I have read the entire thread from start to finish. I can sympathize with the situation some of you are in, although I am not personally. I know that everyone's experience with EA customer service can be a mixed bag. Several of the reasons for this have been listed in the prior posts. I can agree that for all the players who do reside in the US, try and use the call back feature and speak to someone directly. I think this is the best option if you have that available. I also noticed that some one was asking about the email chain link for customer service and that they could not find it. I believe they may have removed that option of communication. When I first started with Tapped Out I had a ticket resolved solely over email. But I believe the only options currently available are either live chat or a phone call back.
Anyway, another reason for the mixed feedback from EA how you received the donuts. I know that in every player's mind this should not matter in the least, because EA's created this issue. However, if you did not purchase any donuts, and have only earned them through freemium grinding, then they are less likely to credit you any donuts. I am not saying they will not, but if you do receive donuts as a freemium player consider yourself fortunate. And I would not count on it happening more than a few times. EA will address their paying customers differently, although even then that does not mean you are guaranteed any type of a refund. It still depends on whom you speak with.
Then why was everyone given bonus donuts, not just people who had the Brandine character. That's not fair.
So it's fair to receive 20 donuts to speed up the task.
It's not fair to receive 20 donuts as a free gift for everyone, even though EA forks out way more free donuts in that case.
Yeah, thats a load of horse-hockey. Basically what EA is saying is:
1. "We just released Brandine for a brief time, knowing a bunch of people would PAY FOR HER, and even included a quest with a three month task."
2. "Then we required people who PAID FOR HER to choose between screwing up the task or paying more money for a new task."
3. "Meanwhile, people who DID NOT PAY FOR HER just skip that part of the quest, no problem!"
4. "To make up for it, we gave everyone 20 donuts, regardless of whether they PAID FOR HER or not."
This would be different if she was always available and some people just happened to be stuck in her task. But for them to say the massive amounts of people in this situation is "according to plan" is stunning. What's the point to specifically * off the people who gave you money?
This is ridiculous. I'm a longtime player and I've given EA the benefit of the doubt every time there has been an issue before. But this is really making me angry. Why on earth would they split this task into two groups: those who have the premium character and those who do not, and then screw the players who paid for her? They know damn well that most players who just bought her have her in the birthing Spuckler task, so they really set us up. And I don't buy that crap about the 20 donuts being given for the purpose of speeding up her task UNLESS those 20 donuts were ONLY given to those players who have Brandine.
I feel very let down and offended by EA. I'm not speeding up or storing Brandine. I won't finish this lame Saint Pat's task. And I will not be buying the donuts I planned on buying this week for a while. I am just to pissed right now to spend any more REAL money on a company that doesn't seem to value customer service.
This is ridiculous. I'm a longtime player and I've given EA the benefit of the doubt every time there has been an issue before. But this is really making me angry. Why on earth would they split this task into two groups: those who have the premium character and those who do not, and then screw the players who paid for her? They know damn well that most players who just bought her have her in the birthing Spuckler task, so they really set us up. And I don't buy that crap about the 20 donuts being given for the purpose of speeding up her task UNLESS those 20 donuts were ONLY given to those players who have Brandine.
I feel very let down and offended by EA. I'm not speeding up or storing Brandine. I won't finish this lame Saint Pat's task. And I will not be buying the donuts I planned on buying this week for a while. I am just to pissed right now to spend any more REAL money on a company that doesn't seem to value customer service.
What a disappointment.
I have to say, that sentiment is probably felt by half of their players right now, or at least the ones that just got Brandine. I don't get what they were thinking when they made the decision to stop allowing costumer service people giving a refund for those donuts. It's a very bad move on their part. Even if it were 100% true, they should've bit the bullet and gave people the donuts. This stunt will most likely cost the game a lot. And for what? A lousy 20 donuts. Seems like a bad idea on their part.
