speech, language, abuse…. on n on n on (trust me we tested it). We prefer our site to NOT turn into troll heaven or get shut down for inappropriate content. There is SO much our readers never see as the moderation blocks it all. We have to clear our spam folder many times daily. It is more for protection of all.
We are still exploring other options, but for now… this is the best we can offer. Sorry.
Well I think everything you do is great, and I know most others feel the same. I am very greatful to have such a helpful, entertaining site to read up on when I need it, so thank you for all your hard work.
I suggest reorganising your menu and the items underneath where needed. For example, the basic game content and how-to’s in one place, how game content relates to show content in another. I would be inclined to put the building and character guides and walkthroughs under the same menu item, but that’s just me, there are no absolutely correct ways of doing this, just your continued efforts at a logical structure that might appeal to newbie/veteran tsto players and addicts readers.
I would like a pink “donut alert” to highlight blog posts about walkthroughs which lead to free donuts. I go without reading walkthroughs if possible ’cause I prefer to just play, but would like to make sure I don’t miss out on bonus donuts where the requirements are not obvious, or even donuts EA intend to give out, but don’t because of glitches. I think you do often include donut graphics in the body of the post, but these don’t necessarily appear “before the jump”.
I also hope you lot realise how good you are at all this! Wishing you a wonderful 2015. : D
Weekly Springfield showcase, every month have a different theme, Christmas in July and show the 4 best springfields. I think that would be sweet
More Poles.
I like to read people’s comments, but sometime there are too many to read. Poles takes out a lot of the guess work.
The other thing I like is your “should I buy series”. I’d like to see that combined into a easy-to-read chart, comparing it with similar items. As a free-player, I appreciate the work you put into those, but I won’t be buying them anytime soon. However, with a handy chart… who knows, maybe next Black Friday!
I have noticed quite a few posts that refer to portions of the site already existing, yet undiscovered… this does suggest navigation challenges are present, and I say this being a longtime voyeur of these blogs (agreeing with SS in regards to heading to you guys first 😉 knowing that alot of the info is there… maybe weekly “newsletter” for members? A summary of the most popular / regular… feature columnists… funny submission pictures??? Then a weekly newsletter links page pointing the news topics, creating a “news” article version of the site? Option to stream in feeds, videos?
Absolutely love this site! It’s my go to site for all that is tapped out. One thing that would be cool is an occasional post where people could discuss things they would like to see in the game but aren’t currently there. Where is Helen Lovejoy?!? 😀
Before I make any suggestions, I first have to reiterate what I’ve said here many times before – this site, and you guys, are truly marvelous! I spent time looking at several TSTO sites when I first started playing, but this one is the one that I’ve made my TSTO “home,” mostly thanks to the wonderful vibe you’ve created here. I’ve done some similar things at work and in my personal life, and I’m amazed that you’re able to do all that you do in your “spare time,” not as a full-time job!
So, with all that being said, here are a few thoughts I’ve had so far about improvements for the site….
> I agree with some of the comments about making things a bit more organized and easier to find. I also echo the comments about wishing we could edit our posts after submitting them, but I suspect this is a WordPress limitation that you have no control over. I saw several other suggestions I wanted to second, but I can’t remember what they were off-hand, so I’ll stick to making new ones now…
> It would be great if you could pin the current top 7 most popular questions, and links to their answers, (not articles, just this one-sentence question followed by the link) at the top of the page, to maybe cut down on the people asking the same questions a zillion times. Some of the top 7 would change, depending on what was going on in the game – I picked “7” because I’m thinking that a couple are always going to be there (troubleshooting and reporting to EA, maybe), which would leave 5 to change as necessary.
> I’m not sure of the best way to do this, but I’d love to see more encouragement of interaction between users. Most of the posts are users expressing something or asking questions and then a moderator responding to it. I’d live to see more dialog between users. The Sunday Night thread is a definite step in that direction, but I’d love to see more…for example, I think some users could answer other user’s questions (especially when they’re repeats) and save you guys some work. (Although, given the moderation approval time lag, maybe that would make the person with the Winston have to wait too long for an answer…hmm….)
