Sims Social survey lets you sound off on item prices, favorite features and more

It's that time folks - time to let your collective voices be heard! EA wants to know how much fun (or not) you're having with the Sims Social on Facebook, and they've released a fairly long survey to help you tell them. This survey contains all sorts of questions, ranging from the basics of how often you play the game, to allowing you to rate your opinion on item pricing (are they too cheap? too expensive?) and what some of your favorite features are in the game.

Of course, the point of all of this is to gather enough opinions to actually sway the way the game develops in the future. Hopefully, with questions dealing with how much we like to "build" items with parts (bookcases, double beds, etc.), and the option to say that you don't like it at all, we may actually see a lessening in those kinds of items, if enough users agree. You can even rank various gameplay features (decorating your house, visiting friends, customizing your Sim, etc.) in the order that you like them. In this way, perhaps we'll see more focus being placed on the most (overall) liked feature, and you'll be able to say you helped to make that happen.

Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of survey that will allow you to give your opinion on future item sets, but there are plenty of blank text boxes for you to say exactly what you want to the developers in a place that you know they'll see it. Again, this survey is prety lengthy (when compared to other Facebook game surveys anyway), so you'll want to make sure you have around 5-10 minutes to set aside to take it.

We've taken this survey as well, and if we start to notice any gameplay changes arising because of options listed here, we'll make sure to let you know. In the meantime, head over to this link right here to take the survey for yourself.

The Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box: Everything you need to know

For the twelve days of Christmas, The Sims Social has unleashed a dozen Winter Garden Mystery Boxes with a random item hiding in each one.

Mystery Boxes are always a pain when you don't know what you're going to get. They're an even greater pain when you have to shell out real money for them. Playfish is charging 15 Sim Cash for one box, 75 for five boxes, and 150 for ten boxes. Obviously, the best deal is to grab the ten boxes for 150 Sim Cash, but that would cost you $20.00 USD overall, and you're still left short of a dozen.

This is obviously deliberate, but Playfish aren't being complete jerks here, because they're giving away 2 FREE Winter Garden Mystery Boxes to everyone. You can find the first box here, and the second box here. This ensures you get a dozen, but it doesn't guarantee you'll get the item you want. Your chances at each item are divided as follows:

Six are Common, and these are Winter Lights Holiday Tree, Pine Cone with Holly, Winter Lights Bare Tree, Simple Winter Tree, Snowy Winter Berry Bush, and Blue Winter Bush.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Common
Three are Uncommon -- Mr Robin's Mailbox Home, SparkleBear, and SparkleDeer.
Sim Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Uncommon
And the final three are Super Rare -- SparkleTree, Winter Lights Luxury Gazebo Bed, and Winter Lights Garden Bench.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box Super Rare
Each item can be sold for Simoleons, and the amount of Simoleons you get seems to correspond to its listed Sim Cash price. For example, the SparkleDeer costs 35 Sim Cash, so if you sell it, you'll earn 350 Simoleons. It's not a great exchange rate, but with the two free boxes offered by Playfish, you're actually getting free Simoleons.
Sims Social Winter Garden Mystery Box wall post
Also, each time you open a box, you get the chance to announce it on your Facebook wall, and your friends can claim a reward. And for my final heads-up, I know it says "Head in now and claim FREE simoleons, too!", but I clicked on four wall posts and I've only been able to grab 15 Social Points each time. Let us know if you manage to get something different.

[Items Screenshots Credit: The Sims Social Fansite]

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2011 coverage right here.

Do you think ten boxes are worth the twenty bucks? Are you happy with Playfish's compromise of 2 free Winter Garden Mystery Boxes