At this stage, there’s one more promotion for one of this season’s episodes of the Simpson’s sitting in the game scripts, and it’s for an episode called “Whiskey Business“. While there’s no specific date for it yet, it looks like the episode will be airing in early May.
In that episode, Moe apparently gets a new suit and a new lease on life – and in the game he apparently gets a “Respectable Moe” costume and a 4-part storyline (similar to the Gorgeous Grampa quest). As with other recent episode promotions, there may also be another item available (although I’m not sure what this will be yet).
If you’re outside the US, keep an eye on the season 24 Wikipedia page (here), and you’ll able to see when it’s scheduled.
At the time this post is going up, the Simpsons episode featuring Fruit-Bat-Man will be over in at least part of the US. And as some of you now know the story behind Mr. Burns’ Fruit-Bat-Man costume and the Fruit-Bat-Signal, it’s a good time to ask – what’s the point of premium outfits?
Fruit-Bat-Man is the second premium costume we’ve seen this year (Mr. Plow was the first). And while they’re fun and add new storylines to the game, they’re a bit expensive for what they are. Generally, they come at the same price as a premium character. But the difference, of course, is that you’re not adding a character to your game – in fact, you’re taking one out. Sure, when your character puts on a premium costume, his or her tasks earn the premium rate – but that character is also no longer available to carry our regular tasks. And that means that a premium costume doesn’t add as much value as a premium character that costs the same donut price.
I’ll still keep buying them, though – I’m a sucker for these things, and I have a blog to write. But it’s certainly a question worth asking. For me, the jury’s still out on this one.
Oh – and what’s the point of the picture? It’s the Simpsons version of former US Attorney-General Janet Reno, who guest stars as herself on the Fruit-Bat-Man episode of the Simpsons.
Fruit-Bat-Man is a very limited-time episode promotion so really doesn’t justify a top menu all of its own. To help people looking for information on the Fruit-Bat-Man and Fruit-Bat-Signal update, though, I’ve collected everything you need to know right here:
Update: EA has confirmed on the official Facebook page that Fruit-Bat-Man and the Fruit-Bat-Signal will no longer be available after Sunday night/Monday morning US time. No exact time was given, but don’t be surprised if both items are no longer available shortly after the episode airs at 8/7 Central time in the US.
And what does the image below have to do with all this? It’s from the episode on Sunday, 17 March featuring Fruit-Bat-Man!
Here’s a post that’s only good for the next day and a half…
Fruit-Bat-Man has proven to be a bit of a controversial offer – an episode promotion that costs you 90 donuts. We haven’t had a promtional item we’ve had to pay for before. All the other episode promotions to date have been free (The Duff Racer, Fat Tony, the Cool Brown House with the Cool Homer Costume, and Gorgeous Grampa). This is the first one we’ve had where we need to buy the main element.
So, is Fruit-Bat-Man worth it? Here are a few reasons why you might consider spending 90 donuts on this limited time costume for Mr Burns:
1. When Burns is wearing the costume, he behaves like a premium character, earning premium chracter rates for each of his Fruit-Bat-Man tasks:
- Pose in front of a mirror (60 minutes – $105 and 26 XP)
- Fly like a decrepit superhero (4 hours – $200 and 55 XP)
- Rehearse heroic one-lines (8 hours – $420 and 105 XP)
- Practice punching out a crook (12 hours – $600 and 150 XP)
- Sooth his welts and bruises in Burns Manor (24 hours – $1000 and 225 XP)
2. His Fruit-Bat-Man quest is quite entertaining and, while it’s not the longest quest we’ve had, at 5 parts it’s still a nice addition to the game. You can read about his quest here and here.
3. It’s fun to watch him to try to fly.
As you may have noticed, I’m a little shorter on reasons to buy him than I usually am – and, as regular readers of this blog know, I’m a big fan of the game’s premium offerings. So here are the reasons on the other side:
1. It’s a costume not a character, which makes it quite expensive at 90 donuts (the same price as a character like Dr. Nick).
