I'm a freemium player and I've been thrilled with the new boxes. Have only spent 6 of my own donuts (and all of these come from neighbor visits and level ups), but managed to get 270 donuts worth of premium items (basically everything except Lard Lad Donuts - I already had SVT and the Lemon Tree). I got lucky with 30 donuts twice (one via the free weekly box, another won using a box bought from the 30 donuts won earlier) out of the 14 boxes I got, which is why I was able to get so many boxes without having to spend much.
Now that I've got almost everything, not sure if it's worth getting more boxes. There's only a 2% of chance of getting Lard Lad Donuts, so I'll just try my luck with the weekly ones.
The first few times I got good premium items now it just keeps giving me cars and minnow ponds. I know it's just luck of the draw but I've always felt that if you spend the donuts on the mystery box you should get a premium item in return whether it be big or small it should be worth atleast the 6 donuts spent. The free one each week I would understand getting decorations sometimes but if you spend the donuts then..... However I def agree that the new boxes are very much improved over the old ones.
I get the frustration. I have no "EA IS THE DEVIL!" feelings, and won't quit playing over it, but I get it.
I have two accounts that I play daily, and there are other active accounts in my household.
Both of my accounts have received almost nothing but non-premium prizes (on both the free and paid mystery boxes), and my main account is now swimming with minnow ponds, Onda's, bomb shelters, Klavash stands... . I kept buying them thinking I'd hit a "good streak", especially after coming here and seeing people cleaning house, but the good streak never came. Yesterday was a free mystery box day and I finally got 10 donuts on my secondary account, but yet another (5th? 6th?) Klavash stand in my main account. :?
The other accounts in this house are doing just fine, with results much more on par with what the general population is reporting here for prizes, so yeah - some people clean up, some people not so much. It IS all luck, but knowing that is no less frustrating. I'm super stingy with my donuts, only spending them on most prized characters/decorations/buildings, so I feel dumb to have wasted so many chasing a fantasy. Lesson learned.
I know it's already been said.. But seriously you are complaining because you didn't get all brand new stuff that you wanted in a random/luck/chance box? You knew it was a gamble before you decided to open multiple boxes. And stop complaining because you got decent premium items and if it really affected you that much getting repeats why didn't you stop after the first repeat?
Same problem here. 2 Lard Lads, 4 minnow ponds, 3 Chalmers hondas, 3 Itchy n Scratchy billboards....
Had to stop wasting donuts on unusable "prizes".
Sad...
I've had two free boxes and got the car and 10 donuts (been in hospital so am behind with free boxes). I bought one box and got the tyre fire. Not risking more donuts with my luck!
Zutroy had 50 donuts in his small town and decided to gamble it all since he was new to Springfield and did not have much.
Besides purchases, I have received 2 free boxes during the new phase as well:
Lemon Tree
SVT
BHL
Kearney
Tire Fire
Itchy & Scratchy Billboard
News Van x4
Minnow Pond x3
Bomb Shelter x3
Khlav Kalash x3
_ONDA x3
10 Donuts
30 Donuts x2 (one time it was on my last 6 donuts and the next time I had 8 donuts, so again my last shot at a box. It kept me in the game both times!)
Picked up a donut here and there with level-ups and trash clean up, so with my last 30 donut MB and a level up, I am at 34 donuts again.
Will probably take another shot or two for Lard Lad Donuts when I feel lucky. No complaints about the new boxes here.
I have much better luck with these boxes than with the old. I have at least one of every prize, got 2 30 donut boxes back to back and at least three 10 donut boxes. I had been waiting to get SVT with no luck. All the more frustrating because my kids got him early on. The only prize from this set I had been missing was LL and that popped up in my last free box.
If I had to guess I'd say the vast majority of players are experiencing much better luck with these than with the old.
This is a genuine question, because I don't think it's clear to a lot of us: was there something specific that you were hoping to get? Possibly an abundance of donuts? Maybe one of the other prizes that you didn't name? I'm havingtrouble trying to understand why you are not happy with what you've received so far.
I think the problem that the OP is having is that EA didn't really publicize what was going to be in the new Mystery Boxes. The assumption presumably being that there would be quite a variety of prizes. Those who are forum regulars and read the early thread listing the prizes and odds bought boxes with a fairly complete understanding of what we were going to get and most have been pretty happy about it (I mean, hey, no parking spaces!) I can see, however, that it would be a little disappointing to get multiples of the same items, no matter how good they are, if you were expecting a lot of unique items. In fairness, that expectation is unrealistic, but the way EA promoted it in the game it is understandable.
considering you have about a 66% chance of pulling either a premium character, a premium building, a multiplier decoration or straight up doughnuts I would say these mystery boxes are far from rip offs.
now the way these things work each box is a set of chances unto themselves, so yes you could keep pulling the same thing. If EA had coded the mystery boxes to take into account prior winnings it would have required a ton more code writing, and some sort of data repository to track each persons prior winnings... which seems like a lot of code for a simple thing like a mystery box.
