Fixing The Harp - How Many Tries?

ChuckElston

ChuckElston wrote:

I got the dreaded Harp glitch yesterday, and have tried the fix people have suggested; keeping the screen on, and letting it go through the fifteen minute run.

I've probably done this around 15 times on both of my devices (never at the same time, although I'm tempted).

So, are most of you who lucked out getting in on the first or second try? 10th? 20th?

20 times per day on each device (2 devices) plus random testing on another 11 devices (in my dev testbed) since last Friday the 15th. Tried two at once today and no such luck. Always crashes at the 14 minute mark.

I know you were looking for success stories, but here is the other end of the spectrum...

mcorway

I only had the harp noise occur once which was after I built El Chemistri. I left my device on for 20 minutes while harping, and it got back in. Has not re-occured yet.

jppubllic

had the harp freeze since Friday, tried the just leave it on fix at least 30 times before it finally corrected itself this morning. The good news? I ended up with 943 donuts once my Springfield came back! No issues since, seems to be fixed. Keep trying, the potential payoff is worth it.

NStanger91

Unfortunately that 'fix' only seems to works for some and not others, by the sound of it you are part if 'others'

jppubllic

NStanger91 wrote:

Unfortunately that 'fix' only seems to works for some and not others, by the sound of it you are part if 'others'

Sure, now I am. But from Friday til this morning I was just as frustrated as everyone else. Wish I could give more information other than keep trying. But I didn't do anything other than kept trying.

I know a lot of people with this issue are reporting it directly to EA. Not sure what that's worth on an individual basis but en masse it might have some effect.

Good luck!

tvfnask

I've tried this method 40+ times and have never been able to make it work. To spare my own sanity I've decided to stop trying.

narvik8

I have been playing this game for about a year know i think.
i have been locked out for three days now. Tried all 'fixes' but to no avail. I guess I am one of the unlucky ones.
I would like to know....
Will we get compensated for $$$ / hearts lost while being locked out?
What about the donuts we are going to have to spend to "catch up" with our daily bonuses.
I'm a bit miffed to be honest. This has been going on for a while now looking at other posts here. Something needed to be done.
Will I lose all my 1050 (or so) hearts that I had saved that I was going to cash in (spend on things then sell those things) on the 27th if this goes past then?
Also, how do we actually contact EA? Everything I have looked at or linked into leads me to forums or surveys.....I want an email address so I can let them know. Do they actually have one for gamers to contact them or is it a **** way to avoid the backlash when things go wrong?
Ok.....rant over...go about your business and have a lovely day all

framart69

i tried a lot of times too, i left all the time that could be necessary but at the end the application always crash

i mean, i always arrive with the idea to let the application running 30 minutes or as much i can, but the application always crash something like 10 to 12 minutes later so i never been able to test 15 or more minutes as others can.

NStanger91

Well I was locked out for 2 weeks because I got the level 26 update early, so I couldn't play for 2 weeks. When I finally got on I was not compensated in any way so I wouldn't have your hopes up :-(

HayIeycakes

how many **** does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop [:

krakenit

narvik8 wrote:

Also, how do we actually contact EA? Everything I have looked at or linked into leads me to forums or surveys.....I want an email address so I can let them know. Do they actually have one for gamers to contact them or is it a **** way to avoid the backlash when things go wrong?
Ok.....rant over...go about your business and have a lovely day all

you can go to help.ea.com and create a case. One other posted said after 12 attempts they finally got someone that looked at their account. The tech said the account looked fine, but then suddenly the person was able to get back in. I have created 4 cases there hoping the squeaky wheel gets the grease. This is the only instance I have seen of a real response that wasn't a canned copied and pated response, but its another avenue.

I wonder if them just accessing the account fixed the loop somehow. like the people that have been lucky enough to get back in, one they have accessed their account they continue working.

HayIeycakes

theres a help thingy on ea.com , people say no one ever responds but i've sent them questions 3 dif times and every time got a response within a day or 2. soo i dunno what theyre talking about :P

narvik8

It annoys me because I have spent real money buying donuts to "top up" so I could finish different quests because I wasn't quite there yet.

I can quite honestly say I won't be purchasing anything again....not when there is no guarantee this wont happen again.

I complain, but I am a lucky one.....from reading other posts this happened to others a month or so back and they were locked out for weeks.

Thanks for the address.... One VERY squeaky wheel coming ring up.

krakenit

HayIeycakes wrote:

theres a help thingy on ea.com , people say no one ever responds but i've sent them questions 3 dif times and every time got a response within a day or 2. soo i dunno what theyre talking about :P

Theres actually two different spots. answers.ea.com that they do look at and see the issues, but they do not respond. Its designed for other users to help each other out and some kind of weird experience point system to make the good helpers stand out.

the second is the help.ea.com where you can actually create a solid case. They still barely look at it, and send back canned emails that are worthless. But it is still documented with an actual case number.

ianherrick

I'm into about 20 wait & see tries so far with no luck. Not including about another 20 task killing attempts at a fix.

I'd be curious if those who got fixed filed or did not file a ticket with EA. I just filed one this morning and would be interested to know if EA was perhaps doing something behind the scenes to kickstart it and get people back in.

stevealo

I got the harp. I left in on and then forgot. After an hour I saw it and it had set me at the bonus level screen where you scratch for 1-3 donuts. Well, I scratched and collected until around 923 when it booted me out. I went back into the game, it loaded and I still had the donuts. So Sweet after all the crashes (which were finally fixed after the last update). So I got the missing buildings and characters, and now have more donuts - now I just need to redo my industrial park and my amusement park area.

I hope you get the glitch and bonus donuts. Finally something good after playing since last March.

BerwynEd

I have done about 10 iterations so far but I have a question. I am using an iPad that I have the auto-lock set to Never. When I start the TSTO game the donut cycles for a moment and then I get the welcome tap screen to continue. When I continue I get the Harp Freeze. I then let it go for as long as it can. What I have observed is that the Harp only goes for 11 to 12 minutes before flipping back to the App screen. Anyone know how I can get the game to keep looping for the 15 or minutes that people are reporting it takes to kit the potential fix mark?

stevieort

I'm in the same place as narvik8. I have tried to get in for three days now with no luck. I am beyond frustrated. I don't understand why EA won't put something out there. It's ridiculous. :evil:

L_B_123XD

What is the Harp glitch?

icbeacon

mcorway wrote:

I only had the harp noise occur once which was after I built El Chemistri. I left my device on for 20 minutes while harping, and it got back in. Has not re-occured yet.

I


Same here. Right after purchasing 300 more donuts and as soon as El Chemistri finished being built (Why did that building take so long to complete anyway?) Gonna try the harping for 20 minutes and see if that doesn't remedy this mess...what a joke. Best of luck, everyone!

rayner07

After been locked out for the last 3 days I just left the harp on, After the 3rd attempt it finally connected then kicked me straight out.

After shutting it down again and re loading it finally let me back in (only got 1 chance at the bonus donuts unlike others) but at least I am back and playing again.