Addicts Want To Know: Feedback From Your Feedback

Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!

So a few weeks ago I posed a question to you all about what we here at Addicts can do to bring back that community feel to the site.  (you can find that post here) And I was also open to any and all suggestions y’all might have had for content changes/additions to the site.

As always, you guys were amazing in coming through! I received a ton of feedback and a lot of really good suggestions/ideas for moving forward.  I wanted to take a minute here and address some of them, and also give you a little preview of what’s ahead for the Addicts.

This post is going to be very wordy, I apologize in advance!

First, it seems a number of folks that visit this site still don’t realize that we’re not EA.  Guys, we’re not EA.  We’re not affiliated with EA.  Some of you had really great suggestions for the game itself, but because we’re not EA we have no power to make direct changes to the game.  Sorry if that bursts some bubbles…

Second, I saw a feedback response asking for a comprehensive list of what’s included in the Yearbook Mystery Box.  We have one of those.  We’ve had it since the Yearbook Box came out (in fact we were the first site to have it).  There’s a sidebar widget on the main page with direct access to it, or you can find that list here.

I also saw a few comments from folks complaining that things were hard to find.  Guys, I’ve tried to make this site as easy to navigate as humanly possible. However, we’ve been around A LONG time…there are over 7,000 posts on this site.  That’s a lot of content.  So I can understand that at times it can be hard to find a SIB post.  However, I’ve tried to make it incredibly easy to navigate the pages of this site.  Everything is organized, and very detailed.  I wrote a post about 4 years ago all about how to use this site.  So if you’re having trouble finding something, check out the navigating TSTO Addicts post.  It’ll help you figure out where things may be (or maybe it’ll just show you more of what’s on the site beyond the most recent post written.)  You can find that how to navigate the addicts site post here.

Now onto the feedback!

Calendars: Lots of feedback from folks very worried now that Patric is gone the calendars will be gone too.  Guys, the calendars were here long before Patric and they’ll remain until the site is gone.  So do not worry.  The plan is for our resident mathematician, Super Safi, to take over the Calendars for the major events.  So have no fear, they will be here.

Bracket Battles: Lots of feedback about how much y’all love the Bracket Battles. That’s great because they’re still here!  As we’ve done every year since 2016, we run the Bracket Battles over the summer months.  So look for an all-new Bracket Battle to start in the next couple of months.  Oh, and if you have suggestions for future Bracket Battles feel free to leave them in the comments below.  Saf is always looking for new ideas!

Simpsons Trivia: Lots of folks want this feature to come back.  We plan on bringing it back!  Give us some time to write up a good backlog of questions and we’ll start posting the trivia again.  Also, if you have 5-7 trivia questions about a specific Simpsons episode you’re more than welcome to email it over to us at TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com

WDTCF/WAWW: Feedback indicated that y’all missed the Where Did That Come From and What we want posts.  Happy to say, as you’ve seen over the last few weeks, both of these posts have made their return on the site.  Although the WAWW posts are now What the Addicts Want, but same concept.

Guest Posts: We’ve never stopped accepting guest posts on the site.  We LOVE when y’all write up posts for the site.  From the Mouths of Addicts is one of my favorite features, and whenever we have content submitted we try to get it up as soon as we can.  So if you’d like to write a guest post you’re 100% welcome to do so!  Please email it to TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com and just put Guest Post in the subject line.

Meet-Ups: We will be bringing some elements of these back once it is safe to do so.  My plan is to do a large one in Florida for our 10th anniversary (in August of 2023), but we shall see what the state of the world is like in the coming months/years. 🙂

Addicts Live: We do plan on bringing you guys into the show more.  As I mentioned yesterday, look for sign ups to join us on Addicts live soon!  There are a few requirements.  You must be willing to use audio and video, we use Skype to record, and we generally record on Thursday evenings at 8pm ET.  We’re flexible to an extent, but we try to keep it in that time range.  So if you think those parameters work for you be sure to sign up! (note we can’t take everyone that signs up for every episode)

YouTube: Guys, some of you complained about the YouTube aspect of Addicts now.  YouTube is not going away, I’m sorry.  We will keep all of the game content posts to this site (SIBs, Walkthroughs, rundowns etc), but we will be using YouTube for bonus content.  So for those looking for a little more fun or sneak peeks at what’s coming.
I will tell you, I try to be very mindful of those who are hearing impaired or those who simply cannot listen to a YouTube video during the day.  If we do a spoiler video on YouTube, with game play content in it, I try to make it as visual as possible.  So you can watch without the sound and just read the visual boards that appear.

Dear EA Feature: This is something I plan to bring back to the site, maybe every other month or quarterly.  This would be a place where you guys can give your suggestions for TSTO.  Again, we’re not EA, so we have zero ability to actually make these changes in the game, but we used to do this a VERY long time ago with success.  We know that EA checks in on this site, so your thoughts/ideas will be seen.

Design Posts: Guys, I know you want these posts.  I want these posts as well.  Unfortunately, I’m not a designer. I’m just not creative when it comes to designing my TSTO town…that’s why, when we started, Wookiee and Bunny were here.
So, that being said I would LOVE to have the design feature back again.  If there’s someone (or several someones) out in the community who loves to design, has great ideas for designing, and thinks they can write a how-to post up please email me TSTOAddictsblog@gmail.com.  I would LOVE to have you write up some posts for us!

And now for some new ideas…

Watch Parties:   We WILL be doing this. Essentially this will be a place where Saf and I, and up to 97 other Addicts from this site, will get together and watch either new episodes of the Simpsons or old episodes.  This will be done over Skype and it will NOT be recorded, so if you’re not in the watch party you won’t be able to rewatch it later.
I’m trying to work this out so that we will be able to show whichever episode we’re watching in the call as well.  So those who don’t have access to the episode will still be able to see it.  I plan to put a survey up later this week to decide if we’re going to watch new episodes (the season is almost over), or old episodes.  Also to determine the best day and time that works, and how frequently we will be doing it.  So look for that survey this week and look for the first watch party sign up soon!

Addicts Round Tables: This would essentially be a giant video group chat.  Like Open Thread, but with video.  Where we would get in a giant call with up to 97 other Addicts from the site and discuss the game, the show, or life if you want.  Again we would use Skype for this, and I think this is something we’d do every other month or quarterly.  (with the potential to do it more frequently if needed)  And ideally, I’d like to do this as a Live Stream, so those who can’t make it into the video chat (or who don’t want to use their camera) can participate in the chat.
Look for a Round Table sign-up very soon!

A few other ideas that were submitted that I really like and will see if we can work in…

TSTO History: We got a few responses requesting more of a “deep-dive” into the history of TSTO.  A “On This Day In TSTO History” type post and/or a look back at past events in TSTO history.  And perhaps a look back at buildings/decorations/characters you unlock in the early levels of TSTO.
This is something I’m interested in doing and will try to determine the best way to make it work.

TSTO Mad Libs: I like this idea as a fun once-in-a-while post around here.  I’ll try to see if this is something I can make work.

And that’s it my friends! Kind of groundwork for moving forward, and some of the new/returning features you’ll see around here real soon!

Thoughts? Comments? Other ideas? Sound off below, you know we love hearing from you!