Hey there Hoppereenos,
Bouncing by really quick as I am seeing a LOT of questions from players in regards to the St. Patrick’s Day questline if you own Brandine AND have her currently brewing a Spuckler. 
During O’Flan-again Part 6, there is a task for Cletus to “Catch Green Creatures” that also activates one for Brandine to “Prepare a Moonshine Bath”.
Due to my Brandine was a month in busy baby making it cost me 25 donuts to speed up the task to completion, birth the baby, and have her free to complete Part 6. (My fear is they knew this and it’s why they drastically dropped rush rate on her. Normally 800 to 1000 donuts, it is now smaller and more manageable, but still… Donut loss.)
As this is a situation there is NO way around without loss somewhere, EA was contacted and still waiting for word back… so… in usual fashion…. help me light up the forums on this one. Again, only way around this is she has to be stored and time lost on birth…. or spend the donuts. I don’t like either option.
(You can also contact them if you’d like.)
Is this stopping your progress? Did you Contact EA? Did you get any results? Let us know.
~Bunny
UPDATE: No solid confirmation of the fix as of yet, just “they are working on it” still. I am hoping that a fix does come soon, if not… it will be up to YOU. Is it worth it to store her? Pay to speed the birth? Or better off contacting EA to see if they will compensate you the cost it will take to speed her? Just remember if you DO reach out to EA, kindness goes a long way. 😉
Not sure if you’re aware, but this did resolve itself late last week. It just moved on as though I didn’t have Brandine.
Not for me. I’m still stuck at Brandine’s part of the quest. I’m not holding out hope that EA will fix this, but I am planning on waiting until April 20th to rush her so I can complete the quest.
Same for me.
Oh! Sorry to hear that, guys. I don’t understand why it worked for me then. I just logged in one day and the St. Pat’s quest was gone. I freed up Tom, then it prompted to send him off to do the eight hour task and then boom…got the beer. It was as if I didn’t have Brandine, but she’s still there.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and anybody else still waiting for resolution!
I am incredibly disappointed in the inconsistent treatment that EA has given different Tappers. Also, I find it sad that EA created this problem, and they won’t even explain why this happened. It sadly has sapped my passion for this game. After Christmas, I started spending $20 per month on a truck of donuts as a monthly treat to myself. I am going to stop doing that from now on and just go to being a Freeium player and probably check out for a while after this event is over.
I got in touch with EA as well and I realise that the customer support responds differently to different people over the same issue. I was initially offered 15 donuts for the inconvenience plus an assurance that the developers had been contacted. I very politely argued my case and got the full 20 donut refund in the end. Lesson being – don’t give up and contact them again if you didn’t succeed the first time 😀
during this event you can win 20+ donuts each phase. I was able to get the 3 donut bonus at least 20 times throughout from rods to rays. Extremely generous if you consider bonuses from past events that have yielded donuts. Plus 20 more for free from st. Patrick’s day. i spent 20 donuts I would rather not have on Brandine but i was able to win them all back as everyone else should have.
regardless of whether people have been able to tap as often as you or i did, whatever hard-earned bonus donuts they HAVE earned should not have to be subject to what amounts to forfeiture simply because a programming oversight was probably made. i have no proof of this of course, but it seems unlikely (and unfair) that they would intentionally force one group of people with a particular premium character to complete a task that the other group of people sans premium character can just bypass in order to unlock the event prize. so while it’s your prerogative to eat the 20 donuts and not try to contact ea to get those donuts reimbursed, i don’t think anybody else has to, or should, settle for that.
Oh…and I also posted a similar update (to my comment here) on the official board and actually used that link myself to build my case. So perhaps if you do the same you will have better luck as well.
I just talked to EA, and they told me that they cannot help. That I ought to keep my eye on the real EA boards as nothing said on here will be considered as truth regarding players getting donuts.
I was told to put it on their forums, so the developpers would know of it. I just think it is unfair. Either give everyone the solution of extra donuts or nobody at all.
Posts on the real EA boards like this one?http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Simpsons-Tapped-Out/Brandine-and-the-Saint-Patricks-Day-questline/m-p/4422865#M98956
I had no satisfaction contacting EA through chat. I was totally polite and reasonable but the response was still, “I was advised that this issue is working as intended where you will have to make a choice if you are going to continue the 90 day task or if you will choose to cancel the task and go for the event. If you choose to cancel the task. We won’t be able to compensate you with this as this will be your choice. I am really sorry about it.” I did then directly ask for donuts to complete the task but no luck at all with that.
I rushed Brandline two days as well. So she did give a birth to a wonderfull little sprucker, the questionline said that he will go and “collect” the money, but nothing happend so far. How often does he supposed to collect his “income”?
