Neighbor etiquette questions (newbie here)

[auroracon]

Hi everyone, I just had a few questions about the proper etiquette when visiting neighbors restaurants.

I'm fairly new to the game and have been browsing the forums a little and saw a lot of people posting about being angry at things their neighbors are doing... so I thought, maybe it would be a good idea to find out what is the proper thing to do so I don't end up upsetting people without realizing it!

Also, I'm sure this will help other newbies out there who are reading it.

I'm not exactly sure how to order these questions, so I'm just gonna spout them off as I think of them.

1) Neighbors walls - is it expected (meaning, good etiquette/manners) to write on a neighbors wall everytime you tip their tables?

I've never done this before, but I see tons of others do it. I'm not exactly sure the purpose of it though, since in the newsfeed it tells you who tipped recently... but what is the consensus about this practice? Should we do it? Or is it just a personal preference of some, and if we don't do it, we aren't going to be looked down upon?

Also related to this, but I've seen people posting things like "full". I'm assuming that means they've visited the restaurant but there were no tables available to tip. Is this a common practice? Does it serve a purpose other than letting the restaurant owner know the intention was there to tip? So that they'll tip back? Or is it seen as obnoxious when people do this?

One more about walls - do you guys check your neighbors walls when you visit their restaurant? I know I read that some people have conversations over the wall, or get to know their neighbors that way... but me personally, I always forget I have one, so tend to never check it. And usually I don't write on other individuals walls when I visit cause I never know what to say, other than "awesome restaurant" (when their restaurant is particularly awesome).

2) Gifting - I realize now, after reading that "angry neighbors" thread, that pretty much everyone hates getting food as a gift, and only wants parts. I understand why, now, but when I first started playing I thought food was best since my mentality was such that everyone's restaurant was like mine and I kept running out of food. I also thought the food with the most plates was the best because it meant you'd have food in your restaurant for longer.

I guess this isn't really a question, but I just wanted to put it out there that sometimes when people gift you brownies, it could very well be that they aren't aware that for most developed restaurants, it's unnecessary because they already have tons of food.

But um, I guess an actual question is what parts are the best to send? Is there one that is used most frequently in appliances? I tend to just rotate every day what I send people, or if a new appliance comes out I'll send something that is used for that... but is there a universal "part" that people accept as the most useful and therefor send it more often?

3) Choosing who to tip - I've seen a lot of people say they only tip 3 and 4 star neighbors, so is this a common practice? I have a lot of 0-2 star neighbors and I would hate for them to get angry at me if I don't tip them every day because I'm focusing on the 3 and 4 (when I have time I try and do my whole neighbors list).


Okay I'm blanking on other questions right now, but I guess that's plenty to start with. Maybe if you guys have any other helpful hints for newbie players in regards to etiquette and whatnot, you can post it in a response?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me!

[marrrina]

I wouldn't say there is official etiquette. Everyone is entitled to play how they want to play.

1. I always write on the walls of neighbors who gifted me, posted on my own wall, or tipped me without posting on my wall (so long as I still see them in my newsfeed). The reason some people encourage you to post on their wall when tipping is because they may not know you tipped them if you don't. The newsfeed only shows so much information.

As for not knowing what to put on the person's wall, some people put "T" for tipped, or tips, TYB (tipped you back). You can put whatever you please! My message is simply "Tips from (my restaurant name)!" I have my messages (I play a few TL games so my messages vary) written in the Notes app on my iPhone and just copy and paste the message that applies to the proper game.

I leave the message full when I try to tip someone but there are no clear tables. Some people don't like "full" and prefer "lmkwc (let me know when clear)". Personally I don't think that's something worth getting worked up over, it's all semantics, as both pretty much mean you tried and failed to tip someone.

2. I wouldn't say everyone hates food. I do :) But I find that people who are high in level such as myself prefer parts over food because we're at the point where we have sustained a high enough quantity of food on our own. I have a permanent message on my wall suggesting someone should not add me unless they gift only parts. However, some of my neighbors prefer food and I do my best to give it to them when I remember.

