Gifting/Requesting

This is a blanket explanation for all the Story games. Therefore wording may different. i.e. Bakery and Restaurant has tipping but Farm has watering.

You are able to receive 20 gifts (pops up in your news thread saying so and so has sent you this item) AND 20 requested materials (includes goal requested items and appliance material requests, not a feature in all Story games).

To clarify:

Gifting: Every 24 hour period (used to reset at midnight), you are able to claim (accept/decline) 20 gifts that have been gifted. (You gift your neighbors generally through the Social menu where you choose the option to gift and what you want to gift.) When you receive gifts, they show up in your news feed.

Requesting: You are also able to receive up to 20 requested items every 24 hour period. This is done through the goals and constructable appliance interface. When you receive requested items, they automatically get applied towards the goal or go into your inventory. So you do NOT accept/decline these types of "gifts."

Thus, in a 24 hour period, you are able to receive 40 "gifts": 20 regular gifts and 20 requested items.

Note: Since it's a 24 hour period, if you accept 1 gift at 9AM, 4 at 11AM, and 15 at 6PM, the next day you'll be able to accept 1 after 9AM, 4 after 11AM, and then 15 after 6PM.

Gifting does not affect your star rating. Visiting others and tipping is the only way to increase your star rating and it has a slow decay, meaning you have to tip regularly.

If you are having issues receiving all 20 daily gifts and/or neighbors are saying they receive a message stating you are maxed out:

nmishii:

"The gift buffer holds 10 and then gifts drop off.

In my case the gifts that fell off the list didn't count towards the 20 gifts.

It sounds like the first 10 gifts you received fell off the gift list, and you are seeing the second 10 gifts. Since you have received 20, although you have not accepted any, your neighbors are getting a maxed out message.

I think that if you accept or decline the 10 gifts, the gifts that fell off the list shouldn't count anymore and you can receive more until you reach 20."

If you're having issues receiving requested items (especially if you like to request from your 100+ neighbors list):

I'm sorry I forget who I'm quoting and it's for fashion but works in all the games.

"Stop requesting items and you will receive the previously requested items more quickly. Apparently what happens is there is a delay when you send a request and when you receive the answer to your request.

The requested items, when received by you, go towards your daily quota/limit of 20 (?) gifts. So if you need 5 appetizers and you send to all your 300 neighbours asking for appetizer, when they respond by giving you your request you will end up with 300 appetizers which, you will understand, ends up tying up your ability to receive any more gifts in the game for a long time.

If you keep hitting the ask button requesting even more appetisers that just makes it even worse for you.

So step back, take a deep breath. Don't request anything for about a day or even two. Let your gifting system reset and then carefully request the items you need. If you only need 5 of something then ask only about 8 neighbours for that one thing. Be patient and don't be tempted to keep asking for that thing even if a few hours go by. Remember different players play at different times and a player may have accepted your request but it takes sometimes up to a few hours for it to register in your game.

The other thing is that not all players are receiving your requests. From what i understand, android players don't even see your request, so you have to try to figure out which players are android and which are not, which is easier to do in bakery and restaurant since you can see who has constructed appliances, but is harder in fashion. When tipping neighbours, try to look to see which players have the make up counters or the reward items from the goals placed in their store. If they don't have either, chances are they are playing on androids and you may not want to select them when requesting gifts.

One more thing, remember you have a daily limit of gifts that you can receive. So if you are accepting 20 shoes and sweaters and leggings and handbags (or food and parts in bakery & restaurant), that seems to limit the amount of requested items you can receive. This is what i have found out so far from other players and from my own experience. So as a rule, i don't accept gifts of food or clothing unless i'm constructing an appliance."

Summary: You really need only about 25-30 active neighbors. It'll make your life easier and you won't feel like you're spending all day tipping, allowing you to be a "better" neighbor. :).

Other information:

bobbyrae: Question. I'm sure it has been answered a million times but for the sake of clarification, is it the ability to receive/accept gifts that resets at midnight, with the ability to send gifts out being reset every 24 hours from the time the gift was sent?

nmishii: Yes, that is correct.

Requesting materials has been changed to reset at midnight, from 24 hrs since the last request. Receiving materials is 20 starting at midnight.

If a gift falls off the newsfeed, it is lost into the ether. Unconfirmed, it may also count towards your 20 daily limit.

putka: Didn't they say that not only requests, but also gifts are supposed to be reset at the same time as tips now? 12am CA time? I rarely stay up until 3am now (eastern) but i did last night. So i went to tip some nbrs 15ish mins after reset. Well, i was able to tip again, but not gift. What is it supposed to be?

bobbyrae: Tipping & requesting gifts/parts resets. Sending gifts is different. You can only send a gift to a neighbour 24hours after you sent the last gift to him/her