Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
So normally we just plug away with updates here at Addicts HQ. Listening to what you guys have to say, but trying not to say too much about our opinions. (well…before Pat anyway lol) We write our posts, give you guys the details and address issues we feel need to be addressed. But we try not to say too much about the theme of the events. Because let’s face it, we’re all Addicts and we’re going to plug away no matter what. But this 2016 Winter Event has seem to hit a nerve with many of you…
There are A LOT of angry Addicts in the comments. (although there are still a ton of you who are happy with it, or indifferent) Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many outraged Addicts in the comments on day 1. Sure Christmas 2013 brought a lot of ticked off people (Wheel) as did Easter 2014…BUT not usually on day 1. Or from the second you downloaded the update and saw the splash screen. (kind of makes sense why there wasn’t a teaser from EA…)
I get it. I really do. Many of you are upset with the theme because it’s offensive to you, and your beliefs. Or you’re upset because you feel like it’s Christmas morning and Santa either didn’t show up or left you coal. Or worse yet, your stocking was full of underwear. *Shudder*
It’s like you had all of this anticipation build up about what the event could be, maybe a Hanukkah inspired event, maybe Kwanzaa would get some love this year, perhaps more Festivus, would EA release more lights? And instead of any of that EA just kicked you square in your holiday spirit gut.
I get it. It’s not what I expected either. It’s different. While the Pagan Festival is the root of our modern day Christmas celebrations (in quick simple terms Christians felt they didn’t want to participate in the Pagan Festival so instead they created their own celebration, and choose the Festival date to be the day they celebrated Christ’s birthday. Don’t believe me…Google it.), it just seems like a strange event to be celebrating this time of the year to many of us.
As many of you know Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year. I may not like Halloween or Thanksgiving (or even Easter for that matter), but Christmas, Christmas is special to me. As I know it is to many of you. For me it’s way more than the gifts, cookies, decorations and even the religious aspect.
See for me Christmas, and the entire holiday season, is about a special feeling deep inside (almost) all of our hearts this time of the year. It’s families and friends coming together. It’s the joy and excitement in children…joy you don’t usually see unless you’re in Disney. It’s about the wonder and magic of a jolly guy in a red suit and his eight reindeer. It’s a sense of kindness from strangers.
Christmas is just a magical time. So to see something different, like a Pagan alter, in an event this time of the year is strange. And it feels a bit like that gut punch we talked about earlier. BUT it’s important no matter how you feel about this event to be respectful of each other. Be respectful of other’s ideas and traditions. Remember the time of the year and the magic of the season that takes place outside of the game, in places you talk about the game.
It’s ok to not like an update. It’s ok to be upset with the prizes or the lack of holiday inspired decorations. It’s NOT ok to insult others, or demonize others because of your beliefs over theirs.
So as is the policy of this site, any comments made to provoke others, be malicious, or distract from the purpose of this site will be removed. Remember, respectful, constructive disagreement is welcome. But the insulting religious arguments take away from the purpose of this site. We’re a welcoming community for all, not some. We’re all from different countries, backgrounds and we all have different beliefs. It’s important that we respect that.
I’ve let many of you say your peace about the update yesterday and this morning, but from this point on any comments that demonize one belief over another will be deleted. Politics and Religion are two hot button topics that aren’t meant to be debated here. There’s no winning for either side, you won’t change anyone’s mind…instead you’ll just alienate people. That’s not what we’re about here.
That doesn’t say that you can’t disagree with each other, or disagree with the update. Or have serious issues with the update. It just means you have to be respectful about it. It also means that if someone is upset with the update because of it’s lack of holiday feeling don’t jump down their throat. Don’t add the comments like “well we had to deal with a manger previously”. (and a lot of you complained about that manger) Respect each other and this site. That’s all we ask.
Now to those of you who refuse to play this update because you feel like it lacks holiday spirit. Or the prizes suck. I would encourage you to at least try. Yes, some of the prizes are pretty crappy..I’m not going to lie…but there are some really great prizes. And the dialogue is HILARIOUS. (who doesn’t love the idea of a Bacon Fest? And I don’t know about you, I agree with Homer. You don’t talk about Bacon Fest, because then you have to share the bacon.)
Worried there’s no holiday decor? It lacks the color of the holidays? Take a look at the FREE trees in Springfield that now have lights. The fences with bows. Benches with ribbons. The bushes with berries. Take a look at the bushes and trees that have festive ribbon…
I dunno about you, but it sure looks a whole heck of a lot like Christmas in my Springfield, whether I want it to or not. There are loads of simple design elements, for FREE, that have been added to the game to make it look more like the festive time of the year.