As for the best parts to send, I think it's best to send the original parts (nozzle, metal sheets, motor, screw, spring, knob). New specialty parts are only worth sending in the few days after a new appliance requiring them comes out. I can't tell you how annoying it is to get a shamrock in September for an appliance that came out in March.

3. I ONLY tip those who gifted me and posted on my wall or whoever appears on my newsfeed when I check. Not all neighbors tip or gift for that matter, and I'm not going to bother tipping someone if I know it will not be returned. The people who tip 3 and 4 star neighbors only probably feel the same way, so they tip neighbors with high star ratings because it is more likely that person will tip them back.

[auroracon]

Thank you for the response! Um here's a followup question, lol. But you mentioned only tipping those that gift you... How do you keep track of that? Once you accept the gift, and go into the game, and open up your news feed, it doesn't say who sent you something. And you only get that screen with the gifts when you first open the game... so if I visit the restaurant of the first person who gifted me that day, I'd have to exit the game afterwards and re-enter in order to get that list...

So I'm obviously missing something lol. Any suggestions on that?

[marrrina]

Thank you for the response! Um here's a followup question, lol. But you mentioned only tipping those that gift you... How do you keep track of that? Once you accept the gift, and go into the game, and open up your news feed, it doesn't say who sent you something. And you only get that screen with the gifts when you first open the game... so if I visit the restaurant of the first person who gifted me that day, I'd have to exit the game afterwards and re-enter in order to get that list...

So I'm obviously missing something lol. Any suggestions on that?

I don't accept my gifts all at once, which is what I used to do when I first started the game. I think that's what you mean.

I pull up the list with my pending gifts, and go to the first person on it. I tip them, post on their wall, then pull up my newsfeed and accept the gift they sent. I go down the list just like that. The list of pending gifts is always available so long as you don't accept them all in one go.

[auroracon]

I don't accept my gifts all at once, which is what I used to do when I first started the game. I think that's what you mean.

I pull up the list with my pending gifts, and go to the first person on it. I tip them, post on their wall, then pull up my newsfeed and accept the gift they sent. I go down the list just like that. The list of pending gifts is always available so long as you don't accept them all in one go.

ah! gotcha. that makes sense now. Thanks! :)

[queentina3]

auroracon, welcome to the forum and the game.

Walls - It depends on the type of neighbor you have. Some devices have issues pulling up walls, nevermind the person actually being able to write a message on a wall. Many people will just post a message on their wall, and if important enough, will also post on their neighbors walls. This is mostly done when they are in desperate need of a particular gift or are going to be away for awhile and don't want to be deleted. It's up to you on if you want to write on a wall when tipping or not. If you find you have neighbors that insist you do this, and you don't want to, just find new neighbors. LOL Play the game how you want, not how they want you to play it. There are plenty of players out there.

Gifting - Yes most higher level players want only parts as gifts not only because they have enough food themselves, but also because they have all 18 appliance slots unlocked so they can easily cook items quickly and easily enough to restock. I also tend to rotate certain parts, or send out ones I'm getting low on. I like to stock up to 150-200 of each "classic" part, this way when a new appliance comes out, I can build 5-6 of them right away, or only have to wait on the "specialty parts".

Classic Parts = Fuse, Gear, Nozzle, Knob, Metal Sheet, Motor, Paint, Screw, Spring, and Wiring. Any other part is a speciality parts and usually is only used for that one-hit wonder appliance that comes out weekly.
The most used Classic Parts, or ones that build the machines most use are: Gear, Knob, Paint, Nozzle, Wiring. These parts are used the most for the Easy Oven, Easy Stove, and Drink Machine. The Easy Grill also takes the Fuse, but not many people build those from what I've seen, and it only needs 5 anyways. :)

You can also post on your neighbors walls and ask them what they prefer, food or parts. If you don't want to try to remember who gets food and who gets parts, you can chose which you want sent to you and what you want to send out, either Food or Parts. Once you chose, just have neighbors that gift like you do. I only accept and have neighbors that gift Parts and accept Parts as gifts. It makes things much easier on me for gifting. I try to look at the requests and then gift that person their request so they get the part 2 times from me.

