January 2015: TSTO reaches all-time low on iOS Top-Grossing charts

JimJ321 wrote:
I am optimistic that we will have years of happy tapping ahead of us.

Speaking only for myself, I'm motivated by the promise of new content. Seems to me, they ran out of characters a year ago, and have been relying on gimmick events to keep interest (Stonecutters - which I loved.. Barbarians - which was the freaking stupidest thing ever). At the moment, I'm frantically killing elves because I'm determined to have the Spruce Caboose. So, credit where it's due.

If - IF - they can keep those gimmicks fresh and interesting, the game can keep going. If, this spring, I'm being told to tap Easter Bunnies so I can get a Pin Pals jacket skin for Apu or something.. nope.

I agree that the new Austin customer support is a huge improvement, and that most of the reps are really great there. However, what I don't understand is that some seem to have the ability to immediately place a missing item in your inventory, and some have to elevate it to tech support (which can take much longer - altough they have said to me they do strive to have issues like this fixed within 24 hours - a rep from there actually said that to me). If the issue is complicated, then I understand. But if it's a simple, known issue then why can some do it and others can't? I would like to see all of the reps have the ability to do this, as missing items is a big factor for many players.

That being said, the new support centre team is pretty great - a lot of nice people there.

I don't think things are that dire, but it's pretty clear that the recent issues would cause a drop in sales. Having a donut sale during a time of server issues that resulted in a significant number of people not getting their goods after spending $100... that's a spanking.

And EA missed a big opportunity to fill up their coffers during this current event by not selling elves or an "elf generator."

havocmike wrote:
If, this spring, I'm being told to tap Easter Bunnies so I can get a Pin Pals jacket skin for Apu or something.. nope.

Hey! I'd love one of those!

tommy1724 wrote:
I think EA should hire a consultant. And that consultant should be Mopurglar.

Agreed. Great, thoughtful opening post.

I've only been playing this game about 8 months (started between Easter and Stonecutter events) so I hope some of you guys are mistaken with your pessimism. I hope this game continues to bring in new players and better quality and service because I have had lots of fun playing and interacting with other players. Yet with Nicholas and Barry both uninstalling and abruptly leaving at the same time, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried.

Wow. When you're earning less than The Sims Freeplay that tells you that you are doing something terribly wrong.

JimJ321 wrote:
I am optimistic that we will have years of happy tapping ahead of us.

DOUBLE DITTO THIS 8)

MOPURGLAR'S POST WAS INTERESTING SOLID STUFF...
I'VE OPINED ON THIS BEFORE IN A OTHER THREAD WE HAD LIKE THIS A FEW MONTHS BACK AROUND C.O.C.

Simpsons is THE seminal /mothership of the animation universe. It's The King /The Big Cheese & has an amazingly infinite amount of history, characters & creative story lines & development that can be implemented for years to come. Both the show & TSTO have continued to do this well, w/solid intellectual & humorous, satirical dialogue poking fun at life, issues/events along w/both players & themselves, right up to this day w/Homer on task for something 'more important /worthwhile': Playing TSTO; Friggin Perfect!:P

...The only issues to overcome are technology and competitive games (noticed several more actually w/TV ads recently, & oddly the most similar competition is FGQFS which is also Fox property & essentially a win-win). They have rich historical substance, immense fan base, & continued very well produced show w/ major studio backing, all as framework to continue to expand the already solid platform we've been enjoying... not to mention the very useful, highly cost effective feedback available from some of us right here (who may indeed have adequate/appropriate backgrounds & are available as private contract creative consultants should our services be desired):wink:

Thank you for this excellent post.

My concern is that rather than spark an effort to revive the game that they will instead decide that the game has run its course and only dedicate enough resources to keep the game on life support, trying to maintain whatever minimum profit level they determine is necessary to keep a game alive. 50-70th in the top-grossing titles is still pretty good overall, so we just need to hope that TSTOs profit level remains high enough to justify a decent effort. Unfortunately I don't expect that will include any sorts of major overhauls that would improve server stability, game robustness, etc. I am also quite concerned that the cumulative effect of server and performance issues is taking its toll on player morale (e.g. the loss of longtime player and strong forum supporter barryriddl474 yesterday).

Nice post Mo! I hope the game has at least another year left. The show's producers seem to be saying season 27 is going to hapen so keeping the game going through 2016 would seem to make sense for fox.

KillaSqirl wrote:
Nice post Mo! I hope the game has at least another year left. The show's producers seem to be saying season 27 is going to hapen so keeping the game going through 2016 would seem to make sense for fox.

Agreed - I have a tough time seeing this game ending while the show is still on the air, unless something drastic happens. The real problem that I think game developers face with something like this is that while there is a huge universe of characters, decorations, and buildings to choose from in adding content to the game, there are only so many that are going to be in high demand from players and most of those have already been added to the game. So once a player has reached the top level and has most or all of the content he or she wants, it's a big challenge to get that player to stick around to continue playing at that point. I actually think EA does a very good job in this area - we have aspirational items to encourage us to keep generating in-game cash, events that provide a fun change to the gameplay even when the event itself is flawed, tie-ins to new episodes (I rarely watch new Simpsons episodes anymore but when I have, it has been because of this game).

As the 'freemium' game model continues to explode and more and more competitors to Tapped Out are released, it's only natural that the game will become a bit less dominant than it once was. I suspect that EA is still making more than enough money for them to want to keep the game going.

I agree with other posters that a more effective social media presence would be useful for EA - perhaps a Twitter account similar to what many other businesses have that would be staffed 24 hours a day and be tasked with responding to player comments or concerns in real time in a format that customers are comfortable with.