Happy Musings Thursday my friends! I’m back with another musings post for you. I’ve got some thoughts, so let’s get to ’em…
Time to wrap up THOH XXX with a pretty little bow. Because we all know, there’s no better time to talk about an update that just ended than in the middle of a new update that just hit! Of course, I’m saying that with a bit of tongue in cheek.
I would have loved to have wrapped THOH up last week, while it was still going on, but time, life, and content just got away from me. And, silly me, I did not see the Thanksgiving update coming. I don’t know why the timing makes total sense…given that Thanksgiving is next week. I guess all those time/space leaps we make on Addicts Live have finally caught up with me! 😉
Anyway, as I like to do after each update, it’s time to wrap up and review the 2019 Treehouse of Horror TSTO update…
And I’ll try to keep this short since I feel like we’ve dragged Halloween out long enough this year…
The Good
-As we’ve been saying for the last year, the storyline was once again the start of this update. Great dialogue all around.
-NEW prizes were good. 5 brand new, free, full characters in a 4-week event is a definite plus. I also enjoyed the Act 4 new prizes. It’s nice to finally have a Rigel VII to go with all the other Alien stuff I’ve collected over the years.
-Cash for old Halloween decorations, instead of crafting currency. This is probably my favorite of them all. I hate grinding for crafting currency when most players have hundreds of millions of TSTO dollars just going to waste. Bringing back old event decorations, and even adding some new ones, that would typically be part of crafting…and making them available for cash is great! More of this, please.
-New Premium content was also great. Only 5 new premium items, combos basically, was nice. It didn’t feel like new content was out of reach or a money grab. Plus the characters were great! Dr. Griffin is probably my favorite, 150 donut combo, character with this event.
-We got God! 777 donuts was a steep price to pay, and it really didn’t feel like he fit in with this event, but we got him and he’s glorious. Almost all tasks are visual, he earns $777,777 every 24hrs, and he’s freaking voiced! We may not see his face but we can hear his voice!
The Bad
-It started too late into October, which pushed it to run too long into November. Even at 4 weeks, this event felt EXTREMELY long. And that’s because it didn’t end until 3 weeks AFTER Halloween. Too long. Poor planning.
-The multi-event format is now past stale and into expired territory. The format felt stale in June. Now it just feels like meat that was left on the counter for a month and has turned rancid.
I love the four-week concept, but it needs some major tweaking! (and major tweaking does not mean bring back crafting!)
-Returning items on the prize track. I’m not a fan of this. I get it. But I’m not a fan. It feels like it really punishes long-time players. If EA wants to utilize a character from a past event for a current event (a concept that I love by the way), then they should make that character available in store as a cash purchase. Don’t put it on the prize track. OR if you want it on the prize track for newer players, don’t make the alternate prize (for those who already have it) 12 donuts. Come up with a special, new, prize as the alternate. Similar to what was done during the Casino event. There was a premium bundle offered of Miss Springfield, the Sleep Eazy, and Hostess Miss Springfield. If you already had Miss Springfield and the Sleep Eazy, you could just get Hostess Miss Springfield and a special casino sign as an alternate. This was nice, and it rewarded players for already owning Miss Springfield. (for those that don’t remember, more on it here)
Overall, I’d give the 2019 Treehouse of Horror event a solid C-. It was average, but it earns the – because it’s a big letdown for a Halloween Event. (the premiere TSTO event each year). The dialogue was great, prizes were great, but the concept at this point is rancid. And that alone kills the grade.
Thoughts? How would you grade the THOH event? Sound off below, you know we love hearing from you!