Greek Life: The Freemium Perspective

Hello There Clammers One and all!  Today’s very special Helper post comes to us from Cassandra.  Cassandra has in the past written posts about the Freemium perspective of the game…and we thought, “what the hell, let’s do it again!” So here you go you crazy rascals…enjoy!
(Oh and P.S Thanks Cassandra for the post!)

If you’ve pledged the house of Phi Beta Freemium like me, you haven’t spent any clams on this event yet. But we’re still having fun!
I jumped right in when I saw the update. I love that this event uses one thing for all tasks. Needing just Ambrosia and having lots of options to get it is really helpful. I didn’t feel confused at the start this time wondering where all the pieces to collect would be coming from and worrying about how to go about putting things together. Thanks, TinyCo!
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I seemed to whiz through the starting tasks and so started my timer for character Zeus as soon as I hit part five sometime early on Friday. I missed out on getting the first character offered during the first week of the Boomsday event and I think that put me behind. So getting Zeus is my #1 priority.
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I didn’t realize until I read Bunny’s post this morning that you don’t have to unlock items from the University Store in order. I would have gone for Pottery 101 and skipped Mt Olympus as getting those Lightning Spell scrolls seems to be the hardest thing this first week. The Centaur Joe skin helps with the scrolls but I don’t have enough free clams saved up to buy him. I caved and picked up Bottomtooth at the end of the Jolly Farm mini event. I’m sure there will be more ways to get the scrolls as the event unfolds, like with Pottery 101. Zeus’s Fraternity House at 100 clams is very very tempting as it drops a Scroll every four hours.
I’ve had the chance to fight boss Zeus twice. The first time I got two lightning balls just before he retired. I’ve managed to attack him three times this round and if I can get three more lightning balls in the next 14 hours I’ll get a max payout of three golden apples. I haven’t done the exact math because I suck at it, but I’m hoping if I nab Pottery 101 and then hold off on doing nothing but collecting lightning and earning apples, I just might be able to get character Zeus before his timer runs out. Even if I have to rush a few tasks to get the drops, I think he will be worth getting to stay on top of things before launching into week two.
The drop rates for Peter’s skin have been pretty good. I’m stuck on Part 8 until he unlocks but I’ve got 21/25 sandals, 11/17 laurels, and 8/10 rush paddles already.
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How are the rest of my fellow Freemium Pledges coming along? Have you picked up any boosters? What are you focusing on getting this week?

60 responses to “Greek Life: The Freemium Perspective

  1. Disgruntled freemium player

    Are all freemium players banned from the Greek life leaderboard event? I was not given my prize after the Star Trek event and my email to Tinyco was ignored. I now see that I was banned from the Greek life leaderboard from the start. I have emailed them again. Their website states that they are making millions of people happy with their games which seems not quite possible if they are just going to ban all the freemium players. And, if freemium players are going to be considered cheaters then can someone please enlighten me on exactly how to cheat with this game?

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  2. i got the Gazebo pretty quickly and worked Bruce non stop and i was able to get Zeus a full 48hrs before he quit (i had 3 apples from him even before i knew what he did) .. then a few hours later i had enough ambrosia and unlocked toga peter .. now i also bought pottery 101 and Zeus drops 2 scrolls so ill have enough scrolls to buy the Wine Shoppe which drops (wheat??) im guessing for the next character .. so its been a fantastic week .. and i did not spend a single clam !! im now going for the weekly prize and greek week pt 8 !!

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  3. I’m a freemium player most of the time but I do have the occasional splurge I’m on track with week 1 and on level 8 rush points. I haven’t seen a weekly challenge yet or have I missed it

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    • Yesterday a weekly challenge did pop out for me. It requires to: Check out the prize (Sphinx), Make 30 ambrosia offerings, Make 10 Lighting offerings, and Have Toga Peter go commando. You have three days to complete it and I suposse it doesnt pop out until you unlock Toga Peter, which I did yesterday.

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      • Bmonkeygurl244

        I don’t have Toga Peter yet and the challenge triggered for me. All I need are paddles and haven’t had any drop in days. Getting very frustrated! I did message Tiny Co but no response yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to get him before this challenge ends.

