I have to admit it…I often forget that TSTO is not a way of life, but is merely something we do while the rest of our lives are happening. There are times, like right now, when it feels a bit more consuming, because the “fun factor” gets over-run by the “grind factor,” and I lose sight of some of the good things that EA has done in an event, that are actually designed to provide entertainment, and not grief.
Yes…they killed crafting. Mostly. Yes, there is now far more content to buy with game cash…but that is offset with the Item Limits, and a dearth of room around our Zoo. There are loads of new characters, including Sarah Wiggum…but most are one-offs that nobody has really heard of, or can’t remember. There are loads of new decorations and animals, but it really is an entire event based on just smidge of an idea. They are giving us more free land tokens…but we can’t use them around the Zoo Zone.
In the last paragraph…we see examples of the classic “Everything’s Great!” that a Bliss Ninny (not a derogatory term) may portray, along with the overly Pragmatic, “BUT!” that seems to come with every positive being offered.
The fact is. I wish I WAS a Bliss Ninny. It is the sad irony of being a crankier-by-nature kinda person, that we often wish we were not so.
But, telling us that we are being cranky doesn’t help…trust me on that.
“Just be happy…how hard is it to wake up each day and just decide to be happy?” I often hear my bliss ninny of a wife say to me. She is clearly of the “glass half full” sector in the world. She is one who can disregard pragmatic reasoning in even the most dire and obvious circumstances, and simply say, “Oh well…it’ll all turn out!” And it usually does…because I find solutions.
The pragmatic, cranky types have to step in and fix the problems, or answer the hard questions, or simply take control so others don’t have to.
It’s like that with this blog. There is a reason that Alissa (along with some helpers) has built as blog that is the “go-to” solution for countless TSTO players worldwide. She and the team, along with the community we have built, provide answers for those too confused or perhaps too lazy to figure out for themselves. EA is simply awful at documentation and support. Period. Without this blog, and this community, the game simply wouldn’t be as fun, or as easy to play for most who come here.
But, there’s the rub…
When you do something for more than 5 years, people just take it for granted. And when you take something for granted, you start expecting more, and more, and more…until those who provide the service, start losing their “bliss ninny” view, and slide into the dark, angry hole that is the opposite of bliss.
But, like the opposite of love, the opposite of bliss is actually apathy. People who are pragmatic (and perhaps seen as “cranky”), are not apathetic. They are passionate about the problems, and are always looking for solutions to fix and make things better. Apathy would be bad for this blog…or any endeavor in life. Because, “Meh…I don’t care,” is a stutter step away from “screw it…I’ve had enough…I quit.”
But, we endure. And continue to play, and provide, and know that MOST of the people who read what we write, actually appreciate our efforts to help, and improve the game playing experience.
This is NOT a plea for attention…or another, “why don’t you love us?” backhanded attempt for adoration and praise. Quite the contrary.
What this is, at least for me…is to remind you that We Are Players Too…
And, just like every other player who whines about something they don’t like in the comments (and there are plenty), we have the right to like or dislike something in the game, even at the risk of offending a Bliss-Ninny who simply loves everything, no matter what EA shoves at us.
Let’s make one thing clear… when you whine about a post, or how we write something, or how a calendar is laid out, or if we are quick enough for a “Should You Buy” (which are 99% opinion by the way), you aren’t doing yourself any favors.
You may have noticed that Alissa is far more quick to say, “here we go again” when someone whines. And I am more inclined to revert back to my old reactionary self, and simply say, “bite me,” or lash out at someone who doesn’t take the time to consider HOW MUCH TIME we put into every post.
But, I will say that the last round silliness over when to start the calendar, and how to do the math, brought me very close to simply blowing it off in the future. They take a LOT of time (not the math) in the execution of the calendar, art, stats, and graphics. But, I have a new solution that I’ll share next time out.
As just a pragmatic wake-up call, this is a very, very, very simple game by any standards. In every event since EA has gone to Three Acts, to “Get It All” you simply have to log in 4 times a day, for between 30-60 seconds…and do the primary event action (clearing and sending people on tasks). The rest is almost inconsequential. People become obsessed with finishing as fast as possible, so they can gather a few Free Bonuts. But, it is very, very, very rare, that you can’t finish an event, even without neighbors, and without dropping a single donut on a Premium character, or to rush the game. If you can’t log in 4 times for less than a minute, your life may in fact be too busy to play this game. Simple? Repetitive? Perhaps boring? Yep. And placing the things you win may be a bigger, more time-consuming task…but is NOT required to finish the event. M’Kay???
