In the last episode of Addicts Live, we came up with a couple of new terms that seemed to just burst from the womb of creativity of their own free will. The two terms were Pot Heads (Alissa’s) and Ninnieville (mine). To be clear, neither were meant as pejorative terms (really, Sam!) but were instead, merely adjectives used to define a group more easily.
OK. So even I’m not entirely buying that…and I made one of them up.
This TSTO event has been one of the most divisive since last year’s Christmas/Holiday/Pagan event. And perhaps sadly, represents an ever-growing thin-skinned-ness or unbridled open season on anyone different (depending on your purview), that seems to have cropped up since the 2016 elections. It’s ugly. It’s mean-spirited and un-apologetically destructive to the worldwide community.
So…take a knee or don’t take a knee…it’s time to finally get down to defending those who Alissa calls “Pot Heads,” (without actually going so far as to discuss pot).
Is this Event Hallow-Richard enough? (another classic from the Addicts Live…from Wookiee), or does it completely miss the mark of what we should expect from a THOH Major Event?
Well…to cut to the chase (using a rubber prop sword, as to not inflict any real injury), the basis of most of this event is from one segment of an ACTUAL THOH episode of the Simpsons. So, if “Grand Wizard Matt” and his crew at Gracie Films think that it is scary enough to be part of the Tree House of Horror (not to be confused with those who would slur the syllables on the last word to create a word that is FAR different than the original intention…and has nothing to do with the movie, “Pretty Woman”), then it MUST be SCARY!!! (much like Richard Gere in the aforementioned movie).
THOH XII was the the opening episode of season 13 (S13E1). And what I find SCARY, is that Harry Potter was already HUGE in 2001, the year that this episode aired. After Googling…”Harry Potter Books,” I came up with this interesting tidbit of information…
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all Harry Potter books in the United Kingdom, on 26 June 1997. It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998 by Scholastic – the American publisher of the books – as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, after Rowling had received US $105,000 for the American rights – an unprecedented amount for a children’s book by a then-unknown author. Fearing that American readers would not associate the word “philosopher” with a magical theme (although the Philosopher’s Stone is alchemy-related), Scholastic insisted that the book be given the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the American market.”
So. Yes. Americans are pretty simple folk. But, that is what the Publishers counted on, and got in spades! Harry Potter has amassed about a zillion “Pot(ter) Heads” worldwide. And frankly, if you haven’t seen at least one of the movies, or read one of the books, you are truly unique…or, perhaps someone who “just doesn’t want to accept that there is more to this world than graphic novels and shooter games.” But, I digress…
But back to the main point of this post, is the episode scary?? Let’s tally up the marks for, and against.
Well…if you think a perpetually barfing frog is scary (and I do!), then yes. It is scary. I hate to throw up. I will do almost anything to keep from doing so. And watching the result of Bart’s lazy wizardry hurl about every 15 seconds was almost too much to take! But we are getting ahead of ourselves, as we first have to set up the entire Premise of “Wiz Kids,” the third segment of the THOH from which this event is mostly derived.
It starts in Wizardry School…and some basic Wizardry by the class, who are practicing their “enchanting a frog,” From Wikipedia:
In a parody of Harry Potter, Bart and Lisa go to the “Springwart’s School of Magicry” in which young boys and girls are trained in the art of witchcraft, such as turning frogs into princes, with Lisa’s turning into a perfect British one while Bart’s results in a freakish, vomiting hybrid begging only for death.
FAIL...the Vomiting Frog Prince (from Halloween 2013) is NOT OFFERED in this Event…while countless other things are! **SUBTRACT 2 Points!!
Yes…Harry makes a cameo…
Lord Montymort notices Lisa’s spells and he and his snake sidekick, Slithers decide to capture Lisa in order to increase his power.
Best Line: “Look at that Lisa Simpson…she’s got more Wicked Witchery than Stevie Nicks!”
**2 Points for Creepy..as we get Slithers in the game.
Also in a quick flash, “Magical Essence Sucker” is shown, attached to Ralphie…and we get it in the game…except that the one in the game actually looks more like something from Frankenstein, or Princess Bride.
**Fail. subtract two points.
Montymort looks for someone to assist him and chooses Bart, who agrees to Montymort’s proposal. On the night of the magic recital at Springwart’s School of Magicry, Lisa attempts a “levitating dragon trick” on an gigantic dragon that is released onto the stage.
Lisa is shocked to find that her spell will not work, and then notices that Bart has replaced her wand with a Twizzler. (That is scary…as I a more of a “Red Vines” kinda guy). The dragon morphs into a giant Montymort who captures Lisa and begins sucking up her power.
Bart casts a spell (to destroy the evil one) against Montymort, but is struck by lightning. In a last-ditch effort, Bart charges at Montymort and stabs him in the shin with his magic wand. Montymort dies (as his shin was the source of all his magic) and is eaten by a crying Slithers.
