As many of you may know, I am a musician and have been a slave to record companies a couple of times in my life. And, I have to say, that trying to figure out all of the math involved in the Homerpalooza update, if you really want to “get it all,” is more difficult than trying to figure out a foreign royalty statement from ASCAP. There are a LOT of moving parts!
But, just like every wanna-be-Pop-star, you gotta believe you have what it takes to break through…and you have to know it is going to take loads, and loads and loads of PRACTICE (if you want to earn the bonus stars…which we’ll talk about in the post).
Easy answer? Just like most of what EA does these days…Log On and Do The Basics every 4 hours! Period. No excuses. We are all busy. If you wanna be a star, it takes dedication.
But, knowing what to do, and when, is the key to maximizing your ROT (Return On Tapping). So…let’s get into the weeds on this one…
The Basics…
First, let’s start with the The Calendar…
The “Target Number for Daily Performances” in Act I (kinda like getting a gold record), is 3450 cuffs per day. That seems overwhelming…but, if you count a day as 24 hours (and last time I looked, there are 24 hours in a day), there are ample chances to tap and to earn the cuffs that earn the stuffs that help you “get it all!”
Act 1 Event Currency:
Cuffs are the Act 1 Event Currency
And tickets are the crafting currency…
First the Cuffs…
You earn them primarily for tapping FANS…
Each Fan you tap will yield 10 
and a chance for 2 
Spawn Rate….
1/ 10 Minutes. Max of 30 in your town at once, bank of 30.
Finding these guys isn’t as easy as finding a snake, or a gremlin…but they DO tend to congregate around the stages and the performers, if you wait for them.
TIP: Go to the Moe’s Stage, or your Main Stage…and clear anyone there…THEN WAIT. Don’t tap or clear anything else…because the fans are drawn to the most recent action. Just wait. It’s like fishing in a lake…the more you move around, the more it confuses “the fish.” Just wait. The fans will come. Once you tap a new “fish” it will attract more…(and yes…for those easily confused, “fish” means fans in this case…and not Phish fans…which is a whole different kettle of PhishFish).
But in short, in a 4 hour period, you will get 24 every 4 hours (more if you have some in the bank from a layoff…like sleeping). So….clearing all of them every 4 hours will generate at least 1,200 Cuffs (5 clearings…24 fans…10 each). And as many as 30 every 4 hours 6 times a day if you don’t sleep, for 1,800. It isn’t easy…But if you follow my “fishing method” it can be done.
Neighbor Visits and Actions
You will also get cuffs when you tap fans in your neighbor’s towns…although, I have to say that EA is really “cheaping out” on the return for these…a mere 5 cuffs per action…and limiting it to just 30 actions (or only 10 neighbors!!) BAH!! So…at best, you’re gonna earn just 150 cuffs per day, for finding fans in your neighbor’s towns…which isn’t as easy as it seems. This may change in the next Acts…but at this point, it is NOT the primary way to earn cuffs…at all. Bad ROT…in regards to time.
HOWEVER… Dropping lawyers into your neighbor’s towns does generate a POTENTIAL much higher ROT…in that if your neighbor clears the lawyers in the 4-hour time limit, you will earn bonus cuffs and tickets, for their efforts. You DO earn 12 cuffs if they don’t clear them…but, I guess it’s all to the bottom line. Every bit helps.
SIDE NOTE: To complicate things… the lawyers are wicked hard to find! (not my experience in the music business, where lawyers are at every turn down a label’s hallway). So…don’t get mad if a neighbor doesn’t clear them. They ARE hard to find…they just wander around, in their grey suits…doing nothing. Kind of like real entertainment lawyers.
Back to Neighbors…and Lawyers. Alissa did a good job of explaining the basics…IN THIS POST Read it. And yes…she does a fine job of encapsulating the frustration of neighbors and lawyers…”This sucks” about sums it up.
Tapping a lawyer in your town, is 12 cuffs and 2 tickets….and you have the POTENTIAL for collecting the same, if a neighbor finds (not easy) and taps a layer you placed in their town.
So…my advice on neighbors and placing lawyers… Pick 10 of your BEST Neighbors…work the system…and place as many lawyers on everyone as you can. Max out the drop in each town…there is no reason to hold back. BUT…DON’T COUNT ON THESE TO BE YOUR PRIMARY SOURCE OF CUFFS AND TICKETS. Consider them a bonus…like getting your song played every year at Christmas in some obscure Scandinavian country. It’s a nice surprise…but you have little control over it.