        Is anyone else having problems with paddles dropping?

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  4. Today I unlocked both Zeus and Toga Peter, however, to do so I had to speed some buildings a couple of times in order to get some scrolls (and to sleep more than six hours). I only focused in the two buildings that drop scrolls and after getting both I focused in Zeus. Unlocking Peter was easy even without the buildings that drop his materials and I was able to collect enough ambrosia to unlock Peter and Zeus almost at the same time with a day and a half in my countdown. I think that unlocking Zeus without spending clams is doable, but didnt want to risk it, so I decided to expend some but just in speeding scroll buildings a couple of times. Good luck guys!

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  5. Need some help figuring something out. Currently it shows 1,000 ambrosia and 2/10 apples equals 340 clams for Zeus. Ambrosia isn’t a problem for 1,000 but apples are tight. If I get close again to say 4/6 or 6/6 apples, it drops to about 140-200 clams. If I just hit the clam button on Zeus no matter the cost, will this unlock Zeus completely or does this only buy you an apple every time? Willing to click it if he’s about to run out on timer and it’s cheap enough is why I ask. Please help!

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  6. does anyone know what buildings i should pull out of inventory?

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  7. Im great on Zeus and i will get him tomorrow i will sacrifice my ambrosia and get Toga Peter maybe maybe not next week

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  8. Is there any buildings i should pull out of inventory for ambrosia drops?

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  9. I’m playing budgeted premium in this event – it’s part of my entertainment budget, so I’ll spend clams. But, I don’t go crazy as, one, I can only afford so much before the budget committee cuts me off, and two, it’s fun for me to try and ‘game’ the system, i.e., how much I can get for the least number of clams. So while week 1 is nearly in the books, I’d still thought I’d pass along what I’ve found so far:

    Items I purchased:

    Palace of Olympus – tough decision as it’s a good outlay of clams, BUT it’s one you need to make early in order to maximize the payoff. It’s not hard to collect once every 24 hours, so as Bunny pointed out earlier, if you bought it on Day 1 for 250 clams, the return is 27 x 14 = 378 clams for a net gain of 128 clams. The BREAK EVEN day is Day 10 (18 days to go) where the return would be 18 x 14 = 252 clams. In my mind, it makes it easier to swallow the random clam here and there to speed up processes/tasks if purchased early to maximize the gain.

    Centaur Joe – Another tough one, but without knowing the real impact of golden apples, I pulled the trigger. I think he’s worth it…

    Zeus’ Frat House – a good buy at 100 clams IMHO as the extra Lightning Scrolls have come in handy…again, it’s week 1, and we all know other currency needs are to come…but 100 clams was easier to swallow…

    Greek Chic – an impulse buy (those stupid impulses!) and not one I’d do again. There are plenty of characters that can be tasked to drop Laurel Wreaths so ultimately I only really used a couple of the Wreaths dropped – most came from the character tasks…not a good buy on my part…

    Small Ambrosia Fountain – OK, so I play premium, but doesn’t mean I’m not cheap…I opted for this one over the medium or large for a couple of reasons. One, all the characters and task specific to the event drop Ambrosia, so having excess Ambrosia didn’t seem to buy anything (yet..famous last words…) Second, in the few events I’ve played, I’ve always ended with excess ‘currency’ that ultimately didn’t help – i.e., a bunch of discarded Twinkies and Magic Beans that simply disappear into Quahog Harbor once the event ends. The Medium does have a drop rate 6x the Small Fountain (daily potential of 1440 versus 240), but at 400 clams, it was just too much for me. The Large seemed excessive – a potential drop rate of 4800 is certainly nice (20X the Small), but is it really 700 clams nice especially as Ambrosia will be a distant memory after the first week of June? Not in my opinion…

    Now the question will be, did I spend too much too early given the clam limit for the event? it’s still early, but I’m in good shape as we approach the end of Week 1…we’ll see…

    Liked by 1 person

  10. No clams spent so far, and I just unlocked Zeus this morning (~6am). I bought the first lightning scroll producer (gazebo-looking thing), then saved scrolls through an entire Zeus cycle to have enough to earn enough apples.
    Zeus himself can produce lightning scrolls, so that’s good. I think I can get away with skipping half of the buildings. (Very happy we don’t have to build them all.)