It is the rest of the optional, “you choose to tap” stuff that can take more time.
HERE’S A WARNING….
With Alissa ready to give birth any day…and the events becoming more and more similar and simple, our patience is going to be even shorter. I still work full time…as do Safi and Joe. Alissa works full time, and is going to be a new Mom with Riley at her side. We are not likely to have our Bliss Ninny Hats on…and will likely not “live up to the standards” that you may wish (two posts a day instead of three…and maybe not as much detail in the posts we do).
So, give us a break. It’s a game. It’s not even a very difficult game. It’s mostly just grinding every 4 hours…for a minute or two. Unless of course, you are a blog writer that provides information to tens of thousands of players. Then, it can REALLY be a grind, and very time consuming.
TSTO is supposed to be a form of entertainment. Stop taking it so seriously. It’s a game. It’s always been a game. It is not a way of life. It is not a culture. It is not a religion. It is just a game…
And, there are no right or wrong ways to play…only in whether you take it as it comes, rather than whining about what isn’t there. We’ll call that the Bliss Ninny- Pragmatist Compromise. It’s a great way to live life.
OK? On that note…I’m going to step away from the keyboard, and let the weekend wash over me. Enough TSTO for a bit.
Time to find the Bliss in the REST of my life!
This guy knows how to smile through the rain…My Grandson Jake!
The perfect combination of Bliss and Pragmatism!
And if THAT didn’t make you forget about the stupid calendar…or not enough land…or Item Limits…or anything to do with TSTO…
TRY THIS ONE ON FOR SIZE…
There…don’t you feel better now? I know I do!
While I’d love it if the SIB’s were up instantly, I’m fine with them going up at all. They all seem to be “if you like it, get it” in the final conclusion lately, but I rely less on that than the other info provided anyway.
I have no idea why anyone would complain about the calendars, they are perfect. If it lessens the work, just give me a title bar so I know which act I’m on, and the numbers on it. Those calendars have been a lifesaver for me to see if I’m on track.
Do what you can, we appreciate all the efforts. Let the whiners whine. They deserve a swift kick in the hindquarters for whinging about the quality of a free service (which is top notch btw).
Amen brother
Well put. I am often taken aback by the complaints in the comments. None of you has to do any of this. Last I checked I had paid exactly $0 for the service you provide. “Why isn’t the SIB for item x up?” Gee, I don’t know. Maybe these people have actual lives with families and jobs? And these posts always show up in a timely manner. Do they always show up the second a new item shows up? No. Do we really need them to? No. If the window on an item is particularly short, you always make sure to post quickly. And, as you said, if we’ve read a few of the SIBs, we know what you consider when making these recommendations. Find the item/character in a neighbor’s town if you want to see/hear it. As for calendars, really? Do the math yourself. Know that event currency always gets easier to earn as you progress in each act and straightline it so that you aim high early on and get ahead. Or don’t. Make it however you want. I appreciate that I don’t have to take my time to do the math myself because I’m lazy. What’s really going to happen if I don’t get everything? And, because you straightline the calendar, you have us aiming high from the get-go. I might understand if life or death decisions were at stake, but anyone who gets upset with people who are providing a free service to help us with a freaking GAME needs to learn what a real problem is. If you can’t tell by my rant, I really appreciate what all of you do to help the rest of us addicts!
Nice Rant! I couldn’t have said it better myself!
A word of warning also..Alissa, Pat. You need a TSTO vacation. Honestly I would have been fed up a long time ago. It’s basically a second job. Where the patience comes from I don’t know.
You can take a vacation from real world jobs. I’m sure you can find a way to take a week off from here.
If you don’t you might burn out countless other bloggers. You guys keep this thing running. Without a complete break once and and while( no posting or monitoring comments..find a way) Or you’re going to burn out and this whole thing you’ve created is going to crash.
Find your Bliss! then leave your phones at home. Take a break you deserve it!
We’ll work on a vacation schedule. As soon as we get a break from updates.
They keep coming…we’ll keep writing.
I totally agree. Some of us addicts are actually decent writers and donut farm enough to speed up quest lines, etc. Maybe a couple of us could pinch-hit when one of you takes a break from the blog. Just a thought.
