So… it’s a new year and I’m sure I’m not alone in looking forward to what EA has in store for all of us as the months go by. While the future is sure to include episode tie-ins and the obligatory events that drive some of us to madness and/or celebration, I thought it might be fun to resurrect a contest idea we had way back in July 2014. You see, the team here at Addicts decided to give away donuts for creativity and the result was nothing short of amazing. Basically, a lot of people created ideas for the next big thing in the game and boy howdy did the Addicts show up with ideas.
Looking back at that contest, a lot of our ideas became realities in the game. I could toot my own horn and point out my example became Level 48 with Lurleen Lumpkin but just scrolling through the comments, so much made its way into the game.
Here are some highlights:
– Etamni proposed the volunteer fire department
– mippleberry had Cookie Kwan and Red Blazer Realty
– Brodie had Bart the Daredevil stuff incl. Lance Murdock
– melpo2x had Herb Powell and King Size Homer
– Paul mentioned the Shining mansion
– philipstarkes had Ayn Rand’s School for Tots and Burns’ casino fountain
– Paul Di Salvo included Rabbi K and Temple Beth Springfield
– neonninja64 has Mindi Simmons
– Katelyn went with Le Maison Derriere, Belle, and Princess Kashmir
– Katie basically prognosticated a good portion of the Casino event
– Steve Ward covered Radioactive Man, Fallout Boy, and the movie
– Mattmcmxii had Jasper and Molloy
– Ellis had the Helen and Jessics Lovejoy
– ambie14 mentioned Mona Simpson
– Fresco332 had Jacqueline Bouvier and Ling
– Donut13 had a bunch of the Deep Space Homer stuff
– Joseph had a playable Sideshow Bob
I’m sure I missed something in there that was mentioned as I quickly scrolled through the 132 responses on the contest post and I didn’t even cover the amazing ideas we had submitted by e-mail. My point is, we got creative, a few people won donuts, and basically we did a lot of work for EA that may or may not have influenced the game we all love. A lot of content has come into the game over the two and a half years since that contest but I think it’s high time we do it all again. Sure we no longer have level updates but that doesn’t mean we can’t take our ideas to the next level.
Here’s the Deal:
Come up with a mini-event, event, or whatever that you think would be awesome for the game. Put it all together, submit the idea, and then maybe, just maybe, you can be rewarded for your efforts with some sweet digital donuts from the Addicts. There’s so many options for what could come our way.
Here’s What You’ll Need To Do:
The Addicts team wants YOU the readers to come up with the next idea for TSTO. Basically a building/character combo for both freemium and premium, decorations, etc. Think back on previous stuff. Each idea must include:
-Freemium Character/Building Combo with cost/build time
-Premium Character (or skin) with Cost. This can have a decoration or building combo with it (like Lampwick and the Rocket Car) or it can just be the character (like Blue Haired Lawyer)
-At least 1 freemium or premium decoration with pricing. Can have more than one if desired.
-Tasks with description, times and payouts for each task.
-A General Idea of what the questline would include. Actual dialog not needed, but a basic description of what kind of trouble the characters would get into. (If you want to do dialog…Feel free to make a few silly jabs at yourself, the Addicts, your neighboreenos… or even EA… just like they do)
Each idea MUST include each area/point in order to be considered an official entry. So take your time and don’t rush to submit. Make sure your entry is complete before sending it in.
Here’s How You Win:
All entries MUST be submitted by 11:59 pm on Jan 31st, 2017. The TSTO Addicts team will then go through all entries and pick the top 10 that we think are the absolute best. We will post the top 10 on our website the following week (sometime during the week of February 6th) and then open it up to the readers of TSTOAddicts.com to vote on which one they like the best. Voting will open once they are posted and will close by Feb 12 at 11:59pm. The top 5 vote getters will be our big winners. Winners will be announced sometime during the week of February 13th.
Here’s Who Can Enter:
This contest is open to ALL Addicts World Wide (see the official rules below regarding gift cards outside of the US) 18 and over.
