Nice thread :thumbup: . But I do think the gold boxes are a waste of money and not going to open my open my wallet for EA to get a bunch of virtual fences I don't need. Yet the gameplay is interesting like you said for us to buy donuts but I think we should just move on with the event.

Good post! I'd say 'you can't argue with that', but somebody will no doubt try :roll:

Bravo! Nice essay. I feel the same way, I just don't have the time to express myself so eloquently. If EA wants to keep going this route with events, I'll keep playing but I'll never spend another penny on the game and avoid EA products in the future.

Great post! Regarding the chance aspect of the event and its relationship to video slots in casinos, one of the aspects of video slots that can keep players playing despite losing money repeatedly is the result in which the player "almost wins" a big prize, which has been shown to make a player feel similarly to how he does when he actually does win. In video slots, this is done by giving the player all but one of the reels needed to win a big prize, then the last reel comes up as a loser. In Tapped Out, it's the rotation of prizes landing on Shari Bobbins or the Blocko Store but then ticking over to fences or a tree right at the last second.Ultimately, I believe the responsibility lies with the player to set a budget and not spend more than he can afford - it's extremely difficult to do this when you always feel like you're one box away from getting that big prize, but it can be done! I am also interested in the psychology of why we feel so strongly about needing to have EVERY available prize. Do we feel inferior if our friends have Shari Bobbins walking around their towns but we don't? Maybe a little bit...I think the funny thing though is that I actually pay very little attention to what buildings and characters my friends have in their towns, so it's probably a bit silly to be overly concerned about what I don't have in mine!

I thought that was very well written! Great post, drumnman!It is too late in the evening here and I need to go to sleep, but I'll brood this over and come back to join the discussion later. :)

teo47 wrote:Great post! Regarding the chance aspect of the event and its relationship to video slots in casinos, one of the aspects of video slots that can keep players playing despite losing money repeatedly is the result in which the player "almost wins" a big prize, which has been shown to make a player feel similarly to how he does when he actually does win. In video slots, this is done by giving the player all but one of the reels needed to win a big prize, then the last reel comes up as a loser. In Tapped Out, it's the rotation of prizes landing on Shari Bobbins or the Blocko Store but then ticking over to fences or a tree right at the last second.Ultimately, I believe the responsibility lies with the player to set a budget and not spend more than he can afford - it's extremely difficult to do this when you always feel like you're one box away from getting that big prize, but it can be done! I am also interested in the psychology of why we feel so strongly about needing to have EVERY available prize. Do we feel inferior if our friends have Shari Bobbins walking around their towns but we don't? Maybe a little bit...I think the funny thing though is that I actually pay very little attention to what buildings and characters my friends have in their towns, so it's probably a bit silly to be overly concerned about what I don't have in mine!Excellent thoughts! I also feel TSTO employs the "almost winning" technique by having 1) the spins slow down, and 2) having it almost land on what you want. It's almost rage-inducing!For me, I could really care less what other players have (except the Apple store...), so I'm not necessarily motivated by keeping up with the Joneses.And I 100% agree about budget and discipline.

Why we do this to ourselves: An examination of incentives, rewards and Skinner boxes

kevfd
11 years ago
LeuchtbojeConny wrote:

BTW: of course our arguments are not mutually occlusive. (is that the right word?)
I just think that the longings for control and instant gratification is more basic than the (cognitive) appraisal of mathematical odds.
And I understood this thread as a place to discuss psychological aspects of gaming, not EAs business concept etc.

Firstly it's mutually exclusive, but close enough to get the drift... secondly, don't the psychological aspects of gaming and EAs business concept go hand-in-hand?? That is, doesn't EA's business model rely on the psychological aspects of gaming?? Imho, they certainly are not mutually exclusive :lol:

mhazelip wrote:
The post is very much appreciated.

I do believe one point of differentiation that EA is missing is the freemium vs premium aspect in TSTO.

This paticular event frustrated both camps. Freemium players that were used to being able to achieve the same rewards of premium purely through additional work and Premium players that were used to being able to achieve awards purely through the use of donuts. Paying no longer equaled reward and playing no longer equaled reward. Playing now equaled the chance of a chance at an award while paying equaled the chance of an award.

