Rastuso

Santas Village is a waste. I get almost 300 coins a day from friends now, so who needs 25 more? With what I've seen, visitng the random friends, there are some hardcore players, obviously buying lots of donuts, but most are buying nothing. I'd love to know what percentage of those players you posted have spent anything. Or, what percent have spent more than what it costs EA to support you, server costs, project overhead, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if that number is in the single digits. I think if EA was less gredy on donut costs, they'd make more. If Frink labs was $2, I'd have bought it for sure. I think the donut buyout on action time is the slimiest theing they possibly could have done. How many times have people mistakenly hit that and lost 2-4 donuts. I did once, and just barely caught it a second time. The Smurf game has minigames. If Scorpio's lair unlocked a shooter minigame, shooting intruders into the volcano, James Bond style, or Santa's Village had a Happy Little Elves side scroller, or something like that, then I'd maybe pay a few bucks. But $10 for essentially nothing, there's no way. Tapped Out could be a Simpson's mini-game hub that could sell TONS more than just a stand alone 99 cent Happy Little Elves game release would. Please send my idea check to my Paypal account, EA. -R

We went last night for our first ever visit. I REALLY liked it. ANd it wasn't too crowded. NIce and cold last night too. 43 degree rides on Verbolten! I thought they did a great job making each section have a different variety of lights and different colors. I wish they would have had a deal on a set of the photo ops. THey were pricey as usual. The hot chocolate was good. My son's brisket chili was AWESOME! It was better than the GUinness chili I got, although it was still good too. I do wish Darkastle was open. It's set in a snowy castle, and the queue is kept cold in the summer. We saw the Muppets show, which was cute, and the actor doing COokie Monster was quite funny. Bert showed up, and of course things got ugly. ANd, there was an amazing babe in line for Verbolten wearing leggings and a sweater that didn't quite cover here very nice rear that I quietly enjoyed, and my son flipped out over. We watched some of the Festhaus show, but skipped the Penguin thing due to a very long line. We liked the pick a present game. My wife got an Angry Bird plush, but my son got a plush Christmas Town ornament. I also scored a Hello Kitty at Skeeball for the wife. A really great event. It sure blew away anything that Houston ever had to offer for Christmas. -RO Sesame Street Christmas The hill to Nessie Obligatory shot of Pompeii Candy Cane teacups The reason for the season Festhaus had a great light show going on. Santa's Workshop. You could look through the window to watch kid's talk to Santa. Very well done.

Any ideas why I'm level 10, but still can't build theirs and white houses that release at 8 and 9? I need Christmas decorations. -R

My son is playing now too, already sent some invites to some folks. He is GiygasPony -R

There is only one thing that has to be there to get my purchase: PUKE! And lots of it! Maybe a whole expansion called Puke Cleaner that allows you to micromanage you janitors, order bags of absorbant, schedule shovel cleanings, perhaps even with the ability to adjust the water pressure on the hose to try and maximize shovel cleaning quality while lowering water usage (gotta be green ya know). I know that many games in the past had puke, but not a variety. If a patron just had cotton candy, rides Deathloop 3000, and does a full purge on the brake run, the brakes should show a nice pink puke shorting out the electronics. And of course, while doing a POV onride, there should be a chance of the hot blonde in teh seat in front of you letting out a nice mixture of Budweiser and hot dogs that really blurries up your view for a while, maybe the whole ride, depending on the restraint system There's a LOT of room to really expand on fully integrating puke into the game, so I really hope capitalize on this. -Rastus O'Ginga

You could always luck out and get a crapton of coins in teh Mystery Boxes. Or get a rock, like I expect to get later today when I get my first one. What all is there to get with coins? Im working on Mapple, then there's SLH. Anything else cool, that doesnt' require donuts/money? -R

