Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Just a quick reminder that the Bob Clones will be leaving our stores at 0800GMT (4am EDT) tomorrow (Tuesday June 2nd). So if you’re interested in picking any of them up be sure to do so before time runs out!
Need a little more help deciding? Check out our Should I Buy Post on them here.
What are your thoughts on the Bob Clones? Did you purchase any of them? Which one is your favorite? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
I could totally go for a dozen hot buttered Bob clones roaming my town, but not at 60 donuts each. Since they are NPC, I’d pay maybe 60 for a dozen (since they are herding critters)
I just couldn’t take these guys anymore.
I never really understood people who absolutely refuse to spend money on a “game”. I understand if you don’t have the money. Do you go to the movies? Or go to a baseball game? Scrapbook? Garden? All hobbies do take some money to get the most enjoyment. Just imagine trying to garden, but refusing to buy seeds and having to go around somehow to collect the seeds you need.
It all is priorities that EA is not responsible for. I, for one, rarely go to the movies because I refuse to pay 10.00 a person to go, but movies are not a big priority for me. I’ll catch it on HBO or even on TV if I really want to see it.
And the Bob clones cost $1.44 each in real world money. I think they are funny and I enjoyed the event. I like to see them roaming and always tap them.
I think the donut issue has taken a wrong turn. I doubt anyone has an objection to paying donuts for something worth buying at that price. For example, I have never read a comment about how someone regretted buying the Cracker Factory and Luann. If they had offered a feral jelly blob for 60, I bet they would not have been able to keep them in stock, metaphorically speaking, of course. And I doubt any of the buyers would have complained. The boardwalk performers are about 60 donuts each, hence the current mutant price. The ‘tame’ jelly blob was probably a discount price so that freemium players could get a bit of the action. However, I don’t think the boardwalk performers are hot items and so EA should have guessed that 60 donut mutants would not be either. Unfortunately, these prices and items were probably set long before the event started and so EA was unable to react to all of the criticism in a timely manner. EA could bring the mutants back this Halloween for a discount as the theme would fit. No idea if It will though. What EA really needs to do is to spend more on market research, i.e. figure out what people really want and what they are willing to pay for the quality given. And that means making the characters more appealing with better, gender positive tasks and better interaction with the buildings. It is funny that EA wishes to eliminate house farms, but at the same time, the new buildings they are making available have poorer payouts. Sounds like bad marketing to me.
Good bye my beloved Vege Mate..
They’re cute but no premium player would touch them with a barge pole.
Rats, I meant freemium, not premium!
Random Question, but why is EA only making 20 hour tasks for level 50 and 51? There isn’t even a premium option for 24 hour, not that I mind really but… usually premium tasks are 2, or 16 hour tasks.
They’re all cute, but if I could only get one it would be the short popcorn clone. Love him!
I call him “Hot Buttered Bob”
And he is the best one !
One Bob is enough for me! 🙂
The clones are useless, they shouldn’t even cost donuts actually since they arent actual characters not to mention the only ones that have any sort of animation is the popcorn one and the butter one, the popcorn one has a better effect. But all are just as pointless since they got no tasks. Just like every other “creature” that has been in the game, all are a waste of space in our towns…..
The third one is animated, too… It does a kind of hula dance thing.
I’m saving my donuts as I have a feeling our next event will hit the App Store either this week or next week. Maybe even tomorrow..
“I have a feeling our next event will hit the App Store either this week or next week”
Geeez, I sure hope not. I need a lot more recovery time
Are they really going to leave the game at that time?
I’m more interested in knowing if the Monzaro buildings will ever yield money and stop taking up space? Any idea?
That’s up to EA….
Why can’t eat make things to buy with money instead of doughnuts. Some players can’t afford doughnuts but have plenty of money.I know that’s how the games makes money but what about the people that can’t afford to buy doughnuts…. Isn’t that kinda being a little unfair or so called discriminateing….
I could see that for these characters. Does anyone really want them in their town reminding them of one of the worst events ever.
No. This is the point of the game.
