Archives for posts with tag: scratch cards

The Scratch-R keeps crashing my game!

By TSTO Tips
May 13, 2013 //
40

I really wanted to write a “How many snakes” post today but, honestly, after last week’s extension “incident”, I can’t really bring myself to do another one. All I can suggest as an alternative is to look at the distance between where you are now and your target, divide it by 3, and try to collect that number of snakes every day. Who knows exactly when the event will actually end? – it may be some time on Thursday, it may be on Friday, or it may be sometime around the next Olympics. But it’s best to be prepared.

Instead, here’s something from Keithemill on a problem that I’ve been hearing about a bit – the Scratch-R at the Kwik-E-Mart apparently crashing the app. My apologies to Keith for hanging on to this so long (in my defence, it’s been a busy 7 days). Here’s what he has to say (and note that he’s talking about the Scratch-R here, not the Golden Scratch-R):

Is anyone else having a problem when tapping on the Kwik-E-Mart? When I tap on the Scratch-R, it gives me a box titled “The Store” and it says “Retrieving item…” for several seconds (maybe even nearly a minute). Then it says (also in a box called “The Store”), “D’oh! A connection problem occurred. The requested action failed.” If I tap on “OK”, I get the usual “Kwik-E-Mart” box. But when I tap on the “250″ to purchase a regular “Scratch-R”, the app crashes. Sometimes I’ve gotten the Scratch-R to appear, but mostly it just crashes out to the home screen.

[But, I've] found a way to get my Scratch-R and not have it crash on me. When… [you] see the usual “Kwik-E-Mart” dialog box (with the option to buy the Golden Scratch-R, the regular Scratch-R and the timer for “Marking up Prices”). I don’t tap to buy the Scratch-R yet. Instead, I tap on the left (back) arrow at the top left of the dialog box to exit back to my Springfield. Then tap again on the Kwik-E-Mart and get the “Retrieving items…” message, followed by the “…The requested action failed.”

This time when I tap on “OK”, the Kwik-E-Mart dialog box comes up but without the option of purchasing the Golden Scratch-R. Then, I can click on the “250″ to purchase the regular Scratch-R and it doesn’t crash. Again… if you have this glitch, only click to buy the regular Scratch-R if you don’t see the option of buying a Golden Scratch-R.

I hope this helps people with this problem and thanks Keithemill.

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Categories Bugs and glitches, Crashing, Kwik-E-Mart, Scratch cards, Scratch-R

Is there a problem with the Scratch-R tickets?

By TSTO Tips
April 4, 2013 //
18

Over the past week or so, some players have been reporting a problem with the Scratch-R tickets – even before you can scratch, the game crashes and you lose the money you’ve spent on the game. While this is annoying when you’ve bought a regular Scratch-R with game dollars, it’s far more than that when you’ve spent real-world cash on a Golden Scratch-R.

This doesn’t seem to be a general problem, though, and this glitch may be one why some players have seen a couple of in-game updates in the past few days while the rest of us have seen nothing at all. If there’s been a problem with your installation, the game sometimes self-corrects when it tries to connect to the servers.

If you’ve been experiencing this problem, deleting and reinstalling the game may resolve it. And if you’ve lost money on a Golden Scratch-R, the first thing you should do is contact Apple or Google Play directly to claim a refund:
- You can contact Apple through http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/#app_store to claim a refund. Look for the “Contact support” link at the bottom left of the page to start the process.
- You can contact Google Play through http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/request.py?&p=play_contact&rd=1

Any problems, though, are likely to be corrected through the next update – whenever that may be…

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Categories Bugs and glitches, Crashing, Golden Scratch-R, Scratch-R

What are the chances of winning $10,000 at the Scratch-R?

By TSTO Tips
March 29, 2013 //
34

The Scratch-R game is available to play free at the Kwik-E-Mart every 6 hours – and if you’re at an early a stage of the game, a big win can really change things for you. As you almost certainly already know, it offers a range of game dollar prizes all the way up to $10,000:

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But despite playing 2 or 3 times a day every day since it was launched at the end of January, I’ve yet to win big. In fact, this is the kind of thing I usually see when I’ve scratched everything away:

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So what are the chances of a big win? Based on information in the files, here are the possible prizes and the probability that each of those game dollar amounts will end up in your account at the Bank of Springfield:

$10,000 – 1% (just one chance in every 100 games)
$2,500 – 4%
$1,250 – 10%
$750 – 20%
$500 – 33%
$350 – 32%

Why these numbers are coming up slightly differently to the Golden Scratch-R numbers, I’m not sure – particularly given the message that comes up telling you what you could have won if you’d spent real world cash on the Golden Scratch-R rather than scratching away for free. And of course, probability being probability, it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to get the $10,000 once in 100 scratches, either. You might need to scratch a whole lot more before you win big. But, unlike the Golden Scratch-Rs, at least you don’t have to spend anything to do it!