The Parson, the final Act 1 Character, is a fun addition to Springfield. He’s got some hilarious tasks and great dialogue to add to the conversation…and cause some trouble for Rev. Lovejoy…
And a few (light) SPOILERS for those that want to know if it will get more like the traditional holidays we know and love…I’ll give those of you who don’t want to know what’s coming a chance to scroll away…incoming spoilers in
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SPOILERS…
There are LOADS of returning Christmas items yet to come and they’ll be released as bundles like THOH.
Looking for a Santa? Well you’ll be able to grab Santa Homer as a bundle deal (scheduled for Dec 8th)
Looking for more Santa decor? Santa’s Workshop, Little Helper Ralph and more are coming back in another bundle later in the month.
How about some religion? The Manger will make it’s return closer to Christmas. As will the First Ever Christmas Tree..
How about a chance to pick up some items from last Winter? The Babysitter Bandit will be coming back, along with the Giant Snowman and loads of other items from Christmas 2015.
And those are just a few of the returning items…
As far as new stuff…according to the files it looks like both Jebediah Springfield AND Shelbyville Manhattan will be joining our games as full, playable characters.
And lets not forget little Maggie…
At the end of it all (ie Act 2 prize) baby Maggie will get a very iconic costume…
End of Spoilers
So even if you’re not into the Pagan theme, there are some bright spots to look forward to.
Oh and for those questioning this year’s theme, as I said in the rundown post…the Pagan Theme is DIRECTLY related to the upcoming episode of The Simpsons. “The Nightmare Before Krust-Mas”, which is an interesting episode where Krusty will explore his own religion. EA literally just took a page from the show with this one. It’s not out of the blue..
And if you need another bright side….the event is going to end before the New Year…
So let’s all take a deep breath and remember that we’re a community. Despite our locations and backgrounds, we all share a common love of this game. We survived the Wheel and Easter Boxes…the Pagans have nothing on us!
Wow…I had no idea.
I’d been playing TSTO and FGTQFS during December, enjoying the former and HATING the latter, so I was looking in on the Quest Addicts site throughout, and didn’t come here much at all. To see the vitriol and anger about it was a shock…I wouldn’t’ve expected it at all. I found the line of Lisa’s towards the beginning about “nutjobs” to be out of character, but other than that I enjoyed it completely.
Disappointed with the Christmas update.
Argh. Not because of the Pagan theme. While I figured it would ruffle some feathers, it’s the Simpsons. They’ve built their reputation on being irreverent. We SAVED for Santa Homer and MISSED it! I don’t know how we missed it. We kept checking.
I’m a bit later responding here but this update really disappoints me. It’s akin to having Valentine’s or Easter themes for the Halloween event (which is my other favourite event incidentally) Pagen just isn’t Christmas so why have it for the Christmas event? Bah humbug EA!
Just to add a small touch of perspective, I also play Family Guy, and over there our Christmas has been QBert, Super Mario, and Donkey Kong. Pardon me while I revel in how truly Christmas-sy TSTO really is this year.
LOL!! Exactly!
Been playing since O’flanagan’s was introduced. I’m so sorry to hear anyone in this community upset our wonderful moderators even the slightest bit. Let alone enough to consider taking the page down for this event. You guys put so much time and energy into this it’s astounding. Never let trolls win. It’s too easy to make false accounts and blow up the comments section. It’s more likely then not that there are just a small handful of people that are actually causing you grief. Even the 2 pages about “sending a message” are overall unhelpful as as soon as one side sees the other winning people are going to sign up a new account and make sure their “side” is the one with the most comments. Keep up the good work i may not visit often but once an event hits you’re the ONLY page i visit and trust for valued info.