Here’s what you can win:
-5th Place- a $10 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-4th Place- a $10 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-3rd Place- a $25 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-2nd Place- a $25 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-1st Place- a $25 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
How to post your entry:
Post your level ideas in the comments below or by emailing us at TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com. Yup it’s really that simple! No screenshots to take, no town designing to do (unless you REALLY want to add some photographic examples with your entries…but it’s NOT required). The official rules are at the end of the post… basically the legal mumbo jumbo worthy of the Springfield Lawyer House.
(Note from Alissa, because some players just want to state their ideas without entering, entries MUST be received via email so we know who’s entering and who’s just saying what they’d like to see. This will help us distinguish from who’s just saying what they’d like to see and who’s entering the contest. Thanks!)
See the end of this post for the official rules…
Just think, not only do you get to use your creative juices but you might also do EA’s work for them and see your very own idea in the Best. Game. Ever. all while spending donuts you didn’t pay for on a silly mobile game you enjoy. Sounds like fun to me and if the previous contest was any indication, this is gonna be great.
In keeping with how we did the last contest, I’ll start off with a quick idea I had for something. In fairness, this was mentioned by HokieHopkins in the first contest (winning 4th place) and I’ve always wanted it since it was mentioned. With EA recently delving into the topic of religion and also giving us prizes in Act One of the 2016 Holiday Event from it… I think we’ll likely see something based on the Movementarians in the future. Maybe this has to do with my theory from Addict Live?
“The Joy of Sect” (S9:E13) is a fun episode and could bring all sorts of things into the game. I picture this as an amazing event in the vein of Stonecutters 2014. I think we can all agree that THAT was one event that rocked the casbah. While not cult-related, the whole episode does start at the Springfield Airport which could be a whole different idea. I’d love to see the Just Crichton and King Bookstore and/or more planes and airporty schtuff.
The tappable characters earning event currency could be Krishnas or Evangelicals or Cult Members.
Buildings for the Movementarians could include the Welcome Center, cult cabins, and the Forbidden Barn.
Decorations could include the indoctrination theater, the circle of judgment, a table for the eating of low-protein gruel, and/or the mass marriage altar.
I think I just want to see a bunch of characters in Movementarian robes and the truck from this image. We could create rows and rows of lima beans for harvesting inside a Movementarian compound.
The defenses to keep people in the compound could be great too.
I also wouldn’t complain about getting the Springfield Lawyer-House and all their SPLT response vehicles.
And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention getting The Leader. I think he’d be the premium of the event.
He could either come with his super sweet Rolls Royce or his flying money contraption aka what’s inside the fake UFO that is the Cult Flying Saucer from the 2016 Halloween Event.
I think we can all agree in a non-cultish sense of consensus that it might be time for “a life of serenity, love, and loving serenity” in our games. “Church, cult, cult, church. So we get bored someplace every Sunday.” I truly think something of this sort is already planned by EA based on the holiday prizes and I hope I’m right. If it does show up, I completely plan on taking full credit lol. Now let’s all sing a song. Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na…. Fishing! (Leader and Batman are also acceptable)
I know someone may be feeling unoriginal right now but truly, there’s already been a ton of event ideas proposed from the Addicts on the Hey EA post that hit last Friday. I have the utmost faith we’re gonna see so many righteous options that are gonna make picking ten one heck of a task.
And now….
Here are the Official Rules from the Blue-Haired Lawyer:
-Each contestant may only submit ONE entry! (no revisions once submitted. If multiple entries are submitted by the same reader only the FIRST entry submitted will be accepted)
-Valid email address must be provided when submitting an entry, this will be how we will contact you to let you know you’re one of the top 10. All entries must be email to TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com to be counted as official entries.
-Unfortunately, because of the nature of the Gift Cards, Gift Cards can only be awarded to Tappers in the US 18 and older. To our friends outside of the US 18 and older you may enter the contest but an alternate prize may be awarded at Addicts discretion if a gift card for your country cannot be secured.
-Void where prohibited
-No purchase necessary
-Addicts writers, and family members are not eligible to participate.
-You must let us know within 1 week of winning which platform (iOS, Amazon/Kindle or Android) you’d prefer the GC on.
-All entries must be received by 11:59PM on January 31st 2017
-Voting ends at 11:59pm February 12th 2017
-Vote totals will not be seen until after contest is over.