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Acknowledgements once again to j-3xx9 at http://tstappedout.proboards.com for the information used in this post.

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Categories Cash, Golden Scratch-R, Scratch-R

Is it possible to buy a Golden Scratch-R by accident?

By TSTO Tips
March 20, 2013 //
16

The Golden Scratch-R above the Kwik-E-Mart has been my favorite recent addition to the game – and that’s because, as a donut-buyer, it often gives me a bit more of a “bang for my buck”. Unless you’re buying donuts in large quantities, you often get more donuts through the US$0.99 Golden Scratch-r than you would through the donut store for the same amount of money. But, especially if you’re playing on a smaller device, it can be very easy to tap on the Golden Scratch-R when you really meant to tap on the regular Scratch-R game. Does this mean you’re at risk of spending your money accidentally?

Thankfully, the answer is no – and that’s because it’s not an instant purchase. in fact, the first thing you see when you tap on the Golden Scratch-R is this message:

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I’ve covered what happens if you decide to go ahead with the purchase in a post a couple of weeks back, which you can find here. But what happens if you decide to tap “cancel”? In that case, this is the message you see:

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Well, you may have made Maggie cry, but at least you didn’t accidentally spend your real-world cash. It’s a small price to pay.

Update: As Lucy pointed out in the comments section, you do need to be be very careful once you’ve made your first purchase, though. The Golden Scratch-R stays there until you choose the regular Scratch-R, encouraging you to try again – and a second purchase immediately after the first will be instant.

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Categories Donuts, Golden Scratch-R, Kwikimart, Scratch cards, Scratch-R

How do you buy a Golden Scratch-R?

By TSTO Tips
March 3, 2013 //
3

A few people have commented that the Golden Scratch-R was a smart move by EA as it has tempted them into making their first ever in-game purchase. And it seems to have generated a lot of interest, going by the search terms hitting my blog. So, here are the steps you go through in buying one, including something that surprised me (but probably shouldn’t have).

My apologies upfront to Android players – this post primarily goes through the Apple device process. If anyone would like to add a comment highlighting and similarities or differences for Android users, that would be great!

A Golden Scratch-R costs $US0.99 (or the rough equivalent in your local currency – e.g. £0.69 in the UK, $HK8.00). For that investment you get one chance and one chance only to win donuts – and if you want a second go, you have to pay again. This means that it operates just like a scratch card in the real world. The payment comes from whichever payment method you’ve attached to your iTunes or Google Play account or any account credit you have. Every ticket wins you something, though, and the least you’ll go away with is 6 donuts.

As soon as you hit the blue bar indicating that you want to buy a card, this message comes up:

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But you have a second chance to think about it, because for Apple devices, the following message comes up from iTunes (and I’m assuming a similar message comes up through Google Play):

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Apple players then need to enter their iTunes password for the purchase to go through. Once that’s done, this is what you see:

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And then the game tells you exactly the same thing:

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Now, you’re ready to play, and the game tells you this by taking you straight to the Golden Scratch-R screen (which means you can’t change your mind at this stage and use your purchase for anything but the Golden Scratch-R game).

Now, here’s the bit that surprised me but probably shouldn’t have. Unlike the regular Scratch-R, once you’ve played, the Itchy and Scratchy logo doesn’t seem to go away. It stays until you have decided that you’ve bought enough Golden Scratch-R tickets and buy a regular Scratch-R instead.

For increasing in-game transactions, that’s definitely a smart move, EA.

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Categories Donuts, EA, Golden Scratch-R, Google Play, iTunes, Scratch cards

Are the scratch cards trying to make me gamble now?

By TSTO Tips
March 2, 2013 //
14

Yes, they are. And they’re not being very subtle about it. The Kwikimart’s Golden Scratch-R, launched with the Gorgeous Grampa update, is now your top scratch card choice. It’s carefully positioned so your finger hovers right above it (especially on smaller devices) when you tap on Itchy and Scratchy. At least you have a couple of chances to change your mind if you tap it by accident, though.

