Thank Grog It’s Firday!
I wish that meant something. Firday is melding into Mernday, and Mernday feels a lot like Weedsday. The fact is, with my huge remodeling project, my regular business duties, all of my volunteer work, and still trying to play a round of golf once in a while…something had to give.
This week may be a first…where my time writing about the game, and moderating comments, far outpaced my actual TSTO game play time. But, in all honesty…that isn’t saying much, as I only checked my game twice…in seven days…and part of that was to write the DID column Wednesday.
This raises some interesting questions regarding TSTO. Am I no long an “Addict?” Did I leave the game, or did the game leave me? And what part does TSTO play in “the rest of my life?”
One of our longtime reader/commenters recently wrote in the “TSTO Open” segment Sunday, that he “lost his excitement for this game. I’m tapping through through the motions now. It seems almost pointless. Nay. It IS pointless. There’s not much gas left in this contraption. I can’t get myself to stop playing the game, but if the game servers were to crash tomorrow, and the game never came back, I’d probably be more relieved than sad.”
I was amazed that I agreed with him. But was then reminded of a joke I heard recently about the phenomenon of writing on Facebook, that you are LEAVING Facebook, and then coming back proudly to tell everyone on Facebook that “you made it through 2 whole days without Facebook.” But then reveal later on Facebook, that you had dropped your phone in a lake by mistake, and it took you two days to dry it out and get back online.
This isn’t really the same. But kinda.
The fact is, I agree with Sillyboy (the writer of the post on Sunday). There is a part of me that almost wishes they’d just pull the plug.
But then…the Family Reunion update was so damn funny (if very similar in game play) that I was more than willing to play…without rushing…and just let it unfold. I played it old school. No rushing with farmed donuts. No freaking out to get it all. I just let it play out. Like it is supposed to.
The fact is, we spend so much time these days in “Binge Watch Mode” for our lives, that we often just forget the simply joy of letting life (or our games) just unfold in the way in which it was intended. We are in a constant rush to consume it all…all of the time.
Donut farming, and amassing huge Bonus % to help you get it all faster, have indeed taken some luster off of the game. I checked back on some of Silly’s other posts, and he revealed that he had stopped farming…because he already had 5,000 donuts, and his XP was well over 1.600%. Well of course you are bored! You played too much! You BINGED.
It’s like the old Yogi Berra quote, “Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore…it’s too crowded.”
So yes…if you overplay…and binge in life, your expectations grow to levels that are unsustainable, and all sense of fun is lost.
So…yes…take a break.
It is admittedly a little of both for me. I’m leaving…but the game left me…kinda. You can’t deny that the layoff has taken a toll on the “attention to tapping” meter.
In the meantime…I am doing the same, mostly because I don’t have the idle time. I realized that Netflix has got to be wondering if I am still alive…as there are still several “new seasons” to binge watch. Why don’t I? I don’t want to spend the “Life Currency” to do so. I’m too busing living.
So…I look forward to the next TSTO update…whenever, or whatever it is. I will play it, gladly, with no complaints…knowing that like an old friend who is there after months of neglect, you can fall right back into the pattern (like my neighbors who continue to tag my town, as a way of reminding me they are still here!). And yes…perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder. We’ll see.
Now…back to rewiring the bathroom shower light and fan. Did I remember to turn off the power?
I keep checking my six in case I miss anything that comes back.
Good Day Bonjour, I don’t really feel like I lost interest in the game, I have time now to redesign my town from scratch… and no, I didn’t use the “nuke” button…. I have time to visit neighbors and look at their designs… Tag them and move on. I wish again we had more options in sending characters at different time intervals in the Unemployment office, since looking for characters, one by one, with 6hrs tasks, or 2hrs or 10hrs is an endeavor that takes waaaaaay to long… Real life is creeping up taking more of my game tsto time, so a good balance is needed. With major updates/events, now I have the donuts to log in > Rush it > get stuff > set it ready for design later when time allows it, and repeat.. and now there is time!! 🙂 The game plays for me, not me for the game..
ps. I make no sense..
You make LOADS of sense! I lobe your attitude.
For those who near their item limit.