> Moving from interpersonal to analytical, I would love if this site had tables of data (e.g., all buildings, what they cost, what they earn, what they do to the CoM, who uses them, who came with them, etc.). And, if you could make those tables sortable, I’d be in heaven! However, I do realize that this is a big ask, and that not only would it take a lot of time to create them, it would take a lot of ongoing work to maintain them. But I can dream, can’t I? 😉
Thanks, again, for all that you do and, if you didn’t make a single change to this website, but just continued to maintain it as is, “dayenu.”
I agree regarding interactions between users, it’s been kinda cool to start a few TSTO neighborinos through recent posts, perhaps the more popular of these do get highlighted to the top of posts, perhaps by popular / regular users? This could encourage more interaction and replies… Perhaps highest likes / replies of a user per week, a couple of easy-ish changes to try and get people to respond more. I see so many great Springfields from my neighbors, I know there are some seriously addicted / dedicated tappers out there, be good to connect with a few more, maybe give users an ability to follow others?
The one feature I would like to see is a more thorough explanation of new characters. I’m clearly a big fan of The Simpsons but I simply do not posses the encyclopedic knowledge of every episode like Wookie does. When writing the “where did that come from post” about a new character I would love to see the cartoon origin behind each in-game task. In what episode does Super Nintendo Chalmers “break character” or when does Sanjay party like it’s on sale for $19.99? These are the things I’ve always wondered and think it would make a great addition to your posts. Think of things to give the readers they can not learn from just playing through the game.
What a great idea to start Sunday open thread early. I suggest 6pm GMT so we can all have afternoon tea before hand, watch the football and finish in time for the last tango in Halifax.
I think this blog is great, you’ve got a very positive vibe without being apologists for EA. The Where Did That Come From posts are really appreciated as they give extra context to items that could otherwise seem like an insignificant addition to the game.
I would love to see more town designs, it’s amazing to see what different ideas can be achieved with the same building blocks.
I love it when you can make Ralph run circles around a tree!! It’s rare, and you can keep it going till he has to do a quest!
If it’s not broke don’t fix it. You guys are doing a great job.
I think what you guys do is great!
Something I have kind of been looking for is a comparison between the benefits of getting premium items with bonuses versus a character and/or building.
I’m a freemium player and I’ve spent donuts on getting decoration items with payout bonuses and I’ve been able to get a character. I’ve always wondered what was the better buy. The added bonus or having a character/building that generate money?
So maybe some more posts about that kind of stuff.
this post is for both your sites. TSTO and FGQFS. I don’t think I would need to repeat myself again on the other site 🙂 .
I could only think of 1 thing that you can add. since you guys are doing a super awesome job already 🙂 . If anything, I am a type of person that really likes those funny, captured moments in time that only happen once or are very hard to capture again. I would really like to see the capture this post with more content into those really funny moment that are screen captured. Maybe you guys can have a top 10 capture pics rather then 1 pic of the week.
Not a bad idea 🙂
I know both events put us behind on both sites with some of our regular posts (like caption this & Showoff)…hopefully now that the major events are done we’ll be able to get back into some of our regular posts. (especially since Winter is notoriously slow for TSTO)
I think adding a search feature to your site would be great. Often I need info about something and it takes forever to find it. It would save you time as well so you wouldn’t have to answer questions about things that have already been posted. Granted I’m no programmer so I have no idea how difficult this would be to implement but, it would be nice. I would also like to see more info about the items in the game. What’s worth buying, if certain items help boast the conformometer better than others, etc….. There does seem to be a lot of rambling posts on here about nonsensical things but, hey other people might love those and I’d never want to take something someone loves away. I think it’s great that you asked what we think though. Thanks for the site and all the great info and laughs over the year!!!
We actually have 2 search features. One on the side bar and one on the top page links (that one is better than the side bar one). 🙂
I’ve tried using the sidebar one and it took me to the internet. It didn’t search your site at all. I figured it was an ad thing. I don’t see one on the top of the page. I’m using an I-pad if that matters. I saw where someone else said about a drop down or a side bar of old post and info, maybe that would work better.
Hmm I’ll have to look at the sidebar one. I know it works just fine on my desktop, but it’s been a while since I’ve looked at the site from a tablet perspective. As far as the other one…there’s a link across the top that says SEARCH. It will take you off of TSTO Addicts (to a Google Site) but it will search TSTO Addicts. Here’s the direct link for it:
https://www.google.com/cse/publicurl?cx=017661807458417428511:hfkahgtphjy
I would love to see more design stuff! Pictures of well design towns and how to make buildings more interesting, and so on!