Bart and Lisa walk away, trying to forget everything that happened (unaware that the leprechaun from the first story is right behind him).”
So…**2 POINTS for CREEPY!! But, then **take one of the points away, because Slithers in our game doesn’t eat MontyMort (which would be sooooo coool, unless he also vomits).
When you do the final tally, I’m sad to report that the episode, and the event, lose by a single point!
It is that close folks…and because it is that close, we will have the Blissninnies (who live in Ninnieville), who LOVE everything POTTER, and for the most part, LOVE everything EA does, telling the rest of us (who understand polls, and numbers, and winning/losing/sad) that we need to “get over it” and just accept that we are stuck with this update, and better just make the best of it. Wait…we’re still talking about the game…right?
The programmers have made this update/event waaaaaaaaaaaay too easy. It barely keeps me tapping…and for an Addict, that is a scary thing indeed! As far as the Pot Heads? I think that there is plenty of scary stuff in the Potter books and movies…we just aren’t getting it all here…or even the Barfing Frog. So, yes…it’s a close call…but I have to side with the “This isn’t Hallow-Richard Enough” team. It just isn’t.
But the scariest thing of all?????? We still have weeks of this event left. Now…THAT’s Scary!
How do you Vote? Pot Head, or Meh-Ville (not to be confused with Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick, which is about a huge, whale….that in our games was 300 donuts! SCARY!!).
Let us know what you think…and then a bunch of people will likely disagree with you. It’s pretty much the “new normal.”
Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Has anyone crafted the Magical Essence Sucker? Does it do anything or is it just a decoration?
It’s just a cool decoration. When you tap on it, a puff of smoke appears, then we see wizard Ralph strapped in to it and getting his essence sucked.
I love this event and also loved the Pagan Christmas event so there you go. I think this game is really fun and that’s why I play it. I quit FGQFS awhile ago and just quit FWOT but I’m still loving TSTO
Just an FYI, and speaking as an older person here. The divisiveness in this country cropped up before the 2016 election. Some people just weren’t aware of it at the time.
I realize this post probably won’t be seen by the general public, and I’m quite fine with that. But I know at least one of you mods will see it and that’s enough for me. I felt the record needed to be corrected.
I feel like we’ve been divisive for at least 10 years, if not more.
If you are talking about the country, we have always been divisive. Our origins were from people who separated themselves from their original countries/peoples in a number of ways. In our union laid the seeds that eventually lead to a civil war. In some wars most people unite, but even then there are many disagree. It is the brilliance of our founding fathers whom gave us unrestricted free speech so that we make work out our differences in the most peaceful ways.
Yes, but somewhere in the last 10 years or so common decency and respect for others disappeared.
Maybe, because of the anonymity of the internet, it may seem so. You may see it every day, it also may seen to be more personal. Maybe cause I am older, I remember some whites degrading people of color as if it was their birthright. The antiwar sentiments of the Vietnam war. When growing up people didn’t care about your self-esteem. When if you walked alone in Central Park people were not surprised if you were physically attacked. The gang wars of the Crips and Bloods, where if you were wearing the wrong color could get you shot.
Aside from the fact that it’s not very Halloween-ish, I am enjoying this event. I love Harry Potter and I love actually being able to get all the prizes for the first time in several events. I wish we were able to buy more old Halloween stuff with donuts rather than having to gamble to try to to get them, but oh well!
Personally, because life has been seriously kicking my butt, and Canadian Thanksgiving was its own timesuck, I’m enjoying the more relaxed pace of this event. I usually spend the events in a total panic that if I can’t get in 5 times I won’t finish on time. I play via a WiFi only tablet and the way my schedule was for most of the last two weeks I was lucky to hit 3 most days. Got the last prize this morning. If this was Homerpalooza I wouldn’t have finished the track.
I’m also enjoying the beast enchanting more than last year’s worm things for whatever reason. That being said, I was looking forward to sending the kids trick or treating, so the lack of that is a bit of a bummer for me.
I don’t know, sometimes I feel like EA is damned no matter what they do because every event there’s so much complaining. Event’s too hard, event’s too easy, event’s off theme for the time of year… they’re never going to make every player happy. If I really hate an event and I’m not too bothered by the prize track? I just go about the regular tasks, work on leveling up for free bonuts and hope for better the next act or next event. Being negative about it won’t make it go away faster.
I 💜 the Harry Potter parodies …. I remember when the barfing frog was an NPC Prize from a prior Event …. but I also remember when this was a Treehouse of Horror themed Event (and this year’s is definitely Mehville) 👎
In my opinion, the event doesn’t feel all that halloweeny compared to previous years, but I don’t have personal experience with the holiday so I am not the best judge of this. That being said, while it feels a bit repetitive by now, I love the fact that we get a do it yourself Magic Academy. Just craft the bits and pieces you like, and create your very own, very unique campus. Although at the current speed I probably won’t be able to actually craft everything I want, which makes me like it a little less…
To: Tappers. From Meh-ville.