One last thing about gifting. Maybe people have been holding off on sending/accepting gifts on Thursdays until after the update. This way if there is a new appliance, they can get 40 of whatever they need at once, 20 from gifts and 20 from requests. You may want to see if your neighbors will do the same.

Tipping - Again it's up to you. Some people only tip those that tip them, others only tip 3-4 stars as well as those that tip them, and others don't tip at all. If you have neighbors demand you tip a certain way and you don't want to, again just delete them and get another neighbor to replace them.
I personally feel gifting and accepting requests are more important than tipping, but not everyone feels that way. :)

Wow, this is a long post. :o

[RoseMeyer]

Whatever you do, there will be some people that like it and somebody who'll think its the worst and write means posts about it.

You decide how youw ant to play and choose neighbors accordingly.

:)

[sourlicorice5]

I agree play how you want.

I visit and tip all my nbrs but through the work week if I'm tired I only visit and post on those that posted on my wall then go and tip the rest of my nbrs but don't post. Myself I don't care what gift I get and prefer my nbrs to send me what they want me to send them. If I'm maxed and they don't post on my wall what they want then I gift them a usable part or food to those I remember want food gifts.

I also take a break from farm and fashion on Mondays and Wednesdays. I only go into gift. Tuesday's and Thursdays I take a break from bakery and restaurant. Fridays, Saturdays (except the odd Saturday when I visit my parents) and Sundays I visit on all games.

I haven't had a complaint yet.

[hrotripmom]

Hey there, auroracon, and welcome to the game!

Personally, I LOVE food gifts. I can always use food, and I'd rather have that than a part for some appliance I don't have or want. You can only build 18 appliances, so you can only use SO MANY screws, nozzles, etc... But I appreciate any gift, and think it's bad manners to say "ugh, I hate your gift." I wouldn't do that in real life, so why do it in my virtual one? :)

I check in to my restaurant all day long to accept requests from neighbors asking for specific parts they need. At the end of the day I send a food gift to all of my neighbors that haven't asked for a part that day. So everyone gets something from me each day. I figure if they need a specific part, they'll ask me for it and I'm happy to oblige.

[marrrina]

ou can only build 18 appliances, so you can only use SO MANY screws, nozzles, etc... .

Actually you can build more than 18 appliances. It's just you're only allowed to have 18 out on your floor at one time unless you pay gems to have more out on the floor. Anything more than 18 will have to be put in storage.

[queentina3]

Hey there, auroracon, and welcome to the game!

Personally, I LOVE food gifts. I can always use food, and I'd rather have that than a part for some appliance I don't have or want. You can only build 18 appliances, so you can only use SO MANY screws, nozzles, etc... But I appreciate any gift, and think it's bad manners to say "ugh, I hate your gift." I wouldn't do that in real life, so why do it in my virtual one? :)

I check in to my restaurant all day long to accept requests from neighbors asking for specific parts they need. At the end of the day I send a food gift to all of my neighbors that haven't asked for a part that day. So everyone gets something from me each day. I figure if they need a specific part, they'll ask me for it and I'm happy to oblige.

LOL, this isn't real life. In real life people pay money to buy you a gift, in this game it's FREE to send a gift, so there's no comparison there. You can also decline gifts you don't want/need at the moment, so if you have 200 screws you can just decline all screws sent to you that day. TL releases new appliances ALL the time, so those useless parts actually come in handy. If you have to wait for your request to be fulfilled from the appliance box, then you're wasting a spot on your floor that could be used for cooking. So having a stock of parts is a good thing. Food you can always make yourself, but parts you're dependent on your neighbors.

