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Friend bonus ruining the game?

Prev1345
I'm having difficulty understanding why it matters to you how others play the game. You chose a strategy and succeeded-- what more could you ask for?

Replies

  • mellytan
    1258 posts
    edited December 2012
    Actually, I kind of am with you on this. It's just like how I feel about the bonus XP that's given when you're maxed out on levels and there's a new level.

    As strange as it sounds, I want to 'work' for the money and the XP. Not just breeze through it. It is an odd feeling, I totally agree. It's just so much money but at the same time, I like the fact that we are being rewarded for fulfilling the social aspect of this game.

    Perhaps, the degree to which we are being rewarded should be decreased I guess.
  • sonny1618
    1543 posts New member
    edited December 2012
    I know what you mean, it has changed the dynamic somewhat.

    However, people have been farming for ages in order to earn as much money as possible but for others it's not worth the aesthetic hit on your town. It's a playing strategy choice.

    With the friends trick there's no resulting ugly tenement in your Springfield, but it requires time, patience and effort to rake it in, so not everyone's going to do it.

    I wouldn't be surprised if they re-jigged how it worked in a future update though as it's easy to earn obscene amounts of money in a relatively short amount of time now.


    I tried to accept your invite by the way rdee, but it kept giving me an error. Try it again.
  • rdee22
    77 posts
    edited December 2012
    Thanks. I'm not judging anyone's style of play. Do t get me wring the bonus is cool and I love visiting my friends but I used to work all day to get 50k. Now I do it in an hour visiting friends
  • roadrunner1132
    73 posts
    edited December 2012
    They should cut friends lists in my opinion, too often I crash when visiting due to someone's house farm or generally huge town losing all bonuses in a row!

    But with regards to your huge stash of money, each new building costs significantly more such as the hospital etc. at level 24. Soon after the next update you will see those saving disappear in a heartbeat lol
  • Tony68k
    279 posts
    edited December 2012
    After a certain point in time, money does become insignificant in this game. I can understand why players just starting out would want to 'catch up' quickly. I'd sooner they did friend farming than house farming though.

    With this being an open game, there are numerous criteria you can judge a player by - the level they are at, the number of premium items, their conformity bonus, their town design, lack of a house farm or not, size of their town, placement of buildings... the list goes on, and it's really each to their own.

    If you've lost the motivation to play as you've achieved your initial target of being financially independent, I could suggest you set yourself a new target - conformity bonus up to five stars, all the land purchased, an original or unusual town design, as a few examples.

    As you no longer have to grind tasks, you can start playing the game in a different manner. Send characters on tasks that amuse you, or your friends, tasks that keep your characters out on the streets instead of locked in buildings, etc.

    Having just finished the grind phase myself, I'm looking forward to doing things a little different now.
  • SNE4K
    241 posts
    edited December 2012
    The friend bonus ? What the increase in cash with each friend we visit ? That what you mean ?
  • xrobotlove
    538 posts
    edited December 2012
    The new friend bonus just has me stressed out if anything. Now I have to make sure to have an hour to visit each friend consecutively. And having to visit the premium towns first, one building at a time is a pain. Yeah I know I don't have to do that, but however much money is possible is how much money my ego will force me to go for, so even though its stressful, not utilizing the friend bonus just isn't an option. So my only choice is drag my feet through it every day, pull my hair out when the game crashes mid-friend, and freak out whenever anyone or anything disturbs the consecutive visiting, such as a notification popping up or the Internet cutting out. Last night I got booted, began to cry NOOOOOO!!! And my fianc? came rushing in assuming I was "in grave danger" and was a little annoyed when the true cause was revealed.
  • jasonicus321
    1811 posts New member
    edited December 2012
    Once you get to level 24, it seems like there is less reason to play. I agree. I am, at this point, placing my characters on 24 hour tasks and not bothering with neighbors. I have everything I want at the moment.
  • jaffaface
    903 posts Member
    edited December 2012
    Friend bonus.....you're kidding right, you have to actually be able to collect from your friends to do that, which put you at the mercy of the stupid servers.
  • Mjr1124
    654 posts
    edited December 2012
    I wouldn't be surprised to see this changed. I'm betting that they didn't intend for people to get the bonus by going one house at a time. They most likely intended people to use all 3 actions at the same time and move on, getting a small bonus with each friend, not for each of 3 visits to the same friend. Most likely they will change it so you don't get the bonus until the "come back in 24 hours" screen comes up.
  • indydude33
    118 posts
    edited December 2012
    Isn't Tapped Out still a bit new to already have "old timers" complaining about how the game has been nerfed and new players have no idea how hard it used to be? :mrgreen:

