Happy Musings Thursday Wednesday my friends! With the holiday tomorrow, I still wanted to write up another musings post for you. So this week I’m back with special Wednesday musings post. I’ve got some thoughts, so let’s get to ’em…
I want to do a few things with this post. And, like most of my musings lately, I may be a bit all over the place with my thoughts. So bear with me.
Let’s kick things off with my thoughts on All American Auction and Black Friday 2019. I’m going to separate the two because I think they both deserve equal attention and different grades. So let’s start with All American Auction.
I know we’re still a week away from the mini-event officially ending, but with the holiday here tomorrow and the intense likelihood that something will hit next week I wanted to get my thoughts out about this mini-event…while it was still going on.
I don’t want to have another THOH issue. You know waiting for the event to end to wrap it up, only to have EA drop another event in our laps before I could do so. Then we’re talking about Halloween in the middle of Thanksgiving and it’s a whole big mess. Kind of like the mess that happens when you leave the carved jack-o-lanterns outside until Thanksgiving….but I digress. (see Pat’s not the only one who can digress around here)
Back to All American Auction. I wrapped up the event myself, playing in real-time, last night. So I feel like I’m well equipped to write about it. Guys, I loved it. It was a top-notch mini-event, by mini-event standards, for EA. Great prizes, great dialogue, and good premium combo. Plus, it took a little longer to complete than some of the multi-events have. 200 point prize goals weren’t easily achieved when you could only earn 48 at a time (and that assumes you purchased the premium item). That little bit of stress/difficulty is what makes this game exciting.
So let’s break each of those areas down…
Prizes 1 Building, 1 Decoration, 1 new Animated task, a full character, and a mystery prize (or donuts)
The “building”, Swap Meet, which works nicely with some of the other street fair/booth type items we’ve gotten recently. (County fair, Chili Cookoff, Taste of Springfield, etc.) No permanent tasks there, which dings it a bit in my opinion, but still a fun item. Nice design work as well. Lots of little details that are fun to pick out.
The decoration, Swap Meet Stage, works well with the Swap Meet…obviously…and hosts the next prize.
The animated task…y’all the B Sharps are back! Yes, you could always send them to the Open Air Stage to do their Barbershop Quartet, but there’s something about the B Sharps Reunion outfits and performance that makes it feel extra special. I wish there was an easier way to send the 4 guys on the task, like tapping on the Swap Meet Stage (similar to Moe’s Express), but it’s still great!
The Character…Paul Bunyan. A FULL character for this game. Even if he looks just like Homer, anytime we get a new full character via a mini-event I’m happy. I love the attention to detail as well. Paul Bunyan is larger than everything else in Springfield. His task with Big Blue KILLS me. And he’s voiced. You couldn’t ask for more in a FREE character!
The mystery prize. Well, I’m not going to get too much into it here. Basically, it’s great if you’re missing items in the Gold Box. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a throwaway.
Dialogue
Guys, we all know this. The dialogue has been 🔥🔥🔥 all year. 2019…the year the Simpsons Writers gave a crap about TSTO again! 👏👏👏
Premium
CJ Pro Bidder (and the Storage Locker) is a fun addition. A bit of a “huh” character, but sort of makes sense in the scheme of things. (most of those Storage Locker guys sell their items at Swap Meets. In particular, Darrell (who I think CJ is based on) from the Original Storage Wars. He’s always talking about Swap Meets. And YES…I’ve watched a lot of Storage Wars in my day. You guys know I’m a reality TV Addict…)
Also, CJ is voiced. The standard price, voiced, fun animated tasks, decent building…you can’t ask for much more in a premium combo these days.
Overall, I give this mini-event a solid B. It gets dinged a bit from me because of the B Sharps task not being easily accessible, lack of a permanent task at the Swap Meet, and the Gold Token. And NO event gets an A from me until they fix that freaking noise at startup! I’m getting really annoyed hearing the birds chirping (and other noises) when I launch TSTO…with the freaking sound off! EA if you want an A from me…FIX THE DAMN NOISE!