Also, you can only have 18 appliances on your floor at one time, but you can have as many as you'd like in storage. That means you can have 18 ovens, 18 stoves, 18 grills, and etc.....When you want to master a recipe on the stove, just store all your other appliances and pull out all 18 stoves and you'll have it mastered in no time. It's good to have more than 1 of each appliance if you don't want it to take YEARS to master something.

[jamesdean1957]

Its your personal opinion I do some don't. But some people might delete you because they might think you don't tip or gift.

[hidinout]

Most people with a 0-2 star rating probably don't expect you to tip them. Your star rating drops when you don't tip others enough. After months of daily tipping a lot of neighbors you'll probably become burnt out on it and begin to value those low star neighbors who don't require daily tips from you to keep you as a neighbor. They're often still good for gifts and accepting requests!

On this account in Bakery Story I've hidden all of my tables behind pillars so that no one can tip me and I don't tip my neighbors. Since they can't tip me, they don't waste their time trying to do something I won't be returning and when I advertise for new neighbors I always make sure it's clear that I don't tip. My other account on both Bakery and Restaurant only tips once a week or so but has some neighbors that tip daily anyway. When I stopped daily tipping on that account I told all my neighbors that I was doing it and said it would be fine if they wanted to delete me. I also said they didn't need to tip me daily either. Frankly I wish they wouldn't try so hard, I feel bad about not returning it. One easy way to avoid wasting your time tipping people like me who aren't returning it is to only tip people who tip you, it's called tipping from your newsfeed/wall. Most people prefer posts on their wall for this reason (it holds more posts than the newsfeed) and lets them know who to return tips to.

If you're going to add me in Bakery, I only gift/accept parts. I do delete neighbors that gift food or continue gifting specialty parts weeks after their release. I don't play Restaurant with this account, only my other one and I don't share the ID for that one.

[Baraze]

I have over 100 neighbors in BS and RS. Only once have I had to delete a neighbor who felt he was high and mighty. Daily he'd post on his wall hlw we'd better give the tool he asked for OR he'd delete us.

I had enough when he wrote a rude message on my wall, for not telling him when my tables were clear of tip. I told him he was a knob and kept it moving.

At 97 in R and 96 in B I could give a hoot about who tips and who doesnt. As long as they understand its nearly impossible to send ALL of them what they ask for. I tend to tip late so the minority who whine about gifts are full, so the rest get what I send.

Some folks do take this too seriously and I cant believe I use to stress over it. I play for fun and if fun isnt on your list too then Boo!

I accept anyone as a neighbor, as its fun to see the newbies starting off with food ill never make again on their counters.

[lilacpear]

I'm glad you asked these questions. When I first started playing, I often wondered about these same things but it took me a while to figure out what was best for me.

The short answer to all three topics in your original post is this: you should figure out which strategy you prefer and then find neighbors who play the same way.

Technically, there is only a handful of "ways" to play each aspect of RS (tipping: to tip everyone, to tip from the Wall, to tip from the News Feed, to not tip at all; gifting: to gift parts, to gift food, to gift both types of items, to not gift at all...). Since the options are limited, you will have no trouble finding neighbors that play the same way you want to play.

That said, I think it would be useful to all new players to read advice from players at a higher level. I recently began playing Farm Story and reading the gifting/watering advice on the FS forum has been incredibly helpful to me. So, here are my two cents...

1) Neighbors' Walls
Most people who post on neighbors' walls leave "tipping and gifting" messages to let the recipient know that they have tipped/gifted them. Recipients find these posts useful because then they know for sure who has tipped/gifted them and who hasn't, and this saves them time when deciding who to tip/gift.

