Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
So a few things happened in TSTO between yesterday afternoon and this morning (and more over the weekend).
So let’s breakdown the details, should I buys and returning items in the stores….
First, ICYMI yesterday EA gave everyone 2,000 
and 500 
This is in direct response to the outage almost all of us experienced on Wednesday, from Amazon Web Services going down. Many of you expressed concern about the outage causing you to miss out on the prizes because you were losing valuable time to collect pins and sky credits.
So instead of extending the event a day, which I think would have made a lot of people groan, they made up for it by giving currency, more than what many of you would have missed out of during the outage. So, I want to take a minute to applaud EA for this move. Good on them for being attentive to customer service. It goes a long way in keeping the faith in EA, at least over correcting issues (at least with the Addicts staff, I know some readers will forget this move in 2 days).
I know several of you expressed a desire for it to be donuts instead, but donuts wouldn’t have made up for missing several hours of tapping time with this event. And there are so many ways to earn free donuts in the game as it is. So this was a good move, despite some of your objections to it being event currency.
Second, what’s old is new again!
Every item from Around the World AND Lunar New Year, that had a timer on it, has returned to the stores. So if you missed out on something you can pick it up once again in the stores!
All of these items will leave March 7th (when the event ends). So don’t miss out again!
If you want to check out the should I buy posts for these items you can check out our Around the World Event Page and the Lunar New Year Event Page (you’ll have to scroll down the Lunar New Year page, as it shows every post we wrote about Lunar New Year)
Third, and finally, there are several items from Events past returning to our stores this weekend (at least according to the files).
The Farmer’s Market has already returned. In addition to that, the Plane Bot, Spotlights (from Casino Event) the Banana Dictatorship are all scheduled to come back tomorrow (March 4th).
Here are the quick links to each of them, for more details:
Farmer’s Market (70 donuts)
Banana Dictatorship (30 donuts)
Spotlights (Price range from cash to 5-10 donuts)
Personally, these were all originally free items. Not a huge fan of paying donuts for them. Out of the list the only one i’d consider buying is the Banana Dictatorship. It’s inexpensive, character tasks are there and it gives you REV points for Springfield Heights. Beyond that save your donuts.
Also arriving tomorrow will be a new premium item. I’ll have a Should I Buy post for that up on Monday. (it’ll be a 1 day decision on it, but it’s not anything that will help with the event or anything else)
Again, aside from the Farmer’s Market these are all just items the files indicate are coming tomorrow. Won’t know for sure until they hit.
Oh and one more quick note….
Norbert’s plane and the Golden Train should both be achievable today (March 3rd) via his Daily Tasks (if you’ve been doing them every day). The plane is earned via the Daily Tasks and the Train is earned when you complete the questline after you’ve unlocked the plane. And yes, Uncle Norbert comes with his plane as a playable character. (I’ll have more details on this up later today (with the questline)
There has been indications of a glitch occurring for some people that allowed them to already get Norbert’s plane and the train. Glitches are not uncommon in TSTO, as we all know.
And that’s it my friends….
What are your thoughts on EA making good on the lock out? How about bringing back ALL of the Around the World items? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
picked up the golden train immediately, a whole paying building for only 30 donuts. That’s good enough for this premium player!
Don’t you mean The Robot Plane?
What is this Robot Plane you speak of? I did a search for it to no avail. 😕 I WLFYTGIFM 😂
Thanks for all your tips!
I’m glad EA provided acknowledgement of the server inconvenience and while I’ve crafted everything I wanted and no longer need SkyCredits, pins are always appreciated – especially in the hunt for bonuts.
I was initially delighted to see the returning items but later on, I’m a bit mixed up. I’m hoping there will be some great St Patrick’s day items coming down the line and sadly sprinkles don’t grow on trees!
Pretty chuffed they bougth back items from the past few weeks to pick up again. I was on the fence (pun not intended as it’s wall not a fence) with the Chinese wall and after seeing it in neighbouring towns I was disappointed on not picking it up! But alas now I have, so it’s off to building the wall to keep the rabbits out (Aussie folk will get that joke)!