If you wanna hear what I’m talking about, I played it on the last Addicts Live. Here’s the video…queued up to the point of the sound…
It should start at the 39:00 mark…
Now let’s jump the Black Friday 2019.
This aspect I’m not as fond of, so you’ll see why I wanted to separate the two.
First, let’s talk about the non-gold token mystery boxes. 15 total boxes and the VAST majority of the items were available in the Yearbook Mystery Box. Not much of a sale or deal to me. I get that they’ve done Black Friday boxes in the past…and these are the same boxes they’ve done for the last (at least) two years! So this was an easy “switch” to hit. I get it. But come on. A little creativity? Change it up at least a little bit! Have 1 or 2 boxes available for donuts, just full of items NOT in the Yearbook mystery box.
With regards to the Gold Mystery Box…the one available for tokens only. Come on EA. You want people to spend cash to get tokens. That’s the whole idea, right? I get it. I have zero problems with you trying to make money. I’m all for it. Incentivize those that will actually pay for this game to continue. But don’t fill the freaking box with items that are mostly available in the Yearbook Mystery box!
If you want people to drop cash, you’ve got to make it special! Throw some new items in there. Items that are unique only for cash purchases. Stuff you can only get if you spend money in the game. That will actually incentivize people to take a chance and drop some money in the game! Put the cash-only items from Black Friday 2018 in there. Put the other cash-only items in there. Add a couple of new ones.
Marketing 101…it’s not that difficult.
Onto the NEW Black Friday items. The cash-only prize track. This is the one element of Black Friday I liked. I appreciate when EA incentivizes and rewards players for spending money in the game.
With donut farming being widespread in TSTO, at this point, donuts are essentially a devalued currency in TSTO. So it’s nice to see a little incentive/reward for those who spend actual money in the game.
I know some of you will say “it’s not fair!”. Remember, EA is a business, not a charity. Before donut farming, you had to buy donuts. If you wanted something you could either save up a couple donuts at a time and use those, or you’d buy donuts.
Overall, I’d give Black Friday 2019 a D+. Really unimaginative and lacked appeal for players to dive into the Mystery Boxes. I hope EA retools it for next year and puts a little thought into it.
Wow, this post has gotten long…
I won’t take up too much more of your time reading this, but I wanted to take a minute (or several) to talk about Thanksgiving. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US. It’s a time when we gather with our families, eat way too much food, and really just give thanks.
So in that spirit, I wanted to take a moment to give some thoughts about YOU. Yes, you the readers of TSTO Addicts.
I say it every year, but in this 7th year of TSTO Addicts (yes, this is the SEVENTH holiday season we’ve covered in TSTO), I’m truly grateful for all of you. Those of you who have been around since the beginning, those who hopped on at some point after that, and for those who just started reading…I’m truly grateful for each and every one of you.
Every day you give me an opportunity to do something that I love to do, and that’s writing and be creative.
It’s not always perfect, and I may complain about it from time to time, but deep down I love it. I love having space and platform to be creative, write down my thoughts, and share them with all of you. You’ve given me the opportunity to not only write, but run a website, host a podcast, create t-shirt designs, and really just have fun writing and talking about a silly little game.
I’m so grateful that you guys have allowed me to be a small part of your life over these last 7 holiday seasons. So thank you. And know that I love each and every one of you for being here. This site and all of you hold a special place in my heart now and forever.
So, even if you don’t celebrate it tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving guys. Know that I’m eternally grateful for all of you and the opportunities you’ve given me through this site!
Thoughts? How would you grade the events? Sound off below, you know we love hearing from you!
Still about 100 bid cards away from Paul Bunyan but have been very happy with All American Auction, the Swap Meet and Stage fit nicely in my County Fair area. Just annoyed like every one else that you can’t send the characters there by tapping the stage and wished the stage played a bit of Baby on Board when you tapped it.