You’ll see it floating over his head every couple of hours
It seems to be every 4 hours. At least it is for the 1 that I have, I don’t know if subsequent kids will be the same
I put in a request for EA to call me. Bill called me in less than a minute. I told him the issue and he credited me 20 donuts instantly.
So I tried contacting each AGAIN with no luck. I figured I would try again with all the success people are having in getting their donuts was worth a shot. I was told the support group is the only group capable of adding donuts or compensation and that why people are getting compensation or told their is a fix will be “investigated internally”. I am beginning to wonder if this has anything to do with me being a freemium player who saved up all those donuts and they are only compensating premium?
As one freemium player to another, if you haven’t already rushed her, I would just store her and get your free beer. It adds a permanent bonus percentage and in the long run, it is worth considerably more than the 30 or so days most players have put into birthing another Spuckler.
I contacted EA online and their response was: “As a matter of fact, we have received contacts from the other customers wherein they are also experiencing the same problem. Good thing is that, we have forwarded the issue to the development team and they are diligently working with Studio to fix this for the avid games like you as soon as possible.
I am adding 20 donuts as compensations in your account.”
I thanked the rep and he responded: “Don’t worry you are very much valuable and most precious player for us.”
Woot! Called EA and the support guy couldn’t have been more cool about the issue. He gave me free sprinkles enough to rush her birth and a few extra to “round up.” Pleasantly surprised how quick and courteous the EA help desk is and super appreciative of this site for all you do!
Well, it seems kindness really goes a long way after all.
I have just chatted with a represantative in the EA help center and was given 21 Donuts (the amount for rushing Brandine’s Task) after a quick check back with his superior.
The way I got into the chat was to first apologize for the inconvenience I was causing of being yet another player to complain about this issue – changed the whole athomsphere of the communication.
Just remember folks, those people at the front line are not responsible for the programming (I wish I was just once able to _speak_ to a programmer, I would have an awful lot of questions…) so they really can’t do anything about the bits and bytes working incorrectly OR for EA’s lack of communication if there’s something unpleasant to be said…
Regards from Germany
^KMP
Ah, and yet again I heard “they were working on a fix to this issue” – whatever that might mean.
^KMP
Corporate-speak for, “the bean counters and the executives are still figuring out the cheapest way to fix this mess.”
So after seeing everyone’s comments on getting help from EA I had them call me. Was polite and nice about the situation. He asked me what could do cause he gave me the option of storing her. And i straight up just asked for maybe a scratch on the back, for the donuts. He said he had to speak to a specialist and waited about 5 mins and cane back, was able to credit me the 21 donuts to continue. So I’m happy and thanks to all.
Im noticing A LOT of neighbors that must be getting bored because they are usually all up and tapped clear. But about 1/3 of them havent cleared there yellow circles for reporting criminals in several days. I can see that they have the beer barrels and all current prises so they must just not want to gain any more $ or XP +/or guns. OR something else. But alot of them are those neighbors with the most decorated and awesome towns. Theres no way i would delete them. Im up to date but think its better to help out those neighbors who are trying to get everything possible, then to not play at all and waste peoples time when they go visit. I can still tap criminals but thats only so often unless im just collecting cash. Usually i wait. But i love this game. My life is drastically troubled thou because i waste so much time. I guess i will just have to make a teeny bit of changes before my whole house falls down. Hahah
Im noticing A LOT of neighbors who must be getting bored because they are usually all up and tapped clear. But about 1/3 of them havent cleared there yellow circles for reporting criminals in several days. I can see that they have the beer barrels and all current prises so they must just not want to gain any more $ or XP +/or guns. OR something else. But alot of them are those neighbors with the most decorated and awesome towns. Theres no way i would delete them. Im up to date but think its better to help out those neighbors who are trying to get everything possible, then to not play at all and waste peoples time when they go visit. I can still tap criminals but thats only so often unless im just collecting cash. Usually i wait. But i love this game. My life is drastically troubled thou because i waste so much time. I guess i will just have to make a teeny bit of changes before my whole house falls down. Hahah
Can’t speak for others, but I caught the flu bug during the week and have been too sick to really do much on any of my mobile games. Just came back and recently cleared my town out and visited neighbors though, so that’s something at least.
Awwww… flu buggies are going round. Better get some extra Vitamins in yah. 😉
Some of us are working a lot so we are really not able to tap as much.
I figure (nearly) everybody will have got to the stage where Brandine is needed for the quest by now. You’d’ve thought they might have been keen to get a fix out sooner rather than later.
The comments on here are interesting, because they seem to indicate that EA haven’t made a definite decision yet or the fix would be out there, after all it’s not a complicated thing to do from a programming perspective.