For the people who either do not have Brandine or have her and don't think its a big deal to store her or pay the donuts to speed her up: I really am not trying to be rude, honestly, but I don't think you are really in the right to judge why the rest of us are so frustrated or point out that our options are so easy. EA knows we bought this character last month and set her on a 90 day task. They knowingly set us up to ONLY be able to complete a mini holiday task by either storing her and resetting her timer or spending 20+ donuts. That's manipulative on EA's part. Why should we have to give up 1/3 of the time we've already put into her task? Why should we have to spend donuts (REAL MONEY) to speed her task up? Non-premium players are breezing right through the Saint Pat's task without Brandine, so why do we need her?? It's a slap in the face, as an earlier poster stated. You didn't have to spend donuts to speed her up. You didn't get manipulated into storing her just to get some lame task line done that others are getting done for free. So why should any of the people on this thread not be frustrated or not think it's a big deal to opt to store her if we don't want to? Really. It's a matter of principle at this point. I'm doing nothing. I'll sacrifice the stupid beer prize and leave my Brandine alone. But please don't minimize the options we have right now because that's almost beyond the point. It's the fact that EA screwed those of us who bought this character.
For EA: very lame of you. Tricky and manipulative. I had several premium items I planned to buy this week and again, on principle, I'm finding it extremely difficult to do so. As a longtime player, I'm feeling terribly unappreciated and taken advantage of.
I don't get what they were thinking when they made the decision to stop allowing costumer service people giving a refund for those donuts. It's a very bad move on their part.
Again, what is your proof of all of this besides what a single front line rep said to you?
I have to say, that sentiment is probably felt by half of their players right now, or at least the ones that just got Brandine. I don't get what they were thinking when they made the decision to stop allowing costumer service people giving a refund for those donuts. It's a very bad move on their part. Even if it were 100% true, they should've bit the bullet and gave people the donuts. This stunt will most likely cost the game a lot. And for what? A lousy 20 donuts. Seems like a bad idea on their part.
Or more simply, they could just get rid of the Brandine requirement, so everyone's playing by the same rules.
I don't get what they were thinking when they made the decision to stop allowing costumer service people giving a refund for those donuts. It's a very bad move on their part.
Again, what is your proof of all of this besides what a single front line rep said to you?
That is my proof.
Aside from what I was able to piece together using my own common sense. I personally don't need anymore. This isn't that big of an issue to start a whole investigation over. This was meant to console those who are having the same problem I did.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Take it how you will, but this is the info I got. You want facts, then hire a detective but stop breaking my balls about this. It ain't gonna change the fact that EA seriously screwed up.
I have to say, that sentiment is probably felt by half of their players right now, or at least the ones that just got Brandine. I don't get what they were thinking when they made the decision to stop allowing costumer service people giving a refund for those donuts. It's a very bad move on their part. Even if it were 100% true, they should've bit the bullet and gave people the donuts. This stunt will most likely cost the game a lot. And for what? A lousy 20 donuts. Seems like a bad idea on their part.
Or more simply, they could just get rid of the Brandine requirement, so everyone's playing by the same rules.
Sadly it won't help much since many people including myself have spent the donuts, and some who've just stored her to complete this quest. It'll just cause an entire new wave of angry threads.
At this point I can only hope this doesn't happen again.
You want facts, then hire a detective but stop breaking my balls about this. It ain't gonna change the fact that EA seriously screwed up.
No one is trying to break your man-donuts. It's just that the reps say all sorts of different stuff to different people. I'm not talking about this Brandine issue specifically, I mean in general. You can't take everything they say as gospel.
For the people who either do not have Brandine or have her and don't think its a big deal to store her or pay the donuts to speed her up: I really am not trying to be rude, honestly, but I don't think you are really in the right to judge why the rest of us are so frustrated or point out that our options are so easy. EA knows we bought this character last month and set her on a 90 day task. They knowingly set us up to ONLY be able to complete a mini holiday task by either storing her and resetting her timer or spending 20+ donuts. That's manipulative on EA's part. Why should we have to give up 1/3 of the time we've already put into her task? Why should we have to spend donuts (REAL MONEY) to speed her task up? Non-premium players are breezing right through the Saint Pat's task without Brandine, so why do we need her?? It's a slap in the face, as an earlier poster stated. You didn't have to spend donuts to speed her up. You didn't get manipulated into storing her just to get some lame task line done that others are getting done for free. So why should any of the people on this thread not be frustrated or not think it's a big deal to opt to store her if we don't want to? Really. It's a matter of principle at this point. I'm doing nothing. I'll sacrifice the stupid beer prize and leave my Brandine alone. But please don't minimize the options we have right now because that's almost beyond the point. It's the fact that EA screwed those of us who bought this character.