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  11. I’m not fully freemium in this event as I spend €2 on the Palace of Olympus, but I try to keep spendig clams on the actual event to a minimum. Atm I have the Gazebo, Pottery 101 and the Wine Shoppe (considering I was behind on Crowns for Toga Peter, 12 now) and 5 apples in stock.

    I just beat Zeus completely, so he’ll appear ~12 hours before the fountain upgrade, then I’ll be able to get him OR the Parthenon (which I don’t need for Paddles but is required for the questchain); given that I need to beat Zeus another time for the other I’ll be most likely behind on part 2, but not as excessive as when I was grinding for Sidewalk Joe in Boomsday.

    I’ve made the minor mistake of not getting the Gazebo the first time Zeus spawned, I only got one apple. People that prepared themselves to get 3 apples there will most likely be on schedule, so the event is pretty doable freemium so far, despite timing being tight.

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  12. I never buy pure clams purchase characters or buildings even if they drop items. Only spend clams now to rush the end if some jobs to get extra tasks started before bed/work.

    Didn’t try for Zeus. Only unlocking prizes that are required for progression. Just unlocked the pantheon now. Was going to get the building that drops laurels but I only need 3 more so will just keep going. Theory being that u get less apples by not buying the premium buildings, but hopefully don’t need to spend as many if I can ignore unrequited prizes.

    So far so good, but last event made us think TC had improved things in week 1 only for the rest of the event to go manic again so let’s see how it goes!

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  13. I am a freemium player, and just started playing last month, in the middle of Apocalypse event. It was simply a rude shock. With few characters to play with up to District 3, I was overwhelmed.

    For this event, which came sooner than I thought, I had the first impression that getting Zeus and Peter will be very difficult as a freemium player or without spending clams. After 5 days, I realized Bunny’s words of wisdom: Just play! This is absolutely true. I just kept playing, having ambrosia drops and slowly getting the one or two features that I need as part of the quest lines. True enough, I have just unlocked Peter Toga outfit, and together with Bruce and the Gazebo, lightning scrolls drop 3 times from today, which means I should have 20 by tomorrow, at same time when Zeus unlocks for another battle tonight.

    With the 2 apples I already have, a full maximum round should yield 10 more apples. I did panic 3 days ago and dropped Bunny a note for help on strategy, but realized the real strategy is to simply play on, and go along with the quests. Of course, it helps if you have an end goal in mind, either unlocking Peter Toga outfit, or Zeus himself. Will know soon if my strategy works.

    Don’t panic guys. Do what you can. If you can unlock what you want, good. If not, just move along. Its just a game!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. You can always tell if the stuff in the event store can be purchased in any order, because then you can always open up the purchase details for all of them. If the order is fixed, then they won’t let us do that (they lock them) so we’re stuck with a big surprise once we’ve bought the preceding item on the page…

    I never buy clams for real money, but clam tv has been amazingly generous lately which gave me some options. I bought the clam-generating Olympus palace, which will pay for itself dropping 14 clams per day (and looks really nice for permanent use) and will generate enough more to pay for Zeus’s frat house (lightning spell drop every four hours). I then focused on using the few apples I had from the boss Zeus to get the gazebo and the pottery 101 (both dropping lightning spells every six hours). Bruce has been working on lightning spell drops (every six hours) 24/7. So I’ll be able to get the character Zeus in a few hours.

    The tricky bit is juggling my need to clear centaurs with need for incubated lightning. But while Zeus is asleep, I incubate six lightnings plus two centaur baits, and keep clearing the centaurs and making more bait frequently. Meanwhile I stockpile the lightning spells from the buildings and poor Bruce. Once Zeus wakes up, I use the incubated lightnings and start incubating more lightning and stop incubating centaur bait. So by the time I need the 8 incubated lightning for level 4 Zeus offering, I have 2 incubated ones hanging around and all six slots in the queue are filled with lightnings. I can get through level 4 long before the 24 hour timer is done. It would be easier if I knew for sure when Zeus was waking up, then I could start the process sooner.