^^ Booo, that sucks. I'll have to buy donuts for coins, NOT! -R

I did the math on slums today. For 50 coins, I got brown house decorations. I have like 15 houses. So, just tomorrow, I'll pay that off, since each house gives 5 coins a day, or like 75 coins a day. You're crazy not to have the slums for coins. For money and XP, you're probably high enough level, it ain't worth it. But it DEFINITELY is for Santa coins. My wife is playing now, so you, and everyone else, can add her. She said she didn't care what name I gave her account, griping that I was signing her up, even though she now likes the game. So, her name is: DeppSucks To Robb, the thing with paying for games is: I paid 99 cents for Bad Piggies, which is awesome, and has provided me months of fun in the can at work already, makes paying $5 for a much lesser game, or $12 for a static Lard Lad sprite just not attractive, especially with Bad Piggies, Angry Birds, and others always giving new content. -R

i agree with a lot of what Robb said, obviously he knows a few things about selling video games. But the big issue is what you touched on. At some point, I should have everything. But, you also hit a few other things. You should be able to buy small amounts of donuts. There is no option of that, becuase $2 of donuts gets you nothing but a Homer Bhudda, and I've already ranted on that. Another thing is: This is NOT a $50 console game by any way shape or form. This game, if it was on XBL, would be $20 tops, probably. That's my amazement with the purchasing. Yeah, I'll buy a couple of hats on TF2, because I've played the game for hundreds of hours. Tapped Out is really only a couple hours of real playing, when you remove the Pavlovian tapping. I'm just amazed anyone would pay $100 for donuts for a simple game like this. I'd love to know how profitable these games are. I can't see the development on them being that huge. C'mon, they are little more than a really advanced Gameboy games, really. And the server they run it from is only needed to generate the money, so that's really not a justification either. Obviously, if they are turning a profit, they are doing something right. I just wonder if they are, and how much is it. There are tons of games like this, so they must be profitable. Ones that are making insane money, I'd guess. I think video games seem to be either financial failures, or insane profit centers, just like movies. Of course, NOTHING compares to the $100 ring you can buy someone in TF2 that you barely even see, in game. It was obviously a joke in some Valve meeting, but I STILL see the announcements popping up. -R

It is fun, and seems to be the result of the similar Freemium games. Sort of the culmination of all those that came before it, fine tuned by an army of psychologists and accountants. Luckily, I have an Android phone, so I'm not tempted to be farming coins at work all day. I gotta do SOME work every once in a while. But it seems as you get past about level 10, farming coins becomes a much more tedius task. Yeah, you can have a huge slum of brown houses, but you'll spend one minute collecting, and need to restart in 4 minutes. And the huge amount of donut only items is just scary. I remember when my wife bought Smurfette for like $5. I thought she was crazy. But she is a major character. But, $10 for Scorpio, and his lair, which you can't even get inside and see (Smurfette joke here)? I mean, maybe if he could send out a team of commandos and kidnap Flanders, or something. And after my Homer Bhudda fiasco, not to mention that I'm sure teh bench with clothes on it, and the dumpster pretty much exist solely as booby prizes for the HB, I won't be spending money to gamble on more. I never understood why these games don't have some option to use ingame earnings for the "big item", be it Smurfberry, donut, or whatever else. Say $500 for a donut. Not cheap, but at least an option. So you could at least farm and get good stuff. Maybe they would be stale donuts, and not usuable for absolutely everything (if you use that idea, EA, pay me some money). Ultimately, these games are the ultimate in Pavlovian control. I'm sure the good Dr. never thought his ideas would be used to get people to earn virtual Santa Coins to buy small pictures on a portable color display matrix, and make hundreds of millions of dollars. And not only that, the game makes fun of you for playing it, before you even play it. Sure, the Simpsons game from a few years ago did the same, but didn't bait you with not-so-micro purchases. Remember when people actually made fun of idiots that bought horse armor? Now we are buying benches with a pair of pants on them. Post Modern Pavlov. -R

