Back in 2016, I wrote an article about some of the “Superstitions” I had with my town. Actions that while not being completely OCD, certainly had signs that were tantamount to “rally hats” or “secret rituals” that could/might change the outcome of the game or your day, especially if ignored.
No. Contrary to appearing most often in my “CrankyOldGuy Uniform” for many Addicts Live, I do not have a special outfit that I wear when tapping. In fact, on many days, I don’t even wear pants (do sweats count?) when I am doing my most ardent tapping and designing.
But, I would also like to say that I have overcome my need/fear/obsession with keeping certain tasks running, 24/7. I would like to say it. But, I can’t.
In fact…it ha gotten worse. Let’s take a look at the original post…and then I will illuminate you on how my symptoms have progressed.
Does Superstition Run Your Springfield? – 04-24-16
Maybe it’s the sports guy in me…or maybe I’m just nuts. But, like it or not, I have fallen into some patterns that started out as “funny little quirks” to keep me from getting bored with the game, and have turned into full-blown “I’m afraid NOT to do it now” patterns that could be labeled compulsive behavior.
Like I said. I might be nuts.
But, the fact is, I need Grandpa to keep feeding the black hole to keep my Springfield safe. And now…I need Mona by his side, and Sherry Bobbins in the energy field!!
It’s not all as crazy as it seems. Really. No. Really…
Let me explain…
Sports players and fans are known for superstitious behavior. There is myriad anecdotal evidence of fans who need to wear a “lucky shirt” or players who won’t shave during the playoffs. This was never brought to more of a head, than the head-case of a father, in the movie “Silver Lining Playbooks” who was so superstitious about his football viewing/betting rituals, that it caused a huge family riff. Great movie…and DeNiro’s character said about superstition, “It’s only crazy if it doesn’t work.”
And I am convinced that it works. So much so, that I have added to my list of “Characters Stuck.”
It started innocently enough, when I realized that if I had Grandpa “Feed the Birds” and placed the bench near the “Little Black Hole”…it looked like he was actually feeding pigeons into the black hole. That made perfect sense, because anyone with a modicum of physics understanding knows, if you don’t feed a black hole, it can gobble up everything around it. And no…I am not wild about the Chinese building a Super Collider that is supposed to be three times as powerful as CERN. They have not proven to be responsible with technology, and the whole “rip a whole in time/space” thing bothers me. But, I digress…
The fact is…I started keeping Grandpa feeding the black hole, on a 24/7 basis. It became an obsession…and has been for more than three years. Read that line again. Three years.
Unless I am FORCED to use grandpa in an update (which is thankfully rare), he is there. And now, since her introduction and being able to “Feed The Birds” with Grandpa, Mona (or her ghost…or her external consciousness manifestation if you are still going with the time/space bit) is there beside him. With Sherry Bobbins floating just beyond the “Quantum Maze” near my Mapple Store and across the street from my Collider.
Grandpa has been in my town…feeding pigeons into the black hole, since my earliest playing days with the Halloween 2012 update when the Super Collider was introduced. Shary Bobbins came along as one of the first and worst examples of the dreaded “wHell” concept that EA used to have in place back in 2013. She stays aloft…because she represents the worst of EA, and she has been floating, due to getting too close to the strange physics in that region. (what is more strange than a collider and the Mapple Store…with a hedge maze thrown in?).
Go with me here. If there is a supercollider in Springfield…and it is run by Springfieldians, and they let a Black Hole escape…there HAS to be some other physics weirdness in that corner of town. It is where the Mapple store sits, after all. And Steve Jobs is certainly haunting it, which would also explain why Sherry is perpetually suspended there, and why Mona can just “Hang” with one foot in and one foot out of this space/time.
Nuke My TOWN???? I don’t think so…Bub. There is serious quantum physics going on here, and it isn’t going to change any time soon.
That would have been fine. But, then the whole, “Keep them doing what seems safe for the town” bit got out of hand…even by my standards.
It started with Cocoa Beanie. I hate Cocoa Beanie. He is Soooooooooo random!! After he was introduced along with the “Ah Fudge! Factory.” He is argued to be “non-cannon,” but he does make a really short appearance in an episode. But, I found him wandering around the Elementary school once he was in my school…and there is just no way to know who is REALLY in that mascot costume. And so…he is perpetually pummeled by kids in front of the factory.
There are less obvious reasons (to some) that I have Herman perpetually selling black market jeans and Agnes “Greeting Customers” at the Sprawl-Mart. Agnes is simply holding onto my “fallback job” (for when I try retirement and need some extra income), and if Herman is selling jeans, he can’t sell guns.
If you visit my town…check ’em all out. They are there…they will ALWAYS be there…forever, and ever, and ever, and… you get the idea.
What do YOU do in your town to keep things interesting?
Keep on Tappin’ – CrankyOldGuy
Like I said. I wish that this was the end to my obsession. But, now, doing a full roll-over of characters has become extremely complicated. Before I can/will do a “Mass Task Send” through my Employment office, I have to check all of my “regulars” to make sure that they are safely doing what I want them to do…to keep my town intact.