If you want a sure thing just save your doughnuts and buy the thing you want.
if you dont wanna spend d'nuts on mystery boxes just wait 5 days for your free one.
I assume OP already had kearney, the lawyer, SVT, the lemon tree and the other unique items. The new misery boxes give premium items based ona revamped and LIMITED pool. If you exclude all the unique items you can only get the ones OP found, plus a couple more maybe. I don't know what did OP expect but with 20 boxes the outcome was clear.
I've had good luck so far, but also know to not push it.
I've gotten:
Lard Lad
Blue Haired Lawyer
Tire Fire
Itchy and Scratchy Billboard
and over 100 donuts through the 30 and 10 prizes
I've also gotten an extra Lard Lad, 3 of the Chalmer cars, and a few other items I didn't really care for.
I knew it was a crapshoot going in, but I believe i"m still ahead of the game.
I think you get 30 donuts if you already have Kearney or BHL.
I don't think these are rip-offs since I got several premium items and I am ahead of the cost by 220 donuts. I always thought Lard Lad was too expensive, so I'm hoping to get it for free (or 6 donuts).
Since I already had characters you can get from the mystery box, I knew I couldn't expect as much as other people that didn't. I did get the tire fire which I didn't have. It is still free and better than more parking lots and newspaper dispensers.
Replies
Now that I've got almost everything, not sure if it's worth getting more boxes. There's only a 2% of chance of getting Lard Lad Donuts, so I'll just try my luck with the weekly ones.
I have two accounts that I play daily, and there are other active accounts in my household.
Both of my accounts have received almost nothing but non-premium prizes (on both the free and paid mystery boxes), and my main account is now swimming with minnow ponds, Onda's, bomb shelters, Klavash stands...
The other accounts in this house are doing just fine, with results much more on par with what the general population is reporting here for prizes, so yeah - some people clean up, some people not so much. It IS all luck, but knowing that is no less frustrating. I'm super stingy with my donuts, only spending them on most prized characters/decorations/buildings, so I feel dumb to have wasted so many chasing a fantasy. Lesson learned.
Had to stop wasting donuts on unusable "prizes".
Sad...
My 3 free boxes so far contained pond, onda and SVT.
The latter was available in the old boxes and since I've been tapping for 15 months was overdue to get him anyway.
OTOH, I got Kearney for free yesterday and the next box I purchased had 30 donuts. I will try to be patient since we have until April 30.
These are clearly the least-purchased premium items in the new mystery boxes, but I'm not complaining.
Besides purchases, I have received 2 free boxes during the new phase as well:
Lemon Tree
SVT
BHL
Kearney
Tire Fire
Itchy & Scratchy Billboard
News Van x4
Minnow Pond x3
Bomb Shelter x3
Khlav Kalash x3
_ONDA x3
10 Donuts
30 Donuts x2 (one time it was on my last 6 donuts and the next time I had 8 donuts, so again my last shot at a box. It kept me in the game both times!)
Picked up a donut here and there with level-ups and trash clean up, so with my last 30 donut MB and a level up, I am at 34 donuts again.
Will probably take another shot or two for Lard Lad Donuts when I feel lucky. No complaints about the new boxes here.
If I had to guess I'd say the vast majority of players are experiencing much better luck with these than with the old.
This is a genuine question, because I don't think it's clear to a lot of us: was there something specific that you were hoping to get? Possibly an abundance of donuts? Maybe one of the other prizes that you didn't name? I'm havingtrouble trying to understand why you are not happy with what you've received so far.
I don't gamble because I don't like games with unfavorable odds.
I don't go to casinos, I don't play the lottery, and I don't buy mystery boxes with donuts.
Maybe you should consider abstaining from these high risk activities as well. They are only set ups for disappointment.
now the way these things work each box is a set of chances unto themselves, so yes you could keep pulling the same thing. If EA had coded the mystery boxes to take into account prior winnings it would have required a ton more code writing, and some sort of data repository to track each persons prior winnings... which seems like a lot of code for a simple thing like a mystery box.
If you want a sure thing just save your doughnuts and buy the thing you want.
if you dont wanna spend d'nuts on mystery boxes just wait 5 days for your free one.
I've gotten:
Lard Lad
Blue Haired Lawyer
Tire Fire
Itchy and Scratchy Billboard
and over 100 donuts through the 30 and 10 prizes
I've also gotten an extra Lard Lad, 3 of the Chalmer cars, and a few other items I didn't really care for.
I knew it was a crapshoot going in, but I believe i"m still ahead of the game.
Another free box, Blue Haired Lawyer yey!
I don't think these are rip-offs since I got several premium items and I am ahead of the cost by 220 donuts. I always thought Lard Lad was too expensive, so I'm hoping to get it for free (or 6 donuts).
Edit: 30 donuts in my weekly mystery box too!