Premiums- picked up the Syzslaks and The Escape Zone, very happy with those. Saving CJ for future Mystery Box fodder. Considered the Black Friday donut deal, couldn’t hurt to have another building giving me 6 donuts a day but my warehouse shopping district is getting crowded so I waited to see if I could bloodmobile my way through Black Friday and I did.
While initially not excited about last year’s reheat for Black Friday, I actually made out pretty well. The women’s box only had President Lisa for me which was the only future character I was lacking. Quick pick up. Two tokens two items in my gold box. Got Lugash and the Rad-ish station handed to me. The Cyber box had 3 items, I’d never picked up Truckasaurus because even though he’s cool and from a classic episode, never had a place for him until we got the Springfield Derby. I had to empty the box to get him though, got Future House and Lady Bot that I wanted anyway [her questline parody of Ex Machina is great!] and the Giant Robot that will likely stay in inventory til I think of something to do with it. The retail box had 5 items and all I wanted was the Nick Bowling Shop bundle to have one in Shelbyville and use them as transporters. I got Claus Co. and the Springfield Mall in the meantime. I may still try for the Pawn Shop for my Outlands. Every town needs at least one. Then came the Alter Ego box. Ugh. 11 choices because I’m not really into skins but I did really want the Simpson’s Outlands House with the Maggie skin. This became Lisa centric as I hit first Camera Hat Homer and Captain Bob then the dreadful Saxophone Lisa, Balance Beam Lisa (goes with Lugash, so that was ok) and then the much avoided Castle Equalia before I hit the Outland House. I wound up the event by getting the only thing in my imports box The Magic Station. Choosing the 50 donut purchase over the yearbook with 3 other options in the queue. Not a bad haul. I’m happy.
Black Friday 2019 – returning Mystery Boxes from the prior years with the same Content that’s already in the regular Mystery Box (epic fail!)
It’s the same thing for the Gold Tokens Mystery Box (nothing new, not worth the effort!)
I get it – EA is trying to encourage Tappers to spend real 💰 for exclusives, but that involves exclusives worth spending real 💰 on! I think $49.99 was too much, when $20 would’ve attracted more to buy. I also feel it’s got to be more than a Building that generates only 6 🍩’s a Day (an F score and not worth it to comment further except try harder next year!)
Happy 🦃 Day, Alissa and to all Tappers (get ready to gobble gobble gobble tomorrow)😉
All American Auction – it gets a hearty B with the same minor criticisms that EA could easily fix with patches (ie 1] the fact we don’t have permanent Character Tasks at the Swap Meet reminds me of the fact we don’t have any at Dracula’s Castle, too – how L-EA-Z-Y can you get? 2] Swap Meet Stage is like the Stonecutters Table – except that has an audio queue when Tapped 3] Oh yeah, having to send each member of the B’Sharps Character separately on the Task sucks! 4] ♥️ the Paul Bunyan, we need a permanent Blue Ox).
Overall? The Premium Character Building Combo was worth it – and yeah it was a more challenging Mini-Event (I wasn’t bored this time). Thank you Simpson’s Writers for everything on your end, but it’s EA that deserves being ripped a new arse! From the damn audio noise at the Load Screen to the problems with Origin Accounts (come on, you’re a billion dollar Company! the fact EA is screwing up with different Games on all Platforms tells me that they’re on thin ice with all of their licensed intellectual property!)
I don’t worry about EA losing TSTO due to their stupidity, I worry about how dumb Team Disney Burbank will be with it’s replacement (so should everybody who’s a Simpson’s Fan!)
I get enough “real” reality here in Las Vegas, so I got a kick out of that Las Vegas Event years ago (Howard Hugh’s Recluse Mr. Burns Skin still is a lol!) and I’m waiting for an Area 51 in TSTO (at least have that in a Simpson’s Episode to riff on!) 😂
Well I’m guessing the games gonna end just like the show is after season 31. Kinda sucks. Knew as soon as disnut got hold of it it was all downhill from there. Events are kinda crappy anyway, so good run. Time to find another time kill
Um the show was picked up awhile ago for seasons 31 AND 32.