Here are a few of the additions since 2016.
I keep ALL of the Terwilliger players “performing at the opera.” I love the animation…and I can keep an eye on them.
I have Mindy perpetually “working on her tan” (because she is kinda hot), and I have RadioActive Man, perpetually “Shirking His Responsibilities” because he is actually ogling Mindy from his rooftop.
I have my permanent “Dystopian Installation” with Outlands Maggie, Meathook, the Ice Bishop of Beverly Hills, Meathook, RamRod and Howard K. Duff all doing their 4-hour tasks, except for Howard, who does an 8-hour task (so it is complicated). I have the whole mess of them waaaaaaaaay off of the grid, in what I call “Florida” (the first weird forced land extension we could only buy with Free Land tiles).
I have had Teddy Roosevelt hunting game almost non-stop…because the animation is awesome, and the animals always get away.
And as of late…I have allowed my dirty old man to surface, and have kept “Femme Fatale” doing “Deadly Gymnastics” almost perpetually. I could watch her for hours.
There are more…but, admitting to keeping the golfers golfing, and those with other casual quirks that make me laugh going when I remember them…well…yes…it does seem a little more than just superstitious.
I can quit any time I choose. I even did it on purpose for a few days, just to prove that I could. It only took me a couple of cycles to get everyone back where they belong. Because they DO belong where I put them. It keeps me from getting anxious…and it works!!!
What do you mean, what do I mean by “it works?” Well…I haven’t had the Roll Back Bug, or any Game Lag, or any other calamities in almost 6 years of tapping. So…it works! Right?
What rituals do you have? Do you have any “Must do” characters that keep your town under control?
In the meantime…I’ll keep cycling my “must” characters. It’s just safer that way.
Fat Tony in the hot tub
Furious D admiring Two-nicorn
Misc others when I remember or need an amusement 😀
I agree I enjoy having shoot outs with Sargent Skinner and Lindsay Naegle or any of the gangsters but I do wish that E.A. would give everyone of the characters a whole new tasks list I mean the poor Rabbi has been playing chess nonstop since I can remember.
I also keep the Terwilligers at the opera!
You said meathook twice
Update on IOS!!!!!
Yea it’s on Android to. Except the launch time isn’t until tomorrow at 10am ET, so it’ll be a little while before content is in the game..
so so many… but i rotate them like have all the flyers flying, or every body riding motorcycles around. I also hate cocoa so, & well furious D is never without twonicorn. As punishment i make barbarian homer never stop tappin & matt do jury duty from here till eternity out haha.
Slightly* off topic, but I appear to have a zoo-related update. Nothing else has happened yet, possibly ‘cos all my characters are on tasks.
*wildly
Nah, nothing will happen. It’s because the update start time is tomorrow, August 1st at 10 am ET. I suspected it’d hit the app store today, files dropped a few hours ago
Off topic, just seen the whole 3 acts explained for moes ark event on wiki Simpsons, and wished I didn’t, ☹️
It’s fun when you sign an NDA, EA specifically says don’t release info about Acts 2 or 3 until they hit and people do it anyway….
But yes, based on what I know (from early info and file info) I’m not too thrilled with this one…
Won’t be going on that site again, just seen clicked the link a spoiled the upcoming event a bit☹️
That stinks. And that’s a prime example of why we only post limited spoilers here…
What I did read about the event is going to put a lot of people of playing I think, think I would prefer a superhero 3 event to this. ☹️
I saw it posted on EA forums. He said he was given permission to post the info like 3 days ago. 🤷🏻♀️
Then it’s permission EA gave to no one else. We were all specifically told: “we ask that you hold on releasing Act 2 and Act 3 information until their respective start dates”
It’s disappointing when people ruin the surprise for everyone else 🙁
I send Moe (when he is not at the monorail) at the KTV building cause I really love this building 🇯🇵
As a good French 🇫🇷i send the snake on 24hrs at Bastille
And finally I love using the buildings of the past updates such as the airport, the rock/pop/hip-hop stage and the rigellian Christmas spaceship (I really love this one)
I think I have some more but don’t remember
Firehouse Skinner washing the truck I always put him on that 4 hour task. Watching him wash the truck busts me up.
My only superstition is I must have Apu work at the original Kwik-e-Mart. I have several scattered around including a failed attempt at KEM farming. The other markets I consider franchises and don’t like Apu working at those stores. My original location is near Springfield Heights where I can send Apu on a 12 hour task to Order a Salad if Apu loses his way or I need to send him on other tasks around Springfield. No KEM in the Heights so it’s easy to get him back home.
How can you tell the original kwik e mart?
In my game it’s the only one the building skin from a few halloweens back shows up on. I do believe it’s also impossible to sell.
Wow I’ve never noticed that! Thanks for letting me know.
Also, if you send Ray Patterson on his one-hour “Buy Bird Feed” task, he will head for the original Kwik-e-Mart, passing any that are closer.
Not very superstitious, but I do have little vignettes all over my town.