DAILY TASKS… DO THEM!!
So…one may ask, “If this is so hard, how are you staying up with the daily minimums?? (which I am…). #1 reason I am “getting the bump” from completing the daily tasks. On each day so far (and I am going to assume it will continue) the daily tasks rewards you for completing something that you are most likely going to do anyway. Today, it is “Send Performers on Sessions” …yes…it took two complete 4-hour cycles to complete…but earned 1,000 cuffs. That is more than six times the return from tapping in neighbor’s towns...a hellofalot EASIER! Doing the daily task is the difference between flailing away, searching for neighbors and lawyers, and getting a nice BOOM!!! I like the booms…
Playing Sessions to Earn Currency
Ok…so this is where the “practice” part comes in. And from what I am hearing, there is no end to the strategy that people are coming up with (or imagining) to maximize this part of the game. It is the most fun…as the animation at the Main Stage ROCKS!!! So 80s retro!
In short…you will select all of the available players you have for each of Three Potential Sessions (Rock Stage, Moe’s, Kwik-E-Mart). They will earn cuffs for each session played…and it will increase as each player becomes “more proficient” at their craft…Raising the stars of each potential player incrementally.
Here are the basics…straight from Alissa…
Each full star adds 25 event currency to their payout. But half stars split it, the first earns 12 the second half goes to 13. (so at 1 star rev lovejoy earns 25 cuffs, at 1.5 stars he’ll earn 37 cuffs/performance (in first slot) at 2 stars he earns 50).
Same for ALL characters, just premium start at higher stars. But when they’re maxed they’ll all earn 125 Cuffs. (or act 2/3 currency)
And to level up…
80 per half level. There are 5 stars, but technically 10 levels. 80 will fill the star half way
Each performance counts as 5 of the 80
So…to break that down… You will need 16 sessions to move the Star Rating 1/2 Star. Yes…that is a LOAD OF PRACTICE…but, nobody said getting good at an instrument was easy…right? So…to MAX OUT (five stars) you may need to play as many as 160 overall sessions (Premium Characters Less…as they start with more stars). 160 x 4 hours each…640 hours of dedicated practice (and you still won’t be able to play a diatonic scale on a sax). So…just keep the sessions coming…and be happy with the returns they bring you.
And yes…I bought Murphy…you really had to ask?
THIS IS WHY LOGGING ON TO DO SESSIONS EVERY FOUR HOURS IS SO IMPORTANT!!!
And yes…there is a bonus for filling the full stage (so don’t just spread them around to all three if you don’t have enough players..AND There is a greater payout for the “First Position” of the sessions (the band leader?)…so place your highest earners in FIRST position on the session. OK? Clear as a skat? (dweep-dooodly-zap-a-doodly-boom!)
There will be another post from SAFI (our resident math wiz and numbers freak) soon on this. Watch for it.
Tickets…oh…the tickets…
Yes…getting tickets for crafting is simply not as easy as getting the cuffs(imagine a Dead Head standing outside of the stadium hoping for “a miracle”). You get them randomly when tapping fans in your town (about 25% of the time at best), and you earn them from tapping lawyers (when you can find them) and for playing sessions. You will also see them as prizes, and daily challenge rewards.
I’m not going to go into a ton of detail on this, as we are working on a “Crafting Post”...but suffice it to say..to get EVERYTHING in this act, you are going to have do more tapping than John Bonham during a Jimmy Page guitar solo…almost as much as a Grateful Dead “drums and space” segment. They come. They are prizes for both the Weird Al segment, and the main prize track. So just be patient.
Weird Al Earning Rates…
This is simple. Just DO IT… keep all of the available characters who can craft Al coins doing so…EVERY FOUR HOURS (starting to see a trend here??).
I’ve never been a fan…he is weirdly talented…just not a fan. Kinda like my opinion of Captain Beefheart. Weird. Talented. But, not for me…even though I know his old guitar player personally, as he lives in Eugene.