Maybe you need a new source for negative Nelly news 🤷♀️…
Danny Elfman has said he heard the show is coming to end, possibly next year.
Although as you say contracts have been signed for two more series ?
Let’s hope Danny misheard !!!
https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1200094208893341696?s=20
Last year the show was renewed for seasons 31 and 32. Beyond 32 who knows at this point.
Scaremongers and preppers, the end is nigh lol got to laught lol loudly
I have lower standards for this event, but a B sounds good. It parodied consumerism well. I also think Paul Bunyan is a cool character. As for Black Friday, I didn’t care for what was offered.
Well thanks for the time to thank us, but really again I appreciate you and the others for taking the time to write these postings and answer our questions. You don’t have to do that so to me that’s nice of you. I liked the mini event, but sooo disappointed about the black Friday part. I was saving up for black Friday deals and wow what a dud. I liked it back with the timer, now that was fun every item at a certain time on sale. The thing that sucks is I really want the university nerds and I want to just purchase them, I don’t want to spend doughnuts on 7 different items I don’t want just to get the 1 item I do. E.A you done better but you still need work. Thanks for the time that’s my two cents. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Happy Thanksgiving all!
BTW, it EA wants people to use cash they need to design better buildings and up the items limit. I collect more donuts without trying than the building they offer. Six years ago (or as a newbie) it might have been worthwhile. I’ll wait til they appear in some mystery box a year or two from now (if the game – or me – is still around).
I’m thankful the game is still going.
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Yankee’s here!
https://flic.kr/p/2hRNmPd
Have an off topic question. Where did we acquire these castle walls? Was it a mini game?
Clash of clones
Hmm.The walls must have come back in a other event. I never played the clash of clones event. Or the game at that point.
A various assortment of gray castle walls are offered as prizes from the Excavation Site (the one where Lisa is hoping to find a tyrannosaurus).
https://i.imgur.com/oVAbO1l.jpg
Yep I still have that dig site in my game. However it doesn’t produce the same castle walls I need. Searched site no luck. Driving me nuts I want more of for design. Can’t remember how I got them lol.
Just joined the TSTO ADDICTS after playing on/off since 2012. I spent $100 on this event and feel rich after buying almost every building I ever wanted! I had never spent $ on this game. When I saw the Costmo I had to have it!
I knew zero about donut farming and am so glad I found you guys!
Well…If you are asking…I’ll go with the same ratings as Alissa. Different reasons…but, same result. It is an OK mini-event…with some really bone-headed decisions on a few aspects. But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving…at least there was an another update!
Hey hey!
I agree with your event analysis…dead on.
Also I am ever so thankful for this site…for all the useful and entertaining info AND all the fun people Ive “met” thru this crazy-ass site!!!!❤
I wish all of you that are gonna pig out tomorrow an AWESOME THANKSGIVING(fellow carnivores…or vegans or whatever u choose….) !!!! May it be drama free….we love our families, but let’s also face reality! Be safe! Be good!🍗🍹🍺🍗🍛🍰🍩🌽
LOL! “we love our families, but let’s also face reality.” Classic statement for the season.
Dang it ! That’s supposed to say HEN, not when. Sorry. No need to respond.
I give up. The universe wins. LOL😎 😵
😂😂😂
I’m not really one to leave comments, but in the spirit of the holiday I wanted to give thanks to everyone here – staff and commenters alike – for everything this site provides. It’s my go-to place any time I have a question or an event starts, and it gives me a sense of community even though I’m the only one I know who plays in “real life”.
Thanks bunches, everyone – you’re all very appreciated by this usually quiet tapper! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving to the entire Addicts staff…Be safe and Enjoy!
