Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

Dates: 15 November thru 1 December

To kick things off and for the benefit of gamers who reside outside of the United States, we thought it might be an idea to cover just what the Thanksgiving Holiday is -- briefly to be sure -- but including a popular History Version and the reality...

Thanksgiving Day (celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday of November) is traditionally a day during which family and friends gather together for a special evening feast -- which usually consists of a turkey with stuffing, a ham, at least some form of potatoes as well as other veggies, the traditional cranberry sauce, lots of gravy, and an assortment of apple, pumpkin, and blueberry pies.

Earlier in the day, due to the traditional broadcast sports events (American football being the primary one), various forms of nosh and lots of beer are consumed to fuel arguments about whose football team is better and which team should win (of course the only real football is Aussie Rules Football, because padding is for girls), and much debate ensues.

Ideally the celebration on Thanksgiving Day is supposed to be a time for the giving of thanks for all of the good things that prosperity brings -- a selection of food, good health, and beer. Did we mention beer? While there is a religious element to the holiday -- many practitioners call upon God to aid their football team throughout the day -- it is mostly intended to be a day set aside for being thankful.

In addition to the traditional football games, a number of special “Thanksgiving Day Parades” are held in major cities like New York City and Los Angeles, which in addition to celebrating all things Thanksgiving also serve to mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season -- the next day being what is almost universally known in the USA as “Black Friday” for reasons too unimportant for us to cover here.

The Balloon Collection from last year's Thanksgiving Day Event is a nod to the parades mentioned above.

That sums up the reality Version -- now for the popular History version which is taught to young children but is widely inaccurate and mostly fabricated...

According to the lessons taught to young children a group of conservative Christians departed Plymouth, England on a ship called the Mayflower, sailed across the Atlantic, and landed in a place they decided to call Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1681.

There they settled and began brewing beer but sadly were so busy brewing beer that they forgot to grow enough food to get through the Winter -- but luckily for them the local indigenous people from a tribe called the Wampanoag were very good at growing veggies and hunting, and helped them out by sharing their food stocks - or so The Story goes.

A Thanksgiving feast was thrown by the Pilgrims, who brought the beer, and the Wampanoag, who brought most of the food and taught the Pilgrims how to play football while everybody ate together and none of the Pilgrims even noticed the deerskin miniskirts worn by the Wompanoag women. Really... They never noticed.

The holiday was unofficially celebrated at different times of the fall depending on what settlement you lived in, and it wasn't until 1789 that any effort was successful at making it an official national holiday -- that was when President George Washington declared it as such, but even then nobody could agree on just what day the holiday was supposed to be celebrated on -- at least not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared that November 26 was the official date.

from 1863 onwards a lot of bitter arguments were fought on just what day Thanksgiving should be celebrated, and it was not just different dates in different states -- in some states towns decided when to have the feast. Finally on October 6, 1941, the government finished arguing and made a decision...

Both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November as the official national date for the holiday starting with Thanksgiving in 1942. Which might have stuck except that in December 1941 the Senate decided that an amendment to the resolution was needed to split the difference in the date by requiring that Thanksgiving be set annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was not always the last Thursday but hey, they made it stick!

That pretty much sums the whole matter up from the popular History point of view. Just thought you should get both versions, right?

The Thanksgiving Event in Tapped Out kicks off with the end of the Halloween Event (Treehouse of Horror XVII) which ended on 7 November, and the official kick-off date for the Thanksgiving Event starting around November 14 or 15 depending on when you got the dialogue between Lisa and Homer with regards to Lisa's receiving her special package in the mail.

After having to explain to Homer what "Mail" is, we learn that Lisa has ordered a Sacagawea costume for reasons that we assume will eventually become clearer -- the next interaction we get is a "!" over Lisa's head that kicks off the first official quest for the event!

Thankless Thanksgiving

The core to the Holiday Event begins with Lisa receiving a package in the mail that contains the costume that she has ordered to help her make a social and political protest point.

it seems that Lisa has decided that the traditional take on the Thanksgiving Holiday, its slaughter of innocent Turkey, and the plethora of other social ills she feels are associated with the holiday is a worthy subject for protest and resistance...

The costume is Free, and it adds a small set of holiday-specific Tasks for Lisa, and thus begins the 2013 Thanksgiving Holiday Event Quest Chain!

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 1 -- Make Sacagawea Sulk

We kick off the new Holiday Event with Lisa putting on her new Native American Princess costume (well, near enough anyway) to complete the following Task:

Sulk (1h) $70 and 17 XP.