To be fair, I see no issues with EA making money or even inducing players to spend money. Separation between freemium and premium somehow has to exist. If not, the game will be unsustainable.

This game will always have players who will never spend any money and it will have players who will always buy whatever new decoration is released. The target should be moving those on the fence about parting some money to spending and those who have parted with some money to become repeat spenders. That is sustainable.

Much like casinos with their slot machines. The have the big reward posted to draw you in. The odds are very small. But you have multiple ways to win. To keep you playing. But imagine that you just put in $10 bucks and have been constantly winning a little and losing. You have had fun, wasted 15 minutes. The machine next to beins to flash its lights, horns go off, they just won the $1,000.00 jackpot. Great! Except....they were a freemium player. You spent $10 and have some ponds, fences, and if you are lucky maybe number bunny. They have blocko store, the characters, and spent nothing. How likely are you to feed the slot machine again?

:thumbup:
Donna4612
11 years ago
Great post by the OP and great discussion by all.

I don't like to gamble, but did I fall into EA's trap? Yes.
I bought a boatload of donuts when the Easter event started thinking it would be like other events-- lots of stuff to buy. Spent ~700 of them trying to win everything which I eventually did. Am I satisfied that I beat the house? Yes.

Will I do it again? Probably not. I say probably because sometimes the pull to get everything is hard to resist. I had a lot of neighbors who quit the event, and some are now back playing. They had better will power than me. :)

Right now my problem is with the after event lag. Whatever updates EA did to fix this issue helped, but didn't quite fix it for me. I've been playing for well over a year and have never had such bad play as I do now.

Will I buy more donuts in the future? If EA doesn't fix the game and create less gambling events, then no. Heck, I'm not even playing nearly as much as I have in the past due to the lag. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling. And this is supposed to be fun!
graywolfii
11 years ago
Donna4612 wrote:
I had a lot of neighbors who quit the event, and some are now back playing. They had better will power than me. :)

My "neighborhood" is a mix of old and new players, forum regulars and newbies from add-me threads, premium and freemium. In no other event have I seen long-time, premium players just STOP PLAYING. Sure, in past events there were neighbors who would buy everything during the first few days, then maybe keep playing to help their neighboreenos along or maybe not. But this time at least 25% of my neighbors' towns went dead without displaying much more than an Easter float and a few fences. I am happy that three of them are back!

And as for will power... well... I did NOT buy the boatload that I had planned to get for this event, and I will not be spending more money on this game until EA gives us ~prizes with prices~ (I just came up with that as a jingle in my head. :) ) That some players won Ms. Bobbins for free while I had to sink 250 donuts into a game of chance to get her irritates me enough that I will not buy donuts unless the premium items are clearly priced. Even if they're overpriced!
thirdeye69
11 years ago
Great post, OP. Fully agree, word for word.

And is there a thread that the ratman doesn't troll?
Ratman5674
11 years ago
thirdeye69 wrote:
Great post, OP. Fully agree, word for word.

And is there a thread that the ratman doesn't troll?

Ratman doesn't troll every thread. Ratman doesn't troll a great percent of threads.
mamalettejen
11 years ago
Ratman5674 wrote:
thirdeye69 wrote:
Great post, OP. Fully agree, word for word.

And is there a thread that the ratman doesn't troll?

Ratman doesn't troll every thread. Ratman doesn't troll a great percent of threads.

He doesn't troll EVERY thread... just the mostly legitimate ones...
drumnman
11 years ago
Happy to see this bumped and glad so many find the discussion as fascinating as I do! :D

Another thing I've noticed that's different with Easter when compared to the previous chance-based events is the lack of overall sense of pride having completed the event. Where are the Easter signature pics? Where are the "I cleared the boxes!" badges?

It could be argued that it's because hardly anyone actually cleared all the prizes, but even amongst those that did, there doesn't seem to be a unified sense of accomplishment. If they're like me, they may feel a little gross and ashamed having waltzed right into EA's mouse trap. I know I just don't feel a sense of pride about it as I did when I cleared Christmas and Valentine's. Instead, I just feel kind of used up.

What long-term effects (if any) will this shift have on the most loyal of players, those signature badge-wielding ones who previously brandished their event accomplishments with pride?

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