Thank Grog It’s Friday!
Yes. As the song by “The New Pornographers” says, “We’ve Been Here Before.”
For many of us, this feels like “Deja Vu all over again…” I love the phrase, which is attributed to Yogi Berra, my favorite Yankee of all time, on and off of the field. He was famous for his mangled use of phrases, (see some here) which always made sense….while being hilariously ambiguous. Two of my favorites are, “Always go to other people’s funerals, or they won’t come to yours,” and “nobody goes there anymore…it’s too crowded.” But I digress…
But, if it feels like we have seen “Moe’s Ark” before….it’s because we have. Kinda…
If you played the the “Christmas/Winter/Solstace” (it was convoluted) update in December 2015, then you likely already have “Moe’s Petting Zoo” in your Springfield.
So this entire event, may feel a bit like, “We’ve done this before.” Because, we have…kinda. But, in many respects, I’m going to have to say that like it or not (I’m not a huge fan), EA is listening to us once again, at least about a handful of things that we were complaining about. In this case, it’s not so much the content, as the way they played their hand(s) at placating some of the problems.
So…some of the Big Stuff that we were complaining about were dealt with in one big punch of the “Update” key.
Item Limits? Not so much…(they have been increased by 100…which will barely cover design of the Zoo if you get into it at all). But, it’s something…
I tested this by placing a TON of my small monorail tracks…then counted. This is an estimate…but I think it is accurate. Anyone else have a guess?
They gave us a HUGE chunk of land..which was automatically imbued with the “magic multiplier zone” so we didn’t have to guess. (Chillax on earning the 2% multiplier…it comes in good time…and is hardly worth the trouble. It’s 2% not 20%!!!
Crafting is kinda dead…but they added a new thing to fester about…the “earning of upgrades” (like the original Moe’s Petting Zoo). It’s not really worth festering about (unlike me using the word festering twice in one paragraph…or maybe three times to be precise).
But, there were also a TON of little changes that came with this update that were fixes, and improvements, proving once again that EA is at least TRYING to get things right.
Let’s take a look at some of the changes…
- A new music has been added in the background. (didn’t notice, because I have the music turned off in my control panel).
- A system message was added making note of the button that was added to Injury 500, Log Ride and Zoominator to turn ride animations on/off. (this is a cool feature that Alissa wrote about earlier…apparently…but I missed the post and the change until they told me about it).
- Norbert’s Listen to Grampa Babble job was fixed.
- A new Character group was added, Wiggum Family: Wiggum, Ralph and Sarah Wiggum. (SO YES…WE ARE GOING TO GET SARAH).
- Bart’s Treehouse requirements were changed back.
- Allison Taylor, Boittany Brockman, T-Rex and Tennage Homer can now Bounce on the Moonbounce.
- Space Coyote’s Sniff Some Butts can now be done at Brown House too. (How did I miss this one?? Maybe because it grosses me out?)
- Viking Boat Ride can now be rotated in 4 directions. ( I wish everything did this)
- Poochie’s Pretend to be in a Car Chase job now requires Poochie’s Car, and Poorly Working Title Pt. 6 or Recycling to the Extreme Pt. 5 started. (LOVE this animation)
- Youngsters’ Watch Poochie Ironically job was removed. (That IS ironic).
- Deluxe Condo, Valet Parkin, Business Center, Classic Mansion, Modern Mansion and Private Island’s Bonus XP now applies to $ too. (WHOA!!!!!!! SO THAT’S WHERE THE EXTRA % Came From!!…no longer hidden).
- Roller Coaster Weirdos are now placed correctly. (about time!)
- Moe’s Cavern build time is now 6s instead of 4h.
- Sophie Krustofsky is now premium.
- Wiggum House is now visible in the store also by starting Family Fun Pt. 1. (It’s about time…now the Wiggum House can be “complete with Mom!).
- 60 FREE DONUTS as a “Thank You” from EA!!!
OK…that last one is cool…they didn’t have to do it. But, I suspect, it is also a way to help offset some of the inflated prices that we are seeing in this update. While the “Day Old Donuts” Gil Offer is one way to lure actual donut buyers, farmers won’t care at all.
But, 60 donuts will help offset the cost of Sarah…who won’t be available until the 17th…and is 300 donuts…ERGH! At least they didn’t force us to buy donuts to get her.
All in all, while I am not a huge fan of another gigantic portion of my Springfield being dedicated to a Family Amusement area (the total size of ItchyScratchyKrustyZooLand is now roughly the size of the original “Springfield Proper), at least they didn’t make us use Land Tokens to get it.
So…How Much is Too Much when it comes to a zoo? Hard to say, really. What I do know, is that I moved my Moe’s Petting Zoo over to this area…and with just a handful of spare items left before I max out again, I’m not inclined to “pretty it up,” much.
Until they give us a real increase in items(at least another 1,000)…everything is going to be done, “on the cheap,” (which seems to go along with the event dialogue). Dirt paths…sparse decorations…just grinding through to get it finished.
Zoos. I’m on the fence about them. The really good ones (including the amazing Portland Zoo in Oregon) go to great lengths to show the animals in open, natural environments, and also go to great lengths to make preservation part of their objective. I’ve seen some really awful zoos, that should be shut down for their treatment of the animals. I love the theory that we are but a “zoo” for a far more advanced life form that visits without disturbing the exhibits. But, in the end…I suspect that what is left when humans are done with our version of mayhem, is likely to resemble more of an “ant farm” or “cockroach hotel.”
As far as the update? Not particularly whelmed. Or as Yogi might have said, “This update is boring…I have to play it too much.” Yep. It’s Grind-Tastic…
Which leads me to my favorite thing about this update…which none of you saw. It was a line in the “Preview” we got from EA.
”
- New Grind currency decorations
- Several new Zoo themed items will be added to the store with a grind currency cost.”
I about fell out of my chair when I read it. Don’t tell me that EA doesn’t read out blog. “Grinding” is our term…and now it has been “co-opted” by “the man!”
You can’t make this stuff up. Even Yogi would laugh at this one…
Have a great weekend! Grind if you must… or actually take the time to get outside and go to a REAL zoo!
What is your favorite zoo experience? Do you have one in your home town?
BONUS…
The song “We’ve Been Here Before.”