I understand these posts are useful for some, but I really dislike seeing those "tipped and gifted", "full", and "lmkwc" messages on my wall. I delete them as soon as I read them, keeping only my current neighboring status and my gifting preference message there (see screenshot of my wall below - that "tipped" message will be deleted shortly). I used to have my Storm ID there too, but I removed it when I reached my "ideal" number of neighbors.

http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t381/lilacpear/B5F845B0-17AE-4A84-BA7A-65E4311EAFC4-6445-00000771F9672834_zps96c291be.jpg

I also rarely post on my neighbors' walls; when I do, it's usually to remind them of my gifting preferences if they happen to gift me food (I prefer parts). As a general rule, I don't leave "tipped and gifted" messages on anyone's wall. For me, it's a waste of time as I don't really care if my tips are reciprocated. I enjoy tipping my neighbors regardless of the rewards.

I wrote about this issue some time ago on a different thread in the BS forum, so I'll just quote my post here:


I might be in the minority here with what I'm about to say... I tip regularly, which is to say I tip almost every day, but I do so because a) I enjoy keeping my star rating at 4 and b) I enjoy taking a half-hour trip around my neighbors' bakeries and seeing what they're cooking and how they're decorating their spaces. The short version of this is that I enjoy tipping neighbors. Yes, it's time-consuming and the reward is awfully small for all involved, but it's one little task this game provides that I enjoy fully.

I don't tip with the expectation that my neighbors should tip me back, so I'm not overly concerned about them knowing that I've tipped them. I also rarely keep track of which neighbors tipped me back or which didn't. To me, receiving tips is not nearly as fun or as interesting as giving them and I'm ultimately more focused on receiving the gifts I need each day.

This explains why I no longer post "tipped" on neighbors' walls. I used to in my earlier levels, as I had read somewhere that this was the polite thing to do. However, I realized that this was a time-consuming task that I did not enjoy (unlike tipping itself) and I've stopped leaving "tipped" messages on neighbors' walls.

The only exception to this is when I'm interested in adding a new neighbor... if I visit their bakery and tip a potential neighbor, I leave a message saying that I've tipped them and that I would like them to add me.

-lp

Finally, you should check your own wall as part of your daily playing routine. You might meet really good neighbors this way :).

2) Gifting
As a rule, I gift my neighbors daily. I haven't been keeping up with this recently because of the price doubling commotion in the BS forums (I can link you if you're curious), but I normally gift every day.

As for the parts vs. food debate... you should spend some time playing RS and then decide for yourself what kind of item you'd like to gift and receive, and why. I feel very strongly about gifting and receiving only parts, and I have selected neighbors who play this same way.

There are plenty of threads in RS and BS that discuss this very topic. Some players prefer to receive food, but a recent poll created in the RS forum (link here: http://forums.teamlava.com/showthread.php?33823-Favorite-Gift-Poll) revealed that nearly 75% of all players who responded prefer to receive parts.

I prefer to receive parts for the following reasons:

a) parts are and will always be useful - you cannot build appliances without them and we all build appliances regularly
b) stockpiling parts instead of asking for them via Materials Request is faster and more efficient
c) I can cook food on my own, but I cannot make my own parts

There are other issues to consider when deciding which type of gift is preferable (coins, experience points, stock, cash flow, etc). I will link you to another thread where this issue was discussed. I posted an analysis there that shows why accepting only food as gifts is not a good strategy to advance in the game. Here is the link: http://forums.teamlava.com/showthread.php?34422-Why-decline-food-gifts&p=385409#post385409.

The most important thing to remember is that, whatever your choice, you should select neighbors who play the same way to avoid becoming annoyed over gifting. This game is supposed to be fun, not stressful.


I guess this isn't really a question, but I just wanted to put it out there that sometimes when people gift you brownies, it could very well be that they aren't aware that for most developed restaurants, it's unnecessary because they already have tons of food.

Yes, it is entirely possible that players who gift Brownies are unaware of the value of their gift and how it could be perceived by the recipient. However, I can assure you that that's not always the case. I (and other players here) can tell stories about high-level players who routinely gift Brownies in BS and French Toast in RS, despite knowing very well what these gifts mean. It's a strange world out there...