2. When Burns becomes Fruit-Bat-Man, he may earn like a premium character – but you’ve also taken your regular Mr. Burns out of the game. That makes Fruit-Bat-Man a far less useful addition than Dr. Nick or any other stand-alone premium character.
3. Fruit-Bat-Man’s quest is quite short (probably due to his limited-time availability and the fact the costume promotes Sunday night’s new episode) – and there’s a missed opportunity to use the Fruit-Bat-Signal as part of his storyline.
4. To complete the quest, you need to have Burns Manor, which is almost enticing players to use donuts to speed up the game (which, we all know, is a really, really, bad idea) just to get to level 26.
5. Newer players can’t even buy the costume until they build the Cooling Towers and unlock Mr Burns (for some reason, this costume operates differently from the Gorgeous Grampa freebie of a few weeks ago). Given its short period of availability, this seems to be encouraging very new players to use donuts to speed up their game as well.
6. Fruit-Bat-Man only has 5 tasks – and three of these are indoors.
I have him and many other readers of this blog have bought him, too. But I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed by both the price and his tasks. I’m not alone in my assessment, either, as you can see by the current voting in the poll.
It’s unusual for the main element of an episode promotion to only be available as a premium item – but that’s the case with Fruit-Bat-Man. As a result, many players want to know whether Mr. Burns’ superhero costume is really worth 90 donuts. To help you decide, I bought him and set him out on his quest:
So, here’s the first part of the Fruit-Bat-Man walkthrough (the rest will follow tomorrow):
Fruit-Bat-Man: Now to begin the rigorous physician training necessary to become a superhero.
1. Fruit-Bat-Man Part 1 Fruit-Bat-Man returns to his lair at the Power Plant to pose in front of the mirror (1 hour)
2. Fruit-Bat-Man Part 2 Coming out of his Power Plant lair, Fruit-Bat-Man considers the next steps he needs to take in his training:
Fruit-Bat-Man: But to be a superhero it takes more than just the stamina to stand in front of a mirror for an hour. I need to sharpen my mental acuity as well.
With that, Fruit-Bat-Man returns to the Power Plant to rehearse heroic one-liners (8 hours – keep Homer free as he finishes)
3. Fruit-Bat-Man Part 3 Homer recognizes Mr. Burns – but has no idea why he’s wearing the costume:
Fruit-Bat-Man: What? You recognized me? Now I must give to a lashing to insure that you never tell another soul my true identity! Homer: You’re gonna release the hounds on me? Fruit-Bat-Man: No, I’m going to do it myself. I have to break in my fighting gear anyway.
Fruit-Bat-Man practices punching out a crook – and in my game, Snake turned up to watch! (12 hours)
Fruit-Bat-Man is a limited-time premium costume for Mr. Burns, rather than a new character in the game. As with most costumes, you’ll need to have Burns free to be able to use it.
Once he’s free, open up his task menu – you’ll now see a choice of costumes. Swipe to the Fruit-Bat-Man costume – Burns will put it on and his tasks will be available (and his quest should begin).
If you’re not sure where to look to get Burns to put on his Fruit-Bat-Man costume, here’s a screenshot:
A new update containing a new episode promotion has hit the game:
So there’s a new superhero in town – and nobody must know his secret identity:
Look inside your inventory, and you’ll find your Fruit-Bat-Signal, ready for you to place anywhere in your town (it lights up when you tap on it):
And Fruit-Bat-Man (the secret identity of Mr. Burns) is sitting in your premium store and available for 90 donuts (thanks to everyone who pointed out that I missed this):
Both are limited time items and are likely to only be available until Monday 18 March.
If you managed to get Gorgeous Grampa a couple of weeks back, but have only just unlocked Grampa Simpson and the Retirement Village, you’ll find the costume very easy to locate and use. Unfortunately, some people trying to use it for the first time are experiencing a glitch that may mean a couple of extra steps before Grampa can put on the red speedos and the blond wig.