Sharky! So good to see you! Been ages ❤
You too my friend! 🙂
THANK YOU .. yes a big THANK YOU…. for guiding us through the game updates, events, prizes and headaches. You guys put the fun in addicts.. “funaddicts” lol.. And even if the game goes away like a villain at the end of “End Game” ((spoiler)) — I will still be here enjoying the community this place has built up..
Thoughts about the gold coin box ……. they essentially gave everyone at least 2 free items if you didn’t have everything already….. it worked out for me because I was only offered 2 items in the box.
The other Black Friday boxes, the items might of been available in the yearbook mystery boxes but buying through the blacknfriday sale allows you to narrow down what you really want instead of keep clicking …… I cleared the kids box out.
This years $$$$ quest / donut building.
I havnt pulled the trigger yet…….
I’m pretty sure if I didn’t already buy GoldenGoose & Donut Factory in the past I would of been all over it.
Almost forgot !😮 HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FELLOW TAPPERS. MAY WE BE GRACED WITH ANOTHER 7 years.
A huge THANK YOU to the whole TSTO crew for all of your hard work to bring us info and keep the game interesting! It’s great to be a member of this online family.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow addicts! I enjoyed this event, but I’m weird and enjoy all the events. As long as they keep the game running. . .
I’m thankful for you, Alissa, and for this site and everyone here. Without this community I would have become frustrated and quit this game long ago. This site has helped me enjoy many years of fun. I’m glad you still enjoy it too!
I’m in agreement, this mini event is two thumbs 👍🏻👍🏻Up from me. Enjoyed the dialogue and the prize track. I mean come on the B-Sharps are finally back together! I picked up the Mattress King for some reason I like the building. Bought part of the purchase for real money token track but didn’t care about costmo so I didn’t go all the way. I just have one question friends is it to early to put the sleds up?? And do I put them all up? Homer, Marge+Maggie and the Crazy Cat lady are going to be fighting for air space! Happy Day Friends and Happy Tappin! Oh and in case I don’t get a chance a very warm Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!! 🦃🎄
It’s my birthday today! 😀❤
Donuts for breakfast! 🍩
Have a wonderful thanks giving addicts 😘
Happy birthday my friend!
Happy Birthday Neighboreeno!
Happy birthday 🎁🎁🎁🎂🎉
Thanks everyone ❤
I really love how this silly little game brings our community together. 😎
Brooders
Have a. Happy. Happy Birthday !! 🎵 🎶🍸🍰🍷🍩🍦🍺
Yaaaaay party time. Hope you get what you wished for. XOXOX
WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!
Happy Birthday Brooders🎶
Brooders, its your birthday🎶
Enjoy the day! Much love from the states!🍩🍹👍❤🍰
I agree, the event was a solid B. I liked a lot of the items and better yet, I can actually use them in my town.
I did not purchase any tokens, as I didn’t see any prizes I wanted.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Hi Alissa, great post.! I’m sure we all feel the same way about what you do for us. 👏👏🙌. If you didn’t put so much of your time, effort and creativity into this blog, many of us would be lost and clueless as to how some of these events play out. Thank you for all you do. 🐸. You are our mother 🐔 and we are your Little 🐤🐥🐦🐣. LOL. I don’t know how you do it. How you are always there to guide us through some of these events, answer all our questions and sometimes act as mediator when we get rowdy or out of control.Given the fact that you have 2 Little angels, a husband and a home to care for and who knows how much other stuff.
I truly admire the love and dedication that you put into keeping us so well informed so that we can better enjoy “THIS SILLY LITTLE GAME ” You are an awesome person and for all these reasons (and many more) I thank you. 🌹🌸💟🌷🌾🌼🌻🌿🌺🍀. You really deserve a live bouquet, but this is the best I can do. Again, thank you and we all love you too. This blog just wouldn’t be the same without you. 😊😄😘
Aww thank you for the kind words (and emojis 😉 )! 🙂
Alissa
You are more than welcome those emojis came out funny. It was supposed to be a mama when with her little chickadess following her. But instead of a full Bird all that came up after hitting post, was head with no body. Don’t know why??????