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Notification for initial Halloween 2014 update
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As anticipated we're opening up the spooky proceedings with a goals update, so much of the new content is locked until you work your way through the goals. Here's the full list nevertheless:
Tables:
- Spiderweb Table - 14,000 coins
- Spiderweb Chair - 9,000 coins
- Web Window - 10,000 coins
- Vampire Waiter - locked by goal
- Cemetery Archway - locked by goal
- Trick or Treaters - locked by goal
- Graveyard - 9,500 coins
- Spider Stone - 7,000 coins
- Haunted Oven - locked by goal
- Witch's Cauldron - locked by goal
- Haunted House Counter - 10,000 coins
So the goals are pretty influential to your capability to buy these items, all of which are accessible at level 12.
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| Introduction to Halloween 2014 goals |
There's a dedicated post with all the details and tips regarding the goals available here. And in due course I'll write a report with analysis of all the tricks and treats accessible through the goals.
Before we get moving, I should draw your attention to the subject of content removals. Anyone who started playing before November 2013 will know that the game's developers do tend to remove some seasonal stuff shortly after they go out of fashion. This doesn't always happen (all the Valentine's Day goodies from this year are still in the market now) but there are no guarantees either way. There was a Halloween content removal last November, so I do recommend that you purchase anything from this update (and those which may follow) that you fancy pronto, just to be on the safe side.
In the mean time, there are a few decorations we can break down. As usual when the goals update rolls around, there are no gems in sight, and this is good news. Yet on this occasion I'm still feeling a little down because of the prices. The last goal floor tile cost just 1,250 coins, making it affordable to all players. In this case the 7,000 coin tag per tile means forking out 112,000 coins just to complete part of the opening goal. I'm all for tougher goal sets, but I don't think the hugely popular seasonal themes are the right time to be providing them.
Going beyond the financial aspect, the Spider Stone is a pretty cool floor tile. It consists of rickety dark floorboards and a spider's web stretched across one corner. It's in cases like this when I wish we could rotate flooring to avoid having a regimental pattern of spider webs. However this is still a nice tile.
The spider web theme continues with the new table and chair. Once again neither is locked in the goals, which I think is good because it means players can deck out for Halloween immediately instead of having to wait to unlock them. The Spiderweb Table is yet another table with a circular glass top, but I'll let this one go. It's the logical material to opt for to show off the spider web, and the spindly legs help give that creepy feel. It's just a shame there aren't eight of them!
The Spiderweb Chair is okay, without really getting me too worked up. I'm struggling to make out what the little round shape in the middle of the back is (is it supposed to be a spider?) Whatever it is, it takes away from the web effect, as does the fact that the web is rectangular!
The last of the spidery additions most definitely has an eight-legged pest included. I do like the Web Window, mostly because it's quite simple - a black frame, orange exterior and spider dangling from a web. The dark-light combination of the black and orange may be the clincher for me as these are the two colours I most associate with Halloween. Definitely a wall decoration I'll be finding space for.
The Graveyard wallpaper also has a hanging spider included, but this time it is in a secondary role. Two graves (one of which is a cross) are the prominent silhouettes here, with a starry purple sky as a backdrop. The slick inclusion of a crooked tree very faintly in the background helps populate the wallpaper. It's another thumbs up here - the decision to use only silhouettes and not the potentially naff detail of the graves is a wise one, as is the call not to include a full moon in the sky. If there were to be a lunar presence then placing multiple copies of the wallpaper would become impossible for me - there can be only one moon!
The last item freely available without working on the goals is the Haunted House Counter. Sorry but I can't warm to this piece. It just doesn't radiate creepiness as Halloween content should. Instead it looks like a large doll-house in need of a clean. Plus the glass surface is this time not justified. I'd much rather have seen a counter in the form of a grave or something spider-related instead.
For a preview of what's to come courtesy of the goals, check out this image from the TeamLava Blog:
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| Items from initial Halloween 2014 update as shown on TeamLava Blog |
Here we get a sight of all the goal items, including the 4x4 sized Trick or Treaters, which is surely the final prize. It looks to be a decent prize although I can't hide my disappointment that it's not based in a graveyard, but instead in a front garden. With the Graveyard wallpaper and Cemetery Archway, I'm thinking of ways to redecorate my outdoor section for Halloween...
Elsewhere, the wait for a new recipe on the Basic appliances goes on, with TEN WEEKS having now passed since the last such dish. Being a goals week I'll not get too worked up, but I'm still counting TeamLava!
And also absent this week is a returning LTO. The last update included the Ice Cream Machine, brought back for just a few days having won a poll conducted on the TeamLava Forum. Many (myself included) had hoped that other popular items may see the light of day in the coming weeks, but it seems not. However I've not lost all faith just yet, as it may be that the gamemakers feel a new goal set is enough to feed the interests of the players for one week and will release another LTO next time!
So lots of cooking and decorating to be getting on with. I plan to do some serious redecorating for Halloween in The Garlic Tree tomorrow, and will definitely be including some of the new stuff along with buys from previous years. Here's hoping that some of the old removed content gets a re-release all of it's own in the coming weeks!
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