Thank Grog It’s Firday!
OK. Look. I’ve tried. Really, really, really tried to curtail my “CrankyOldSide” when it comes to this game. I’ve been playing the game for more than 5 1/2 years…and writing about it for close to 5. And, for the most part, I’ve cut EA slack on their LazyAss tendencies, because every once in a while (like the Christmas update) they really seem to care enough to take a swing that connects with a real home run. Yes. Kudos for Christmas.
But dammitall…this update event just feels like going through the motions…
I have been saying for months that this 6-week, 3 act grind-fest is a drain on the brain. It is too long to sustain any level of “giving a crap” by the end of the last act. And they have become so easy, that this time around, I am done an entire week before the deadline…WITH the server outages!
Do I want to grind for Bonuts? No. I can grind for bonuts anytime I want. And to make it all that much more annoying, we aren’t allowed to store the HUGE playground, and other battle areas, until the event ends, and we go back to some sort of normal. So I can’t really even finish the Badlands area I am planning…because I want to STORE half of the crap I was forced to take!
A WEEK EARLY...and that was a week that was nothing but a grind-fest of nothing…repeated until you are so burned out with the same actions, that you actually considered just stopping…as in all the way…done. I hung in there to get Burns. Big. Woop.
And now…today…insult to injury. We are cajoled to “get the stuff from this update that you might have missed, before time runs out!” Huh? Seriously? Before time runs out? We have been praying for time to run out on this update for days now.
And FINALLY…I want to try and understand your logic on this last point, EA. You keep giving me, “You have 10,100 items, you need to be at 7,100” blah, blah, blah…and then you keep FORCING us to take loads of items in an update that we don’t really want? COME ON!! How many items did we have to take and place to get our multiplier’s up to 20% on all three battle areas? A LOT! And, I didn’t want ANY of them! (OK. I will use a few of the fences…once I am allowed to store my HUGE battle areas). But, you get what I am saying, EA? Or do you?
Here’s a novel idea… FIX YOUR CODE so there aren’t “performance issues” for those of us who have played the longest and are the most loyal to the game. Fix it. Just fix it. Or stop forcing us to take clutter we don’t want…
And don’t get me started on the forced creation of the “Florida” appendage of land at the top right of my Springfield…because you only let me use my “Free Land Token” in one area…that seems to be growing like a carbuncle on the face of an aging film star…too embarrassed to admit that it is there. Let me use my “Free Land Token” where I want to. This is Freedom with Restrictions…which by its very nature is an ambiguous definition of “Free.”
There is a very clear pattern of players bailing over the last year…some coming back to dip their toes again…and then leaving for the same reason; The. Game. Is. Boring.
I have actually reverted to KEM farming…just to know that I am playing for free, and that it is something that actually provides some value to the game. Any value will do at this point…
There WERE some fun prizes in this event…but, the good ones were Premium…and I didn’t care at ALL about those that you earned/saved for Act III.
EA’s weird convolution of the Dystopian world of the Badlands, the whole Hellfish bit with Grandpa and Burns, and then the Water Burns bit wasn’t just lazy…it was stupid. SOOO many things that could have happened…and instead, they took three disparate concepts…with the same characters…and just made us try to make sense of it.
EA. Are you listening??
STOP with the stupid 3-act events. They are lazy…they are boring…and they are driving players off.
I am not sure if they have lost their desire…or if they just take the die-hard fans for granted. But, it really needs to stop.
THIS IS EASY… go back to 4 week, 2-act events,MAX. Actually give us a week with NOTHING in between…or do a short mini-update that is fun, to the point, and then moves on. This isn’t rocket science you EALPish, silly, greedy twits…
You wanna kill the game? Then don’t do it by making the players so bored to death, that they simply leave. We’ll be here as long as you at least TRY!
Three-Act events isn’t trying.
LISTEN to the players who apparently care more than you do.
Simple? Yep… EAsy.
You’re not wrong, and the problem is simple, you’ve played too long. I came back after more than a year of not playing and this event was enjoyable because I got to catch up on things.
But I can 100% agree with you, that if you’ve played all the time, this would be boring. As for EA’s code, well as a long time Sims player, that could be another book.
There is only one solution, “How can I miss you if you won’t go away?” EA needs to balance the needs of long termers with those who have come back for a bit.
Again, I cannot disagree with anything you say, but the solution is, uninstall this and come back in 6 – 12 months.