But the biggest encouragement to gamble your real world money away actually lies in the original Scratch-R game. Now, when you collect, you see what you would have won if you’d chosen the Golden Scratch-R, as you can see here:

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So, don’t let yourself be tempted – only play the Golden Scratch-R if that’s what you really want to do. And if you’re a parent, make sure your kids aren’t spending your hard-earned cash on virtual gambling.

I really would have liked those donuts, though…

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Categories Donuts, Golden Scratch-R, Kwikimart, Scratch cards

What’s the Golden Scratch-R?

By TSTO Tips
March 1, 2013 //
19

The latest update kept the Scratch cards at the Kwikimart, but introduced a new twist – the Golden Scratch-R. But beware – this game costs you real world cash.

The Golden Scratch-R gives you the chance to win donuts. But, it’s your real world money that pays for it, not game dollars. Clicking on the Golden Scratch-R is a micro-transaction in the same way that a donut transaction is (and luckily you get a chance or two to change your mind). And if you decide to go ahead, this is what you see:

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Scratch away and you stand the chance to win big – or win just a little. A bit disappointingly, I won just a little:

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And your regular scratch game now tells you that you the donut equivalent you could have won with a Golden Scratch!

Remember, though, it’s a gamble – and like real world scratch cards, it’s a gamble with real world cash.

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Categories Cash, Donuts, Gameplay, Golden Scratch-R, Kwikimart, Scratch cards, Update

Gorgeous Grampa is here!

By TSTO Tips
March 1, 2013 //
25

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.

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You can switch costumes easily by clicking on Grampa and swiping, as you can see here:

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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.

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But that’s not all – the Scratch game is still there. But there’s a new twist. More on that in the next post…

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Categories Costume, EA, Gameplay, Gorgeous Grampa, Gorgeous Grampa Billboard, Level 27, Update, XP

Where can I find the answer to all my questions on the Valentine’s Day update?

By TSTO Tips
February 6, 2013 //
0

I’ve written a lot of posts over the past week on the Valentine’s Day update. With three weeks still to go, they risk getting pushed off the front page, making them harder for new players to find.

So, I’ve added a new page to the blog, linking the key posts. I’ll be working on it a bit over the next day or so, but even as it is, it’s a good place to start looking for the answers to all your Valentine’s Day questions.

You can access it through the menu bar at the top of the page, or go direct to: http://tstotips.com/valentines-day-update-faq/

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Categories Bart, Donuts, Gameplay, Hearts, Homer, Kwikimart, Level 25, Limited time, Marge, Milhouse, Mystery Love Box, Shauna, Update, Valentine's Day, Valentines

If I build more than one Kwikimart do I get more chances at the scratch cards?

By TSTO Tips
February 6, 2013 //
2

This is one of those times when the answer you would like to hear is going to be different from the one you would like to get.

And that answer is, regretfully, “no”. You only get one chance at he scratch cards every 6 hours, no matter how many Kwikimarts you have.

While having more than one Kwikimart is a good idea if you want your consumerism rating to hit 5 stars, and Itchy and Scratchy initially appear over all of them, as soon as you’ve played the scratch game at one if your Kwikimarts, they disappear from them all.

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Categories Kwikimart, Scratch cards, Update, Valentine's Day

My game crashes when I try to scratch the Kwikimart cards!

By TSTO Tips
February 1, 2013 //
1

A couple of people have reported this. Try deleting the app and downloading the update again. It may be that an unstable connection on your initial download has resulted in some of your update files becoming corrupted.

Make sure that you have a stable connection when you do this – high speed broadband wifi is best as 3G/4G can tend to drop in and out. A good test is to see how fast a web page loads in Safari. If it’s consistently really fast, then it should be okay.

You can find some other solutions for crashing at: http://tstotips.com/2013/01/30/my-game-constantly-crashes-after-a-few-minutes-of-play-what-can-i-do/

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Categories Crashing, Kwikimart, Scratch cards, Updates, Valentine's Day

How do I scratch the cards from the Kwikimart?

By TSTO Tips
January 31, 2013 //
9

It’s very simple. You just rub your finger over each section until the image appears. You know you’ve scratched enough when the image flashes. Then, you automatically collect your prize.

The scratch cards appear every 6 hours and cost 250 game dollars. You’re guaranteed to make a profit very time.

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Categories Gameplay, Kwikimart, Scratch cards, Themes, Updates, Valentine's Day, Valentines