Hey Howdy Hey Tappers! We’ve got a fun new feature for you here on Addicts, and this comes to us from a comment regular, Safi! Safi came to us with an idea for a fun poll challenge to run over the Summer. A Bracket Challenge to find the ultimate character we’d like to see in TSTO.
And I LOVE this idea! I’ve been wanting to do a bracket challenge for awhile now, but just haven’t had the time to put it all together. So Safi’s been hard at work putting together all of the details and structure for this challenge…and we think it came out great!
So enjoy the journey over the summer as we crown the Addicts Most Desired Character!
Without further ado…here’s Safi:
How much longer EA can keep Tapped Out going is up for debate. But what isn’t debatable is that there are plenty of characters in the rich history of The Simpsons universe still not in our little game. From Homer’s college mates to his look-a-likes, from Bart’s crushes to Lisa’s idols, from four-eyed friends to four-legged pets, there is plenty of ‘untapped’ potential (pun intended). But which character do we really want?
We present to you the TSTO Addicts: Most Desired Character Bracket Battle…..
Below you’ll find 64 beloved characters/character combos we believe would bring a smile to your face, have great tasks, could make for an awesome event, or simply be a nice idea for a new Friends Point prize.
The characters have been organized into eight thematic conferences and will battle each other in six rounds of head-to-head match-ups, that we hope produces the most debate in the comments below. We’ll do our best to convince you of each character’s merits, but it’s ultimately up to you.
Every Friday or Saturday over summer (From Alissa: It’s going to come down to what’s going on in the game as to whether this gets posted on a Friday or Saturday), we’ll post that week’s match-ups and your votes will determine which characters advance to the next round, until we’ve crowned “The Most Desired Character(s)” on Friday September 2nd.
Here’s the full bracket:
Click to view larger
Quickly, some general housekeeping rules and guidelines:
– The expanded landscape of The Simpsons means there are numerous characters that could have made the bracket, but ultimately just fell short.
– The selected 64 characters’/character combos have been divided into eight conferences: Men, Boys, Pets, Combos, Doppelgangers, One Hit Wonders, Girls, and Women.
– The characters were selected and have been pre-seeded 1 to 8 in each of the conferences based on the preferences of the selector and may differ from your choices.
– Characters voiced by the late Phil Hartmann such as Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, and Lyle Lanley have not been included, as they are unlikely to enter the game (despite the fact that some of you will argue that Phil Hartmann-voiced Johnny Tightlips is in our game).
– All characters, including pets and doppelgangers, are assumed to be independent playable characters; no NPC.
– Combo characters are assumed to be one character like Sherri & Terri and Patches & Poor Violet
– Weekly matchups will be posted on Friday or Saturday and voting will remain open until noon EDT the following Thursday, except for the final two rounds where voting will be extended by one week.
– The schedule of matchups is as follows:
oWeek 1 (Today) – The 1 vs 8 matchup in all eight conferences
oWeek 2– The 2 vs 7 matchup in all eight conferences
oWeek 3 – The 3 vs 6 matchup in all eight conferences
oWeek 4 – The 4 vs 5 matchup in all eight conferences
oWeek 5 – The first conference semi-final in all eight conferences
oWeek 6 – The second conference semi-final in all eight conferences
oWeek 7 – The finals in all eight conferences
o Week 8– The Quarter Finals
o Week 9 – The Semi Finals (voting open for two weeks)
o Friday August 19th – The Championship Finals (voting open for two weeks)
o Friday September 2nd – The winner is unveiled
– Should any of the characters be released into our game over the summer, they will be replaced by the character they most recently defeated (or be replaced altogether by a new character if it happens before their round 1 match-up).
Now without further ado, our first eight matchups:
Click on any image to view larger….
MEN’S CONFERENCE
BOY’S CONFERENCE
PET’S CONFERENCE
COMBO CONFERENCE
DOPPELGANGER’S CONFERENCE
ONE HIT WONDER CONFERENCE
GIRLS’ CONFERENCE
WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
Reminder, voting is open until noon EDT Thursday June 16.
Week 2 match ups will be available for voting on Saturday June 18th.
What are your thoughts on this weeks eight match-ups? Of the eight match-ups above, which was the easiest decision and which was the hardest? What do you think of the bracket? Which characters would you have added? Sound off below, you know we love hearing from you.
How could TSTO be complete without Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure???
Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, Wendell, Richard, Lewis….
