I could easily be mistaken, but I think the elves give 2 or 3 gift cards at each decorated house

hipmama197190 wrote:Do the elves find magic packages that weren't really there before?I have been really diligent about x-Ray visioning through my buildings to look for gift bags and presents. So the first time my elves were available to go look for me, I wasn't expecting much.Oh my Gojira! I was so (pleasantly) surprised! Has this been other people's experience, too?I'm considering buying a house with donuts, just so I can do that twice a day. Is that a dumb thing to do? (It's ok to tell me if it is, I'm a big girl and I can take it...)EXACTLY THE SAME THING !!! I had just done a microscopic search through my town, my tree had just done its automatic thingamajig with the doohickey timer thing, and nobody had visited my town. I released the elves immediately, and they not only came back with 27 gift cards, but TEN gift BAGS. I was sure it was a glitch in the game. I expected them to spot one or two ... But NEVER that many!!!

kuhn2632 wrote:I could easily be mistaken, but I think the elves give 2 or 3 gift cards at each decorated houseOh, now that would be very nice!

annettemarc wrote:hipmama197190 wrote:Do the elves find magic packages that weren't really there before?I have been really diligent about x-Ray visioning through my buildings to look for gift bags and presents. So the first time my elves were available to go look for me, I wasn't expecting much.Oh my Gojira! I was so (pleasantly) surprised! Has this been other people's experience, too?I'm considering buying a house with donuts, just so I can do that twice a day. Is that a dumb thing to do? (It's ok to tell me if it is, I'm a big girl and I can take it...)EXACTLY THE SAME THING !!! I had just done a microscopic search through my town, my tree had just done its automatic thingamajig with the doohickey timer thing, and nobody had visited my town. I released the elves immediately, and they not only came back with 27 gift cards, but TEN gift BAGS. I was sure it was a glitch in the game. I expected them to spot one or two ... But NEVER that many!!!Hmmmm....I guess I should put out the lights on more houses, LOL!

Thank you, this has been so helpful!!!!

blackgryphon9999 wrote:annettemarc wrote:hipmama197190 wrote:Do the elves find magic packages that weren't really there before?I have been really diligent about x-Ray visioning through my buildings to look for gift bags and presents. So the first time my elves were available to go look for me, I wasn't expecting much.Oh my Gojira! I was so (pleasantly) surprised! Has this been other people's experience, too?I'm considering buying a house with donuts, just so I can do that twice a day. Is that a dumb thing to do? (It's ok to tell me if it is, I'm a big girl and I can take it...)EXACTLY THE SAME THING !!! I had just done a microscopic search through my town, my tree had just done its automatic thingamajig with the doohickey timer thing, and nobody had visited my town. I released the elves immediately, and they not only came back with 27 gift cards, but TEN gift BAGS. I was sure it was a glitch in the game. I expected them to spot one or two ... But NEVER that many!!!Hmmmm....I guess I should put out the lights on more houses, LOL!I went through all of my slums and put out the lights to test this theory tomorrow

Shocked. Shocked, I tell you! | EA Forums

Airion69
11 years ago
spAnser wrote:
The Elves that spawn will go after presents first then they will go to Homes. I am not sure that they need to be decorated just be a Home. Each elf can only visit a maximum of 9 Homes. 85% chance for 3 Gift Cards 15% Chance for 6 Gift Cards for a home visit.

My elves must be broken. They do houses first, then hidden gifts, then all the gifts around my tree in my town square.
teamzap17
11 years ago
snali24 wrote:
kuhn2632 wrote:
I could easily be mistaken, but I think the elves give 2 or 3 gift cards at each decorated house

What does this mean for house farmers with decorated houses?? :shock:

I just figured out that the Elf Home was a decoration and not a building, putting a question on whether or not it'll pay out after the event, but if this is the case I may end up buying another one anyways.

Someone please check this...

I think it will pay out money after the event, even if it's a decoration. The Ancient Burial Ground, for example, is counted as a decoration by the game, and it pays out cash today while it spat out ghosts during the Halloween event.
bren1960
11 years ago
No, house farming doesn't give more packages from elves. Just what spAnser said.
I have 4 elf homes
DarkSamus75
11 years ago
bren1960 wrote:
No, house farming doesn't give more packages from elves. Just what spAnser said.
I have 4 elf homes

Agreed! House farming does nothing to help your elves.
Airion69
11 years ago
LanceUppercut808 wrote:
ok...here's a question....
if each elf can go to a mximum or 9 homes, wouldn't it be most efficient to make sure you have at least 36 houses? That would mean some players might want to build a few extra houses if they are under that number...
Just wondering...can someone verify?

Yes.

This is precisely why people with house farms benefit because they have more than enough houses for the elves to visit, so the last couple of posts are wrong.
jenichu682
11 years ago
kjamma wrote:
I have noticed much of the same: that even if I have cleared all my gifts, the elves will find more. I make sure I clear my visible/behind building gifts so the elves aren't "wasted" on clearing them and can concentrate on finding hidden ones.

I did also notice that I got significantly more gift bags through the elves than I did through generated/dropped gifts. When I started it was up to 5 per elf house, though it seems to have dropped today to about 3 or 4. Not paying enough attention to know if there are any variables that might have affected this, or if it's just a coincidental luck of the draw. In any event, I have 27 elf houses, so between that and the generated/dropped gifts, it nets me enough gift bags on a daily basis to drop at least one in each neighbor visit, with some left over to give to my extra good neighbors (my real-life friends who play, and my forum neighbors!)

I'm shocked by this and by the fact no one else commented on it. Isn't that like 1600 donuts?
bettyseek381
11 years ago
None of my houses are decorated but the first time the elves went out, my card count increased by about 200. I also look behind houses, etc for gifts.
DigitalBaggins
New Novice
11 years ago
RyderMike319 wrote:
Can the elves find spin tokens? I know spin tokens appear in some gifts (havent received any yet), but if the elves are used does it eliminate the opportunity?

Soon as i got my elf house i used it and they found a spin token.
cripnite
11 years ago
I think that by "hidden" they don't mean ones that are obstructed from view, they mean ones hidden inside houses. I've watched an elf go from Fat Tony's compound to Wolfcastle mansion and back again finding gift cards.
Donna4612
11 years ago
Because of this thread, I went and bought more elf homes. I just freed the others this morning so there shouldn't have been much left for the new elves to pick up, but they did. ~75 gift cards and 10 gift bags.

I followed one in my feeder town that doesn't have a lot of houses and noticed that they will go into the same house and collect cards or bags a second time. I also saw one go into my Library so this is not limited to houses. But I don't know if they can go into all the shops or just certain ones.