Donut truck meets beer truck…Homer is permanently “playing in the beer rain” now…
https://imgur.com/a/IWjwQIy
And the same 5 characters are always in my Outlands area…
https://imgur.com/a/1xS9ll4
Almost forgot the Elementary School…bunches of folks on permanent duty there. The trickiest part is keeping Sherri and Terri from walking away before you catch them…speedy little devils😆.
https://imgur.com/a/eSPdqNJ
I have a few. I always have Cookie Kwan advertising Springfield Heights, Grady is always riding the moped and Brother Faith is always riding a cloud. Xoxitla (I have no idea how to spell her name) is always dancing. Sometimes, if I notice somebody has wandered to a part of town they rarely go in, I choose a task to keep them there for a while.
Only thing I do is have Cletus’ Farm, the TV and Radio Station, and Stampy all on the same 24 hour tasks. I’ve since added LT Smash, Norbert, and Arthur Fortune to do perpetual 24 hour tasks, mostly cause I keep my town going on a 4-hour rotation, and their “fly across the sky” tasks are extremely annoying. Same reason why Stampy isn’t with the rest of my “population” – I don’t have a 4-tour task for him (don’t own the Pet Store)
Funny! I, too, keep Cocoa Beanie getting kicked and have Mindy constantly sunbathing by my yacht club. Also keep Radioactive man flying around, Marvin Monroe telling his problems on the beach near a tiki hut and have Scorpio interrogating mr Bont with occasional flamethrower breaks! Cheer Tappists!
This is something I’ve tried very hard to avoid. This is a hole I could easily fall into.
I send most of my characters on 4 hour tasks (which is why I love 4 hour visual tasks, and why I’ve put some buildings in my inventory that I have spots for and would love to have in my town if they didn’t take away from 4 hour visuals when using the unemployment office)
I only have a handful of characters I send on 8 hour tasks.. because I like the visual more than their 4 hour.
And then there’s Number 51 and Wiggum always at the Stonecutter’s table.. most of the others are busy recycling or doing an event.
With around 300 characters, I don’t have the time to be much pickier than that.
Go with it…the safety of your Springfield may depend on it!
Black holes don’t “need” to be fed. Their gravitational field keeps them fed with whatever happens to fall within their grasp, but nothing bad happens if they’re not.
Says the most literal reading person on the planet.
How exactly do you know this? Even Hawking changed his mind on black holes.
It’s. A. Joke. Sheeeesh!
You must be a hoot at dinner parties.
I do the same thing….wise guy is forever in the bad dream house…i love seeing it all lit up!!! Tiago is always shakin his booty outside the samba school…..AND ONLY there. Cuz if he wasnt, no one would know what that store sells! Lol. Beanie gets beat up all day everyday cuz its amusing. I like the visual tasks….i just do. But some characters are stuck in that place. If i accidently tap someone unknowingly and find them halfway across town….omg its full-on panic. Lol. ESPECIALLY wise guy! Gotta store them….gotta place this….place that….just to get them back. My husband thinks im nuts. He’s a 12….8 hr task for everyone. BORING!!!!!! Oh…..dont get me started on if i send a character on a visual task and they’re too close to a building and disappear in that building glitch! Store, place, repeat! Yes….i have issues. Lol. Anywho, what im trying to say is……ur not alone, Patric! There’s safety in numbers! 😉
All our personal quirks make the game fun. 🙂
I don’t do much special with the characters, and most of my buildings are now in compact 8×16 blocks, but I kept Evergreen Terrace intact, and I still have the slaughterhouse right behind Springfield Downs. 😛
I also keep all my billboards and news vans nicely organized — I call them my I&S-themed solar panels charging my fleet of driverless electric rideshare vehicles. 🙂
My quirks (seems a funny way of saying OCD) involve:
Sending any Springfield Characters that have Tasks at Krustyland
Sending any Springfield Characters with Skins on funny Visual Tasks
Only 8 Hour Tasks (4 Hour Tasks if Kem Farming, 12 Hour Tasks if taking a break from Tapping) twice Daily
L(o)(o)king for any Springfield Characters with a Visual Task that is glitching
Making sure I have extra Land for the Halloween section
I have ceased:
Trying to get EA interested with increasing the amount of Pier Pieces (in Springfield and Springfield Heights)
Attempting 3D and/or super duper Decorating with Trees, Shrubs, Walls
Tapping Daily (I’m finding more to do in real life)
this didn’t feel like a confession (lol) 😂
CJBrown do you have the Yellow Submersible? If so, it will continue to produce regular and Springfield Heights tiles ad infinitum. They are awarded randomly, but they do continue to accrue well past the item limits.
Mr. Snub
I do not have the Yellow Submersible 🤔 …. I know it creates Pier Pieces permanently (I just think that sort of limitations from EA is daft, but I get it – must spend Sprinkles on a Premium in order to be rewarded, so perhaps I will pick it up if Discounted next time). 😀👍
Ahhh, well that explains that. I just got the message on the weekend that I’d reached a limit on my boardwalk pieces. I was sure I’d seen much, much bigger boardwalks in friends towns.
Hopefully the submersible reappears someday.