Keen on the Le Krusty Burger but it will leave me way shy on the precious sprinkles for my liking, dilema as I’m only a freemium player.
Also great shout out to EA on Giving us event currency. People are too quick to throw all the toys out of the pram and demand the donuts and as you mentioned Alyssa and we have plenty of opportunities to get free donuts but the even currency is more precious during events I feel, to help to get back on track for lost time where as donuts wont really do that
.
So to EA this is for you 👏👏👏
I will respectfully thank EA for doing the right thing …. it’s better then Donuts and the Extra Day combined (bringing Items back to the Store is also appreciated) 👍😊
EA knocked it out of the park with this one AND answered one of my wishes! (I still get two more, right? 😉) I had been lamenting the fact that I passed on the Chateau Maison since shortly after the France act ended as I saw how lovely it looked in my friends’ towns, but now I can (hopefully) get it too! I’m also really grateful for the post-lockout bonus as I’m waaaaaaaay behind with this act lol
Me too! So happy about it, Bart’s been stomping grapes there now for a good 18 hours straight! Thank goodness child labor laws don’t apply to virtual characters!
I think it was a good move by EA. Outage not their fault, but didn’t they decide to use Amazon to host? So it is related to a decision they made. I think it was a great idea for solution. No money but also made up for anything people lost by not being able to access the game.
(Touching wood)
When those servers were called Origin, the outage of them was much worse.
Yippee, I awoke from a nap to 2000 free credits. Yippee.
Is the Plane Bot the one day decision for tomorrow? If its reasonably priced then I might have to grab it! Too bad I only got 100 donuts on the Platinum Scratcher this morning.. 😔 I might get the dragons to go with my Japan area, but 100 donuts is leading me to pass again, or just send in my airport as my design after I’ve tidied it up! ☺
Help with the Osaka Flu! I’ve been stuck at 889/1000. How do I keep progressing?
You need neighbors to tap your buildings in your Springfield, and then you need to clear those buildings they’ve tapped. That’s the only way…
Thank you!
Stay there! I hit level 5 and for some reason my Osaka flu tourists now don’t give any extra coins/currency than a normal tourist. It was all fine and good at levels 1-4 but 5 now provides absolutely no distinction between the flu and non flu. Sucks.
Does anyone know who is supposed to go to Manchester, England? All my characters are available, but no option has come for me to send one! Thanks.
I finally got a character to go tonight! Don’t know what the delay was, but I’m happy I’m back on track now.
I think EA did a great job handling the connectivity problems! Fortunately I don’t think I suffered as much as others since I’m already earning bonuts. For those affected by the problem, it was handled perfectly. As far as returning items, I only bought the T&SU billboard. I don’t even recall seeing it before, & thought it went well with America town. I’ve been wanting another Farmers Market, but not sure I want to spend 70 donuts on something I already have one of. I have the other items, so they aren’t in the store for me. I’m so happy you cleared up the Golden train /Norbert’s plane question. Personally I really don’t care to have neighbors that use hacks, & unfriend them if I am able to confirm they’re using them. All in all, I’m very happy with the way this event has gone 😁
I didn’t get the dragons before, but now that I have corner of my Springfield decorated with a combination China and Japan, the dragons would go there pretty nicely.
Would really like the great wall, 3 days to earn 26 donuts, am bust!!!, ea help!!!! Lol
I might need The Great Wall. . . I’m a little disappointed that Norbert’s plane runway piece doesn’t match the other runway pieces, but that’s minor. I’m working on getting the golden train now.
Has anyone gotten something good from a Platinum Scratch-R?
Norbert’s plane runway is equivalent to 2 straight runway tiles. Matches up perfectly. The only issue is when Norbert flies his plane the two tiles and only the those two tiles light up. It’s a bit weird.
The Plane Bot is a whole other story. I’ll wait for heads to explode tomorrow on that one.