I’m soooooo disappointed in this event. There is just Nothing that I want to put any effort into getting 🙁 Although I did buy the tree, cause It’ll be a nice addition to my forest… But I had my Christmas section all expanded and ready to add to! On medical leave so I was looking forward to spending my days tap tap tapping! But feeling extremely underwhelmed, haven’t even logged on for two days…just may take a break and skip the whole thing. Don’t like any of the items and have no desire to make another area or try to fit them in somewhere. So just gonna skip it. Leaves me more time to decorate my actual house, as Christmasy as I want it to be 😉
Thank you Alissa 😊 I’ve been feeling a little uncomfortable with a few aspects of this event, but your post helped me to keep playing instead of refusing to play until it was over. I was, (as many others were), hoping for a Hanukkah or Kwanza event even though I celebrate a traditional Christmas. This is difficult for me because my personal belief is totally against any form of offerings/sacrifice. While I can accept many religious traditions celebrated, this just made me feel sick inside. I kept trying to convince myself that TSTO *is* based on a very irreverent cartoon, but most of this event seemed more suited for a Halloween event (even being based on a Christmas theme). Long story short, based on my beliefs, it is based on an episode, it does have roots in ancient Christianity, and we all have the free will to do as we choose during and after the event. I personally will be camouflaging, hiding or storing many items after this event is over & some during the event. I’m still extremely disappointed with EA, & do feel that they were extremely insensitive, but I do have hope that they will turn this around soon & make this an event that embraces many religions. Ok, not so long story short 😂
I want to end this with wishes for everyone to have a safe & happy winter, (or summer depending on your location😊), however you celebrate/choose not celebrate. Treat people kindly, help when you can, and give LOTS of hugs, (they’re free). Wow, longest post I’ve ever written 😂😂
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas but I don’t understand why everyone is so upset. To me it’s like everyone being mad about the plain red cups at Starbucks. I just don’t understand. It doesn’t seem worth it or healthy to be so upset about something that doesn’t directly affect you. ☹️
I didn’t comment on the event so far, so let me share some thoughts I have. First of all, I believe in equality. I do believe we are all equal as humans, I don’t care who comes from where or who does what in life. I divide people on good and bad. Hense, I don’t care about the event and I don’t like how hard some fans made it on admins of this site. People who take care of this site do that for us, they don’t have to, they want to. All we can do is show some gratitude. It’s a great source for everything tsto. I’ve been playing this game for 15months non stop, and never seen an event making this much fuss among the fans. People, it’s just a game! It’s not a real life! If you don’t like it, skip it. It’s that simple. Am I 100% satisfied? No. I love Christmas time, aldo I’m Orthodox so we have Christmas in January. But New Year is still a BIG deal to me and I love holiday spirit in December. So I expected classic Christmas update. Didn’t get one, am a bit disappointed, but as huge The Simpsons and TSTO fan, won’t stop playing because I’m that addicted. For example, I didn’t like June event (superheroes), it was one and only that I didn’t finish and couldn’t wait to be over. But I never attacked anyone who likes it just because I didn’t.
Have in mind that The Simpsons, as a show, mock many daily basis stuff. That’s why we all love it. It’s not traditional. So I get why some events are not traditional either, whether I love them or not. It’s a game, so enjoy it or don’t but don’t blame other people for that. That’s not ok. If you’re not religious, don’t mock those who are. If you are religious, don’t make others who are not feel bad because they enjoy event you don’t like.
Now, speaking of the game, is it really possible to get all prizes? I always get them all, and I enter the game more than 5 times a day. Sometimes even more. But I just unlocked second prize and it looks like I’m behind, even though I’m trying and go in all the time. Any tips?
I don’t like prizes, I think at least main prizes could’ve been done so much better. The only thing I like is God Burns, so I’m hoping to craft him soon. That was great episode and hilarious scene. 😀
Are you turning in catnip and statues at the henge beyond the 4 needed to get the daily prize? If not, that would explain why you are behind – but there’s no daily limit, so turning them all in now should catch you up quickly.
As a pagan I am enjoying this update, I never feel the need to complain about any theme even if I don’t celebrate that particular event, the reason I don’t complain is simple…..it’s a Game…not real life!! There is always the choice of play or don’t play, people need to get a grip on what is actually important.
Hey guys I am Christian but have never associated the updates around this time of year needing to be of a specific religion on genre. Maybe one day they will do Christmas in Australia with no snow at all… ok maybe I just took it way to far!
Let’s keep things in perspective though:
1. This is just a game
2. Respect everyone’s beliefs
3. Have fun and see point 1
By all means if you are offended by the update the best way to voice an opinion is contact EA direct.
Personally for me the update so far hasn’t been too bad.
I never thought about all the poor Australians never ever having snow for Christmas. I’d be more than happy to share our snow if you’d like! We have more than enough to go around.
No please don’t I’m more than happy with my no snow and with swimming xmas day. Besides Santa brings our entire family water pistols for our annual christmas day water fight… what would we do instead 🙁
Best Winter Event Ever!! Great challenges, cool items, no bleeding Wheels…what’s not to like??? Thank you TSTO Addicts moderators for your calm! I cannot believe people playing a game involving the Simpson family would ever get upset … but I guess that shows how unattached I am to current American anger. Happy Winter from South Korea!!
Really it was nice for me to see them go out to explore other religious holidays. Christmas is not the only one this time of year. Thank you EA for showing us something different.