If you got the costume, open up the inventory and you’ll find it sitting there waiting for you:
You’ll only be able to use it, though, if Grampa is free (not doing a task). But once he’s put it on, your Gorgeous Grampa quest should begin right away (and you can find the walkthrough here).
When you tap on Grampa, you’ll now see that you have a choice – you can have regular Grampa or Gorgeous Grampa. You can easily swipe between the two when Grampa is not in task:
Now – about that glitch. Some people have reported that when they tap on the Gorgeous Grampa costume in the inventory, they hear something like a “boing” and the game won’t let them use the costume. If this happens to you, and you’re an Apple player, you’ll need to delete the game and download it again. Once you’ve done that, you should be able to begin the Gorgeous Grampa quest without any further issues.
The following announcement was made on the official Facebook page just a few hours ago:
Only one day left to get a new FREE outfit for Grampa and exclusive storyline that ties into tonight’s episode of The Simpsons, 8/7c on FOX.
So, sometime on Monday, Gorgeous Grampa and the Gorgeous Grampa Billboard will no longer be available. If you already have the Gorgeous Grampa costume or if you’re holding it in your inventory until you unlock Grampa, it’s yours to keep. And if you want the Gorgeous Grampa Billboard, you’d better buy it quickly.
So, Gorgeous Grampa will be gone within the next 24 hours. Whether that means another update is coming earlier in the week rather than later, we’ll just have to wait and see. A permanent harp fix would be good, too!
For many players, particularly those that joined the game very recently, Gorgeous Grampa is their first costume. And while it’s Grampa’s first costume, it’s certainly not the first in the game.
Since October 2012, a few other characters have also been given costumes:
Homer – He’s acquired the most costumes so far with Mayan Homer (from Halloween 2012), Cool Homer (a free costume to promote an episode in November 2012), Santa Homer (from Christmas 2012), and Mr Plow (a premium costume from Winter 2013).
Marge – She only has one costume so far and that’s Witch Marge from Halloween 2012. The costume gives her the power to speed up crops.
Ned Flanders – He only has one costume, too, and that’s Devil Flanders, also from Halloween 2012.
All of these costumes were limited time items and all of them are no longer available. However, like Gorgeous Grampa, once you have a costume, it’s yours to keep. And I really think there are many more to come.
The good news is that even if you haven’t unlocked the Retirement Castle and made Grampa part of your game, you still get Gorgeous Grampa – you just can’t put him into play yet.
If this is the first time you’ve got a character costume, you’ll get this message just after you tap to collect Gorgeous Grampa:
Once you tap on “OK”, you’ll be taken to your inventory, and this is what you’ll see:
As soon as you unlock the Retirement Castle and Grampa, you’ll be able to use the costume.
I suspect, based on previous experience, that the Gorgeous Grampa costume is a limited-time costume and will only be available for about a week. After that, you’ll get to keep it and new players will be wondering how you got it!
A game update is available in the App Store today to remove the Valentine’s Day event. There no Level 27 yet, but EA have given us another of those free gifts they sometimes give to promote upcoming episodes (Fat Tony, the Cool Brown House, and the Duff Racer have been other gifts this season).
Because Sunday’s episode in the US features Grampa as a bad-boy wrestling star in the 50s, we get Gorgeous Grampa. This isn’t a new character as such – it’s a new costume and new tasks for Grampa (and $100 and an XP bonus just for adding him). And if you don’t have Grampa in your game yet, you’ll be able to find the costume in your inventory, where it will stay until you unlock him.
You can switch costumes easily by clicking on Grampa and swiping, as you can see here:
As well as giving you a choice for how you want Grampa to look, there’s a Gorgeous Grampa billboard available in the premium store for 40 donuts. This gives you a 2% bonus on your cash and XP collections.
But that’s not all – the Scratch game is still there. But there’s a new twist. More on that in the next post…
