First of all…to recap from the “Act II Calendar Post”… DON’T KILL THE MESSENGER (Me!) when you see the numbers. As you all figured out, numbers, just like our perception of reality are all relative. What seems to be harder…is more of an exponential mind-freak…in that even though the goals are a LOT higher per day…the rewards for tapping and earning have increased at the same, if not higher increments.
So… for those who want to “cut to the chase” and don’t care about all of the minutia and detail involved with breaking out the math of each quadrant…I will simply say what I say in almost every update- LOG ON AT LEAST FOUR TIMES A DAY AND DO THE BASICS…
There. You can stop reading now. Or at least some of you can stop reading. For those of you who continue to ask, “But why???” and “But how????” and “When are they going to bring back Otto???” I will continue down the road to minutia…which is long…and peppered with redundant road signs.
How redundant?? Well…let’s start by simply altering the the info from the FIRST ACT MATH POST…
The Basics…
First, let’s start with the The Calendar… (new calendar post)
The “Target Number for Daily Performances” in Act II (kinda like getting a gold record), is 3450 7,536 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 SUNGLASSES that earn the stuffs that help you “get it all!”
Act 1 Event Currency:
SUNGLASSES are the Act II Event Currency
And tickets are the crafting currency…
First the SUNGLASSES…
You earn them primarily for tapping FANS…
Each Fan you tap will yield 20 Sunglasses 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.
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 2,400 (5 clearings…24 fans…20 each). And as many as 30 every 4 hours 6 times a day if you don’t sleep, for 1,800 3,600 (and before we start debating this…the 3,600 will come due to the reserve bank…and no sleep…and isn’t worth the side-effects of sleep deprivation.
Neighbor Visits and Actions
You will also get SUNGLASSES when you tap fans in your neighbor’s towns…10 cuffs per action…and we are still limited to just 30 actions (or only 10 neighbors!!) BAH!! So…at best, you’re gonna earn just 300 cuffs per day, for finding fans in your neighbor’s towns…which isn’t as easy as it seems. Again…I consider this to be a poor “Return on Tapping” or ROT.
HOWEVER… Dropping lawyers into your neighbor’s towns does generate a POTENTIALLY much higher ROT…in that if your neighbor clears the lawyers in the 4-hour time limit, you will earn bonus SUNGLASSES and tickets, for their efforts. You DO earn SUNGLASSES if they don’t clear them…but, I guess it’s all to the bottom line. Every bit helps.
ARE YOU STARTING TO GET THE IDEA THAT THIS IS JUST LIKE ACT I…With Different Numbers and Sunglasses instead of Cuffs? Well…because it IS!
HOWEVER, there are a handful of differences…All Designed to Make Hitting the Daily Limits EAsier…
- There are a more stages…and more “players” to keep “playing sessions.” We start by adding the “Pop” stage…as well as adding “Springfield Elementary” as a place where you can play sessions, and send existing characters after you unlock the “Free Land” (prize #2 in Act II-24,200 Sunglasses).
- Your existing players continue to increase their earning potential …and your new existing players (Nelson, Milhouse and Bart) started with 2 stars. All good!
- Each Session Earns More as your stars increase, and you manage your players accordingly (not to be confused with accordionly…which is strictly reserved for Weird Al).
A Reminder on Increasing Your Stars
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 Leon…you really had to ask? He starts out with multiple stars…and sounds just like Michael Jackson (except he isn’t voiced, for obvious reasons). But he isn’t available to perform, until you earn the Pop stage.
THIS IS WHY LOGGING ON TO DO SESSIONS EVERY FOUR HOURS IS SO IMPORTANT!!!
Tickets…oh…the tickets…
OK. Let’s just get this out of our systems…The Crafting Items are mostly re-purposed…and kinda lame…other than the crowds. I actually LIKE all of the music related stuff (even if they mislabeled the monitors as “floor speakers.” I’ve done enough shows in my life, both on and behind stage, to appreciate all of the rigging stuff…and the speaker stacks. I will be building some massive lights and sound… But, for the most part, I agree…a “fog machine” that is mostly a single Pfffftttttt…is more like a fart machine. Smell ya later!
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??).
As it turns out…my concert post revealed that those who have seen Al in concert think his shows are AMAZING. So…while I’m not a fan of the music…I have added him to my “must see at least once” list.
TO SUMMARIZE THE MATH
1. CLEAR YOUR FANS for 2,400-3,600 cuffs per day.
2. Play Your Sessions for at least 5,000 cuffs per day (5 sessions that earn a minimum of 1,000 Sunglasses per session across at least 4 stages)
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.
4. DO THE DAILY CHALLENGES…they won’t yield cuffs…but will give you at 1,000-1,500 a day in bonuses (compare that to trying to find the fans in your neighbor’s towns).
SO…DO THE MATH… Even Without Daily Challenges…which will bring you ANOTHER 1,00 to 1,500 Sunglasses…this Act should be EAsy!! Right?
OK. Back to tapping. Let’s try and relax…stay calm…and have some fun!