A goal for the gamemakers

This post could have passed as a Suggestions Box entry, but I felt it deserved more in-depth attention...

The last few sets of goals have all been very similar. There's a lack of variety to them, which leaves me able to predict beforehand what's coming. This is a shame, because for many players the goals are all that keep them going. I'm particularly referring to long-time users who have already mastered ever recipe. I don't fall in that bracket (yet) but still feel frustrated at the increasingly stale goals.

To demonstrate the mirroring of goal sets, let's take a look at the opening goal of each of the last three goal sets:

Goal set	Step 1
Chinese New Year	Buy 8 Fireworks Celebration Wallpaper and buy 16 Good Fortune Floor Tiles
Christmas	Buy 6 Log Cabin Wallpaper and buy 12 Christmas Rug Floor Tiles
Thanksgiving	Buy 12 Fall Leaves Floor Tiles and buy 8 Autumn Afternoon Wallpaper

It doesn't take a genius to spot a pattern there. Plus, the costs of the wallpapers and floor tiles involved in these goals are all similar. I'm beginning to get a bit bored when a new set of goals appears and I'm met with the usual opener.

To add to the inevitability, completion of the opening step always results in the unlocking of the first goal oven. This I can understand, as the new appliances yield the majority of the goals, so it makes sense to have them unlocked early doors.

And this leads me to my next gripe. The appliances that come with the goals always hold three recipes, and there are also two such appliances per goal set. Furthermore, the first oven unlocked contains relatively short recipes every time, while the second is assured to have longer recipes. Where's the unpredictability?

Recipes on Chinese Dessert Oven from Chinese New Year goals

My frustration is compounded by the details for the dishes. Every time, the statistics for the recipes are average at best, and more often than not, rubbish. My repeating recipe reports indicate this lack of variety. This is one thing I just can't get my head around. Why can't TeamLava give us some top returning recipes on the goal appliances? At least we'll have put some effort in to obtain access to these dishes, and since such foods are unlockable for a limited time only, there will be a sizeable chunk of the playing population who don't even get their hands on them. So the damage done to the game's internal structure would be minimal.

Back to the goal steps themselves, and the recurring requirements continue. Nearly every time it's the table that has to be unlocked rather than the chair. Why? Is it really that difficult to interchange the two? This would hardly revolutionise the goals, but at least it would mix things up a touch.

On the other hand, I've got some ideas which could transform the goals and alter the face of our planet (sort of!) There's nothing wrong with the current goal prizes - there's usually two floor decorations available to unlock, and these tend to be large and impressive items. But I'd like to give the gamemakers a break from their tireless designing of these decorations. Because we can survive with alternative goal prizes...

What about some gems? Only occasionally do we get a reward of gems (the last occasion were the Thanksgiving goals), and even then its a pitiful return.

Sidestep D of Thanksgiving 2013 goals which rewarded gems

When there's a slow week (see the Twisted update) I suggest that TeamLava should put together a set of goals which is challenging, and crucially, finishes with the reward of lots of gems. Existing recipes on the basic appliances would suffice, along with the purchase of some regular content, with the opportunity to earn say 15 gems at the climax. This would do an excellent job of filling the quiet weeks.

Clearly giving away free gems is a push, but note the use of the word challenging in that paragraph. Gem goals could be difficult to complete within the time limit (which itself could be shortened from the norm). I'm thinking along the lines of the Cruise goals last June which were expensive and required a lot of patience and attention.

To really add some spice, how about some extra fancy goal prizes - give us an extra appliance slot for free, or even a free expansion. And how about this one: give us a free dip into a box! That would have players frantically opening their game every two minutes to see if their goal food was ready to serve!

And not to leave out lower end players who don't have the resources to complete high demand quests, we could have more sets of goals like the Gran-Gran goals from last May. Those are effectively starter goals, designed to give an introduction and insight to beginners on how Restaurant Story works.

This could lead to some disparity, but there's always a solution! I think it would be nice to have those challenging goals applied on a sliding scale dependant on your level. So if you're at level 99, you can get 15 gems for completing the goal set but will need to cook perhaps 100 recipes in total across all the goals. In contrast, if you're at level 40, you can only earn 10 gems, but need only serve 60 dishes before time runs out. The same measures would apply to the purchasing of decorations for the goals. This would address the issue of lower level players having fewer appliance slots unlocked and less coins in the purse.

So with Valentine's goals possibly on the horizon, I'm setting TeamLava a goal: vary up the game's goals, both by shaking up their stale structure and offering lucrative rewards for those who can complete extra difficult goals!