    But getting Zeus will mean that I won’t enter the next phase on time, which is typical for me anyway. I did splurge and buy the Greek Chic store because I really liked how it looks (won’t be putting it in Inventory) and it does generate one laurel wreath per day. The clam-generating Olympus partially paid for that also. Not sure if that’s really needed, but maybe it will help. The paddles are slow to come anyway, so don’t know when I’ll get Toga Peter.

    I avoided buying the paddle-dropping Parthenon in the university store because it looks like it’s not an always drop. Didn’t want to waste ambrosia and apples on it, although I do like the look of it. Thought I could come back and get it later after I see what’s in phase 2. Bummer that it’s needed to go to the next phase.

    But I have plenty of rush points and am in the middle of rush level 6.

    I’m sure things will get a lot harder in the next phase and that could easily be the last one I see… . But I’m happy so far.

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  15. Scratch Previous information. Zeus seems to drop 2 scrolls. Not 1

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  16. I just need 2 Golden Apples for Zeus, but I am afraid I will be behind on Phase 2 as I need 8 Golden Apples to continue on the next phase as I need to unlock the last building

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  17. It looks like my original plan of attack worked out just fine every with the 24 hour hiatuses. I just bought the Gazebo, Pottery 101, Frat House, and focused on recycling Ambrosia through Centaurs. All I did was go after Zeus to get the Apples I needed and no more, so 4 Offerings total and just stored Scrolls.

    I’m currently at 19 Scrolls, need 1 more Wreath for Toga Peter, 2,000 Ambrosia, and Zeus just went into cool down. With still 2+ days on the timer left all I need to do until Zeus returns is relax collecting Scrolls.

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  18. wildthornberry88

    I’m playing mostly freemium since the wrestling event. I say mostly as I already had bought Clams before now and i use them to get the clam generating building and aim to use only those extra clams or less each event. If possible I only use the daily neighbour clam, occasional video and Jesus clams. I need one laurel and 3 paddles for Peter and about 4 apples for Zeus.I already got pottery 101 & the gazebo. So i think I’m doing pretty good except for the questline and the building needed for pt9 🙂

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    • Yeah, I usually pick up the clam generating item too. I’m on the game enough t catch it and get those clams. I think I’ll be skipping it this time as we are already a week in and I’m skint after buying Bottomtooth. I just picked up character Zeus. Keep at it and you’ll get there too.

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  19. I have lost too many characters in past events, so I took my time and planned this one out. I hit Zeus twice when he appeared to get another scroll generating building – and then I stopped hitting him. 2 scrolls every 6 hours, 8 scrolls a day, so 2 1/2 days to get all scrolls needed. Toga Peter sped up the process as well, finally lucky with drops. So after ignoring a couple Zeus appearances, I had saved the 20 scrolls, and am in the process of creating the lightning offerings (Zeus just reappeared for me again) As those finish, I’ll get all the way through to X4, and Zeus is mine, no clams needed.

    Bonus – as stated by Alissa, Ambrosia as the main currency. Zeus only needs one type of offering (for now…?), instead of one out of 2 or 3. Zeus also reappears after a normal-ish amount of time, instead of once every two days (or more, though PG wouldn’t fess up to that)

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  20. Freemium also. I’m just waiting for Zeus to reappear to hit him up for the last 3 golden apples to get the character. I did get the frat house for the scroll drops first.

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  21. Mostly freemium here. My drops rates haven’t been too bad. Only need 3 more wreaths and 1 more paddle for Toga Peter. Only got to fight Zeus once so far after getting lightning scrolls. Have only unlocked the first 2 buildings from the store but knowing you don’t have to go in order now will help greatly going forward. Going straight for Pottery 101 now, then Zeus.

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  22. I’m not totally freemium on this event but used the following ways. Got Centaur Joe. Really wanted Zeus and since I could just go for him I rushed Joe for a clam, got an apple then ‘bought’ an apple for 10 clams. Started him again, waited til he was close to done and rushed him for a clam and bought one, etc, collected Ambrosia thru Medium Fountain. Once I had him, other stuff began piling up. Toga Peter everything dropped nicely except for the last two paddles took nearly three days of nothing collecting from 2 characters and the building marked ‘Drops 2′. FWIW, it DID drop 2, three days after getting it. So right now, timing the lightning and Centaur useables at 8 at a time is tricksy to time it to Sitting Zeus’ appearances to max out his battles, have been able to take him through 4 levels on three separate occasions. Seems like it might have been doable without clams but as Cass said, they were relatively low amounts. It’s definitely not as frustrating when clams are there, just wish they’d run some specials more often.