*dusts off soap box, places it firmly in the center of everything, and gets on it, clanging pots and pans together to get everyone’s attention*
I just wanna say this: For those attacking those who Mod this forum: go somewhere else. Get your community and your information on other boards. There’e plenty of them for you to find, with just the quickest of google searches. You’re ungrateful and unwelcome. For those of you who don’t like the update, here’s the way I look at games: Games are meant to be fun. If you’re not having fun, don’t play it… It’s really that simple… It’s a free game. You don’t HAVE to play it. You’re not subscribed to it. Contributing to it financially, either past, present, or future, is optional, and is not mandatory. While you may or may not care much for the update, your financial contribution(s), whether past, present, or future, or any combination therein, does not buy you ownership or steering privileges of the game, and certainly doesn’t buy you rights to disrespect those who are working so hard FOR FREE to give us this site. You don’t like it? Take it to EA. You love it? Take it to EA. They’re the ones who are paid to listen to you… and you can also speak with your dollars (or donuts), but at NO time should you EVER disrespect the Mods of this page.
/Endrant
*gets of soap box, wipes it off, tucks it away safely, and goes back to normal life*
*Applauding…and yelling, Huzzahhh!
😊😆
Well said. Couldn’t agree more.
I had actually gotten bored with TSTO and hadn’t played in a few months, the pagan theme brought me back because it is something different and interesting.
I couldn’t agree more with this post. I’m a long time daily reader. Not so much a big poster. I truly appreciate all that you do, Alissa. I know it must be tough keeping this place updated. And Patrick is a great addition to the site. You two have a good cop/bad cop thing going that makes me laugh.
Unfortunately, the world is full of angry people. I work in customer service. The verbal abuse people let loose on a total stranger is baffling to me. I’m hoping the spirit of the season will shine through and all the readers of this site can learn to respect one another.
Yeah, I’m a bit disappointed with the content this year, but at the end of the day… It’s a game. The only time I ever really get mad at this game is when it crashes. Thankfully that rarely happens on either of my devices anymore. Remember the Christmas when the servers were down all day? Ugh.
I hope you don’t seriously consider closing shop. I’m sure there are plenty like me who read, but don’t post often. I bet we’re in the majority. I’ve seen other forums on TSTO and I find the attitudes pretty jerky. That’s why this place is my go to.
BIG thanks again for all you do! Merry Christmas and keep up the good work!
sincerely,
Darth Hucklebuck
It appals me that people are behaving this way! Attacking others over a game they are upset by is wrong! Yes everyone expected a Christmas theme to the winter event but, that’s not what EA gave us! Get over it! Play or don’t play! and the most disturbing thing is that if you celebrate Christmas you are A christian, a faith that teaches to love all and be kind to everyone! In schools they no longer celebrate Thanksgiving, in the USA, they call it feast day! Christmas vacation is now winter break! There is a big issue about whether to say merry Christmas or happy holidays,why? I have my beliefs and everyone else has theirs, why is this an issue? We don’t want to offend anyone? Why be offended? I’m Christian and celebrate Christmas, others don’t and that’s fine with me! I used to be a server and wrote merry Christmas and drew a picture of a Christmas tree on the check, the guy said,”I’m Jewish” but he wasn’t offended. This is not my favorite event, I’m ok with it though! Take a lesson from Lisa, when she becomes a Buddhist and learns she can still celebrate Christmas with her family!
Yup, and now we’re all just working to move past the first few days and onto business as usual 🙂
AMEN!!
We readers of this site love each other because we love ‘The Simpsons’, we love our informative addict hosts, and we love playing this silly GAME! I’m a girl, and as such I have worked hard to understand the concept of imposing expectations onto a game. Long before I read any of Patric’s wise and entertaining posts, I considered myself a pessimist, frequently repeating myself to opine, “the worst-case scenerio a pessimist encounters is simply what he/she expects, but that means we are often surprised with a situation better that we ever imagined”! P.S. I like that nasty little elf…👹😇!
Happy typing and happy tapping, y’all.
Uh oh… I don’t like the sound of that one! 😳
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Alissa, I’m so glad to still have this site. Not only do yall provide a wealth of information, I thoroughly enjoyed the writing that’s produced. Even more so with the re-addition of Patric. I’m so sorry for all the negativity around here.
I’m not a huge fan of this event, but that being said I will still be purchasing some Christmas items with my bonus. I don’t have much since I lost my old town and had to start over last year before halloween.
I already got the Santa bundle and am so happy to finally have homer Santa in my town.
Peace and love