For EA: very lame of you. Tricky and manipulative. I had several premium items I planned to buy this week and again, on principle, I'm finding it extremely difficult to do so. As a longtime player, I'm feeling terribly unappreciated and taken advantage of.
I am in the same boat but it is not such a drama. It really is that easy that it boils down to three options you have: rush it, store her or wait for something to happen - maybe they will fix it.
In reality you dont really loose anything if you decide store her. It is a game and a couple of pixels. I am actually a bit annoyed that people cry that they are 30days in already. Majority of people here complaining are long time players, a month more or less doesnt make much of a difference. Especially since you didnt really need to acomplish anything like in other games where you may loose levels that only skill and long time spending in front of your TV and console gets you to.
Tapped out is a game. In a game you are always confronted with making decisions. Decisions can get you to fail a level and you need to go back to your save point. TSTO so far had nothing that really made you re-consider your decision; it is a save game where you pretty much cant loose any progress.
Now comes the first time that I can think off that a decision YOU (or I) have made may turn somehow back on us. And now we are back to the point where we need to make any of the three decisions described before. In other words: Brandinegate is only happening because of a decision you have made in the game a while ago. This is the principle of games and people loose because of poor decisions they have made.
Try and take a different perspective on it: I am not sure about the multiplier you get from the beer pile (is it 0.75%?), but I am quite sure that over a period of 30 days the payout you get in return (mulitplier on jobs, houses, crops etc.) is higher than the 15000$ (45000$/3=15000$) from Brandines task and the couple of bucks you get from the little Spuckler.
So if your concern is the money you get from it, you should probably go for storing her. Someone else mentioned yesterday that if you purchase white fences for 21 Donuts, you will have a higher multiplier than the beer pile. You may also consider this option.
Further, the Spucklers cost 30 Donuts each to rush them. With the Costs for Brandine of 100 Donuts makes that 90 Donuts for the Kids and only 10 for Brandine. So in reality you get 4 characters for 100 Donuts - probably the best deal in the entire game. And this superb deal doesnt change upside down, even if you pay 121 Donuts.
I am not a big fan of conspiration theories. I think it was missed by EA that this could happen and even if they were aware of it it comes back to the point that you have various options to deal with it.
What I am missing completelly in your post is the mentioning of the 20 Donuts you got for free in the beginning of the *. Patricks day event. How can you mention a slap in the face when you really dont loose anything? You have already been compensated for the Donuts you may need to spend. And even more: you didnt need to make a decision for that.
What you are complaining about right now is that you need to make a greed driven decision. Your greed is letting you rant that you cant bank the free 20 Donuts, get the free Spuckler and get a free multiplier. I guess I have to break it to you: you are greedy and try to push the responsibiliy for your choices on to someone else. EA never forced anyone of us to start Brandines pregnancy task.
We have one saying here where I come from: One kind of death you have to die. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
They knowingly set us up to ONLY be able to complete a mini holiday task by either storing her and resetting her timer or spending 20+ donuts. That's manipulative on EA's part. Why should we have to give up 1/3 of the time we've already put into her task? Why should we have to spend donuts (REAL MONEY) to speed her task up?
I disagree wholeheartedly that EA "knowingly" set players up. Factoring in the Brandine mechanics is rather convoluted and easy to overlook. I think EA simply messed up on a number of different parts of the chain of command, including the donut solution if it was indeed intended to rectify for Brandine.
Also, the donuts spent to speed up Brandine is not "real money". EA did in fact give you 20 free donuts, enough to speed up the task without any money. Is it unfair that other players without Brandine get to enjoy those free donuts for something else? Yes. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you're still not spending "real money" to speed up Brandine if you decide to do so.
Overall, the situation could have been handled better; but, it's not as big a deal as you guys make it out to be considering you guys have the option to store Brandine and that's free.