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    • Joe and the medium fountain, wow! I like that Joe spits out an apple and you don’t have to wait for scrolls and create time and timing out the battles. You seem well on your way to stockpiling for week two!

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      • But here’s the problem. We have three more Gods and I foresee a whole new factor needed for each week. If they keep up with golden apples, great, but I see Megdusa, Salt Pillar Chris and possibly three headed CereBrianUs coming into play. Iphone splash screen shows the different screen than iPad that just shows the standard FGQFS splash loading screen.

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  23. Completely freemium here (the Alien purchase recently saw to that as it took most of my clams), and it’s been a little frustrating in particular with Peter’s costume as I’ve got everything for it except the laurels (8/17 IIRC). I actually have a chance I believe to get Zeus without clams since I bought the cheaper of the two lightning spell buildings fairly early. Currently at 2 apples while waiting for him to show his ugly mug sometime tonight with 6 spells already lined up and 2 more waiting in the wings due to Bruce and the building.

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    • Keep at it, Mr Lemming! I got my final drops for Peter this morning and he’s currently working on his “go commando” task for part five, which BONUS! gives a lightning spell scroll too! So in six hours I should have enough apples for character Zeus too! We can do it!

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  24. Half way there for Peter’s skin
    Got 1000 currency for zeus just need 8 more apples. Got lightning things saved up (like 6 soon 8) if I collect a few more I will be able to get a few more apples by tomorrow like 6. Then the last fight will be on Thursday and Friday y timer will run out so I think I’ll be fine getting zeus

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  25. I have gotten the two buildings in the University store that drop scrolls, and should be able to get Zeus with 5 extra apples. However, I have not gotten Peter, or the building needed for part 9 of the questline, so that will put me a couple of days behind for the next week.

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  26. trentbresler@gmail.com

    Any idea of how long the cool down is for Zeus

    Sent from my iPad

    >

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  27. I too started the timer for Zeus last week. I am now on my 3rd time trying to appease the gods. The first time I got the new house skin – needed to progress in game. The second time I got enough for the Gazebo and then 2 more apples and stopped – since I could not get enough scrolls in allowed time. So every 6 hours I had bruce and the Gazebo pumping out scrolls. So now my 3rd timer started about an hour ago (roughly 24 hours needed to cool down and restart the process) – so I started using the scrolls to produce lightning (previously i had been feeding centaurs – now have 1900 ambrosia enough for both Peter and Zeus – FYI – I only need 3 more laurels for Peter – and should be done by tomorrow). So at the start of 3rd timer I had 15 scrolls – you need 20 scrolls: 2/4/6/8 – to get to level 4 and get 10 apples – Now last night with about 30-45 minutes left in scroll tasks I sped things up (only cost 1 clam) – but that allowed me to collect scrolls around 2330 last night and be ready again when I woke up – and basically get 8 scrolls each day for past 2 days. I had to speed things up twice yesterday; and I will do it twice today (so about 8 clams). That way by 2330 tonight I will have 19 scrolls. Then at 0600 tomorrow morning I will have the 20th scroll needed to get to level 4 – and about 3 hours left in my appease god timer to make 1 more lightning bolt (more than enough time for a 45 minute task). BOOM – so that should get me to level 4 and with my 2 apples from last time – I will have 12 apples now.

    Plus I will have over 2000 ambrosia at this time – so I should get Zeus tomorrow morning and Peter later in the day (laurels have dropped 0/1/2 times every 8 hours from all 3 character tasks – so I have averaged about 3/day) – without having to buy any buildings to drop items for Peter. Then I will save enough for the Pottery shop to drop more scrolls and wait for next weeks update – before trying to purchase any other items. That is my freemium take.

    Sorry for all of the math and timing above – but hopefully my strategy will work for you.

