Winter is moving far along in Springfield as Electronic Arts opens the gate for the Act Two of the Winter 2015 update for “The Simpsons Tapped Out.”

This time, players are seeking to tap and find a mistletoe prize for the Merrymakers that they tap in their towns. While the mechanics for Act 2 are the same, there are some important things that players may want to take note of before diving into the latest “The Simpsons Tapped Out” Winter 2015 Act 2.

Fixed weekly bug: New in-game update

When the week started off, the newest Weekly Challenge for “The Simpsons Tapped Out” also kicked off. However, since some areas were able to get the craftables for Act 2 earlier than the weekly challenge, several players have started crafting it. This is because the X-mas Trees Slightly Irregular earns 160 mistletoe every four hours.

Once the Weekly Challenge kicked off, however, players found out that the first challenge was to craft it for the reward of 300 Bows. Also, it is required to finish the Weekly Challenge in time, which rewards 20 donuts for completing all challenges in time.

“The Simpsons Tapped Out” Reddit had been abuzz with messages from fans who had experienced the bug. Apparently, crafting the item before the Weekly Challenge kicked off had prevented the player from completing the first challenge. The good news is that EA has now released a new in-game update. After opening the game with the update, players are rewarded the due 300 bows for Day 1 challenge.

Getting more mistletoe: Take advantage of leveling up Petting Zoo, Reindeer Burger Truck

Players who have worked through Act 1 may have been able to successfully complete and obtain all prizes, with double character Poor and Patches Violet being the last prize. There are still quite the number of players who were unable to finish the prizes, as the Winter 2015 update has a different take on earning event currency.

Similar to previous events, the Act currency can be obtained in specific ways. The first is by completing questlines, which reward different amounts of mistletoe. Another way is by leveling up attractions, namely Uncle Moe’s Petting Zoo, Reindeer Burger Truck, Fortress of Lonelitude and Moonshine Shack. In Act 1, players had to level up the Best Snowman Ever and the Gingerbread Mansion, both of which had five levels.

For Act 1, all attractions only have three levels each. Completing each level will earn a specific number of mistletoe, as detailed by TSTO Addicts. Best of all, completely leveling up each will allow the attraction to earn mistletoe as well.

“The Simpsons Tapped Out” Winter 2015 update is also heavily reliant on Merrymakers, which are event NPCs that dole out event currency when tapped. Considering that there is a limited number of Merrymakers allowed in the town, and with some players not likely to visit their games as often to tap them, this makes it harder for event currencies to come by.

Finally, the Friend Visit will also earn some mistletoe and Christmas Baubles when tapping Merrymakers. However, this is limited only to the first few neighbors and will refresh every 24 hours.

take advantage of the Act 2 events for getting mistletoe is by strategizing on the characters to send per task. Even premium players who have all the characters that can be sent on tasks can still benefit from this, as it means either holding off on sending all characters on a task and having “extra” characters earn extra mistletoe.

For instance, the last leg for Level 2 of the Reindeer Burger Truck required eight Pessimists to predict a reindeer extinction event. The only characters that can be sent on this task are Willie, Comic Book Guy, Rev. Lovejoy, Moe, Grampa, Jasper and Arnie Pye. That means seven characters to fulfill an eight-character job. What players can do is send all characters for one round and then send them all again for the second round. That immediately grants seven characters’ worth of extra mistletoe.

One note for doing this is to ensure that all of the character tasks have been cleared; this means all seven Thumbs Up signs are already up before collecting the prizes. Collecting prizes while other characters are still on the job may negate the earnings.

Craftables and prizes: Still no sign of Act 1 craftables

For “TSTO” players who have been holding their breath, the latest in-game update still did not deliver the old craftables from the previous acts. Whether or not EA decided that the craftable items should be limited to the current Act is anyone’s guess, but it may make some players go for another strategy when crafting.

As a quick review, the craftable items for Act 1 included the Wooly Bully, which helped earn Santa hats during the first act. The other items were more for decoration than anything else, but choice buildings like the fancy igloo and Christmas Clams $50 a Pound do add to Consumerism. Other Springfield craftable decorations were the festive lawn bell and lamp post skins, the Ski chalet, Marge Snowman and Santa’s Little Helper Snowdog. The last two are part of what appears to be a collection of character snowmen, as Homer had been a weekly challenge prize and currently, the craftable items are offering Lisa and Grampa.

Going by previous events, craftable items are usually just added on to, instead of taken away from the crafting menu once a new Act starts. However, EA may be trying out a new strategy this time, though it may not be for the fans’ benefit. Considering how the main crafting currency—Christmas Bows and Baubles—remain unchanged even with Act 2, it appears that EA may have assumed that fans have already crafted what they wanted for Act 1.

Even the latest in-game update did not bring back the Act 1 craftables, so at this point, fans may want to consider crafting all decorations that they want from Act 2 before it ends come Jan. 2. Apart from the aforementioned X-mas Trees Slightly Irregular, other craftables include the EFCOT Center (1,123 Bows, 1,286 Baubles), Giant Outdoor Fireplace (1,095 Baubles), Ice Sculpture Couch Gag Scene (522 Bows, 714 Baubles), festive wreath lamp post (96 Baubles), festive candy canes (96 Baubles), Lisa Snowman (79 Bows) and Grampa Snowman (79 Bows).

Some fans over at Reddit have expressed their frustration over it. However, one fan had reportedly contacted EA about the situation, and was given the statement that the developer is looking into fixing it. Whether or not this hints at Act 1 craftables coming back still remains to be confirmed, at least until these items are back in “The Simpsons Tapped Out.”

"The Simpsons Tapped Out" Winter 2015 update (Credit: YouTube/lazko21)

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