I decide to store Brandine. It's a pity of the past 32 days, but I will just have to wait a little longer. It's not like I am not a year behind anyway.
Ofcourse given my luck they will now rectify it within a few hours...
@00-marco_rosas: I agree with what you say. People react far too emotional on this. A month 'lost' is annoying but its not like its a race or something.
Now to see what I can spend my 20 donuts saved on...
In the end, I don't understand why folks don't just store Brandine. Yes, you'll lose your first Spuckler progress, but you do have options that don't involve donuts.
Store her. Do the quests. Restart her. In the long run, you'll still get your brood of Spucklers!
In the end, I don't understand why folks don't just store Brandine. Yes, you'll lose your first Spuckler progress, but you do have options that don't involve donuts.
Store her. Do the quests. Restart her. In the long run, you'll still get your brood of Spucklers!
Because "in the end" is where EA has screwed over their paying customers here, and from the info in this post it was intentional on their part. That's no way to treat people who are paying you. Yep you can store her and lose 30+/- days of progress and start over, but who's to say that she won't be needed for the next event or level? This is bait and switch and honestly I feel like I was taken advantage of because I did pay real money to get her. This is the second time I've felt swindled by EA since I started playing in November, they got me on the island thing also.
I can't say I'll never buy donuts again or that I don't still love this game, but next time they show up with a gift basket full of sprinklies, I will definitely be waiting for the axe to fall.
In the end, I don't understand why folks don't just store Brandine. Yes, you'll lose your first Spuckler progress, but you do have options that don't involve donuts.
Store her. Do the quests. Restart her. In the long run, you'll still get your brood of Spucklers!
That's what I ultimately opted for. Doesn't make it right that EA put me in that situation. It's not fun losing progress as a result of their greed or poor planning. It feels like they're blatantly punishing those who bought Brandine last month. Honestly, if we don't raise a stink about it, they'll just keep doing this sort of thing. I don't really like the idea of them continuing to punish their paying players over the freemium ones.
In the end, I don't understand why folks don't just store Brandine. Yes, you'll lose your first Spuckler progress, but you do have options that don't involve donuts.
Store her. Do the quests. Restart her. In the long run, you'll still get your brood of Spucklers!
Why don't I just store her? Simple. I don't want to lose over a month of progress. I've been waiting to get her and her brood since I started playing the game, and I don't want to wait any longer than I have to. If this issue isn't resolved, I'd much rather use the donuts EA gave us at the beginning to speed her up, rather than losing that progress.
On a positive note, the donuts I need to finish her task have gone down from 21 to 20, so that's something. I'm going to wait until they go down to 10 though.
Joined: May 2014 • Level: 563 • Favourite Characters: Lisa & Ralph
Let me just say that I'm not "emotional" about this. Trust me, I'm not losing sleep over it. I Don't even care anymore. Whatever. It is what it is.
But. I do believe that my point was missed. It doesn't make a difference if it is 33 days or 33 minutes into her current task. EA knew how many people bought Brandine last month and they knew they'd put her right into the first task when they got her. I don't appreciate that they disregard my time that way when there is absolutely no reason for it. And the other option of having to spend donuts to speed up the task? Ok, fine, but that should be for ALL players then; not just those who recently purchased the character who would knowingly be in a 90 day task. It shouldn't be that some players breeze through this event for free while those who paid for a character have to make a sacrifice. Does that make any sense to you?? I just see NO reason that Brandine should have been added to this event.
I'm not "emotional" over this and I'm not being dramatic. I'm fully entitled to my opinion and I'm frustrated. I've spent real money on this game which I feel earned me the right to say so if I feel taken advantage of, and, at the very least, speak my mind on these boards. I think it was lame of EA to use Brandine in this task for some players and I make no apologies for saying so. That doesn't make me dramatic or emotional, and I'm clearly not the only person who feels this way.
Oh, and as for the 20 free donuts, yes that was nice. But to give them to players and then we have to use them for this is bogus. The players without Brandine got them as well. I'm tired of that argument.
