Winter content removal review

On Saturday I posted about an in-game notification that all 'Winter holiday items' would be removed from the market today.

Notification for 'winter holiday items' content removal

Well the deed is done. The removal took place earlier this evening, and the news is mainly good.

The leading story is that only Christmas content was pulled. I suspected that Winter 2013 and New Year 2014 stuff was in the firing line, but it all survived, as did everything else that has been added over the last 12 months, including Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving items from last year.

So here's the lowdown of all content removed on Tuesday 7th January 2014...

Recipes:

Recipe	Duration	Appliance
Holiday Tree Cupcakes	3 hrs	Basic Oven
Holiday Lights Cookies	5 hrs	Basic Oven
Peppermint Cake Roll	3 hrs	Basic Oven
Honeyed Ham	5 hrs	Basic Oven
Glass of Cheer	12 hrs	Drink Machine

Items:

Item	Category	Cost
Holiday Lights Table	Tables	34,000 coins
Cinnamon Spice	Tables	40,000 coins
Ornament Table	Tables	6 gems
Frosty Table	Tables	15,000 coins
Ornament Ball	Tables	40,500 coins
Holiday Lights Chair	Chairs	6,200 coins
Log Chair	Chairs	6,200 coins
Cinnamon Stick	Chairs	2 gems
Ornament Chair	Chairs	4,000 coins
Frosty Chair	Chairs	1 gem
Ornament Ball	Chairs	2 gems
Menora Window	Wall decorations	25,000 coins
Cabin Window	Wall decorations	6,950 coins
Joy Sign	Wall decorations	6,000 coins
Christmas Cupboard	Wall decorations	28,000 coins
Holiday Lights	Wall decorations	10,000 coins
Turtle Doves	Wall decorations	3 gems
Hanukkah Bush	Floor decorations	26 gems
Pink Tree	Floor decorations	10 gems
Snowman Waiter	Floor decorations	24 gems
Snowy Holiday Tree	Floor decorations	21,000 coins
Holiday Cake Display	Floor decorations	18 gems
Holiday Fireplace	Floor decorations	10 gems
Festive Frenchie	Floor decorations	7 gems
Illuminated Trees	Wallpapers	5,500 coins
Log Cabin	Wallpapers	2,850 coins
Cinnamon Spices	Wallpapers	1 gem
Candy Cane	Wallpapers	10,000 coins
Ornament	Wallpapers	5,000 coins
Christmas Rug	Floor tiles	800 coins
Snowflake	Floor tiles	1 gem
Holiday Lights	Counters	6 gems
Cinnamon Stick	Counters	2 gems
Gift	Counters	6 gems
Ornament Ball	Counters	6,800 coins
Sleigh Crate	Boxes	24 gems

So there's still plenty of items have been dropped, although many more are still available for purchase. It makes sense to leave the New Year content in the game for now as it is still relatively close to the time they were released. But I did think the Winter stuff which was added in January 2013 would be removed. I'm pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong.

It's also a bit strange that the wealth of Valentine's and Thanksgiving items survived. Last year they were all removed at this time, yet it looks like they're staying permanently.

However after the Halloween content removal debacle, I guess it's possible that such content could be removed in the future. For example the Valentine's themed items from 2013 may be removed alongside any 2014 items a while after February 14th this year (if the game's developers choose to do such a removal).

As positive as I may sound, there are a couple of downers on this removal. The primary issue is that the items pertaining to the Christmas goals have been erased. Some of those are unlocked through the goals while others are simply necessary to progress. I understand that most players will have finished these goals some time ago, but they don't officially expire until this coming Monday, so it's disappointing to see TeamLava drop the ball on that one. Perhaps they'll right the wrong...

Update: Low and behold, within minutes of publishing this post, the goal items have been re-added. There's the customary shambles! The relevant items have now been removed from the above table.

The other moan I have regarding the removal centres around the Glass of Cheer.

Glass of Cheer on Drink Machine

Having only been added on Christmas Day, a lot of players won't have yet mastered it. After all it was a lengthy 12 hour recipe on an appliance some won't have many of built. Plus the Drink Machine requires 40 parts to construct so the process of adding more is slow. I feel for those who were unable to obtain the two mastery gems in time - I would have been in the same boat this time last year.

But overall not too destructive a removal. I just wish that TeamLava would be a bit more transparent when they describe a removal. 'Winter holiday items' can be interpreted in a number of ways!

But hey, we can still decorate for the Carnival right now, for Thanksgiving in April and New Year in August if we so wish!