Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Well, 2018 is a little more than halfway over…can you believe it?…and we’re just about at the end of the 3rd major event of 2018. Each year TSTO sees 6 major events, 3 in the first half of the year and 3 in the second half. Before 2018 is over we’ll see one more summer event, a Halloween event, and a Christmas event, while the first half of the year was packed with major events of varying themes.
I thought this year we’d do something a little different than we’ve done in the past. Instead of waiting until the year is over to review all 6 major events at once, we’d take a look at how EA has done with the events for the first half of the year. So let’s do a quick recap of the Major Events in 2018, so far, and then end things with a poll…because you know it’s important to see what y’all have to say. So here’s a quick recap of Bart Royale, Springfield Jobs and Itchy and Scratchy Land…
Bart Royale
Bart Royale, 2018
The very major first event of 2018. Bart Royale ran from January 23rd to March 6th. Your typical 6 week event.
Prize track prizes included: 5 skins (General Bart, Prepper Lindsey Naegle, Outlands Maggie, Emperor Moe & Water Baron Burns), 1 full Character (Pyro), a statue, outlands decorations (Simpson House, a gate and water tower) and ruined versions of Lard Lad Donuts and the Jeb Statue.
Crafting included: Trenches, Gates, House Frames, Playgrounds, Lookout Towers, Rubble, a Runined Version of the Springfield Courthouse, some playground equipment, the truck shack and a Horse-Drawn SUV.
Premium Characters Included: Wendell, Erik, Larry & Sam, Jeremy Jailbird , Mountain Man, Pita and Peta and the Ice Bishop of Beverlyhills
Notable Changes to the Game: First instance of Defensive Bonus added to the game. (the area around a building where you place items to increase the prize track payout) We’ve now seen this with all 3 2018 events, but Bart Royale was the first.
This was also where we saw the change of new land costing Land tokens instead of in-game cash. From this point on any new land added to TSTO was only obtainable via Land Tokens..
More Info: If you’d like to relive Bart Royale, check out the event page for it here.
Springfield Jobs
Springfield Jobs, 2018
The second major event of 2018. Springfield Jobs ran from March 21st to May 9th. At 7 weeks this was the longest event of 2018, so far. This is considered to be an Around the World part 2, with notable trips through Italy and England, among other places.
Prize track prizes included: 0 skins, 5 full characters (Primo, Nana Sophie, Nigel, Fernando & Fit Tony), Cathedrals, Leaning Towers, Museums, 2 casinos, an English Pub, a few royal decorations, an international court & the Tower of Springfield.
Crafting included: Houses, Canals Shops, Gondolas, a Da Vinci Aircraft, Cheese Truck, a nod to Dr. Who, authentic London Phone Booths, Guards and Beefeaters, roundabouts, cathedrals, another Pub, an island capitol and resort, a nod to the Classic Simpsons episode from “down under”, and 3 more land tokens.
Premium Characters Included: The Calabresi Boys, Wheels McGrath, the Pope, Jack the Ripper, Arthur Fortune, Guy Incognito, Raoul and a couple of dead writers.
Notable Changes to the Game: Nothing new was added. They did bring back the bonus area around the buildings (originally started in Bart Royale) and they brought back the video scenes (originally from the Wild West Event in 2016).
The biggest difference with this event was it’s length. At 7 weeks it was the longest event in TSTO since Clash of Clones way back in 2014…
More Info: If you’d like to relive Springfield Jobs, check out the event page for it here.
Itchy and Scratchy Land
The third major event of 2018, and most recent. Itchy and Scratchy Land ran from May 30th to July 11th. Another standard 6 week event.
Prize track prizes included: 3 Full Characters (Diane, Bort and Corporal Punishment), an amusement park ride for each act (Injury 500, Log Ride and Zoominator), statues, signs, parade starters and a child care center where everyone loves the ball pit. Oh and we got Itchy for Free when the event started.
Crafting included: Track pieces for the amusement park rides (straight track, curved track, looping track and drop track), parking lots, ticket booths, signs, a nurse’s station (which is forever closed) & some rollercoaster weirdos.
Premium Characters Included: Scratchy (for a whopping 300 donuts!), Jeremy, Ms. Mouse, June Bellamy, the classic Park Engineer and Tina Ballerina. (Squeaky Voiced Attendant was also premium…but a skin for SVT)
Notable Changes to the Game: Krustyland was forever destroyed, as we were forced to move everything to main Springfield. This was also the first event where we received a “heads up” on some spoilers from EA.
This event was also full of bugs, one of the buggiest events in recent memory. Lots of lag, lots of crashing and lots of frustration.
In addition to the I&S Land content, we also received updates for 4th of July and Pride. That’s not included in this rundown because they’re not directly part of I&S, just added because their dates coincided with this event.
More Info: If you’d like to relive Itchy and Scratchy Land, check out the event page for it here.
Now, having reviewed all 3 events in 2018 how would you rank them? (base your ranking on content and game play. Try (as best you can) to keep glitches/bugs out of your rankings….
If you’re having trouble viewing the poll form in this post you can view it directly here
Thoughts on the events of 2018 so far? Which was your favorite? Least favorite? Why? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!