The re-release referendum

I touched on this in yesterday's update post, but wanted to expand on it. On Tuesday a community manager from the TeamLava Forum created a thread complete with poll which allows players to vote for which items they'd like to see return for a limited time.

There are 11 items which are included in the poll, although suggestions have been encouraged, so you can always ask for something else as well. And you can vote for as many of the nominees as you wish. The content in the poll is as follows:

Item	Origin
Swan Pond	First prize in Magic Bouquet
Koi Pond	First prize in Take Out Box
Ice Cream Machine	Prize from World Games goals
Action Ice Cream Maker	Prize from Asian goals
Action Chef Stove	Prize from Asian goals
Popcorn Maker	Prize from Carnival goals
Chinese Dessert Oven	Prize from Chinese New Year goals
Action Chef Lee	Prize from Asian goals
Crystal Fountain	Second prize in Crystal Gift Box
Reflecting Pool	First prize in Woodland Box
Lava Girl	Removed

The thread this vote is situated on infers that this is an opportunity to see benched content return, yet the list above includes four box prizes which are still active, even if they are very difficult to obtain.

As far as these candidates go, there's not one that stands out to me as a 'must have at all costs' item. I already have all the goal stuff up for vote having been playing the game for more than two years, which leaves the goal prizes and Lava Girl. I actually regret not buying the Lava Girl in my early days as she would make a good hostess, so I've voted for her.

As for the box prizes? Well the opportunity to bag any of these out of the box is not one to be passed up, so I voted for them all! The Swan Pond and Reflecting Pool in particular are really heavy pieces which I could blend into a lot of my existing outdoor stuff.

At the time of writing it is the Ice Cream Machine which is leading the poll with 51.72% of voters ticking its box. However the Koi Pond and Reflecting Pool are hot on its heels. At first I was slightly surprised that the Ice Cream Machine was the most popular of the appliances, since its foods are notorious for being among the very poorest in the game from a statistic standpoint. And they're quite diminutive in appearance too in my view. But then I realised that they are by a long way the oldest appliance up for grabs - the others were all removed 18 months ago or less, whereas the Ice Cream Machine was from the World Games goals in August 2012. So there is a large contingent (more than half!) of the electorate who seemingly haven't got access to this cooker.

As already stated, the 11 items standing in this referendum are not the only options available. Considering that a community manager has outright opened the floor up to suggestions, I suspect that the most popular proposals WILL be heard. So this is a great opportunity to have your say.

Here's mine. There are oodles of content I'd like to see return, so narrowing down to just a few was some task! But these are the 10 items which I have called for, in descending order:

Item	Origin
Chef's Station	First prize in Classic Kitchen
Snowball Fight	First prize in Winter Wonderland
Steampunk Fountain	Limited time offer from Mar 2012
Tropical Hammock	Limited time offer from Jun 2012
Mad Scientist	Removed
Haunted House	Limited time offer from Oct 2012
North Pole	Limited time offer from Dec 2013
Freezer	Limited time offer from Jul 2012
Dinner for Two	Second prize in Valentine's Box 2012
Giant Snowman	Limited time offer from Dec 2011

Considering my longevity, it's no surprise that a lot of my candidates are from deep in the past, and have been collecting dust in the TeamLava vault for a long time! You'll notice there's a strong presence of wintery items in the list, with the Snowball Fight, North Pole and Giant Snowman all Winter additions.

North Pole limited time offer from Dec 2013

This is a result of me not having much in the way of wintery stuff in storage which is something of a problem for my outdoor zone as the cold months approach, so it would be nice to see some of the snow covered content get an airing.

In contrast the Chef's Station is still topical having only been added in the Classic Kitchen eight days ago. And the Freezer is another potential enhancer for my burgeoning kitchen section.

The Steampunk Fountain, Tropical Hammock and Mad Scientist are all included as they would effectively 'complete' three of my themes, the latter of which is going to be hitting The Garlic Tree in the near future...

I haven't included any complete boxes in the list, but there's no harm in asking! So the Spooky Chest would be a great returnee, while the various Christmas boxes from through the years would also be fantastic.

Items from Holiday Gift Box 2011 as shown on TeamLava Forum

And going one step further, I'd be drunk on gaming if the Winter Wonderland or Classic Kitchen were to be opened up with all the items available.

Perhaps I'm getting carried away somewhat here! Any limited time re-releases are hugely appreciated by all, so I'll be happy whatever comes up, even if it's not me but others who are hysterical with delight.

Now let's look at the greater picture of this concept. We don't know when the poll is going to close, so there's no telling when the sale is likely to be. My greatest concern is that this is actually the Black Friday sale in all but name. It may seem like a long way out, but the game's developers will want to be organised for the biggest income generating weekend of their year. Ultimately I doubt this is the case, but it's certainly food for thought.

So assuming that this is completely unrelated to Black Friday, when will the sale happen, and how long will it last for? With Halloween on the horizon, I think it would be pretty cool if TeamLava incorporated the sale into the Halloween fun, with claims that 'certain items have risen from the dead!' As for the duration of the sale, it's difficult to predict. The Black Friday sale usually runs for the entirety of the weekend, so I guess this is the most likely possibility.

And one last question - how many items should we expect to win out and be unveiled on this magical day? It's another one I don't have an answer to, although I'd expect a smaller pool than there usually is for Black Friday.

Even prior to the execution of this special sale, I have to give credit to the gamemakers. This is an excellent idea which has sparked lots of discussion and reminiscing of great items from yesteryear. Such events keep the game ticking over, and help ensure that veteran players remain interested. It has even enticed me to make my first ever posts on the TeamLava Forum!