That is what pays for their wages. If they gave everything for ingame cash, nobody would buy donuts. You can see that in most FTP (free to play) online games, even on PC. They make it possible to play for everyone, yet who wants some premium content (maps, quests, equipment, clothing, more characters, etc.), he must become VIP (i.e. pay monthly fee) or pay for that content. Not discriminating, that is what makes free playing possible, otherwise you would have to pay monthly fee (as we did before most of the online games became FTP – I paid 15 USD a month for playing most of the games in the past – EverQuest 2, Star Wars Galaxies, Age of Conan, Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online).
Or would you like to have Tapped out full of advertisements? The ones that will start opening new windows while you play? Because that is another possibility how to pay. And man, it is annoying – try free Angry Birds. This way you can play and once a while you can buy something premium, using free donuts they give you from time to time.
If I had to watch ads playing Tapped out, I’d quit playing !
Well not really, EA needs to make a profit, and people are willing to pay, donuts can’t be too easy to earn, although in recent events we’ve got a few!
Is it “discriminating” that your local movie theater or ballpark doesn’t give you free tickets? Is it “unfair” that the appetizers aren’t free at a restaurant?
Actually, I think it’s pretty amazing how much you can do and get in this game without spending a cent. (EA does “make things to buy with money instead of doughnuts.”) And the game even lets you earn premium currency for free, making it possible to get premium items, too, without spending money.
Seeing all these knee jerk replies I have to wonder where you people have been? Maybe it’s because I’ve been playing a while, but I remember when the game released content for both premium and freemium players during events like the stonecutters. It was usually small stuff, like decorations, fences, etc. and sometimes even a building like the stonecutter daycare, for in game cash. And it was really cool.
Yes, I realize they still do that but waaaay less frequently. Look at the terwilleger event- EVERYTHING in the game store for the the event was premium, and the sad little walls and patches freemium players were allowed to craft were outrageously priced- even they realized it 3/4 of the way through. Want to craft one now? 127 donuts please. During the clash of clones event you could buy a npc nerd for cash. Now the Bob clones, which are not even real Simpsons characters and have no tasks are 60(!) donuts. They have had to create so called aspirational items whose prices never goes down to invent a reason for you to spend all your useless in game cash.
No one is saying that they shouldn’t earn money. They absolutely have the right to. But this is supposedly a “freemium” game and if you pay attention to the trend, you have to admit this game, which used to be pretty balanced is in fact leaning more and more toward the premium side. Which is fine, as long as the game is honest about it.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling shafted or misled when someone gets you excited about something you think you can take a meaningful part of (with no strings attached) only to realize you’re mostly excluded. If my local movie theater announced a “free” day and I showed up and only one movie was free and everything else was the for money, (and you know they’re still charging for popcorn and soda) I would be annoyed.
I’m really not sure what you’re talking about… During the Terwillger event, I received a TON of good free stuff (not even including the craftables)! Just because they weren’t in the “store” doesn’t mean they don’t count! I didn’t feel excluded at all, just because I couldn’t buy a few premium items. I do agree that the walls were overpriced for crafting though and should have been better as a freemium purchase item, but on the whole, I just don’t see where freemium players were treated unfairly during that event, as long as they were willing to do the “work” to win all of the free prizes (and, ideally, to be able to craft some stuff).
And if my local multiplex theater was offering admission to one movie free, I’d be HAPPY to be able to see that movie for free, not annoyed that the others weren’t.
“Freemium” does not mean “free” – it means that you can mostly play for free, but that there are going to be in-app purchases available to enhance your game. I think that EA has been pretty honest about this…what makes you feel that they haven’t?
Actually EA has given me over 200 donuts for free since Easter (from visiting neighbours, various bonuts, and free mystery box prizes). And I have received well over 1000 donuts in prizes from the mystery boxes at a cost of 120 donuts. So I would say that these last two months have seen donut inflation in both payouts and prizes. With the free donuts I got Francesca, who is a great character even if she is not allowed a sip of wine. I have enough for Bumblebee Man, but I will hold off since the next event may have some limited time offer I also want. So I would not say freemium players are being excluded, but rather given a taste of the forbidden fruit in the hopes that they will consider premium items more seriously. I agree the last event could have been handled a lot better, but you could still get good things out of it.
EA is in this to make money.
I have no objections to EA charging for certain items.