Completing this Task also rewards you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 2 -- A two-part event that brings Cletus and his Farm into The Story!

To complete this stage in the Holiday Event you will need to complete the following Action (note that most of you will already have the first part done) and have Homer Simpson complete the following Task:

(1) Reach Level 6 and Build Cletus's Farm -- Structure.

(2) Find a Nice Turkey at Cletus's Farm (2h) $110 and 27 XP.

Completing this set in the series rewards you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 3 -- Make Homer Organize a Search Party for Missing Turkeys.

To fulfill the requirements for this stage in the Thanksgiving Day Event you need to have Homer Simpson complete the following Task:

Organize a Search Party for Missing Turkeys (24h) $600 and 150 XP.

Completing this Task also rewards you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 4 -- Continue the Turkey Hunt.

This phase of the Holiday Event is structured so that veteran players and new players alike so it begins with a very basic goal - Building Moe's Tavern - and proceeds from there. To complete this stage of the mission complete the following Tasks:

(1) Reach Level 15 and Build Moe's Tavern

(2) Complete the following Task with Moe:

Hunt for Turkeys (12h) $420 and 100 XP

(3) Complete the following Task with Ned Flanders:

Hunt for Turkeys (12h) $420 and 100 XP

(4) Complete the following Task with Homer Simpson:

Hunt for Turkeys (12h) $420 and 100 XP

Completing this set of Tasks and this part of the mission will reward you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 5 -- Make Springfield Attend a Wake for Thanksgiving.

This is a rather involved segment of the Holiday Mission and requires that you do the following with 10 (Ten) of your Springfield Residents:

Attend a Wake for Thanksgiving (4h) $175 and 45XP.

Completing this part of the Mission will reward you with $100 and 10 XP in addition to the other rewards your people got for attending the Wake.

Note: Originally it appeared as if you were meant to be able to use any resident of Springfield for this, but it turns out that this is not the case - some will not have the Task while others will... The ones that I was able to do the Task with are the following:

• Barney

• Chief Wiggum

• Comic Book Guy

• Grampa Simpson

• Homer

• Krusty

• Kearney

• Luigi

• Marge

• Moe

• Mr. Burns

• Mrs. Krabapple

• Ned Flanders

• Ralph

• Rev. Lovejoy

• Sideshow Mel

• Smithers

• Squeaky Voiced Teen

• Willy

There were other Characters like Lisa, Wofcastle, and etc that did not have the Task available.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 6 -- Make Sacagawea Lisa Care for Kidnapped Turkeys.

To complete this Quest have Lisa -- in her Thanksgiving Costume -- complete the following Task:

Care for Kidnapped Turkeys (24h) $600 and 150 XP.

Completing this Quest and Task rewards you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 7 -- Make Sacagawea Lisa Take a Field Trip to Cletus's Farm.

While it is not like she hasn't been there before, it is the only farm in Springfield so... Field Trip Time! Have Lisa complete the following Task:

Take a Field Trip to Cletus's Farm (2h) $110 and 27 XP.

Completing this Task will reward you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 8 -- Make Cletus Whittle a Turkey Caller.

To complete this part of the Mission have Cletus complete the following Task:

Whittle a Turkey Caller (12h) $420 and 100 XP.

Completing this Quest earns you $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 9 -- Make Sacagawea Lisa Call and Collect Turkeys.

To complete this part of the Holiday Mission have Sacagawea Lisa complete the following Task 10 Times:

Call Turkeys (4h) $175 and 45 XP (x10).

Then tap on each of the Turkey that appear to collect them.

Completing this Quest will pay $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 10 -- Make Sacagawea Lisa Go to Her Room.

To complete this part of the Mission simply have Sacagawea Lisa do the following Task:

Go to Her Room (1h) $70 and 17 XP.

Completing this Quest will reward you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 11 -- Make Sacagawea Lisa Mourn Thanksgiving Turkey Massacre.

To complete this part of the Mission have Sacagawea Lisa complete the following Task:

Mourn Thanksgiving Turkey Massacre (8h) $275 and 70 XP.

Completing this Quest will reward you with $100 and 10 XP.

Thankless Thanksgiving Pt. 12 -- The Simpsons have a Turkey-free Thanksgiving.

To complete the final segment of the Mission have The Simpsons -- Lisa, Homer, Marge, and Bart -- complete the following Task:

Enjoy a Turkey Free Thanksgiving (8h) $275 and 70 XP.

Completing this Task awards you $100 and 10 XP.