If the game is “dead”, i.e. events are few and far between, then you can store all the items you use to generate cash and donuts. I imagine you can find hundreds of items hidden behind other items.
Hi all. I’m THE Sillyboy that Patric is referring to. I’m honored to be referenced in such a way. I got a little pushback from a couple of addicts when I posted last week in the open thread, but I think I was hitting a raw nerve more than pissing people off.
First- I haven’t stopped playing the game. I’m playing at a leisurely pace (about twice a day). I’ve missed entire days, and not missed it.
Second- I haven’t been checking in with TSTO Addicts more than once or twice a week. Sorry guys. Don’t take it personally. It’s not you. It’s them. ;-). When I say “them” I’m talking about EA.
Third- If EA would go back to “business as usual” (i.e., more content more often- like the old days), then I would play more often and check in with this website more often.
I’m happy for those of you who are still tapping your fingers to the bone. I’m truly happy for you. Again- it’s not you, it’s me.
Thanks again to Patric, Alissa, et al. You’re still appreciated. I’m flabbergasted at your devotion to blogging about this game. More power to you.
Hey there Silly… all sounds right to me. Now let’s Get back to more important things… Like the Ducks beating the Huskies this year in football!
Booooooo! But in all seriousness…….it will either be the Ducks or the Huskies that win the Pac 12.
The pundits are picking Utah. But, I don’t see it. We don’t play them…until the championship game.
The Utes didn’t have much of an offense last year.
It’s going to be an interesting year. I am stokes here in Duck central… 17 returning starters, and a recruiting class, and JC transfers loaded with talent. It could be a great year….
Been playing since the beginning and I miss the updates. I haven’t even logged into the game in over a week. I just check this website twice a day to see if there’s an update. Seems like this game is done. I mean why would people spend money on a game without any updates.
I’ve been playing since nearly the beginning.. and I still love the game. Contrary to what a lot of people are saying, now that I finally have a decent amount of IGC and donuts, it’s become MORE fun. That’s because I can finally afford the things I need to design and decorate. My only beef is that I”m constantly up against the building limits. I keep thinning out my forests and pruning my bushes and flowers, but still come up short. I’ve got lots of new land, but can’t decorate the buildings in that new land because of this. If they would only raise the limits, I would be the happiest camper in Springfield. Yes, I enjoy the updates, but that’s not my main focus. I just love designing.. and when there’s a lull, I don’t mind at all, because I can spend more time doing so. Or at least I could before I kept hitting the wall.
Yes… What I’m writing about is not “enough donuts,” but way more than you need. It’s so easy to farm when you need them, having 5000 in reserve seems excessive. But I agree totally with you about the item limits. It’s killing my joy…
I guess im in the minority but i still have my groups that go on 1 hr, 4 hr, 8 hr, 12hr and 24 hr tasks. I have a normal hectic mom/wife/daughter/sister/friend life. Its been a fairly busy summer doing summer stuff. School is starting again in a week and a half. Its my escape to play this game. I like the decorating. I grew up watching the simpsons. While i cant stand the newer seasons….i still like most of new stuff they give us on the game and love anything old. Yes i get bored with lulls and pissed when the programmers or whoever don’t do their jobs and give us new stuff, fixes, or take our suggestions into consideration. I never realized how compulsive obsessive i am until this game. Lol.
I makes me sad to see so many get burned out. Its obvious by the lower numbers of comments on this site as well. I really hope there’s lots more like me on here but they’re just not as vocal. Ill keep playing and commenting and visiting neighbors as long as theres a game to play, place to comment and neighbors to visit.
But for now….i have to shop for school supplies…..
Sandytoes74
See, having Springfield Mothers shopping for back-to-school supplies would also have been the perfect Event now in the Game App (FYI I just got that done for my niece and both nephews – now I need a vacation because doing all that tired me out while balancing my own daily routine (lol)!
Seriously, all of the Mothers out there deserve more than just one Mother’s Day a year!
Don’t get me wrong… I’m looking forward to the next update. I just have stopped logging on at all during the breaks in between. All I do is my daily task, and clear my graffiti and friend tags. Oh… And moderate comments, and write a couple times a week. I remember back to school time… With Deb being a teacher, it had continued way past the kids being in school! If people knew how much personal money teachers put into supplies and teaching aids, they’d be shocked.