TO SUMMARIZE THE MATH
1. CLEAR YOUR FANS for 1,200-1,800 cuffs per day.
2. Play Your Sessions for at least 1,500 cuffs per day (300 per double stage session x 5…six if you don’t sleep)
3. Clear the lawyers if you can find them…and tap your neighbor’s towns fans if you have the time. HINT…it’s WAY easier to drop lawyers than it is to tap fans). You should earn at least 350 a day for this…plus your paltry 150 neighbor taps.
4. DO THE DAILY CHALLENGES…they won’t all yield cuffs…but the BOOM you get when they do will be a nice kick to the beat of your “tapping song.”
Basics…1200+1500+450 is the minimum…which leaves just a handful of extras and bonuses to earn every day.
Nobody said being a star or a concert promoter was easy. This update is proving that. But…I got Bleeding Gums Murphy…so I am more than content!!
Easiest event so far. Game “D”, no premiums, already finished Act One. 3days 17 h, left. Plus getting plenty of bonuts. Just 3 crafting prizes yet to unlock with 31d to go.
I started almost a day late and missed a full day as i was out of cell service. I should finish 1 day ahead of schedule. I did buy BGM and the other 2 rockers. I have done friend visits about half the time. More to drop lawyers then tap fans. I would drop a few lawyers and if i saw fans tap them. At start of event I was setting a 4hr timer (tried the rush on bands but had to come back right away for the Weird Al event, and I wasnt actually gaining an extra jam session), but after a few days backed off and have tapped 3 to 4 times a day for sure.
I am averaging just over 3800 (as of this very moment) cuffs a day.
I also finished all the story lines for all the characters. Once I knew I was on schedule/ahead polished them all off.
And i love the new bonuts prizes as most times once I get the last prize I take a day or two break. So now that it comes up early will get a few rounds in.
The math is there. Not sure i would have made it with out extra characters, but should be smooth sailing for rest of the event now.
to find fans, you can also use the crafting upgrade tool, as long as you don’t have enough tickets to actually upgrade. You get a prompt saying not enough tickets, down donuts or ‘Do it’ … Do it takes you to fans in your town.
http://tstoaddicts.com/2017/08/03/homerpalooza-101-fan-tapping-tips/
These are the BEST guidelines for getting through this Event (and it’s going to be difficult for those who work 10 hours a day with minimal access to the Game App when working)!
Choose what Premiums you purchase wisely (preferably Characters who can Jam and earn Event Currency / Craftables) 👍
Was thinking it’s to bad lawyer’s cant be attracted to something. Similar to the way fans are attracted to Weird Al. Maybe a character slips and falls, happy hour at Moe’s. Somebody’s having a good day… Plenty of ways to attract a lawyer lol.
I did a fairly pessimistic post after the first couple days. By the calendar I was already 3000 behind. Like everyone I hated finding fans in neighboring towns.
Things then settled down. By the end of Saturday I will have reached parity with the daily goals.
I have always kept my friends list short, under 40 so it wouldn’t be a bother visiting when events weren’t on, but basically click 3 buildings and move on. Now I’m seeing more of the neighbors towns as I look for the fans. And if I get frustrated in one town, since only 30 taps count I just move on to the next to look. I don’t try to click fans in all the towns.
And now that I know I’ll get to the end prize, when lawyers are dropped off on me I will look while doing other business in my Springfield. But I will no longer turn off all graphics except characters and scroll around like a turtle looking for that flash of grey.
Thanks to staffers and posters here for all the work and tips.
Now it’s time to find some fans.
Another tip for finding lawyers. If you go into building/decorating mode and make everything invisible except characters, it makes tracking them down a lot easier, since they won’t be able to hide behind trees and big buildings.
Not sure if anyone has notived yet, but for those who haven’t:
The lawyers tend to (kind of) stick to/around the sidewalks. If you delete most of your sidewalk and only keep a small patch or a longer road, it’s much easier to find all of them. 🙂
*Noticed
It’s a long way to the top if you wannna rock’n’roll, they say. But sorry, I refuse to miss sleep or simple life just for a game. So no big prize for me, as in the previous event.
I want the open air stage but not willing to gamble for it. Is it normally an item that is in the store/vault?
What was the reason to change how the calendar is done for the past few events? I mean the way it was done before was to give people a lead in and then start the count the day after events start. I’m not trying to say one ia better than the other, merely curious. ☺
I explained it in the comments on that post…
I myst have missed that then. 🙁 I just noticed the format change a few events ago.