When’s the results?, when’s the next vote? When’s my boredom going to be cured? … Maybe I should keep writing Throwbacks :p
It’ll be posted tomorrow afternoon. With the event this week it was just too much i had to get out to get it out today…
Awesome Safi ♡
First post to say – This whole thing is so very well done and thought out. Long time player, but only recently found this site. Can’t believe Guy Incognito is losing. But Can’t wait to see what happens even more.
Kudos on fantastic work
Rabbi krustofsky!!!!!!!
It would be hilarious
John’s in the bracket. He’s ranked fourth in the One Hit Wonders and will be taking on fifth ranked Karl in Week 4.
This was a reply to someone’s comment I saw in my email asking where John was. But now I don’t see the message I replied to. I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested.
lol the reader asked me to delete it because they realized it was there a second after they posted the initial one.
Who did the seedings for this . Bleeding Gums Murphy vsRabbi Krustovsky in the quarter finals? They should be seeded 1 and 2 I demand a stewards enquiry.
They are seeded 1 and 2. It just so happens they are seeded 1 and 2 in the same conference, the Men’s Cconference
If you are seeded 1 and 2 you should be scheduled to meet in the final not the quarters
As each conference was individual seeded 1 to 8, if the 1 and 2 seeds win their Conference Quarter Finals and Conference Semi Finals, they will then meet in the Conference Finals. So 1 and 2 do meet in the Finals, but of their conference (a full round before the Overall Quarter Finals).
Once all eight conference winners have been determined, those eight will then meet in the Overall Quarter Finals, with winners going on to Overall Semi Finals, and then Overall Finals.
If all 64 characters were numbered 1 to 64, then yes, the 1 vs 2 match up would occur in the Overall Finals. But as stated in the rules, each individual conference was seeded 1 to 8.
So I am right they are not seeded 1 and 2 some strange conference rule which doesn’t make sense BGM and Rabbi Krustovsky should
December be scheduled to meet in the final the real final not some 8th place play off.
Strange conference rule? I’m sure there are some people who have brackets with only one #1 seed, one #2 seed, and so on. But most brackets have these “strange” conferences with multiple #1 seeds.
If you look at the most famous bracket, NCAA March Madness, they have four #1 seeds in four “strange” conferences. All four North American Pro sports (MLB, NHL, NFL, and NBA) likewise seed within “strange” conference.
For years people have argued that the East in the NBA is a joke. The #1 seed Cavs took on the #2 seed Raptors in the semi-finals while another #1 seed Golden State took on the #3 OKC that beat another #2 Spurs team. You can definitely argue that the three best teams are all in the West, but conferences and the rivalries within them are what make brackets fun, not “strange”.
I have no idea what you just said, but I’m with you!
So the best teams don’t make the finals because of a Conference? OK that makes sense.
Let’s ignore how they do things in parochial sports and look to an example in a world wide sport like Tennis. Djochavik and Murray meet in round one of Wimbledon because well think of any reason you want really it doesn’t matter.
Unless of course this is a straight knockout with names drawn randomly.
Sandrashill thank you for your support that is most people’s response to me if your comment is aimed at Safi then I half agree with you.
Like I said, there are definitely brackets that simply seed 1 to xyz. Such as Wimbledon tennis. You won’t see the Joker and Murray in a first round match-up (at least not where they currently stand in the world rankings). But that’s because they don’t use a conference system in Wimbeldon.
Take the same sport, Olympic tennis. Countries can sort of be perceived as conferences in this sense. Men’s tennis rankings are dominated by a few countries. Women’s tennis, even fewer countries. Yet, only the best Americans or Russians, etc get seeded; while other high seeded players from these countries are overlooked for lower seeded players from other countries; similar to what happens in conferences.
The same is true for the FIFA World Cup, the largest sporting event in the world. If you simply took the top 32 ranked countries, it would basically be Europe and South America competing for the World Cup. Seeding in Conferences gives every part of the world a chance to compete in this tournament. And the way they are assigned in groups, you can get Brazil and Germany in the same group in the first round.
I could easily have made a bracket ranking just 64 characters from 1 to 64 Wimbledon-style like you suggest. (I probably wouldn’t have Rabbi and Bleeding Gums #1 and #2, but that’s another story). But conferences gives characters like pets, doppelgangers, and one hit wonders who would not otherwise make the bracket a chance to be in the bracket, and even win the whole thing. They are like the South Korea or Turkey of the 2002 World Cup. Neither was ranked top 32 in the world, yet they both made it to the semi-finals. You never know when they may pull off a huge upset.