I mean, pretty much all you’d need to do would be to give everybody a free stack of beer. I think that would appease everybody, even if it meant others getting a 2nd stack. I know I would have been happy with that (although I have now rushed Brandine and got the stack from the quest).
contact ea live chat and be polite with many thank yous, but go out of your way multiple times in the conversation to emphasize your frustration regarding the matter, and by all means don’t settle for letting a specialist contact you in a couple days. don’t be afraid to play the “others are getting them, why shouldn’t i” card when it comes to being reimbursed for the donuts you spent rushing brandine through the task, as plenty of users on here (like me) and on ea’s own forums have reported receiving compensation for the inconvenience. tell them you are extremely disappointed and feel like you are being unfairly punished for spending real money on the 100 donuts it cost for the premium character. point out that spending further donuts on rushing a 90-day task you are more than a third of the way into already is not an option, nor is literally aborting the task by storing brandine in the inventory and wasting the last 30 or more days you’ve invested in a task that most, if not all users, primarily bought her for. impress upon them the significant amount of time/money/energy you’ve invested in this game in general, and that anything short of an immediate resolution before you conclude the live chat is not only unacceptable, but will seriously compromise whether you will ever spend real money on the game in the future.
at this point, if they still haven’t reimbursed you the 21 or so donuts you used to rush brandine, tell them to go do something anatomically impossible. then open a new live chat with another rep and plead your case again.
on another note, which spuckler kid did you receive upon rushing the task? i got the girl whitney.
I contacted EA really early, before I’d even got to Brandine’s task and they gave me the donuts I needed to speed up the birth, I was polite of course but didn’t need to do too much before they helped. I too got Whitney.
I contacted EA and was transferred to an in game representative. I explained the issue, and I got a free stack of beer and 20 donuts to speed Brandine’s task if I wanted to finish the quest. First experience with EA customer service and it was great!
I just got off the phone with EA and I was honestly disappointed in the response. Even though I said that Brandine’s task had already been rushed in order to continue the quest line for St. Patty’s Day, I was basically told to store her to continue, and when the advisor tried again we were told no compensation. I hope EA learns from this and doesn’t gate a free item behind quests with different requirements that actually cause premium players to spend more money.
It’s only a few bucks, so I’m not going to push it, but it is a bit disappointing. Thanks Bunny & Alissa for all you do.
You guys not bored of this game yet 👀👀
Heck no! Best. Game. Ever.
Not yet!
Random question: so we have till April 23 to finish quest but will the reduced donut speed up remain till then? I figure the longer I hold out, the less donuts I will need to spend.
That’s the standard rate for her birth task. It’s only 30 donuts to rush a spuckler from the start.
I got sick of waiting and stored her. Did not want to miss out on the freebee multiplier …oh well just another 90 days to go (again) : /
This is a great blog love reading gthe comments. I am annoyed that I bought Brandine spent real money and am now stuck with this issue.
I seem to remember previously if I was growing corn and a quest involved using the farm the corn was speeded up automatically.Surely this can be done at this juncture?
I am also dismayed by EA response some get doughnuts others told a fix is coming now we have till St Georges day to run the quest…..what is the official line? (Rhetorical question)
So those that didn’t spend donuts and don’t have Brandine in their towns have no problems with the quest, and only those that spent donuts to buy her are inconvenienced ? And it’s our own fault ? Way to treat paying customers…
I believe this extra quest is only for those who have Brandine. Those who don’t, won’t get the bonus item
No. You still get the bonus item even if you don’t have Brandine. The bonus item doesn’t apply until the final part of the questline, which is with Tom.
And it’s not really an extra quest. It’s just an extra task for Brandine in addition to the one Cletus already has for Part 6.
Maybe they knew this was going to happen that’s why they gave everyone 20 free donuts….things that make you go hmmmmm,,,
If that were the case they’d just’ve given donuts to owners of a pregnant Brandine. If they wanted to be fair, that is.
Is the St. Patty’s day questline a limited time option or can I just wait until she gives birth?
If you start it it’ll stay after the event ends (March 23rd). However, the kill date for the questline is April 23rd
I don’t know if this is accurate, but someone on the ea forum posted that the kill date for the St Patty’s quest is April 23rd. If this is correct, we at least have a good month to either wait for a fix or wait for the donut rush cost to drop.
Stored her. Finished the questline. Restarted her birthing. Then was angry that the questline ending was just the OPPORTUNITY to spend donuts to purchase the beer stack. I need to slow down and begin reading closer. I thought the stack was given to us. grrrr..
A stack should have been given to you, didn’t you get the popup? One should be in your inventory
I’ve reached part 7 so I’m now stuck. I’m away this weekend so I’ll wait to see whether there’s a resolution, if not I’ll just store her and forfeit the days. I’m still sitting on a pile of donuts but there’s no way I’m spending premium currency to fix a programming error.