Isn’t it better to fill out the smaller venues? You get the bonus for filling the last slot–Moe’s, Kwik-e-Mart, and the Simpsons house each have 2 slots, so with 6 musicians (the number I have), I get 3 bonuses of 75 instead of 2 (4+2).
I’ve noticed that unlike some event-specific tasks, the jam sessions can be rushed for free when they’re 90% complete. It will only save you 24 minutes each time, but depending on your tapping schedule that might add up to let you squeeze in one more round over the course of a day.
Saw this too…it was nice the other way, when I had a meeting coming up, and was able to “rush” for free…
It’s been driving me crazy so I have to post. Maximum from tapping fans if you don’t sleep is 1440, not 1800.
True…if you have no reserve. The reserve gives you more…but that would only work on the first day. So…it is more than 1440…but less than 1800…because nobody should be tapping without sleeping.
Thanks Patric- My brain would like to tell your brain that it admires the vast and intricate complexity of yours, although I, myself, would like to say that it makes the rest of me feel a bit exhausted! Love the useful info and love, love, love the personal insight. Thanks for being you!
I’d have ot no other way…LOL
So what youre saying is if you play all the parts of the game you get all the stuff. You just blew my mind!!! Who knew!! Oh, i guess you did. Carry on my wayward son.
I stood outside a deadshow and got a miracle once. I also have miracled someone standing outside a deadshow too. There is a massive group of people out there who believe giving free tickets to each other is the best thing to do at a concert. Im really talking about the givers of the tickets, not the recievers. Most of the time the exchange is done between to people who have never met. Way cool.
Actually…mind-unblown… because just playing all of the parts doesn’t do it…unless you do it at least every 4 hours. But…yes…I could (and would love) to not post anything except…”Play every 4 hours if you want the stuff.” Boom!
As far as the “miracle” bit…it happens at other shows too. Deadheads just make a bigger deal about it. Trust me on that.
Eugene is “deadhead central”..and when they played here, the town was chalk full of “miracle seekers” for money, gas, food, lodging…oh…and tickets. You should see this place during Country Fair time… twice as bad (or good if you are a miracle seeker).
I work at The Fair. Been going for 44 years. Eugene is not the mecca of deadheads like it used to be. Not like in the early 90s. When 13th street was a thing. Its more of a hipster satelite of portland now.
Agreed. And the Saturday market is now corporate.
I published the NW Music News in the 99s…loads of changes since then.
I still go to market on a regular basis. Farmers market is fabulous. I know a few vendors there. Also my friend has a T shirt booth. Samonberry Designs. He is a flaming deadhead. I get some tacos from the latinos, hang out with my buddy at his both, get some coffee from Dana’s ,,,,afternoon well spent. Same stuff ive been doing for years.
Go to the whiteaker block party tomorrow. If you say jerry garcia youll probably get thrown out. The secret is, in back of the eugene hostel is where the small enclave of original whiteaker hippies hang out at block party. Most people down there dont know its going on. Jam bands and a little flagrant false advertising.
Tip: Tap on Weird Al and the fans will come running to him while he is playing his accordian. Keep clearing the fans and re-tapping him as needed until you get the message that all the fans have been cleared.
http://tstoaddicts.com/2017/08/03/homerpalooza-101-fan-tapping-tips/
This only applies until you get Weird Al. Once you have gotten him from the Weird Al Prizes this no longer works on your own town.
Once I got W AL. and tapped on him, the only thing that came up was his tasks. No animation of playing the accordion.
I have only seen him once in my neighbours town and yes he does play the accordion and festival goers come to him.
Thanks for this, Im 20 tokens away to Weird AL and am now holding off to the end of act 1 to finish because it looks like you can’t earn more until Act 2 after AL anyway. Is this correct?
Yes, you can’t earn more until Act 2. By holding off, while you can tap on Weird Al to help bring fans to you, you miss out on the opportunity to send Weird Al to Jam Sessions and upgrade his star rank and earn more event currency.
The way tap my fans is:
– Go to the kwik-e-merch
-Make sure you dont have enough tickets to go to the next level
-Then press press the ticket to go to the next level but because you dont have enough it al ask you to spent do uts or do it yourself
-Choose: do it yourself and voilla, the games takes you to a fan.
Its the same way i did it with al the last events
Helpful post as always.
Greetings from an obscure Scandinavian country.