    That said, I'm not sure it really "ruined" the game. I prefer people having more friends and earning their money through visits to the towns filled with "farms" of brown and pink houses.

    And though I have 100 friends and do benefit somewhat from the bonus, I'm not sure that most players are going to routinely take full advantage of the new payoffs. I TRIED to start going through my friends towns and seeing who had a Springfield sign, who had a tire fire, who had other % adding decor and who had nothing. It takes a LOOOOOOONG time.

    Even knowing all that, I'm not sure I'm ready to start cutting loose friends who DON'T have those things. (I have a lot of friends who don't have any of the %-adding decor, but they do have the Duff Brewery or Lard Lad or some other premium buildings. I take that to mean they are willing to spend money on donuts, but didn't buy the %-adders because they didn't work until the Christmas update.)

    And going through my friends list, visiting the premium players first one at a time for 3 consecutive rounds and then going back to hit everyone else one at a time for 3 consecutive rounds without ever logging out? No .... sorry, I don't have that kind of time.

    Maybe some weekend when my wife is gone and my dog is asleep I might try i. But for the most part, I'll just visit my friends alphabetically, hit 3 tasks, and leave. Same as always.
  • josh4908
    801 posts
    edited December 2012
    Tony68k wrote:
    After a certain point in time, money does become insignificant in this game. I can understand why players just starting out would want to 'catch up' quickly. I'd sooner they did friend farming than house farming though.

    With this being an open game, there are numerous criteria you can judge a player by - the level they are at, the number of premium items, their conformity bonus, their town design, lack of a house farm or not, size of their town, placement of buildings... the list goes on, and it's really each to their own.

    If you've lost the motivation to play as you've achieved your initial target of being financially independent, I could suggest you set yourself a new target - conformity bonus up to five stars, all the land purchased, an original or unusual town design, as a few examples.

    As you no longer have to grind tasks, you can start playing the game in a different manner. Send characters on tasks that amuse you, or your friends, tasks that keep your characters out on the streets instead of locked in buildings, etc.

    Having just finished the grind phase myself, I'm looking forward to doing things a little different now.

    This is why I did a redesign. I got bored. The dec 5 update along with my redesign changed that. I still have goals like SLH and 2nd funzo. I like the LT stuff. After the thaw I may do another redesign. I think I want to get a downtown area with all my businesses and government buildings together. As for the friend bonus. I think it's a good idea. I started to stop visiting friends just before the update. The coins brought me back and the bonus will keep me on my travels
  • thejazzdiva
    220 posts Member
    edited December 2012
    I am glad that is available. While I am at level 24, I still have buildings to complete, more decorations, and want more land. So being able to get $$ without sacrificing my Christmas Quests has been great. It keeps me in the game, without overwhelmingly taking me away from spending time with my friends.

  • MoopsDude
    328 posts Member
    edited January 2013
    I don't know if the friend bonus exploit ruins the game, but it definitely diminishes the achievement of becoming a TSTO Millionare. I had to play from March until August before I made my first million, and I played ALOT. Now some noob can earn over a millions in a single round of friend visits and then post on here how easy this game is.

    I am happy for my friends who in the past have struggled to buy buildings and new decor, but I have a feeling this could be this games "jump the shark" moment if the friend exploit becomes the norm.