Amen to that! I was the volunteer art program director/teacher for 6 yrs at their private school and i saw and experienced 1st hand what you as a teacher bring to the classroom….out of your own time and pocket! No volunteers….no art. That wasn’t gonna happen on my watch!
I log in once a day to do the daily challenges, tap Sky Finger, and set my characters on 24 hour tasks. After getting all the characters and skins from the yearbook, there’s not much to do until the next update.On the plus side, I have lots of donuts banked up for the next mystery box and new premium characters.
I was hoping they’d add more content (characters) to the yearbook but I’m assuming those are being saved for upcoming mystery boxes (like how they brought Kumiko back for the 4th of July mystery box rather than adding her to the yearbook).
All good!
I love tsto but I feel like I have lost interest in it a little bit meaning sometimes it’s not as exciting as it once was. I log in constantly during mini events and major events to get all the prizes, work on quest lines, and also buy whatever I want from the store whether it’s for donuts or igc. I liked the Flanders mini event a lot but in some ways I felt like it was too short. Since the event is over I’m only logging into my game maybe twice a day to do things like my daily challenge, and clear my sky finger monument. I am not at 2 billion yet for springfield heights so I work on that sometimes too but not all the time here and there. I hope they continue to do mini events and major events as well as episode tie ins and Gil deals but I really wish they would add more to road to riches like they said they were going to do, give us more friend point prizes, and more Springfield heights stuff.
I agree with all of this!
I farmed donuts and built my xp to a decent level and I’m now at the stage like many others in that I play when an event is running. I’ve been away touring in my caravan for the last 6 weeks and even though my Internet has been intermittent I have had no problems getting everything so my new philosophy is play during events and during downtime forget about it… Check in Wednesdays to see if something is going to happen
Count me as jealous about your tour! Our future plans include buying a small travel trailer and doing exactly the same. Probably a couple of years off… And probably one more wedding… Then the parents put up the do not disturb sign and head out!
By US standards are caravan is small only 20 feet long but our roads are smaller too. When the tour is over I should be able to sort out my redesign which I’m nearly half way through.
Have you been reading my mind again, Patric?
I bet it didn’t take long! 🙂
But I realised this morning that I haven’t visited my Springfields for a couple of days, and it’ll be a little while before I do…
It’s been a busy week, my dad turned 85, my sister had a birthday, and we were at a surprise 60th birthday party for one of my workmates from before I retired.
I’ll probably send everyone on 24 hour tasks until the next event, and just let it tick over, but I hope the next event, when it arrives, is as much fun as the Flanders one was!
Aargh! Did you feel me banging around in your head? It seems like a happy place though… Sounds like you have a nice balanced life.
I’ve had a lot of these simular thoughts myself in the past couple of weeks. The game isn’t really engaging me, I’ve become a ‘dumper’ with intentions of ‘I’ll fix my town up later’ but never bothering to do so.
I’ve invested a few years playing (since it’s introduction) and seem to be playing it out of habit. I, like yourself Pat, feel that if the game wound up I wouldn’t even be fussed. With a baby on the way in the next 3 months i will certainly be time poor for things like TSTO but i can’t seem to take myself away from the habbit of logging in 4 times a day.
I miss the days of really enjoying the game, looking forward to the up coming updates, but honestly the past 2 years I’ve not had that excitement.
I’m unsure which way I’ll go with this. 🤔
I think you answered your problem in the first paragraph! If you are a plopper, this is the time to spend some quality design hours, making your town everything you want it to be. If you have been playing for years you must have a lot of items ready for final design stage. Go at it!
I’m looking to relocate from Melbourne Australia to 4hrs away on the surf coast within the next 18 months. I’m sick of the 4 hour TSTO grind. It has worked well for me for the many years I’ve been home alone all day with no one to talk to. (I’ve outlived all my friends- So am loath to make new ones as whenever I do they get Cancer!) I don’t want to be the shut in person I’m becoming now.
I’m hopeful of walks on the beach in a place where few people go – an achievable goal. The daunting thought is selling this home & building a new one as a downsizer.