Where’s the gosh dern leaves at!? That’s what I want to know. I’m sad there are no freaking falling leaves! Sigh… But yeah, I agree that this misplaced event could have been much more enjoyable, and not felt so phoned in. I’ll just say it. I’m bored. I’ve set no timers, stopped making mental reminders, and am, I think, actually logging in less than I normally do every day. Why should I? To grind thru the tapping so that I can craft overpriced items while waiting for act 2? Meh-ville.
And to your comment on your interesting tidbit of info… I read the HP book #1 in 1997in California. I borrowed it from my neighbor’s girlfriend who was studying literature at UCSB and said what a good read it was. Unbeknownst to me it must have been a European copy. The next year, while managing the local bowling alley (like you do) and heard some kids talking about this Harry Potter book. I was confused the first few times, when I heard them say Sorcerer’s Stone not Philosopher’s Stone. Then I did the math and realized what must have happened with the USA/UK thing. Then presto-chango, I always feel special, now, having known the Philosopher’s Stone first.
I guess it’s time to go collect boogers (goblin gold) and save up for that special wall section that will really tie my town together. Happy tapping. Thanks for listening. Jebus saves.
Thanks!… i have always wondered where the throwng up frog came from when i visit others that have one… and yes… i do tap on it.. just to annoy IT…..
I don’t mind the event itself, I just don’t think it is a Halloween event. I want to do something like trick or treating or the event where we sucked up ghosts. I also dislike that half of the crafting stuff is stuff I already have and can’t make a second time. If you are going to recycle stuff at least let me have a second one of it.
Would be really awesome if it let us craft a second one… that gave like a 1% bonus.
Is it just me or is crafting currency really hard to collect? I’m only on level 4.
Seems to be the general consensus. I’m sure they (EA) will correct in before the end of the event.
Finished way too early…kinda on cruise control till act 2. Have been checking in a couple times a day to collect goblin gold and that’s it. My Springfielders are on their own till Tuesday. Not even worrying about neighbor visits this time…it’s just toooo boring. The one redeeming character in this mess is the one everyone is “up-in-arms” about…the dragon. I love 😍 the dragon…no regrets at all…only wish all the beasts had been different springfielders as dragons. Now that would have been fun👍😉.
I think this would have been a good filler event on those long stretches of time between holidays. Holidays have a special charm to them, this event does not. Do I feel like I am playing a Halloween event? No. I have an eight day gap between act one and the start of act two. Did act one spark my imagination enough to think about it often enough to anticipate the start of act two? No. Does the new stuff fit at all into my well established Halloween area that surrounds my Spooky Campfire? No.
No question I will design a great new area in my Springfield with everything I get, as I always do, but when I look at it down the line, will it remind me of Halloween? Not in the slightest.
Potter fan, but the theme doesn’t stir too much passion.
Though… with all the focus on the wizards, we seem to be ignoring that we have dragons, ogres, cyclops and monsters roaming the town. Large creatures that terrorize surely count towards a Halloween theme, no?!
Also am a fan of the monsters having all their own prize tracks. Though after the three items, I’m not that excited to get additional duplicated stuff….
Still, more versatile than the beetle juice worms last year that only functioned as boss battles!
So…having a Deathly Hallows tattoo, I’m guessing I qualify as a Pot(ter) Head 😂
I’m not totally hating this event…but I’m not totally loving it. I actually like that the prize track has been one of the easiest Act 1’s to get through, as it gives me some downtime. And I’m totally into the magic theme.
BUT…even though its taking from a THOH story, it doesn’t feel like Halloween. Maybe if they added a night theme (not just a dark border and some music) and gave the kids something to do (aside from a “bonus” task at the magic academy), it would get a little closer to a true Halloween event.
I’m waiting to see what the other acts give us. Maybe EA will make it spookier… 👻 🎃
After reading your post Pat, and all of the comments, I feel like I should chime in. I’m thinking that I’m what you would call a true potterhead, a potter fanatic, the ultimate potter nerd. I’ve read all the books multiple times, seen all the movies multiple times. As a matter of fact I’m watching the HP marathon on freeform as I write this. I own all the books in both paperback and hardcover, own all the movies, I even own all the video games that were made based on the movies. And FYI EA, Harry Potter is not a halloween movie or even series. In the books, there is a halloween feast in the great hall, and that’s it. Halloween is barely a blip on the radar in the books. I re-read the entire series every summer, because potter is a summer series IMO.