To our favourite super bloggers thank you for taking the time out to let us share all your inside information and tips and tricks to make our favourite game enjoyable if this is all some people have to complain about get a life. I myself am living with a death warrant having falicular lymphoma throughout my whole body and my bone marrow that I been treated for once and returned within a year after treatment and now every day is a bonus as the saying goes such is life and always look on the bright side of life
Now THAT puts things in perspective.
Our prayers and best wishes to you.
I enjoy coming here and reading. I also love listening to the podcast. Sure I probably sound like a nerd driving down the road with the windows down and a podcast about Tapped out playing, but I don’t care. The podcast makes this blog all the more interesting and fun. I understand your frustrations with people. It’s like an ungrateful child and no matter what you do it’s never good enough. Reminds me so much of the Giving Tree. You guys are the Tree. I love what you guys do and appreciate it all. You’re posts have saved me so many times from throwing my iPad/phone against the wall in anger.
I don’t even understand the people that complain about the way you do the calendar. I mean, it’s clearly a lot of freaking work that you’re under no obligation to actually do, so why complain when they should just be glad it exists in the first place?
With the way EA changed the start times of the acts, I think you had little choice but to go to a 24hr clock on it. And realistically, if you log in 4 times a day, do the daily challenges, you’re going to finish on time anyway? I got done Act 1 on Monday with zero premiums. Had time for one round of bonuts. All in all, successful. What I use your calendar for is a rough guide based on how busy RL is for me of where I need to be by a certain date. For example, my sister is a teacher and is starting back to work this coming week, two weeks of prep stuff before the kids come back so she’ll be there full time (she’s been job-sharing a class with the principal since she came off mat leave last year after having twins) and I volunteered to watch them on Tuesdays for those two weeks since I have the time (and Thursday afternoons for the school year but it’s less than 4hrs there so not worried about that). They’re at an age where phone/tablet like things get grabbed and played with so know I won’t tap around them, which means I’ll get 3 rounds at most on those days. Seeing where I should be by Wednesday morning (see, not hard to figure out) will help me stay on track the rest of the time.
Needless to say, your work is very much appreciated, calendar and otherwise. I wouldn’t be on this site at least once a day if I didn’t get some joy or fun out of everyone’s posts. I muddled along well enough for over a year before I found you – though I admit to rarely finishing the prize track, especially in those early days.
As for pragmatist or bliss ninny, I’d say somewhere in the middle with a slight lean towards bliss. I have a tendency to get stuck in a negativity loop of sorts at times so I’ve sort of trained myself to focus on the positive things, or at least the things I can control, more than the ones that drive me crazy or that I can’t. Sometimes it’s easier than others, but there’s more value – especially from a mental health standpoint – for me in being grateful for what I do have than upset about what I don’t. In the case of this blog? That it exists at all with how busy you all are is definitely one of those things.
Patric, although none of my comments ever get posted, I must say please don’t think you and all are not appreciated. ” The squeaky wheel always gets the grease,” there are far more players who DO appreciate all your help and efforts. Negative comments always seem to garner more attention than all the positive ones. Keep up the good wor and thanks.
Not sure why your comments are getting blown up… let’s break the trend.
Patrick, Alissa and all. I read this post and felt for you. I read tstoaddicts every day but have never posted before. Im not sucking up but felt driven to say you all do a fantastic job for a game we all love. There will always those with glass half empty who like to moan without ever stepping up to the plate and making a positive difference. I surround myself with positvie people and as a reader feel that you would all be welcome in my world. Whilst this is the internet not the physical world i would happily buy any of the tsto family a beer or two in the real world simply to say thank you for all that you do. It is appreciated. THANK YOU.
Thanks! As long as these are just virtual beers…I’d like Alissa’s (she is pregnant) and Joe’s (he has to work today), and Safi’s (he has to maintain his youthful appearance). I on the other hand, am of the age where a couple of extra beers don’t matter. I’ve lived a good, long, life!
Patric, I think this is my favorite of your posts. You are spot on! You, Alissa, Wookie, and Safi do a wonderful job, though I don’t see how you manage it all. If players aren’t happy with how you do all of this, no one forces them to read the blog. Any complaints I have are usually with EA, never with TSTO Addicts. Kudos to you all!
For me, tsto addicts makes this solitary game live! I don’t know how you find the time (or the patience) but I am so thankful you persist.