Template:SPAChristmas2013 The Simpsons Tapped Out Tips (shortened to TSTO Tips) is a fan-based blog based around The Simpsons: Tapped Out. It started on January 19, 2013 as a small blog on the game, but now has over 15 million views. The site was founded by Tony Campbell who went by the admin username of TSTOTips, and to start with he was the only one posting ideas. After February 2013 when the blog started getting more views he let another writer, Rcsprinter, in also post their ideas. Mike Shuman who went by the username of Mike S. was one of the main writers in June and July 2013.
The site was owned by Tony Campbell (TSTO Tips) until August 6, 2013 when the site was sold to GameZino,[citation needed] and from there complications including scams and fraudalant posts became aparent on the site; more indormation can be found below. Once in a while, Outsiders' Musings posts are made, which address important questions players may have about the game. The blog also goes into detail into the objects, buildings and characters introduced in each update, as well as upcoming ones. Some of these include posts such as "Should I spend my donuts on..." or " Should I buy...".
2013 GameZino issue
On August 6, 2013, one of the admins at TSTO Tips (presumably the founder, Tony Campbell) sold the blog[citation needed] to GameZino. Not only are GameZino known for hacking accounts and ripping people off,[citation needed] they posted on the blog pretending to be on of The Simpsons Tapped Out Tips' admins advertising donut purchases via GameZino, claiming they were legitimately purchased, this however is not true.[citation needed] The post named 'Amazing Deals on Donuts' can be found here and was posted to the site on August 6, 2013. This was not GameZino's first post, as a writer named Mickus had made several posts the day before on August 5 - those also being his first.
After handing over the site to GameZino,[citation needed] they blocked all of the writers - also admins - on the site, including rcsprinter, Mike S. and WerdnaSimpson. This stopped any of the admins to be able to warn people of the scam that GameZino had held. Several websites associated with The Simpsons: Tapped Out have been posting messages of warning, including 'Tapped Out Source' on Reddit, and The Simpsons: Tapped Out Wiki. Mike Shuman posted on The Simpsons: Tapped Out Wiki's Facebook page on August 10, 2013 explaining what had happened. His passage can be read below:
- "The only thing I know is that I was contacted 4 days ago by email from Allen Cox. He claimed to be the new owner of The Simpsons Tapped Out Tips and the owner of GameZino. He had already blocked all of the admins from accessing the site before he sent the email. He was concerned that I did not support GameZino, which I don't and even embedded a nuclearvidoesHD video that was basically an advertisment for the crap service. He said Tony was staying on as a writer and that he wouldn't change much to the site. After repeated emails to Tony he responded that Allen agreed to introduce himself to all of the authors and that he was upset that Allen did not do that. After also disputing the validity of everything with Allen he responded that he will restore our privileges granted we do not bad mouth GameZino and promised payment for the most productive writers and blah blah. All the while he sent a post on Tips under Tony's account that appeared we at The Simpsons Tapped Out Tips supported GameZino and for everyone to use their service. He then blocked our access and deleted any comment that was negative or questioning GameZino. He also had implanted positive comments under various accounts to appear it was all cool. It's been 4 days and he has not moderated one comment for anywhere on the site, even legitimate questions. The site is basically dead. So I created a new site and invited all of the authors and some friends from The Simpsons Tapped Out Tips."
Just after all of this occured, TSTOTips on Twitter and TSTOTips on Reddit (which now does not exist anymore) were found to have also been sold to GameZino along with the blog. On August 6, 2013 a tweet was made adversising GameZino as TSTOTips on Twitter for the first time. This post on Twitter was made on the same day that GameZino first posted on the blog, and also the day GameZino gained ownership.[citation needed] It is still unknown as to how or why the site was sold to someone representing GameZino in the first place, as Tony Campbell has yet to contact 'Tapped Out' communities due to legal obligations.