But um, I guess an actual question is what parts are the best to send? Is there one that is used most frequently in appliances?

A cursory glance at Sehana's parts chart (link here: http://supremedynasty.com/tl/rest_applparts_list.html) reveals that the most commonly used parts are:

a) Gears
b) Red Motors
c) Blue Knobs
d) Metal Sheets
e) Paint
f) Screws
g) Wiring
h) Fuses

In addition to being required to build standard appliances, at least one of these parts will often be used in specialty appliances. Stockpiling them is, then, very useful for building appliances quickly. Any one of these parts will make a great gift for players who prefer to receive parts - I "mass gift" one of these parts to all my neighbors every day.

However, if a specialty part is required to build a new appliance that has just been released (e.g. Red Gears, G Clefs, Drums), I will "mass gift" that special part (or parts) for a day or two after the release; that way, my neighbors will be able to stockpile those new parts and build their appliances quickly.

Another thing I do is check to see if the new appliance requires a standard part alongside the specialty part. If it does, I will also "mass gift" that standard part in the days after the new appliance is released.

Whenever I have more than half an hour available to tip and gift, I visit neighbors and look around their restaurants to see if they are building a specific appliance. If they are, I will try to gift them a part that is needed for that appliance.

Finally, I also "double gift" when possible. Whenever I receive a Materials Request from a neighbor, I visit their restaurant, tip them, gift them the same material they requested from me, and then go back to my News Feed and accept their Material Request. This way I'll help them build their appliance quicker by gifting them two units of a specific part I know they need.

3) Choosing Who to Tip
I have a very small number of neighbors in both RS and BS whom I gift daily and tip almost daily. I decided long ago on an "ideal" number of neighbors - a number small enough to allow me to tip them all every day in less than 30 minutes but large enough to allow me to maintain a 4-star level. I have finally reached that number and I find that tipping them daily is not at all a chore.

Tipping is a time-consuming activity that doesn't produce a great reward for either party, but I find tipping to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. Why? Because tipping allows me to pay attention to the decorations used by my neighbors and, if you've seen some of the fantastic restaurants players have created in RS, you will agree that visiting and tipping these restaurants is a treat in itself.

I rarely, if ever, notice my neighbors' star level. It doesn't really matter to me whether or not my neighbors tip routinely; I really only pay attention to who gifts and who doesn?t, and what they gift me.

I also don't understand players who say "I only tip my 3-4 star neighbors"... I understand tipping is time-consuming, so why keep neighbors on your list who are not worthy of receiving a tip from you because they don't tip regularly? Some players have hundreds of neighbors, and no one should reasonably expect them to tip all their neighbors every day - we all have jobs, studies, families, and a real life to maintain. So, why not remove some of those neighbors and only keep an amount that you know you will be able to tip/visit daily? Just a suggestion.

My apologies for the long post... I hope this information was helpful.

-lp

[arale_norimaki]

Hi and welcome to the game!




1) Neighbors walls - is it expected (meaning, good etiquette/manners) to write on a neighbors wall everytime you tip their tables?

I've never done this before, but I see tons of others do it. I'm not exactly sure the purpose of it though, since in the newsfeed it tells you who tipped recently... but what is the consensus about this practice? Should we do it? Or is it just a personal preference of some, and if we don't do it, we aren't going to be looked down upon?



I'd say it is a personal preference for some, who want to make sure you know they stopped by.
As you said, when you tip it shows on your news feed. However, it doesn't stock those data forever, and players who have a lot of tables may never see on their newsfeed you tipped since only the 10 most recent tippers show.




Also related to this, but I've seen people posting things like "full". I'm assuming that means they've visited the restaurant but there were no tables available to tip. Is this a common practice? Does it serve a purpose other than letting the restaurant owner know the intention was there to tip? So that they'll tip back? Or is it seen as obnoxious when people do this?