I don’t play the game on weekends anymore. Today is Saturday afternoon for me in Australia & I must admit I’ve found other things more concrete to do to prep this home for sale & clear junk. I believe there may be a life outside of TSTO.
Yes…..yes there is!
Thank You for the affirmation Patric! I hope your artist friend is doing well. Not to jinx her chances; Just hopeful is all.
Be safe doing the home remodeling (I can relate, it feels like I corrected all the mistakes the developer made on the Condo) ….
I have not lost interest in TSTO, as it’s my once or twice a Day Tapping (no more than that, it was meant to be a virtual zen garden of sorts). I do feel if it wasn’t for the contents of the Mystery Box? I would have given up …. yet the Flander’s Family Event was a fun!
I have no idea when / if EA will offer anything before the Halloween Event (I joked about a “back to school” Event, it would be funny to involve all of the Kids / Teens in Springfield we got revolting against going back to school – but what’s left to add to the Game App involving a School campus / Character that’s School Staff?)
I do know that taking weekends off helped (if nothing else occurs Event wise before Halloween …. it may come down to 4 Days a week Tapping, I don’t want to get disappointed by EA even if I have ‘zero expectations’).
Charles; Are you my neighbour ivoryedit who left me a message on their town “Hi Dex 1 &2”? If so; Thanks for that. Dexter was my Border Collie. Passed 7th April this year. Never a sick day or worry, then spleen cancer took him without warning. Your message came to me @ just the right time to cheer me up! Thank You again!
I don’t play that often anymore. I wish they’d let you assign all characters to a chosen job. I like having my people out walking around so I rarely ever use the unemployment office. By the time I’m done, I’m over it. No designing, no neighbor visits.
I stopped farming months ago, I was just collecting donuts from tasks and building income. When my collider expires in 2 weeks, it will stay off. I have stored quite a bit of xp earning objects, mostly tennis courts earned a few months ago. I plan on storing more. I have stored a number of buildings crafted from past events like spooky houses (about 50), the buildings from the hero events. I am making room to clean up my town.
I have set a number of goals to reach. When done those, I’ll consider stopping then. I am close to many of these milestones – certain numbers of donuts, cash amount, collect all land tiles – I need about 36 more of those. I reached my 400 character target about a month ago. One goal that may be hard to reach is the ever elusive mrs. Sinclair
She was available as a prize track in the Christmas event that was on when I started. I got the aynn rand school, at that’s the problem. When she comes around as a prize, it’s as a combo withe the school.
I have been having fun lately by vandalizing some new neighbors, seem to have a good game of tag going on. I wouldn’t mind a few more friends to play tag with. Man am I rambling on. I guess I am taking in the persona if the rambler. Enough for today.
I think excess in anything dulls the enjoyment. But glad to hear you have a plan!
I sometimes feel the same way as Sillyboy. I have a 3268 bonus % and 65,000 donuts, I don’t know why I still KEM farm. I have maxed out SF Heights, finished Road to Riches and am bored when there is no events happening. I send most of my 380+ characters on 24 hr tasks now. I am now trying to reach the max in game cash so that I don’t have to send characters on tasks or collect income from buildings, I’m at 1.5 billion and still have a long way to go yet. As for quitting the game that I have played everyday for over 5 years, I don’t see that happening soon.
Uhm…… again…holyfreakinshirt! Excess. A killer of joy.
I have only been playing for a year now, so the game is still fun and entertaining to me! I can see how people who have been playing for years start to lose their excitement to tapp. I believe in life that the older ( I’m not calling anyone old! Certainly not you Patric! As I am writing this with nothing but respect!) pass on their knowledge and enthusiasm for things to the next group. I have some new playing neighbours and some old playing neighbours. It makes me happy to have both, as I choose to believe that new people continue to start playing the game. I get a little sad when people keep talking about the game ending because I’m no where near being done with it! But I get it! Everything has a cycle. So thanks to all the older Tappers who a paved the way for us new Tappers! With out you I would not have the fantastic Springfield I do! Or a deep love for the game! Tap on friends! Tap on!
First off…in regards to bathroom rewiring was the power off?
