Hello There Clammers!
After a little hiatus…we’re back with another Addicts Poll! This time our friends over at Helpshift, the company that makes the FAQ/help software for TQFS, want to know how you use help! Your feedback will go directly to Helpshift (and TinyCo, as it always does) and will be instrumental in future FAQs and help pages from Helpshift!
So we ask you to take some time and give your honest Addict feedback & as always if you want to elaborate on anything please feel free to add it to the comments below!
What are YOUR thoughts on the FAQ section of TQFS? Have you used it? How about the in-game contact option? What, if anything, would you add to the help section to make it better? Sound off in the comments below, you know we LOVE hearing from you!
Family Guy Addicts 
One thing about the in game help feature is that it doesn’t easily notify you when tiny co does message back. You have to click through and hope your game doesn’t crash. Maybe there could be a feature that shows on the main page when a message has been returned
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Good suggestion. 😉
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One way that could help the support queues is by quickly adding something to the FAQS to state if there’s any big issues.
Prehaps have the title of it in red and permanently flagged to the top of the FAQ list.
Also at the same time there are major issues a note could pop up over the support conversation screen asking if the FAQS have been checked for know issues.
All this would only work if TinyCo and the help team are very speedy with getting an FAQ update out.
Something else that could be done is like when a new character arrives there is an exclamation mark on the face space icon, maybe the same could be done for the menu button when new FAQS are added.
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If there was options for y’all and tstoaddicts that would have been my answers lol
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Personally, I need look no further than this website for my answers. If You haven’t answered what I’m looking for I know I can ask here & get a pretty quick reply. You 2 ladies do an amazing job moderating this website & although I don’t play TSTO & therefore do not use that site can only imagine you are as equally dedicated over there.
I know y’r not on the payroll of either company but they both should compensate you with in game currency to make yr task more manageable. Or would that violate yr journalistic code of ethics? Hmmm?
Regardless. You do a great job with this site & I have minimal need to use the in game functions unless I see an issue that I believe can be fixed or improved upon by changes to the game code.
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Seconded. I didn’t even know there was an in-game FAQ until I saw it mentioned here! I’ve only contacted TinyCo directly once, and it was for an error that locked me out of the game so using that method wasn’t an option. Every other time I’ve had a question or issue, it’s been answered here – or mentioned here and resolved by TinyCo before I report it.
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Hello, my name is Mark and I’m an addict… What? Isn’t this my AA meeting?
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Only if you brought cookies and coffee for everyone. 😉
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Do *** brownies and coffee ice cream count?
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I agree with Studio3xl, as the only place I look for help is here…thanks to Bunny and Alyssa, there really isn’t any need for me to have to use the help system.
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Lol. Awww our readers are awesome. 🙂
I personally do like the thought of them doing this though. A help built in to a game is great. Especially for those that are stubborn and HATE to look for help. I know a few like that. LOL 😉
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I honestly enjoy their program in theory, but when TinyCo drops the ball on using it, it becomes more of just a stagnant/useless item within the app. To Helpshift’s credit, I find that portion of the app to be quick running and seamless. I’ve never had any issue with it crashing out while using it. So thank you to Helpshift for their well programmed app addition.
As others have mentioned, maybe a list of known bugs/glitches affecting the game, with checkboxes next to them would be nice. Make it so that we don’t try to contact TinyCo about the same thing over and over again, only to never get an answer back or have it come 10 days later. It would be a quick way to send info to TinyCo from the Helpshift portion of the app. Otherwise I find it to be great.
Again, I hardly use that portion of that app though, apparently due to TinyCo not really getting the information correct, changing it during events to reflect their own programming mistakes, and simply because the information I get from this site is far more detailed. When I can say the information from a fansite is more detailed and timely than an official FAQ, that’s pretty bad. I don’t know if this is due to budget reasons, lack of staff, or just not individualizing sections of the app to certain people/groups within the company, but it’s awful. So thank you as well, Addicts! If not for you I would be frustrated with the in-game info given.
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I also wonder if the limit is due to the same issues with Twitter. Word caps to make the system function better. That could be a reason it is not as detailed. That or I am just completely OCD mad when it comes to information and try to provide as much as I can. Lol.
Thanks though for all the feedback. Feedback is ALWAYS great. Especially when you have people who listen to it and really do take it into consideration.
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That could very well be the case. But if so, they should at least lead players to a more detailed FAQ on their site.. OR they could lead them here! Then they don’t have to do much of anything. ^_^ Hey, nothing wrong with being OCD when it comes to things like this. There is no piece of information too small when it comes to making guides. I think of a game guide as any good book or debate speech. Even the tiniest detail can make a person wonder or lose their argument should they neglect it. It takes solid work, which you ladies spare no effort in delivering. Both in the guides and in the site itself.
The fact that Helpshift is asking users for feedback just shows their integrity and wish to improve their… software? Lol. Not sure what it would be considered. So I am more than happy to help them out. I’ve taken part in far too many betas and know the value that feedback brings to a developer who is willing to listen. Even after the final product is released, there is always room for improvement.