As for "full" or "lmkwc" messages, those show you stopped by and couldn't tip, so that the other person can come back to you to inform you that you can tip them now. Some people like it, others hate it (especially the "lmkwc", there is thread somewhere about it, lol!). My advice is don't give it much of a thought and keep doing what you feel confortable with.




One more about walls - do you guys check your neighbors walls when you visit their restaurant?



I do try to check my neighbors' walls, some of them leave messages asking for a especial part and I like my gifts to be useful.

One last thing you didn't mention, posting on a wall when there is an absence message (holidays, family matter, etc) or an explicit request from the owner to avoid posting: I do think it is rude posting on those walls. I inadvertently posted on one of those walls I inmediatelty posted a second message asking everyone else not to post and to read the message below.





2) Gifting - [...]

But um, I guess an actual question is what parts are the best to send? Is there one that is used most frequently in appliances?*



The best answer for that is... sehana's website!
http://supremedynasty.com/tl/rest_applparts_list.html

Also, I tend to send brand new parts only to players above level 35. I remember the frustration when I received all those g clefs and red gears, useless to me for a while 😉




3) Choosing who to tip - I've seen a lot of people say they only tip 3 and 4 star neighbors, so is this a common practice? I have a lot of 0-2 star neighbors and I would hate for them to get angry at me if I don't tip them every day because I'm focusing on the 3 and 4 (when I have time I try and do my whole neighbors list).




If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago I'd have said I tipped all my neighbors, period. Actually, I recently realized I may end up doing it, yes, but I do tip in the following order:

- 1st: my friends
Well, that is the truth. Some of my neighbors became friends, I know what they want as a gift (food or parts), we chat and after counters are resert at 9 am CET I tip and gift them first.

- 2nd: those who sent me a request
I accept the request as soon as I see it, double it with the same as a gift and tip. Why do that? Because when I am building all I want to do is finish, so I tend to think others are like me ;)

- 3rd: those who tipped me
Everytime I log in, I tip from my newsfeed, starting from the end to make sure I tip even those who stopped by hours ago . I think tipping is tiring, long and shows the other person took the time and made an effort for you. So I try to do the same. :)

- 4th: those who sent me a gift
You said before the list is deleted as you accept or decline the gift. True. That is why I tip and gift before accepting. ;)
Also, the day after, when all the counters are reset, you get the list of all the gifts you accepted the day before. I use the previous's day list to tip them all and send a gift.

- 5th: those who posted on my wall
I am not connected 24/7, the newsfeed doesn't store everything and my tables sometimes are full. So then I go to my wall and tip those who left messages.

- 6th: those who accepted my requests
I appreciate people taking the time to say yes. So I tip them too :cool:

I have about 40/50 neighbors who either gift me (I do decline gifts I don't want) or tip me or accept my requests. Those receive tips and gifts daily.

- 7th: my 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 start neighbors, in that order
I know some people tip 3-4 starts first of all in the morning, but honestly... these people may be great neighbors to others. If they didn't show up on my newsfeed, my wall or my gifts list, well, they are not my priority. They may end up getting their tips and gifts though (if not maxed), if I have the time. So I only do the 7th when I am not busy ;)

I hope this helps you decide how YOU want to play, you see each person does it in a different way ;)

Have fun!

[bethwilliams]

Too bad this wasn?t around when I began BS back in June; just these two pages so far would have perfectly answered each and every one of the numerous questions I once had and would have saved me a lot of time instead of searching through endless threads for hours upon end.

The vast amount of detailed information here that these guys have kindly took the time to explain will no doubt become very useful seen as though it answers just about every question that is possible if there were such a thing as a ?Neighbour F.A.Q?s?.

