Thank Grog It’s Firday!!
Let’s be honest about it. We have become a very, very, entitled little bunch when it comes to Christmas updates. As I wrote about last week, there are FAR more important things in the world to worry about than if we get what we want, when we want, and how we want…in a mobile game.
It’s kind of like what happens to a spoiled kid at Christmas that gets everything on his list…and then gets tired of playing with a lot of his toys, because he has so damn many of them! Parents end up trying to figure out where to put everything…and kids just move on to the NEXT thing they want.
But, I get it. I saw loads of comments about the dearth of land in the game, combined with the wealth of stuff we are getting in the update. One of you or more actually pushed back when I said, “quit yer whining…I have LOADS of land left to buy” by telling me to do a Friday Filler on Land Management in our games.
Well…me and Santa have a lot in common (besides our love of cinnamon rolls and wassail), so I am going give you your wish, and do just that.
How I have it all…and still have land left to buy…with GAME CASH!!
OK. Let’s start with a few basics about my design, and how I go about using land, decorations, and organizing my expansive layout, with land to spare.
First…I DON’T buy everything. The age of the “Completist” is over. It’s just silly. How much stuff do you really need? Even if you are a farmer, and can afford it all. At some point…there really is a “Too Much.” For me, that comes down to, “Do I like it? Can I use it in an area that I already have designed? Do I even remember the episode it came from?” And most important, “is EA just messing with me, and creating some huge, ugly thing, that really belongs in storage?”
Ooops…but before we get too far…let’s understand one thing…“Storage is unlimited.” You don’t lose anything that is placed in storage, you aren’t penalized for your “Item Limits” in storage, and it doesn’t effect the overall speed of the game, or put undue stress on the servers. The GAME part of the servers is partitioned in a different segment than the personal storage/game ID segments. So, STORE what you really don’t need or want, sometimes as soon as you win them.
A perfect example is the very out of scale, kinda ugly, and “do we really need FOUR of these?” Fair Booths. I placed them…just to move through the update task list, and then BOOM! Gone. Forever in storage.
Anchor Management? Nope. Sorry. I didn’t care for the episode…don’t like the building or the character, even though I CAN afford him. I’ll wait until it comes back, or just ignore it forever. Boom!
But, that is little stuff when it comes to managing land. And let’s face it, EA has been pretty weird this year regarding land in general. Starting at the beginning of the year, they started giving us “Free Land Tokens” that could ONLY be used for land that could be unlocked with those tokens. They altered that soon after, to allow you to spend your tokens on land that could otherwise be purchased with cash…if you still had some that was un-designated as such.
And boy…do I have a TON OF LAND left to purchase.
Th video below will give you an idea…
I have a HUGE chunk to the far right of my screen…
And, as you saw…I have an equally large chunk at the top of my screen…
That folds right into the land that sits adjacent to the giant chunks they gave us for Krustyland, Itchy & Scratchy Land, The Zoo, and the Halloween Event I have loads of water keeping them separate, but also giant parcels of land that have yet to be purchased.
The bottom line…is that anyone who sees my town, realizes that I design in neigborhoods, and themes, that are often separated by either water, or my monorail, or are simply allowed to be hanging off the primary land, like some huge peninsula. Ugly? Nope…for me it makes sense.
I have my “Heaven of many faiths” section off in the top right, next to my “Outlands” section…which makes sense, because it is a dystopian, “after the apocalypse” area. It transitions from Cows being held in “purgatory” right into the gates of my Holy Land. Makes me laugh. And a great use of Free Land.
Because I manage land well…and use every strip to it’s most efficient, while still being aesthetically pleasing, I am still able to maintain a ton of “Legacy” designs that I did in the beginning…including my “Buddhist Prayer Forrest and Gardens.”
But…THIS CHRISTMAS forced me to actually buy some more land…in order to make room for some of the “Frozen North” items that are entering the game (Snow Bank, and other snowy offerings). And I wanted Barney’s Fishing Cabin near my Frozen North/Christmas area (serviced by my Christmas monorail station)…so I had to BUY Land…and do a large removal/placement of my “Homage to Red Rocks”….moving it closer to my desert area, where a lot of my mountains, desert, and park installation hang out.
My Homage to Red Rocks used to be up North of Springfield Heights…but is now moved to make room for other “Permanently Frozen” stuff…and makes more sense near my desert areas.
I placed my Skating Rink and Krusty’s Kristmas on Ice in the “slummier side” on the outskirts of my huge Casino/Golf Resort area. I have lots of land to use as this area develops later.
And a couple of the Chestnut booths, and the Holiday Stage are in the homage to “Woodstock II” which is placed on a strip off of the airport (like the real one) and holds a variety of stages and X-games displays and booths. It’s a wild, mix-mash of booths, crowds, and music…just like Woodstock II.
And yes…to make my final point… Here is the math…
And yes…I counted…
I still have 54 Land tiles that I can purchase with Game Cash (or Land Tokens)
And…more than 160 tiles left to do with Free Land Tokens Only.
So…HOW CAN YOU BE OUT OF LAND???
And Yes… I KEM Farm. But, I do so the “Saffi way” which is “Casual Farming.” I farm 38 KEMS, in a very ordered KEM Growing Trench system…much the way they grow rice in California.
This generates between 50-65 donuts a day…every day. How many do you need?
So…yes. When I hear, “I’m out of land,” I have to call you out and say that you need a “Land Manager.” Just because you CAN have something…doesn’t mean you SHOULD have something. Just like life.
I have no complaints at this point. After almost 6 years of playing the game…I have what I want…with plenty of space to design. EA has gradually EAsed up on Item Limits, so I don’t even have that to complain about.
I guess I am more of a “Enjoy what you have…and conserve space, so you can actually SEE what you have designed once in a while. Huge Farms are ugly. Period. And now that EA has been forcing us into specific areas for some of the larger updates (the amusement park area is getting HUGER than HUGE), it is more important than ever to decide how you are going to make sense of your designs.
Water…monorails…and segmented planning of themed neighborhoods works for me. And if I need to bump one out every once in a while…I can do that easily.
In my case, I feel that I have the best of all worlds. I have large “Legacy areas” that have remained unchanged for years and years…because I like them. I have loads of room to try new stuff…and add to the overall design, without cluttering up, or confusing my “Legacy Springfield.”
Or…you can just do what Ebron and others have done. Nuke it all and start over.
There is no wrong or right way to play the game. But, property management and a bit of city planning can go a long way toward enjoying the game more. Sometimes less is more…