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I’ve stopped using the FAQ long ago for when opening or during looking for answers the game locks up or closes. The FAQ was the first thing I noticed that crashed the game repeatedly for me. That’s how I found the Addicts site, looking for an answer why the game was crashing so often. So, now that I don’t use the FAQ, I read this site several times a day and find way more answers and details, plus I like the way you can read a question a player of the game asks and see a response that can be understood. I seen many FAQ that are way too “quick and short” with the answers and makes no sense. I can’t say anything about the in game chat, never used it in this game. Well, I may not have used Helpshift before, but if they made the FAQ like the Addicts site, I’d be reading it more. For now I’ll get my help from Alissa and Bunny. You two are great, Thanks.
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Lol. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
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There are good aspects to HelpShift and bad aspects–the best one is that it exists as an in-game reference separate from fan sites (which are nifty but I like the official word)..the major bad aspect is sometimes game play reality doesn’t match what the FAQ tells us to expect and then when players send in help messages saying “the FAQ says x, my game does y” the response has seemed to be to change the FAQ and not the game (ie BStewie) perhaps TinyCo delivers the FAQ to HelpShift too soon in the event development (ie the FAQ are what should happen with the coding but the game play fails because TinyCo rushes things (I would appreciate a slower event schedule with fewer glitches or not launching events near the weekend when staffing levels (understandably) drop
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Actually…HelpShift just makes the program. The changes, updates, player response, etc…all handle by the company who owns the game. 😉
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Unrelated question: just finished up Mayor West’s quest line but never got prompted to clear the dogs roaming around. Is it safe to clear them or should I wait? Love the site you girls do such great work! Thanks in advance!
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Lol. They’re kinda…anticlimactic. Just tap em when Adam is free n poof…all gone. Nothing more.
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Heehee, great answer Bunny. I didn’t get prompted to clear them either, and I did wonder if TinyCo thought maybe we would like them to hang around. (Like how I stopped hiding Roger so I can just enjoy seeing him.) 🙂
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My first instinct is to go to Family Guy Addicts to get help and information from Bunny and Alissa as they usually have the most up to date info on FAQs an glitches and I can get answers in almost real time (comments waiting moderation).
The in game FAQs says it is up to date but still doesn’t have any info on Steve and Haley. Some of the info in Help and Support is useful for general questions about gameplay, but by the time specific problems are listed I have usually gotten the answers from Bunny and Alissa.
When emailing customer support for answers, I almost always get a response about 10 days later saying that due to support volume only new questions will be addressed. Therefore, I have quit contacting customer support and go to Family Guy Addicts for answers. Thanks for all your help Bunny and Alissa.
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I have to admit that I discovered the FAQ in TQFS recently, and I was positively surprised how detailed it is regarding running events. Mostly I ignore a FAQ, because of bad experience of other games/apps, mostly because they cover the main game issue. Helpshift does a good job, might be helpful to point more on the FAQ or make it more prominent. Maybe a hint in the event popup à la “More details see the event FAQ section.” I wish the FAQ will cover more game mechanics, like spawn rates and maximum numbers of “mobs”
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I use FAQ a lot and love the idea of the help button in the game but only when they respond. I find that by the time they do respond the issue has usually resolved itself or it doesn’t matter anymore because the event has expired. The last time I needed help it took a month for them to write back to me. Right now I’m having trouble with getting bitch stewie because the bubble beards aren’t dropping and have written to them twice but I’m not holding my breath.
So…it’s a great feature to have if it’s used the way it was designed. Although I understand how busy they are, it’s just frustrating being a paying customer and not getting any answers back (whatever the issue may be).
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Exactly. They need to create a way for us to cancel help requests on our end. That way if the problem resolves itself, or the event ends, we can remove the question from the queue. Right now, I’m extremely frustrated with them. It’s been more than a month and I’m still missing my clams.
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And it would be great if they could have a list of known issues and let us just check a box to notify them that it is impacting us. Should make it faster on their end to pull up all people being impacted by an issue so they can speed through remedies rather than having to have a human read the message and determine if it is part of a known issue when doing account level fixes.
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That sounds like something on TinyCo’s side. We will pass it on.
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Help requests and answers should be seen from all devices and not just the one its sent from
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Not quite sure what you are saying here?? If you send a message from your game and log into your game from another device, you will still see those same messages from your game as you are in…your game. So as long as you are logged in to your linked account, you should be able to track your messages.
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I run the games on my tab2 and s5. Both devices are connected to my Facebook, google and in game accounts.
If I send a message on my tab it doesn’t show on my s5
This was also the same when I used to use my s3.
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Do you see the response on both when they message back?
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No the replies arent seen either.
I’ve also checked for you and the numbers at the bottom right of the account windows match and the devices can see each other because if I leave one game open the other will say I’m already logged in
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Interesting. Something definitely great to pass on. Thanks. 😉
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Not a prob.