Well…there is the whole issue of being a mod…and Alissa’s friend. So…not likely.
I’m not asking for the sun and the mon. Just shorter events…
Aw. Tell us how you really feel! 🙂
i’m on the fence about this event. It was long and I finished each section at least a week early. I’m still bugged by the fact that the Mayan bundle wan’t made available to me because I had picked up Mayan Marge and the Mayan God in earlier events. All I needed was Mayan Homer. This seemed like an oversight that could have been easily rectified. Instead, it seems to have been ignored. I get tired of calling EA to complain. The end results are usually 50-50 anyway. Meh.
A M E N .
A few suggestions:
You hate the 4h-grind (I guess everybody does), but have finished a week early – why not cut your daily play in half instead? Don’t force yourself to do the 4h-cycle if you don’t need it. It’s a lot less stressful that way.
There is always the option to NOT play an event. Either don’t even start it, by ignoring the first couple of 6s-tasks, or just stop playing it if you don’t like it, and ignore the event tasks. Nobody is forcing you to see it through to the end. You can still do pretty much anything you can do outside of events, except for storing the event buildings. And the odd Ruffian running around shouldn’t interfere too much with your gameplay. A few of my neighbours didn’t even bother to place the act 2&3 bases, it can be done. 😉
Complaining but playing anyway doesn’t help with the problem, EA will probably only react if people stop playing in droves…
Well…as a Moderator on a site about the game we are all playing… I am pretty much committed to playing the game as a regular player does, so I can write about it and be able to give tips…
That said…you can bet that I have barely touched the game in the past week.
I’m guessing that those of us who play the most, feel the changes, or lack thereof, more readily than those who are casual players. And…because we ARE followed by EA, “complaining,” may actually do something to put them on notice. As you may have noticed…the vast majority of those commenting here agree with me. So…maybe Chillax on your defense of EA…and hope for improvements.
Not defending EA, I am bored with the format as well. And of course I know that you and the other moderators here hardly have a choice, if you want to keep us up to date on the game. I was just pointing out that nobody is forced to play this event to the bitter end. And I am sure EA would react much more speedily if people walked away in droves, than over a few rants on this site – while everyone still spends a lot of time and/or money on TSTO.
Agree 100%. I play another EA game and it is night vs day how we are treated over there compared to TSTO. Any sign of an issue there – free stuff to help your progress. Issues here – ….. I have many times over the past 1-2 years thought of walking away from TSTO, but hard to stop a 5+ year habit. They are working on making it EAsier though …
THANK YOU FOR SAYING IT
After so much Christmas candy, I for one liked the event, if only for the change in aesthetics. My sugar in blood was to high.
But I concur that event mechanics are getting boring, it’s just “log in every four hours and tap”. Same characters, same quests, just rinse and repeat. What about some options to send characters to different time spans? Interaction with neighbours beyond “tap three (insert target here)? Use Krustyland?
I agree. This game was more fun when events were quality over quantity.
Generally, I agree. But tell me, Patric – why can’t you use your “Free Land Token” where you want to?
Yes, do tell. My free land tokens are applicable anywhere on my map, as far as I can tell. There is, however, a pair of new rows of land to the bottom right, which can *only* be purchased with those free land tokens… in-game cash need not apply. I find that rather peculiar, personally.
Perfect article. I’m a life long fan and have been playing this game for 5 years but I’ve finally become tapped out. (Sorry for the pun 😏). I began to lose interest at the Wicken Christmas in 2016, I also thought Harry Potter Halloween was off for the holiday…I’d rather have 4 annual events plus holidays rooted in real simpsons lore (seasons 1-9)….for the first time, I’ve 100% skipped this event.
I agree, it has been too long- I was all done with more than a week to go for me. I would like to see EA allow us to sell or trade items for $$$ or donuts or other stuff- that way we don’t necessarily have to keep all this extra items.
I agree. I wish i could sell my inventory. Who needs 700 toilets & counting. 1 thing i was able use me free land tokens anywhere. I had saved 10 though so not sure if that mattered. Also i couldn’t be bothered crafting 20% for each base i just move the old out and put the 1 i needed to get the 20%. I wish they would get rid of crafting. The prizes r lame. I only get the ones that value add to my sprinfield. However i do like my plants. None this time. Not even a dead tree. Ur grips r warranted Patric. Keep it cranky. Peace out.