Happy Thanksgiving

This may have come as a surprise to a lot of players but the Holiday Event was not completed with the finish of the Thankless Thanksgiving Quest! There is a second part to it called Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Pt. 1 -- Collect Your Donut Reward for finishing the Thankless Thanksgiving Quest Series!

This bit happens automatically and you will collect a gift of 3 Donuts as a result. Once you do that triggers the next part of the Quest Chain.

Happy Thanksgiving Pt. 2 -- Make Homer Reset the Clock on his myPad.

I cannot imagine a more in-your-face nod to the rampant time-skip cheating and other cheating that has gone on in the Tapped Out game, but here it is - In... Your... Face!

To complete this part of the Quest Chain have Homer complete the following Task:

Reset the Clock on his myPad (8h) $275 and 70 XP.

Completing this Task also rewards you with $100 and 10 XP -- and 3 more Donuts!

Happy Thanksgiving Pt. 3 -- Make Homer Post his Hack on the Internet.

Wow could this get anymore obvious?! To complete this bit have Homer do the following Task:

Post His Hack on the Internet (1h) $70 and 17 XP.

Completing this Task awards you with $100 and 10 XP.

Happy Thanksgiving Pt. 4 -- Make Homer Reset the Clock on his myPad.

To complete this part of the Quest Chain have Homer complete the following Task:

Reset the Clock on his myPad (8h) $275 and 70 XP.

Completing this Task also rewards you with $100 and 10 XP.

This officially ends the Thanksgiving Day event and may (or may not) result in an offer from the salesman Gil for something special....

Event Items Added

In addition to the above actions / quests / missions and the Items/Characters/objects that they may add to the game, other items and objects that have been added (including items and objects from previous Thanksgiving Holiday Events) include the following:

Lisa's Sacagawea Costume -- FREE as part of the opening dialogue for the Event.

As a nod and mini-tie-in to The Simpsons episode "The Wettest Story Ever Told" the following item was added to the regular in-game store menu for purchase and placement in the game:

Mayflower Ship (100D) Adds 3% Bonus Money and XP to all Jobs.

As the usual Bonus for decoration Items is 2% or under, this is a fairly significant bonus, though when you stop to consider that its cost -- 100 Donuts -- is pretty high, this is one of those items where if you have the Donuts, fine, but otherwise, well, not so much.

Returning (and New) Items and Decorations

To access the returning Items as well as other special Holiday Event Specific Items and Objects you will need to access the special Menu that was created for them under the Build Menu of the In-Game Store. This is found on the right-hand bottom icon menu of the Build Menu, directly to the left of the Premiums Icon.

The following Items and Objects can be purchased under this special limited-time menu:

Caesar's Pow-Wow Casino (150D) The structure plus the Tribal Chief character.

This new Premium Building generates $200 and 22 XP every 8h.

The new Tribal Chief character has 1h / 4h / 8h / 12h / and 24h Tasks and pays higher than normal.

Pow-Wow's Casino Sign (40D) Decoration offering 2% Bonus Money and XP to all jobs.

The Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Sets

Last Thanksgiving the primary focus was on the Parade Balloons, of which there was a set of five with three being regular game Items (available for in-game Cash) and two that were strictly Premium Items. The newest Thanksgiving Event includes a NEW set of Parade Balloons with a similar approach.

Since both sets are available via the new Event Menu here, for your review, is the complete list of both sets that are available now (for a limited time) with prices:

Set I - Thanksgiving 2012 Event

Blinky Balloon ($16,500) 2012 Parade Collection (Vanity Bonus).

Itchy Balloon (30D) 2012 Parade Collection (2% Money / XP Bonus).

Santa's Little Helper Balloon ($30K) 2012 Parade Collection (Vanity Bonus).

Scratchy Balloon ($1000) 2012 Parade Collection (Vanity Bonus).

Snowball 2 Balloon (15D) 2012 Parade Collection (0.50% Money / XP Bonus).

Set II - Thanksgiving 2013 Event

Poochie Parade Balloon ($20K) 2013 Parade Collection (Vanity Bonus).

Rusty the Clown Parade Balloon ($5400) 2013 Parade Collection (Vanity Bonus).

Stampy Parade Balloon (40D) 2013 Parade Collection (2% Money / XP Bonus).

The Grumple Parade Balloon (25D) 2013 Parade Collection (2% Money / XP Bonus).

While owning the entire set is not really necessary, if you can afford it they are some rather cool Decorations, even if you only bring them out during the Holidays... Just saying...

And that pretty much is that!