I’d also like to say how good they are at replying in a prompt fashion.
Usually I get a response within 24hrs Max and the only time I’ve seen delays is when something goes completely belly up and everybody is panicking in case they can’t collect their items in time.
Which at that point I understand and would rather man/woman power go on fixing the fault than replying to everyone.
Keep up good work chaps and chapettes. (Insert free clams here 😝 )
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I have cleared 7/10 Rogers for the Golden Turd. 1d 16hr left.. clearing the 8th one 🙂
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The in-game help is absolutely terrible. Speaking in my own experiences, the automated responses rarely even apply to your original question. Typically, they’re just apologetic crap and some promise along the lines of ‘we try hard to listen to your feedback and appreciate your reaching out to us’ while the user is left there confused and in no better shape than they were prior to contact. Or the other one that drives me nuts is how vague they are about patch roll-outs. I’ve gotten the one via “help” where they say the issue is being corrected by means of a patch, but they give no timeframe. Then one may try to consult their FB page to get some answers and notice that seemingly hundreds of people have the same problem and the only official response is ‘a patch is in the works’ or something and then it can be DAYS before any update? Be conclusive and definitive, TC. Give an ETA and just be as honest and transparent as possible. SOMETHING. ANYTHING?! Please?
Plus they’re delusional if they think their FAQ is “up to date.” As of yesterday, for example, there was no information on Haley and Steve in terms of acquisition or questing. TC needs to work on being as thorough as possible and tailoring their automated messages as not to make it seem like they’re not just simply phoning it in.
And one final thing in regards to help and gameplay, I recognize things take time. Development can’t be easy and I’m sure content is hard to implement. Still, maybe they should consider rolling items out in the beginning of the week instead of Thursdays? Every time they do, they leave for THE ENTIRE WEEKEND while the entire player base scrambles to sort out issues and questions amongst themselves all while getting more and more frustrated. This could also be better resolved with more individualized in-game inquiry responses or better automated ones, at least. Orrrrr, maybe taking on a couple desperate interns looking to get their foot in the door to willing work on weekends to respond to player issues.
I love this game and play it all the time. I’m an apologist on their behalf about most things, but their HELP area is just deplorable. They should just put an in-game link to this website, or maybe respond to specific quest inquiries with direct links to appropriate posts here, even. This website is so helpful and I think it’s well-maintained and received by those who utilize it. Hopefully TC can achieve something this effective at answering questions within their product.
Keep up the good work ladies! It’s very appreciated, for sure!
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Thanks for the feedback, but may I ask…what do you think of the Program Helpshift created itself? Not all the ins n outs of TinyCo and how they run their events, post their info, and run their company. But the ACTUAL program that Helpshift created? (They have nothing to do with the running of the game by TinyCo. The two are separate companies.) Do you like having a help section within a game? The ability to message a company from a game?
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I like the *theory* of it. I like the idea of being able to message right from my game, which should make it easier on everyone, but I think the reality is that there is not enough support on the back-end to make it feasible.
The times that I have used it have left me more aggravated than I was initially.
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Thank you again. Both great points for the two individual companies. We will pass these thoughts on. 🙂
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I LOVE being able to message then from within the game. No time like the present. I rarely contact EA about the Simpson’s since I have to open a browser, find the site, search for my issue, then log in and post, etc. Unless it’s preventing me from playing completely I don’t bother.
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This. This. This. All of this.
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Exactly this. FAQ is usually quite helpful and the in game help program is good but I have raised several issues and never gotten a valid response even once. For example, clearing all the nerds (the ones removed by midlife crisis lois) and none of them dropped anything, not even coins. A week later, I got an automated response asking if it had been resolved, to which I had replied no. A week later and the same response, so I gave up. Also, the automated responses frequently do not match the question I am asking. When I first started, I had an issue and the automated response was completely unrelated and answer the question I had not asked.
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I am sorry for the issues you have had with TinyCo. What we are asking in this post is more on the company that made the Help Section. Helpshift. They are separate entity from TinyCo and don’t handle the game. Just made the program. Outside of the inner workings of those running the game, what do you think of the help being in the menu? Is it something you wish more companies would do? Do you ever even use the FAQ section? Those are the things we are curious of.
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Sorry if I misinterpreted the original question. I didn’t realize they were seperate from one another.
But to answer your question, yes –I love having the in-game help and I have consulted it several times. In fact, even though my expectations are often low going it, it’s just so convenient!
Plus I don’t want to ignore the gorilla in the room, if they were to implement any other help system (like something that opened a deprecate web browser), it would mean the game would have to reset and log back in. Given the current crash issues, I think having the in-game help will better serve the players and prevent a WORLD of crashing troubles for thousands (?) of users (for the record, I’ve never had ANY crashing issues outside of a one-off that’s fee and far between).
It just really needs an overhaul, IMO.
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Thanks. 😉
All feedback is good feedback.
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Was there a poll for the Halloween event like the comic con one?
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No. American Dad hit too quickly. There will be one…
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