Replies
Anyway, another reason for the mixed feedback from EA how you received the donuts. I know that in every player's mind this should not matter in the least, because EA's created this issue. However, if you did not purchase any donuts, and have only earned them through freemium grinding, then they are less likely to credit you any donuts. I am not saying they will not, but if you do receive donuts as a freemium player consider yourself fortunate. And I would not count on it happening more than a few times. EA will address their paying customers differently, although even then that does not mean you are guaranteed any type of a refund. It still depends on whom you speak with.
I will not be spending any money with your mobile apps anymore.
So it's fair to receive 20 donuts to speed up the task.
It's not fair to receive 20 donuts as a free gift for everyone, even though EA forks out way more free donuts in that case.
Classical case of begrudging...
1. "We just released Brandine for a brief time, knowing a bunch of people would PAY FOR HER, and even included a quest with a three month task."
2. "Then we required people who PAID FOR HER to choose between screwing up the task or paying more money for a new task."
3. "Meanwhile, people who DID NOT PAY FOR HER just skip that part of the quest, no problem!"
4. "To make up for it, we gave everyone 20 donuts, regardless of whether they PAID FOR HER or not."
This would be different if she was always available and some people just happened to be stuck in her task. But for them to say the massive amounts of people in this situation is "according to plan" is stunning. What's the point to specifically * off the people who gave you money?
I feel very let down and offended by EA. I'm not speeding up or storing Brandine. I won't finish this lame Saint Pat's task. And I will not be buying the donuts I planned on buying this week for a while. I am just to pissed right now to spend any more REAL money on a company that doesn't seem to value customer service.
What a disappointment.
For EA: very lame of you. Tricky and manipulative. I had several premium items I planned to buy this week and again, on principle, I'm finding it extremely difficult to do so. As a longtime player, I'm feeling terribly unappreciated and taken advantage of.
Again, what is your proof of all of this besides what a single front line rep said to you?
Or more simply, they could just get rid of the Brandine requirement, so everyone's playing by the same rules.
Aside from what I was able to piece together using my own common sense. I personally don't need anymore. This isn't that big of an issue to start a whole investigation over. This was meant to console those who are having the same problem I did.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Take it how you will, but this is the info I got. You want facts, then hire a detective but stop breaking my balls about this. It ain't gonna change the fact that EA seriously screwed up.
At this point I can only hope this doesn't happen again.
No one is trying to break your man-donuts. It's just that the reps say all sorts of different stuff to different people. I'm not talking about this Brandine issue specifically, I mean in general. You can't take everything they say as gospel.
I am in the same boat but it is not such a drama. It really is that easy that it boils down to three options you have: rush it, store her or wait for something to happen - maybe they will fix it.
In reality you dont really loose anything if you decide store her. It is a game and a couple of pixels. I am actually a bit annoyed that people cry that they are 30days in already. Majority of people here complaining are long time players, a month more or less doesnt make much of a difference. Especially since you didnt really need to acomplish anything like in other games where you may loose levels that only skill and long time spending in front of your TV and console gets you to.
Tapped out is a game. In a game you are always confronted with making decisions. Decisions can get you to fail a level and you need to go back to your save point. TSTO so far had nothing that really made you re-consider your decision; it is a save game where you pretty much cant loose any progress.
Now comes the first time that I can think off that a decision YOU (or I) have made may turn somehow back on us. And now we are back to the point where we need to make any of the three decisions described before. In other words: Brandinegate is only happening because of a decision you have made in the game a while ago. This is the principle of games and people loose because of poor decisions they have made.
Try and take a different perspective on it: I am not sure about the multiplier you get from the beer pile (is it 0.75%?), but I am quite sure that over a period of 30 days the payout you get in return (mulitplier on jobs, houses, crops etc.) is higher than the 15000$ (45000$/3=15000$) from Brandines task and the couple of bucks you get from the little Spuckler.
So if your concern is the money you get from it, you should probably go for storing her. Someone else mentioned yesterday that if you purchase white fences for 21 Donuts, you will have a higher multiplier than the beer pile. You may also consider this option.
Further, the Spucklers cost 30 Donuts each to rush them. With the Costs for Brandine of 100 Donuts makes that 90 Donuts for the Kids and only 10 for Brandine. So in reality you get 4 characters for 100 Donuts - probably the best deal in the entire game. And this superb deal doesnt change upside down, even if you pay 121 Donuts.