-All entries will be reviewed by TSTO Addicts writers prior to posting.
-Any entry deemed by the Addicts team as not PG or offensive, will not be posted and not be eligible to participate in the contest.
-Prizes are as follows:
-5th Place- a $10 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-4th Place- a $10 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-3rd Place- a $25 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-2nd Place- a $25 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-1st Place- a $25 iTunes/Google Play/Kindle Gift Card
-All gift cards will be awarded to winners electronically.
-Previous contest winners are not eligible to win a prize, unless it’s been more than 6 months since they’ve won.
-Gift cards will be awarded for the amounts indicated above. TSTOAddicts is not responsible for any taxes and fees that may occur outside of the rates indicated in Tapped Out by EA (4th and 5th Place $10 each, 3rd, 2nd and 1st place $25 each).
Contest winner is responsible for all taxes and fees that may occur when purchasing.
-This contest is not affiliated with Google, iTunes, Kindle, Amazon, EA, Fox, Gracie Films or anyone else in association with The Simpsons, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Google, Kindle, Amazon, and iTunes.
-For a copy of the official rules email TSTO Addicts at TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com
(keep in mind if you ask for the official rules we’re just going to resend you this list in a PDF format)
So that’s it Tappers. Your ultimate What the Addicts Want contest creating our very own Top 5 level ideas! We can’t wait to see what you come up with and look forward to your ideas!
TTFN… Wookiee out!
I’ve been thinking and decided to ask. How would you give $10 in an Kindle Gift Card ??? I’ve bought plently or Kindle Gift Card’s in the past and the lowest you can put on one is $25. I’m not seeing how it’s possible. Oo.
If we are doing a prize track do we still need to do the character/building combo or will that count?
That would suffice.
I just finished making my submission! I made it on Shelbyville. I am wondering if I should have included Shelbyville Manhattan and Jebidiah(?) Springfield in it. Wish me luck!
So, if I get this right, 1st, 2nd and 3rd get 25 bucks each? Everyone is a winner, but where is the fun of being first if second and third pays out the same? I wonder if EA could payout the same amount for the 1st three places on the race track/course in Springfield. ;-p
The honor of being first….
Free money is free money right?
I dont really know what I would do with 200,000 dollars worth of Itunes vouchers. Sure that would mean no more KEM farming for me, but there is only so much music I actually want.
I’m gonna give it a shot but what do you mean by Each idea MUST include each area/point ???
Area/point confuse me. Do I have to state where in tapped out each item and character would go ???
It just means that each item listed there must be included in your submission. So in order for it to be considered a valid submission you must include the following:
-Freemium Character/Building Combo with cost/build time
-Premium Character (or skin) with Cost. This can have a decoration or building combo with it (like Lampwick and the Rocket Car) or it can just be the character (like Blue Haired Lawyer)
-At least 1 freemium or premium decoration with pricing. Can have more than one if desired.
-Tasks with description, times and payouts for each task.
-A General Idea of what the questline would include. Actual dialog not needed, but a basic description of what kind of trouble the characters would get into. (If you want to do dialog…Feel free to make a few silly jabs at yourself, the Addicts, your neighboreenos… or even EA… just like they do)
People were making submissions without covering each of those points, which is why the dialogue was added again to the bottom. To try and be as clear as possible. But let’s not over complicate things. In order for your submissions to be valid you have to hit on each of those points indicated with a – above. Make sense?
Thank you, yes it does. Just got a little confused.
I makes sense. It also makes sense to me not to enter, I already am playing too much TSTO.
What time zone does it end?
Eastern Time, US.
Phew, just about done. Gonna rewatch the 4 episodes I built my event from and see what else I can get in the game. Then it should be ready for addicts writers eyes.
I know I said I didn’t want to participate, but I got to thinking about it and a while back I made a thought for a Futurama event that I thought I might turn in to you once I can find/ remember it.
We look forward to seeing it.
Cool, thanks!
Does realistic chances of it being done count at all? My current plan calls for 4 new character/building combos in a mini event. Don’t know if EA would ever allow that to happen
This is an internal contest…EA reads the blog, but there is no way of knowing if they will ever use an idea or not.