    I also vehemently disagree with the sentiment that the friend exploit is more acceptable than using pure income properties(farming) to earn money. It took me months to get the land and houses and land I have and it was a lot of relentless tapping. It was work. The friend exploit is very popular with noobs because anyone can jump in to the game, throw up an add me thread then be a Millionare that same day.

    I wonder if this devaluation of the currency is going to make future purchases more expensive?
    Yes, THAT MoopsDude

    I GRIND, It’s what I do
  • Jopa79
    357 posts Member
    edited January 2013
    :thumbup:
  • XBL-Heretic
    1228 posts Member
    edited January 2013
    Depends on what each of us gets from playing this game. I was thinking about this just last night, and I kind of feel the same as rdee22. Even though the grind is, well, grinding at times, the friend bonus has taken away a bit of the sense of accomplishment for me. Yes, I can set other goals, but none of them are are as clear cut as reaching that certain amount of cash for that next purchase.

    I'm not dissing anyone who uses it - to each their own. But for me, it's certainly decreased the amount of satisfaction ans sense of accomplishment I was getting from the game.
  • itsmedanshep
    565 posts
    edited January 2013
    I love the friends bonus. I've been playing this game nonstop for months, hour after hour. Running errands around when my moves need to be done. Staying up late/waking up early because someone was finishing a task.

    Having this bonus where I could spend a couple days tapping in/out to get me millions was well worth it in my opinion. I'll now set up everyone on 24-hour tasks and do the random stuff that comes up/tweak my Springfield/wait for updates/enjoy my life haha.

    This game has taken over. Getting the money quick is going to allow me to step back a little from my obsession.

    But I can see where people are coming from. It may disappear at some point if EA pays enough attention (yeah right).
  • fspj
    70 posts
    edited January 2013
    MoopsDude wrote:
    I don't know if the friend bonus exploit ruins the game, but it definitely diminishes the achievement of becoming a TSTO Millionare. I had to play from March until August before I made my first million, and I played ALOT. Now some noob can earn over a millions in a single round of friend visits and then post on here how easy this game is.

    I tend to agree, though I've changed my feelings somewhat. I take great pride in what I've built, and even more pride in the fact that I never spent a cent AND never built a farm. (Though I recently added a tiny farm, but tried to make it funny, hidden behind fortress walls and barbed wire, and even put a Kwik-e Mart inside.) So it really annoyed me to see people gaming the system. But I came to feel that it doesn't matter really. I'm in it for my own enjoyment.

    What I love is seeing friends that obviously feel the same way. That's why I love visiting your town, Moops. You always do creative and fun things. I can see that you care, and that you've put thought into it. You can always tell which friends put thought into it. The devil is in the details. So, I guess my point for writing is, for whatever it's worth, I appreciate the effort you've put in, regardless of what anybody else does.

    I've still never made a million (in a single day OR cumulatively), and I've been playing since August, many hours every day. It's a slow build for me, but I'm happy with it.
  • Amazin2u
    215 posts Member
    edited January 2013
    I am at level 24 and enjoy the game now more than ever. I have seen my Springfield come together in ways that I planned AND didn't plan for. Although I may have all the buildings, a few of them just aren't right, so I will continue to work on finding that right spot.
  • MoopsDude
    328 posts Member
    edited January 2013
    Depends on what each of us gets from playing this game. I was thinking about this just last night, and I kind of feel the same as rdee22. Even though the grind is, well, grinding at times, the friend bonus has taken away a bit of the sense of accomplishment for me. Yes, I can set other goals, but none of them are are as clear cut as reaching that certain amount of cash for that next purchase.

    I'm not dissing anyone who uses it - to each their own. But for me, it's certainly decreased the amount of satisfaction ans sense of accomplishment I was getting from the game.

    Yes I agree 100%. I know we all have our own game and in reality if someone uses this new friend exploit or even a modified cell phone to get ahead it has no direct impact on my game, but seeing so many people posting about getting a "free ride" via the friend exploit just seems wrong.
    Yes, THAT MoopsDude

    I GRIND, It’s what I do
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