As to this event, this is not a halloween event. I’m sorry, but I see nothing even remotely halloween involved in this event. The edges of my screen are darkened, and that’s supposed to make it like halloween? Where are the jack-o-lanterns, the ghosts, the skeletons, the ghouls, the trick or treating, the halloween decorative skins? What’s halloween without candy and trick or treating? Heck, even the brain sucking aliens were more halloween than this event, and I don’t relate aliens with halloween either. I understand why they made a potter related event, but I am sorely disappointed that it’s the halloween event. I miss sending my kids to trick or treat, seeing ghosts floating through the neighborhood, even collecting treat bags. There’s just nothing spooky about this event, and I feel like they completely missed the mark with this one. This potter themed event should have been done at a different time, perhaps in spring or summer, when there’s a dead zone in major holiday events. And it could have been sooooo much better than it is! When I found out this event was going to be a magic/potter event, I was super stoked! It was the week before the event, and I was thinking “this is what I’ve been saving my donuts for, I’m going to buy everything potter related and make my own potter corner in my Springfield!”. And then the event started, and and my happy bubble burst. This is such a lame excuse for a “magical” event. You can only use two kids for the event, and they only give you 2 beasts to tame and enchant. I was finished with the act 1 story line on both my games with 5 days to spare! I haven’t purchased anything with donuts, because there’s nothing worth buying. The craftables are boring repeats of things I already have too many of. There’s just nothing here to keep my interest. They should have used more of the kids, given them all outfits, have them all practicing magic in the streets. I’m hoping the event gets better with acts 2 and 3, but I’m not holding my breath. This is just as bad as last Christmas, and after 4 years of being a tsto player, I’ve lost any hope I had that we would finally be getting back to the good stuff this game used to bring. 😔
I agree with your second paragraph. This is one of the most boring events. I finished Act1 with six days to spare and now that the beasts are Enchanted (or whatever), the wizard kids have nothing to do but recycling.
Also, although the 5-donuts every 25k of blueprints is nice, I liked the old way of once-a-week. Could earn it in a day or two and then send characters off for 12 or 24 hr shifts.
You can still decide to just do one round of rail yard tasks and then send your characters on the 12-hour or 24-hour tasks, you know…. Although, I gotta admit, it is hard to do that when you know you can continue to do those rail yard tasks. I, too, liked that feeling of “completion,” but I also recognize that continuing to do those tasks throughout the week is my choice, not a requirement. (It’s even more tempting to me to keep going on them, since I pretty much never use 24-hour tasks, unless they’re required for a questline (or unless I’m going to be unable to play for a day for some reason, like travel).
Now you can ignore the monorail until you need it. Before you had to decide do I try to get my donuts first or do I send my characters on event tasks, because I might run out of time to earn the donuts. Now, you can just send characters when they are free.
Whooaa!! “Too easy”? This is the first Act I’ve ever completed! Yay! I didn’t think I would like the enchanting, but it ended up being something I looked forward to doing. I would see how many mana points I needed, and I would think, hmmm yeah that’s an achievable goal. So I’ve been logging in four times a day, finally! I am gloriously happy about this event. And on Simpsons World they seem to have a lot of the “magical” episodes running. I’m not sure as if I would go so far as being a Potterhead, but I have seen all the movies and read the books, but I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of X, Y and Z. I get why some tsto fans want more scares, but there are two acts left, so we will see! And I really love that once the beasts are enchanted, you still get wands and free decorations for tapping. I really love this Halloween! And loving that some of the craftables are some things that I’ve missed in previous games. For me, the difficulty level on this event is perfect, and I wouldn’t want EA to change a thing!
Got to say one of martins quests is to engage in single combat with comic book guy is absolutely brilliant on top of the android dungeon, best animation I have seen for a while
I can’t stand Harry Potter stuff and even if I did, this event is dreadfully boring and I could care less. This may be the first time ever doing this but once I see what you can unlock for Part 2, it may just put down my game entirely until it is done. I don’t even have the ambition to collect money because I’m that bored with this event.
I guess I am what you called “unique” not interested in Harry Potter but also not offended by the event. I am more disappointed with the prizes as I had almost everything already..but if it gives new Sim Taps 😏 an opportunity to get stuff they missed, fine. I am hoping it gets better but have already steered toward Christmas…As a side note, this society has become thin-skinned which pushes true slurs and ignorant comments to the side in an avalanche of “offense”… If your opinion differs from mine, you are my enemy or a snowflake, pinhead, racist take your pick..until we can have honest dialogue and realize that our experiences are different and just because “you never experienced” or “you never saw” or “you never heard” doesn’t mean someone else has lived the same way..no one gets to decide when someone should “get over” a painful history or past. Until we all respect each other and accept and appreciate differences, our silly little town in our silly little game will be much better than our reality…sad.🙏