Yeah, I was just wondering if you guys read it and go “no way they’d ever do that much” if that’ll count against me
Nope. Whatever you want…as crazy as it is 🙂
Hi everyone, had a question about the contest. I was honored to be one of the winners of the “Whole Nother Level” contest a while back, but my idea hasn’t been used in game yet. I was thinking of fixing up and redoing my idea based on all of the changes to the game in the past few years.
Would that disqualify me from the contest, or count against me? The basic framework would be the same, but I would make substantial changes. The contest was from way more than 6 months ago, so it doesn’t seem to be against the rules.
I can certainly come up with another idea, but I wanted to gauge the possibility of this first. Thanks!!! Can’t wait to make this entry!
It would be ok if you wanted to use the same Idea, but i would strongly suggest reworking it completely. Same concept, different execution to it.
Got it, thanks Alissa!
Got a few questions before I commit time into an idea that I’m passionate about:
1) Are we allowed to include Guest stars?
2) If we missed a really minor detail off out of the required details you need to give, will you let us know and give us a second chance to fix it?
3) Is the best option to go for a popular idea and try and make it “the best” out or those ideas or go original?
Thank you very much 😁❤
1) Yes. Your Event can be about anything and everything you want it to be about. It just has to include the criteria listed in the what to do section. If you’re missing one of those areas the entry isn’t valid.
2) Nope. 1 entry per person. Your first entry is the valid entry. Just like every other contest. So think long and hard before you hit the send button. Take your time. Don’t rush. Make sure you’ve completed every area and you’re happy with your finished product.
3) There’s a reason we let the readers vote after we pick the top 10, so we’re completely unbiased in who the winner is (and so I can’t be blamed if someone’s event doesn’t win). To make it to the top 10 you just have to hit all of the areas and make it fun. Doesn’t matter if it’s an unoriginal concept or original. Look at the ideas that made the top 10 last time. One of those was a fire event…one that had been teased for at least a year. If it’s done right we push it to the top 10.
Honestly Sam, don’t over think it. It’s not like we’re giving away a new car or a house. It’s just supposed to be fun.
i say add a building that makes it so you can trade money for donuts OR/AND add Harry Shearer. A one time character from season 9. I REALLY hope they add these 😀
There is a building that lets you trade money for doughnut. It’s called the XP Collider.
You still have to buy/sell KEMs, Bloodmobiles, Rat Trap Delivery Trucks, but a running XP Collider does help!
I’ve said it before in the comments and I’ll say it again; EA needs to put the 3D Printer to good use, ie: feed it monorail curve tracks and get straight track in return. 10-for-1 ratio, and it can be a 2hr task for Frink
I have scores of curves to be straightened, so that would be a very good idEA.
Or add Bender to the game and he could do it too ^^
Bender would be nice 🤖👽
Hello
*sigh* Us Canadians get left out in the cold again. To think I actually had some ideas for this contest also…
You can enter. It’s open to everyone.
Here’s Who Can Enter:
This contest is open to ALL Addicts World Wide (see the official rules below regarding gift cards outside of the US) 18 and over.
Oops didn’t read the “fine print” just saw Gift Cards cannot be awarded outside of US. lol My bad.
lol no worries.
Are we allowed to do ideas that we think wouldn’t actually make it into the game? (Eg. Futurama, Cosmic Wars)
Yes. Whatever you think would be a cool idea. But has to have some level of realness to it.
For example: if you said you want the Addicts in the game (that won’t win you brownie points), but don’t have any reason why we’d be there. no interaction etc. Then that’s not going to work. But Futurama you could have a plausible reason for those characters to be there.
Basically you just have to connect it to what would make sense in tapped out.
While I’m not eligible to win as an Addict Writer (stupid Flanders! I mean Stupid Bracket Battle), I will still submit an entry and hopefully get an honourable mention 🙂
That’s sad 😢. Does the Bracket Battle REALLY count as Addicts writers? That’s harsh. So Totbox can’t do it either?
It’s a regular feature, so yea. The reason is it would look like we’re showing preferential treatment to the contributors because they’re contributors.
It’s fine. Less competition for me and he would probably win 😁. Another question (sorry for so many): can the freemium combo be free? That sounds stupid but I associate freemium by spending in game cash
Yes
It’s all good. I get a huge platform to release Bracket Battles to thousands of readers. Think it’s more than a fair trade off.