To use a different sports metaphor, Alunited, I think it’s time to throw in the towel on this one! 😉
Sorry, it was for Safi. I loved reading her detailed response to you and she sold me on her argument, even though it mostly sounded like Greek to me. 😉
Well this is a little awkward. I’m a male, not female Sandra.
I thought the Simpsonized picture of me might have been a giveaway.
Sorry – I keep forgetting that…early on, I got it into my head that Safi sounded like a girl’s name and, even though I had recently learned otherwise, I’m still having trouble getting that out of my head.
As for the picture, I almost never see it, since I do most of my comments responses via email and my email comes through without any images, by default.
I’ll try harder to remember that, though, since it’s a pretty embarrassing mistake to make!
OK I get the world cup point but in the finals proper the top teams are seeded for the group matches and then it down to the game. Same here not saying that RK and BGM would reach the final but surely shouldn’t face each other early.
What a fun post! I can’t wait to see who the winners are! 🙂
Mr Spakarou!!
Mr Spakarou!!!
Konichiwa!
Just a great all around idea!
Wow, this is fun! 😀
This is cool, should be fun watching the progress each week. Toughest choice this week was Krusty’s dad and Dondilinger. Wendel would be fun to have, especially if Bart got the “Hey Wendell, you made it” line.
Great idea, fun bracket 🙂
Forgive me if I’m being blind but Larry Burns?
Mr. Burns’ illegitimate son.
As Matt C mentioned, Larry Burns is Mr. Burns’ illegitimate son. As for the others mentioned in a possible event with Annika: Abbie Simpson is Grampa’s “insinuated” illegitimate daughter; Alan Gumble is Barney’s uncle from Bowl-o-Rama fame; and Norbert Van Houten is Milhouse’s adventurous uncle.
We kind of have the sheepdog with Lovejoy’s 1 hour task. I understand it’s not the same as a full character, but that apparently that’s his main appeal anyway.
Am I missing something here, I’m on android phone and don’t see anywhere to vote??
Just below each category character breakout is a poll
I’m guessing Rabbi, Sarah, Allison, Lewis, Wendell, and Bleeding Gums Murphy are inevitable.
Great stuff… all tough choices & just further goes to show how so much more can continue to be done w/TSTO for years to come😎
The Canine Mutiny is the episode about that dog, from season 8
You might have added that dog Bart buys that does everything, Procer or Laddie was her name here in México
Laddie is coming up in the week 4 matchup, if you check the bracket.
As a proud Old English Sheepdog owner, I want to see Lovejoy’s sheepdog as a regular for a loooooooong time!!! Naturally, voted for him and would always chose him but I’d also like to see the monkey in the game, would be too fun.
Only wish these votes would come to EA’s attention and that they add at least a few of those.
Also, I think the beauty of this game is that The Simpsons do have a rich character history, so if they introduce them all at once, wouldn’t be that fun. This way they can drag the game for years, which I’d like because I love the game very much. Through these mini events we are likely to get all these characters anyway.
I can’t imagine Bleeding Gums won’t win, but it’ll be fun to see how it plays out.
Great work …
I’d like to have Troy McLure!!
How is this not an option?!
It’s mentioned in the rules and guidelines why Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, and Lyle Lanley are not options. It’s also been addressed several times in the comments.
If you read the post, it explains that (as do many of the comments here).
Easiest decision by far was for Sarah Wiggum. Ralph needs his mommy! 😊 Hardest was between Krustofsky and Dondelinger, and I voted for Dondelinger just because I would want that “blast from the past” event sooooo bad since ‘The Way We Was’ is pretty much my favorite episode ever.
I’d like to see any of the characters Phil Hartman voiced, but especially Troy McLure and Lionel Hutz.
…
I imagine the only reason they haven’t released his characters is because of his tragic death. They were really popular characters while Phil was alive especially because of his voice. While it would be a great tribute to him, I think it would be bring a kind of sadness to those who miss him. It’s a tough call.
His absence makes me sad, both because he was such a large part of the Simpsons universe and because I miss him. I think his inclusion would be a great way for people to remember him.
I think I’ve heard that when he died they said they’d retire his characters because it wouldn’t be right for anyone else to voice them, and I completely agree with that sentiment. However, I would be happy with the characters being unvoiced, but I would cry with joy if they used archive audio to voice them.
A lot of hard work, you made enjoyable. Thank you. 🙂