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    • That’s such a wonderful breakdown, Chad! Sounds like you’ve got a great plan in place! That should be helpful for the technical planning players! I sorta just wing it and hope for the best : P

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      • Technical planning. That’s the word I was looking for. Why I like this game. It’s the technical planning. Trying to formulate plans and stick to the plans to get whatever goofy reward. And if my plans don’t work I can “cheat” and get the reward anyhow, so there’s no losing.

        Thanks for the moment of clarity and insight. Good choice in words!

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        • Thanks. Just got Peter and Zeus this morning. Peter has a 4 hr scroll task and Zeus has a 6 hr scroll task. So now it’ll be easy to collect scrolls for battles – without using clams to speed up process, or lose any sleep. Appease gods went to cool down but states 0/8 lightning for 4 apples. Basically the 4x level – so will see if that’s where it starts out again. If that’s the case might let it expire, collect scrolls and get it next time – and get 10 apples (but not sure if this will change when the timer resets). Either way I’ll get Parthenon next – and wait on pottery shop – although will probably get that too to help with scrolls.

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  28. Russian Tigger

    Freemium and going well so far, I worked first to buy the Greek Gazebo and Pottery 101 from the University Store in order to get scrolls, also unlocked Toga Peter today, so he’s on scroll duty. Have hit Zeus for the 1X and 2X today and have 20 hours left to get 14 lightning bolts to hit him at the 3X and 4X, this should be doable as I have 6 brewing and 4 ways to collect now, Bruce, Toga Peter and the 2 above mentioned buildings. After that I will build up more scrolls to tackle Zeus again after his 24 HR cool down, this will be Thursday and I will need hit him at least up to and including 3X to get enough apples to buy the Panthenon in order to finish this weeks Questline in order to move into the next phase. I think it’s cutting it close and tough for freemiums for only the first week but achievable if you put in the grind.

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    • It’s tough, yeah, but what fun would it be without a challenge? I feel like I’m achieving something when I have to work for it and they did simplify the process for us this time so I’m fairly satisfied. As a freemium player I’ve sorta expected to not get to the final level, even playing as often as I do, because that’s just how things shake out usually. But I never give up hope, never stop trying to stratigize, and thinking that maybe this will be the one I can actually complete!

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      • Russian Tigger

        I like the game tough, I like the challenge. It’s what has kept me playing and I got everything that was achievable in Boomsday playing completely freemium. Didn’t spend a single clam. A dreadful sleeping pattern helps me utilise my characters day and night I must admit. I just think freemium players need to get into a mindset that they may not get everything and be happy with what they do get and they will find the game less frustrating. TinyCo are making changes here and there but they are never going to make the game as easy as Tapped Out, and I’m glad of that.

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  29. Thanks for the Freemium perspective!!
    I am about where you are in the story. . I am currently holding off getting Mount Olympus saving my apples for Pottery 101. I don’t know that I will be able to gather enough lightening (6!!!) before the big guy retires (how long is that retirement period?).
    Overall this event has gone well. . . but I am cautious. The last one started off well & then went off the deep-end.
    Toga Peter is going to be a challenge (rightfully so) gathering enough paddles. But I usually only get outfits if I am forced to get them in order to advance week to week .
    Centaur Joe would be REALLY cool to have, but I’m not spending clams on another character that i can’t really use {although maybe I would enjoy having him prance around Springfield}.
    Live Free, or Diet!

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    • David, I believe the recovery time for boss Zeus is 24 hours. If I had had enough free clams saved up, I don’t think I would have got Centaur Joe in the end. It was cheaper to pick up Zeus’s frat house for 100 clams and I had that to spare. I didn’t want to go whole hog this first week as usually we end up with loads of extra items from the first week at the end of the event (desperate at the start, overwhelmed at the end, right?) and perhaps I’ll pick up a cheaper booster later on too. Surely you meant Quahog and not Springfield, yes? You must also be a TSTO player! 🙂

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      • Actually, Centaur Joe has an 8-hour task that always drops 1 apple, not Lightning Spell, so I think and hope that he’s going to be useful for most of the event. 🙂

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    • My centaur joe was more of a present for bonnie… just sayin’

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