I really like your website as it is. The explanations of new levels or events are good and clear and the calenders are a lot of help, so are the responses to comments.
I would like to echo a few others on here with easier access (like the calenders in the side-bar) for question-answer posts or should I buy posts to make it easier to navigate. And I’d love to see more towns of others or design tips.
First off, your site is awesome so thanks for keeping up all the hard work on it! Anyway, I think a couple of guest authors might be cool occasionally, but one a month MAX! You could have a piece for example from the tapper of the month like you did before/someone who won a design contest gets to talk about their town with their inspiration for the design or maybe a quick how-to. Overall though I like your articles so 😛 I’m not too bothered about videos/design specific threads but I guess they’re nice to do when we have gaps between events (I don’t really remember having much of a break lately though!) I thought the point of the FB page was just to alert you to new posts and as such don’t see any point in putting more stuff on there when we have your awesome site to visit with a simple tap. The only thing I would like is maybe an easier way to find stuff, like a bit of a site update I guess? Such as a character page leading all the chars which links to how to unlock them and their mad men/housewives/kidz page. Same for a level page where you can easily find the level’s content, quick walkthrough and full dialogue.
All the best for 2015! 🙂
P.S. I know you have your level walkthrough under tips and tricks but I mean updating it with links to more content etc 🙂 I can’t find a page about Kent Brockman for example, just his name.
I feel that the weekly summary of what has been posted is not really necessary as I hardly look at it myself. Maybe something for you to consider to offload yourself
I agree. I was wondering the other day what the reason for that article is, but then I realized that maybe not everyone obsessively reads your site throughout the week like I do lol! But I wouldn’t be sorry to see that one go either, especially if it would lighten your load even a little bit.
I agree too, I always skip over them because I already read every article.
Sometimes I want to post pictures with comments but I do not know how to do it. Hope to see this feature explained or made available. Thanks for the good job
Good idea 🙂
TSTO Addicts is probably the best site in the world I really want to thank Bunny, Alissa, and last, but not least, the Wookie. I don’t think you need to change anything in 2015 I think this website is perfect because it id helpful to many viewers. What I like most about this website is that this website really helped me on getting Zutroy because initially I had no clue that you could receive Zutroy. When I read this I contacted EA and I got the character. Thank you all. This website is very meaningful to me because this game is so fun and with this website it helps me and makes me enjoy this game.
awesome site guys, my main source for all things tapped out since i’ve been playing this game for real. so since you asked, here is what i wouldn’t mind seeing in 2015:
– redesign/update of the desktop ui.
– redesigned or higher definition header splash/logo.. maybe even a contest for users to create it!
– also regarding the header, because of the redundancy of the title text and the spash/logo, i’m left wondering if the motto of the site is “All Things The Simpsons Tapped Out for the Tapped Out Addict in All of Us” or “A Welcoming Community for Players Who Take Life One Tap At A Time”. i mean, i guess it can be both, i’m just sayin…
– lastly, i’ll be blunt… pre-moderation of comments sucks! i’m not gonna lie, this is the only site i visit daily that still hasn’t transitioned to some form of post/reactive moderation. i respect your guys’ decision either way, but users, especially those that frequent the site, wanna be able to respond instantly to comments!
thanks for everything, and happy 2015 to all!
Good points. 🙂
The only issue with the comment moderation is there are 3 options. ALL comments go into moderation, all get posted right away, or once 1 comment has been approved for a player they all get instantly approved.
The problem with the third option is we have regulars who sometimes have a bad day and say something they shouldn’t…that would then get through and be posted. Also, sometimes (ok a lot of times) Add Me Requests are posted all over the site. By holding them in moderation it allows us to delete them so they don’t over take every post. And finally…holding them in moderation allows us to answer questions we might otherwise miss. I would LOVE to have an option where we can give certain users instant approval. Unfortunately, Word Press isn’t setup like that. It’s an all or nothing system.
All the fan sites I use monitor posts before they go public. I agree with this policy as my children often use these sites for information. It does seem like a lot of work for the site staff though. It’s kinda sad these policies have to be in place because, people can’t be trusted to be appropriate on their own accord.