I know I was very confused without any knowledge of this starting out, and although it didn?t take me too long to learn, when I did... it made game play a lot more enjoyable knowing what to do and what not to do, understanding what my neighbours want and like or what they don?t and do not like, as the last thing I wanted to do is pee anyone off by gifting something entirely useless like a batch of brownies lol. After all our neighbours are very important, in fact... the most important aspect of most (if not all) of TL?s games and without them we have no chance on getting anywhere.(That is unless someone is loaded and has a handy stash of gem?s to squander then by all means that?s up to them and what they do is their own business.)

Swiftly moving on...

I guess what I?m trying to say... not everyone has all the time in the world to search forever for vital info such as this and would do a whole lot of good (not to mention be very handy) if a mod/admin/rep/tom, **** or harry, would be kind enough to sticky this on the front page for a very insightful and quality read for new and long term players alike.

Whilst the most important thing is to help new players ease in to the game by minimizing confusion among other things...but if it at all plays any part in reducing the number of food gifts we receive ... I?m certainly not going to complain lol. :p

Needless to say, your questions have been answered, I?d just be more or less echoing marrrina?s and arale_norimaki posts as my play style is very similar to theirs. When it comes to tips, personally it?s no big deal if someone doesn?t return my tips, although very grateful to those of my neighbours who do<3 This is the main reason why I don?t ?T&G? on my neighbours walls daily as I?d hate to make anyone feel obligated to return the favour especially my ?non-tipping? neighbors.

When it comes to neighbors ?T&G?on my wall... it doesn?t bother me, it?s helpful for those the newsfeed don?t mention but like tips, it?s not a requirement.

Kudos to all who posted and took the time to share their views and opinions and most importantly to the OP auroracon: Hi! I?m glad you asked these questions, although nothing new to me but to others I think this is like an all in one resourceful bundle pack of awesome sauce information.

I use an Excel spreadsheet I made for personal use as I tend to have a memo span of a fish, it?s a lot easier to keep track of which parts are most needed rather than keeping multiple browser tabs open. The only parts I never have a problem remembering are the basic/classic parts.

(I did previously use one of Sehana?s awesome charts but I can no longer seem to find it. I do vaguely remember a notice informing us that chart was no longer going to be updated so maybe that?s why.)

Either way below is the maximum number of parts needed all together if someone were to build one of each appliance. (Btw these numbers include the past seasonal appliances too).

Oh and seen as though it?s now 12.19 pm and just updated the tables quickly I can?t guarantee every total is 100% correct. Feel free to correct my mistakes if anyone spy?s any.

Bakery Story (In order of most used parts)

1 Gear 80
2 Paint 65
3 Screw 55
4 Wiring 45
5 Fuse 40
6 Metal Sheet 35
7 Knob 30
8 Cooling Coil 24
9 Blue Motor 20
10 Red Motor 20

Restaurant Story (In order of most used parts)

1 Screw 118
2 Paint 75
3 Knob 57
4 Nozzle 55
5 Red Motor 49
6 Metal Sheet 46
7 Gear 45
8 Fuse 34
9 Spring 34
10 White Spring 18

All info above is courtesy of Sehana?s hard work. The data is all here so go check it out (go on... what ya waiting for? xP)

Bakery Story: http://supremedynasty.com/tl/bakery_applparts_list

Restaurant Story: http://supremedynasty.com/tl/rest_applparts_list.html

(I take no credit for any of this as I just quickly added a few of Sehana?s numbers up in my head for a total, real fast like Speedy Gonzales.)

I guess the most important thing to remember is the ones best to gift your neighbors when they request the usual basic/classic parts already mentioned. But just in case there are one too many slow poke?s out there who need to read things several times over in order for it to sink in (nah I kid... seriously lol)...

Fuse (Yellow), Gear, Knob (Blue), Screw, Paint, Wiring, Metal Sheet, Nozzle (Blue), Motor (Red) and finally Spring.

I better wrap this up before I end up going way off topic. Too hyper sorry... makes me talk too much. :o

Good luck in your neighborhood!

*Waves*