Which time zone is the cut off for entries and votes?
Thanks
EST
I’m guessing you’re meaning EST in America too.
Yes
Oh, one more, even more important, question….what criteria will the judges be using? For example, does it matter how “universal” the idea is? Is it better to have something based on a particular episode? Is creativity more important than practicality, or vice versa? It’s originality important? These are just a couple of examples…it would be helpful to know (particularly when choosing which idea to go with) to know what the judging criteria will be (even though I realize that the whole thing is subjective anyway, which is fine…)
Oh, and will these be judged “blindly” in the “weeding down to 10” stage (i.e., names left off the submissions when presented to the other moderators, to avoid decisions based on how a particular moderator might feel about a particular submitter, positive or negative)? I think that would be a good idea, if it’s not too much work for the person who’s collecting the emails from the inbox…
I’m also glad somebody asked about the duplicate ideas issue…I suspect we’re going to see multiple Springfield University and BGM event submissions, lol!
When it comes to the idea there’s no “great method” for it. We look at the idea and go “hm that’s a good idea”. We all sit down and pick our top 10. Then from that list we vote on the final list. We each value something different in an idea. So there’s no perfect format. Look at the top 10 from the last round:
http://tstoaddicts.com/2014/08/07/a-whole-nother-level-and-the-finalists-are/
That’ll give you an idea of the range of ideas we picked. Some where ideas floating around for awhile, they just did them well.
We do value the effort put into it. Going above and beyond doesn’t impact our decision. But we can tell if you put thought into what you picked and wrote or if you just threw it all together.
I (and only I) will know who wrote each entry. Then I code them with a number system. So when the other moderators read them they’ll give me the number, not a person, that they like. So yes, judge blindly…except for me.
Thanks for the info….it was helpful. And I’m glad to hear it’s a “blind” judging (except for you, who I would expect to see the names, of course!).
Can I send my idea as a PowerPoint? Its all prepared, just need to do the main questline now. Got 3 acts with prizes, items to purchase in the store, and the tasks each character has. 😛 Good luck everyone, can’t wait to see peoples ideas! 😀
Yup PowerPoint is fine 🙂
Since people will be emailing their entries, will there be any way to see the ones that don’t make the cut for Top Ten, just so we can see all the other great (and maybe not-so-great) ideas that people took the time to write up?
We’ve posted several in the past, and used a few as From the Mouths of Addicts posts. So we do try and post them as time allows.
Hmmmmm, time to dig through the FXNOW app, see what inspiration can hit
As I can’t enter I just wanted wish everyone good luck and looking forward to seeing all the ideas.
I don’t want to enter to win but The Parry Possee (is that how it’s spelled?) could be a good Mini-Event. If it happens, Nelson would come with Ralph premium at a cost of 110-140 donuts. I can’t wait to see the ideas!
I’m not really entering the contest, since this isn’t a fully formed idea. I’d just like to see a Futurama update with all the characters from that show. I think it’s about time we see them. I don’t want the presence of that show to only be felt with a line of dialog randomly thrown in by Bender.
I submit The Largest Toilet Bowl as Aspirational Building
You’ve got to have all of the details laid out in the what to do section for it to be a valid entry
Very excited!! Got so many ideas so need to work out which one to choose 😃. Can we write as much detail as we want? More than the ‘must give info’?
Yup
Thank you. Got a few more questions actually:
1) I have an idea but I think it will be popular so what if multiple people submit the same idea?
2) Does it have to be a mini-event?
3) I’ve never seen a freemium character/building combo with event so do you mean like the combos that we got with level updates?
You guys are amazing! Might wait it out a bit and let others post their ideas first 😉.
1) We pick whomever we felt came up with the best take on the idea. Best characters/best questline/best pricing. Or if multiples are good we allow multiple entries with the same topic to make the top list for reader voting.
2) Can be a mini event or a larger event. Mini events tend to be a bit easier to write about though.
3) Yes, pretty much. BUT often there are Free buildings/character combos awarded at the start of events occasionally.
I’m definitely looking forward to the entries😀😀😀