My wife played Smurfs a lot, then when iOS was upgraded, about everyone lost their villages, you know, because Apples just work. This games fun, though I can't see ever buying donuts, especially after tonight. I had 15 donuts, so I thought, what the hell, I'll buy a Homer Bhudda. In it, I get a Mystery box! In that, there are five normal fences. Total value, 675 dollars. So, essentially,the game stole my donuts. Yeah, fuck you, EA, you won't get a penny from me. I don't understand these games being so expensive. I would think if donuts were about 2 cents each in small quantities,everyone would buy them. But I can't see paying $10 for Krusty Burger, or something similar. I mean, if I'm spending $100 on games, it sure won't be for things I can see I friends towns for free. What is the point? I've really never understood virtual items. My son would spend every dime he ever got on them, if wed let him. I really wonder what this is going to do to the current generation. I spent my money on Star Wars figures that are worth much more than I paid. My sons Santa hat in TF2 will be worth absolutely zero dollars in the future. I just don't get it. But the towns I see, and my past itunes bills with friggen Smurf Berry barrels prove EA is making tons. - R

Looks like the servers back up. Feel free to add me: HawgGnarly -r

wondered what was up with your FB checkin there yesterday. -R

Anyone who has ridden Eagle Fortress, will NEVER forget it. R

That sucks if the worlds oldest Pretzel bit it. This storm was a vintage dark ride destroyer, who cares about teh crappy coasters. -R

I'm surprised it is enclosed, and sand colored. Does look a bit utilitarian. I'm sure it will have fewer bikini top losses too. -R

It likely won't really be worth it this SUnday. Especially if you get there early and hit Intimidator and Volcano early on. -R

I'll add my comments, as a huge Disney lover. First up, imho, there is no comparison, choose Fantasmic over WoC. Yes, it's very similar to the Studios version, but it's still awesome. World of Color really disappointed me, although I only saw it from the GC private viewing balcony, and couldn't see the video on teh fountains. But, that made it obvious that the show is really pretty lame. It is a bunch of Disney videos on water screens with booming music, some color changing lights, and a bunch of little fountains. Add in some flames in a couple of scenes and THAT IS IT! No pyrotechnics at all! Plus, you have to stand while you are waiting and waching the show. NO SITTING! As for rides, Nightmare Mansion is an absolute must, as is Mummy Space Mountain. All the Fantasland rides are must sees except Peter Pan, which is identical, and IASW which is abysmal, unless you're into that sort of thing. The Pooh ride at DL is different, but pathetically bad. There is nothing in it that isn't in the superior WDW version, although it is usually an easy walkon after riding Splash.Speaking of SPlash, it is similar, but pretty different. MUCH more fast paced, and differnt scenes. I love the prelift music, very dark and forboding. Roger Rabbit is awesome, but a pain to go back to get a FP for and then return. Try and hit it late in teh day, but remember that Toontown closes early. Buzz is quite a bit different, and Nemo is cute, but another huge time sink, and really the same overlay from Epcot, just in the old subs ride. And don't forget the two Matterhorn tracks are quite different. I defintely prefer the Fantasyland side. Pirates is skipable, imho. Yes, it has the long opening, which sets a mood, but is pretty uneventful. It has a second drop, and slightly different scenes. But, It takes at least 30 minutes to ride, even with no line. That may not be time well spent for you. ITTBAB and Muppets are near clones, and definitely not worth the time. The only neat thing is the entrance to ITTBAB is essentially the main ant lair from the movie. You may want to drop in teh Animation building to see the Toy Story Zoetrope in action. Essentially a disc of statues that spins, and when a strobe light comes on, seems to come to life. VERY neat, and I've never seen it in person, only on Youtube. Tower is bad Tower, and totally skipable, imho. Its a bastardized version of the Studios version with a lame video effect added in instead of teh 4-D room. And the wait time advertised is for the foyer, NOT the basement. -R