I am not a big fan of conspiration theories. I think it was missed by EA that this could happen and even if they were aware of it it comes back to the point that you have various options to deal with it.
What I am missing completelly in your post is the mentioning of the 20 Donuts you got for free in the beginning of the *. Patricks day event. How can you mention a slap in the face when you really dont loose anything? You have already been compensated for the Donuts you may need to spend. And even more: you didnt need to make a decision for that.
What you are complaining about right now is that you need to make a greed driven decision. Your greed is letting you rant that you cant bank the free 20 Donuts, get the free Spuckler and get a free multiplier. I guess I have to break it to you: you are greedy and try to push the responsibiliy for your choices on to someone else. EA never forced anyone of us to start Brandines pregnancy task.
We have one saying here where I come from: One kind of death you have to die. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Also, the donuts spent to speed up Brandine is not "real money". EA did in fact give you 20 free donuts, enough to speed up the task without any money. Is it unfair that other players without Brandine get to enjoy those free donuts for something else? Yes. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you're still not spending "real money" to speed up Brandine if you decide to do so.
Overall, the situation could have been handled better; but, it's not as big a deal as you guys make it out to be considering you guys have the option to store Brandine and that's free.
Ofcourse given my luck they will now rectify it within a few hours...
@00-marco_rosas: I agree with what you say. People react far too emotional on this. A month 'lost' is annoying but its not like its a race or something.
Now to see what I can spend my 20 donuts saved on...
Store her. Do the quests. Restart her. In the long run, you'll still get your brood of Spucklers!
Because "in the end" is where EA has screwed over their paying customers here, and from the info in this post it was intentional on their part. That's no way to treat people who are paying you. Yep you can store her and lose 30+/- days of progress and start over, but who's to say that she won't be needed for the next event or level? This is bait and switch and honestly I feel like I was taken advantage of because I did pay real money to get her. This is the second time I've felt swindled by EA since I started playing in November, they got me on the island thing also.
I can't say I'll never buy donuts again or that I don't still love this game, but next time they show up with a gift basket full of sprinklies, I will definitely be waiting for the axe to fall.
That's what I ultimately opted for. Doesn't make it right that EA put me in that situation. It's not fun losing progress as a result of their greed or poor planning. It feels like they're blatantly punishing those who bought Brandine last month. Honestly, if we don't raise a stink about it, they'll just keep doing this sort of thing. I don't really like the idea of them continuing to punish their paying players over the freemium ones.
Why don't I just store her? Simple. I don't want to lose over a month of progress. I've been waiting to get her and her brood since I started playing the game, and I don't want to wait any longer than I have to. If this issue isn't resolved, I'd much rather use the donuts EA gave us at the beginning to speed her up, rather than losing that progress.
On a positive note, the donuts I need to finish her task have gone down from 21 to 20, so that's something. I'm going to wait until they go down to 10 though.
But. I do believe that my point was missed. It doesn't make a difference if it is 33 days or 33 minutes into her current task. EA knew how many people bought Brandine last month and they knew they'd put her right into the first task when they got her. I don't appreciate that they disregard my time that way when there is absolutely no reason for it. And the other option of having to spend donuts to speed up the task? Ok, fine, but that should be for ALL players then; not just those who recently purchased the character who would knowingly be in a 90 day task. It shouldn't be that some players breeze through this event for free while those who paid for a character have to make a sacrifice. Does that make any sense to you?? I just see NO reason that Brandine should have been added to this event.
I'm not "emotional" over this and I'm not being dramatic. I'm fully entitled to my opinion and I'm frustrated. I've spent real money on this game which I feel earned me the right to say so if I feel taken advantage of, and, at the very least, speak my mind on these boards. I think it was lame of EA to use Brandine in this task for some players and I make no apologies for saying so. That doesn't make me dramatic or emotional, and I'm clearly not the only person who feels this way.
Oh, and as for the 20 free donuts, yes that was nice. But to give them to players and then we have to use them for this is bogus. The players without Brandine got them as well. I'm tired of that argument.