Spending real money to buy sim cash to get a leg up in the contest of mayors definitely makes it easier but still does not guarantee winning. I just I just completed all of my available assignments for the town league. I only completed the most valuable assignments pesented. If the playing field is completely level I should have had the maximum score. After completing my final task I was listed as #1 on the leader board the contest still had about 2.5 days remaining in the contest. This morning the time remaining in the contest is 1d 20h and my ranking is now 4th place. The first place score is over 6000 above my score.
I wish that EA would at least provide some information on the level of chance involved.
My current, completely unfounded, opinion is that each time a new high score is established during the last few days of the contest the new task added to the assignment sheets as old ones are completed, have increasingly greater values. This would allow other mayors to still have a chance to win and motivate them to either work harder or spend more money.
I will try to put this to the test in the next contest by holding back at the beginning of the contest and pulling out all the stops in the final days of the contest.