They are similar, but different. We did Dl last year, and have done WDW many times. Teh crowds were MUCH worse at DL, especially Friday night. So bad that we rode very little. MNSSHP usually offers near walkons on everything. The setup for candy is a bit different, and the lines can be quite long at some, but there would be multiple stations, and the candy quality at DL just blew away WDW. Tons of chocolate as opposed to sweetarts and smarties. The ambiance seemed better at DL too. THye have a not-to-miss pumpkin carving display at Big Thunder Ranch. WDW does have an excellent parade though. I think both events are awesome, but just remember DL has locals that show up in hoards on teh weekend, so try and hit the Monday event, where we found crowds to be similar to WDW. And we got as much candy as we could carry in teh little bags.. Literally, we got I think 10 pounds of Chocolate total, with street value of probably $50. Plus tons of apple slices, and other stuff. And, of course, show up at 4 when your ticket becomes valid, not at the event start time. -RO

They didn't control the smog, they shut down their industrial complex for months. It was a sham, but was also the best possible time to visit the country, probably in our lifetime. And I missed it, damnit. Although I was in Japan instead, so that's a win. -R

Yeah, my first PPP ever too. Tempted to bring our dog, but I don't know. Really looking forward to more Phoenix rides, and reaching for the brass ring some more. -R

I really can't see your 7 and 10 years olds giving two craps about any of these new rides, unless they are very timid riders, which would mean you wouldn't even go to KD with them. The rides being added are for the under 5 set, without a doubt. Snoopy is real big with the under 5 set. NOT! This addition was needed, but it is still very underwhelming. At the very least it should have included a new kid's steel coaster, replacing the Miler. Heck, even adding a roller-skater would have really made this a true kiddie land revamp. As it is, it's adding a smattering of carnival rides which may or may not include a small statue of a beagle on them. And, it seems like many of the trees are maybe going bye-bye. This is a mostly cosmetic update to thier kiddie land. I really don't understand those that are saying this is an excellent, large expansion to the land that was much needed. Perhaps they're trying to get on the media list for the new coaster or something. But, it isn't that at all. As far as I can see from the rendering, It's a new elevated train ride, a couple new, small kiddie spinners, and a small rockin tug. Oh, and an open market selling fruit! Just what kids want when they are at an amusement park. Again, this is NOT a major expansion to the kiddie area. No new land is being created, except for that under the old Yogi Treasure Cave that was removed from said land, and was much more unique than anything coming next year. -RO

This isn't even an expansion, it is just finally getting rid of the old HB theming, and putting down a few new kiddie rides. Honestly, this makes the overhyping of the Jeff Seibert days of King's Island look like nothing. Using "Thrilling" to describe this was just slimey. It won't even be thrilling to the little kids riding the uncomfortable human sandwhich spinner they're putting in. Now, had they announced finally putting in the last half of Volcano, THAT would have been thrilling. -R

This was very deceptive. It was pretty clear on here that some folks knew this was what was happening. But a world's record teaser with a spaceship does NOT equal largest Planet Snoopy kid's area in most folks' expectations. I haven't seen teh details, so I don't know if this includes new rides, but I can't think of a single FB friend of KD's that isn't underwhelmed and likely upset about this. I can't see a wife feverishly calling their husband "Honey, I can't beleive it, King's Dominion is opening the world's largest Peanuts themed play area! We have to start saving for season passes for next year. LIttle Stephanie started crying with jubilation when I told her the news. This may be the greatest day of the year!" -R

WOW, losing the museums would be pretty big. As I posted on teh first page, they floated this out at Winterfest years ago, and it sounded pretty lame. I have little confidence in the state fair putting in a great ride. THey have the shortest log ride in the world, and charge like 8 bucks for it. They put in an un-air-conditioned fairly sealed sky ride to be ridden when it is in teh 80s and 90s. Any ride they build will be extremely low on thrills. As I said above, they have chosen some of the worst coasters in the world as possible ones for the park. They are probably looking at moving Son of Beast down there. -R