Hank Williams sang “My hairs still curly and my eyes are still blue”
Is your hair curly?
WAS it curly BEFORE the electric work?
I too have a sufficient Multiplier and sufficient donut supply. I long ago stopped Farming. I have my Kwi-E-Mart farm that I tap to clear and leave so that neighbors will ALWAYS have something to tap on.
I’m about 75% finished designing my town with another 15% quasi in place and 10% Meh!
I’m rediscovering all the quirky tasks Homer takes a Beer Shower
Bored? Maybe? Sort of?
What would be nice is to have an Atlas feature — where is Duff Gardens.
Be nice to have another couple of levels of Friend Prizes
Be nice for the next event to add a separateTask Line that requires us to visit neighbors to complete the Task line
It would be nice to tap in a building or design item and be told it adds a bonus, or that Homer will not be able to play there if it is stored.
AND it would really be nice if stuff in storage was easily found. I know it is alphabetical, but sometimes there are multiple levels of alphabetical orders.
Meh!
All great ideas!
Tracy-1ltwoody920
Those are some good ideas …. I would be happy if we could sell, or delete, what is taking up space in Storage (I do not think that would be too difficult for EA to implement). 👍
Well… I don’t feel like that because I haven’t played every 4 hours all the time (only when there is an event) so when there is no event (or the same one is boring) I take that period to break (just a little) from the game.
When the Flanders Reunion was active I played 3-4 times a day, now I do it one or two at the most but I don’t feel the rush to get everything and do every task, I’m just playing for fun (and yes I’m exhausting the Yearbook but one step at a time). I don’t have that many donuts and that’s mainly because I just discover Donut Farming (thanks to you guys). At the beginning of the year I had like 300Million but spend it as soon as I discovered DF so now I’m trying to be rich again (I’m at 750% in the XP so still a long way to get to 1600%¡¡).
I like the game. Even if sometimes it stalls because… well I have loved The Simpsons for so many years so now I just want to see what the come up with in the game and the new characters and old characters that come into the game. For example, I just got The Grinch (or the equivalent I don’t remember the name) in the Yearbook and was surprise with the good story that they write for the character… it was very fun reading out loud the rhymes.
I understand why you can feel like the game has become boring (if you have every character and building and have read every story ever unfolded) but as I’m still discovering new things and stories it is still fun. When I get everything and have nothing new to discover I may sing another tune but at the moment I’m still on… but I like to get breaks that’s for sure.
I loved the last update. But during lulls, not so much.
I just go once a day to the one game that still needs land tiles (about 10) just to check if anything new happens. Stopped farming for donuts, etc. Some days I might do a little designing in my newer towns. I probably should go more often to pick up monorail pieces. But it is nice to a break.
I am now doing a 24hr turnaround of all my character’s and feel the same as sillyboy, have 3500 donuts and so much currency I could probably rat truck another 10 thousand more, don’t know were am going with the game just now but can safely say am not an addict anymore, to much cold turkey I think. It’s only a matter of time before I stop login in to cycle my character’s
Aside from the Flanders event, I haven’t been doing much with the game. I have insomnia so sometimes I tap around at 4am or maybe move things around.
So I will probably just lay low and wait for the next event. I’ve got over 1000 farm fresh donuts and have largely emptied the yearbook, so unless something new pops up, there is no reason for me to keep tapping.
I don’t feel like that. Or maybe not yet. I still enjoy the game and play it 4 times a day religiously. I also still have tons of ideas. When I have more space I have a lot of things that I might enlarge. For instance Itchy and askratchy land and Krustyland are now in a bit of a restricted area. It will require a ton of remodelling. But I still see a lot to improve. I just made a 6 hole par 3 golf course, also fun to do. These type of things, plus new events, still keep te game entertaining for me.
I’d feel the same way…If they would increase the item limits. I’m topped out…
With kem farming I am at 10.001 right now. I have done away with a ton of trees and fences to get further from the limit. And i checked my monorail to replace as many small trackpieces as i could
Yep. Done all of that. But I like little details…lots of them.
I responded but it seems to have disappeared
Did you swear? Kidding…not sure what happened. Will take a look.