I had declined the Platinum Scratcher and took a normal scratcher. Stupid me 🙄 Three thowing axes! Only 10,000 game cash instead of 1000 donuts 😭😭😭😭😭
Happy the wall came back . Just plain forgot to get it last time an boom it was gone , I was gutted .. glad to have it , in a year or two I’ll have a massive pointless wall .. but it dose look good . Banana republic too like it .. got to many spotlights but glad to see the old items coming back . Few things I want that my son has because he’s been playing longer ggrrr duff race car for one
Noooooooo they fixed the ticket glitch cant send more then 3… count down will get stuck at zero after you send the 3 flyers
hmmm…. actually it still appears to be working just the timer for earning the tickets isn’t working
Anyone else only able to send one character on a flight?
I am as well unfortunately. I can only currently send Mr. Burns to Winchester, England. All my characters were free at the time, but it would only accept him for the flight
It is better now. Nice
I can’t wait to have you on my team as a playable character Uncle Norbert! Such a welcome surprise to hear 🙂 I got the red plane offer today. I think Kirk Van Houten will be none pleased with the news though… I just unlocked Sebastian Cobb from the rail yard minutes ago and am really stoked to have him too!
FYI, if you send 4 Springfielders on a flight, then send the fifth Springfielder on a task (whatever length) you’ll get 5 new Springfielders to send on flights. As tickets refresh every 15 min (give or take) you can send way more folks on flights within 4 hours and get more pins/sky credits. If you happen to be behind on this act, this is a way to catch up!
Well played, EA.
Makes me feel better about giving them money a while ago.
I was a victim of the outage, and I though 2,000 pins were more than fair compensation. Thanks, EA!!
I was quite impressed that EA did this, since the outage had nothing to do with them. Paying us in sky pins and credits was more than fair. So kudos to EA.
Now that we have more ocean, I picked up a junk. Glad it came back so soon. Probably still going to pass on the other things.
Definitely a good move by EA to make up for the lost time for us. That’s how you retain customers 👍
Thanks EA (although my outage was limited to three fast restarts)!! Got Kumiko two days ago!
There was an outage?
http://tstoaddicts.com/2017/02/28/servers-down/
Good move by ea, should be finished tomorrow, what’s the glitch, I haven’t noticed anything?
I know people were pretty meh about the great wall the first time around but after seeing it in some of my friends towns I decided to take the plunge. Glad they gave us the opportunity to buy these items again!
It was a question for me at first but I love it and am glad I grabbed it while I could.
Same for me. Once i saw it in some of my neighbor’s towns, I regretted not getting it. Really happy about EA giving me a second chance and snatched it up immediately.
I was wondering if you were going to do a post like I seem to remember on crafting items to maximize XP if you have already crafted the things you want.
I got a lot of flack from people when I did that because they said it wasn’t the best item to craft. So i’ve opted to not do it anymore (haven’t since scifi)
They always shoot the messenger, don’t they? 😟
Don’t let them get you!
I’m sorry to hear that, I always find your advice helpful. I guess the upside is you have less work!
That’s too bad! I’m a new-ish player and would totally appreciate the insight.
That’s too bad (understandable based on the flack), because I really did appreciate it on the SciFi one. Granted I have a lot of billboards, but they did help me on XP farming at the time to get some donuts.
I covered it a bit in the event is ending post. There’s really no item that awards more XP, they’re all about the same for this one:
http://tstoaddicts.com/2017/03/06/around-the-world-is-nearing-the-end-info-about-norberts-plane-what-to-craft/
Thanks, I missed it in that post.
From what I remember for the last few events (this including) there really aren’t any items to craft that will give any XP. Nearly all are decorations and the only ones that do anything can only be crafted once. EA has been known to add XP to past decorations, so you never know if something you craft now for free will be worth more later. My strategy has always been to craft one of everything, then craft multiples of things I like, later if I have currency left over I get extras of everything because you never know if you can use something later down the line or if EA will upgrade it later on.
You’re not understanding the original question, Barlee. Of course we all know that the items that have a daily XP/cash payout are unique. The question is which item(s) are best to craft the heck out of since they give XP upon initial placement. Could be helpful info for lower level playera.
I don’t believe any craftable items this event give a %bonus. I hope this helps 😊
I don’t see the spotlights in my store. Is there a reason why?
Because, like the post says twice in that section, they won’t be in the stores until tomorrow.