Christmas 2014 goals content report

The countdown to Christmas is well and truly on, and consequently the players have been getting busy decorating for the occasion. A new set of goals alongside last week's update has really helped get everyone into the Christmas spirit, and this is where we take a look at some of the content which is unlocked via the goals.

But before that a few thoughts about the goals themselves. They've proven to be much more challenging than most of the recent sets, primarily thanks to two brand new parts required for building the appliances.

New parts for Christmas 2014 goals

The Holiday Screwdriver and Snowflake caught out a lot of us who had been trying to stock up on the number of festive parts from yesteryear which were still in the gift list.

The task of constructing the goal appliances was made particularly difficult by an error by the game's developers - for the first few hours neither of these new parts were available to gift so we were restricted to accumulating the necessary parts through requests.

Considering the Snowflake was needed for the first appliance - the Frosty Fountain - I didn't expect it to be an ingredient for putting together the second - the North Pole Oven - too. That is something that really hit me hard as I declined a whole load of Snowflakes in the day or so between deciding I had enough Frosty Fountains and unlocking the North Pole Oven. The result was an effect I'm usually good at avoiding - a clogging of the request system. My frustration got the better of me and I sent out far too many requests, meaning that on Friday and Saturday my flow of requests being accepted was non-existent. A problem completely of my own making!

 Christmas 2014

 10/12/14 Goals

 10/12/14 Goals update

 03/12/14 Winter update

Despite my trials and tribulations, I have enjoyed this set of goals because of the new parts. It's been a while since we've had fresh parts involved in the goals, and it does increase the challenge significantly. Mind you I still finished pretty quick! Plus kudos to TeamLava for (eventually) placing the two new parts at the start of the gift list, something which saves a lot of scrolling!

And another interesting aspect to these goals was the pricing. Generally things were more expensive than usual for a goals update, with this highlighted most clearly by the North Pole Oven, which cost 50,000 coins each. Considering most players buy several of each of the cookers, that's quite an expenditure right there. The Reindeer Tracks flooring is also quite dear when bought in bulk, and since it's the long-awaited snowy floor tile, many have done exactly that!

Now on to the new content. Since the discussion up to this point has been mostly appliance related it seems just to start with them. The Frosty Fountain and North Pole Oven both look good with their candy cane patterns and patches of snow, but what of the recipes they house? First up the Frosty Fountain...

Frosty Fountain recipes

The accessories each of these drinks have are really cute, as is the ribbon tied in a bow around the Candy Cane Shake. These little touches help add some extra appeal to these recipes and give them some character. Mind you the positivity is short-lived, as we take a peek at the statistics of these three drinks...

Claus Fruit Punch
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	5	2	10	5	4.2

Candy Cane Shake
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
1	8	1	8	5	4.0

Santa Cider
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	3	1	10	5	3.1

It's cool colours which we're looking for, and there's not many of those around, especially for the three highest weighted factors. These drinks are frankly rubbish when it comes to efficiency, with the Candy Cane Shake somehow managing to become the worst portion offering in the history of 3 hour recipes.

At least all three do perform okay when it comes to XP. This is reflected in the shake's XP rating, but not in the scores for the other two. That's because although they do rank highly, they're still miles behind their respective duration leaders.

And a last thought on the Santa Cider. Not only is it a dud on the numbers, but it also isn't too well named. After all I wouldn't recommend that Santa gorges on cider at this time of year - drinking and sleigh-riding must surely be outlawed!

Before I get Santa arrested, let's move on to the North Pole Oven, and the foods which are to be unlocked on there...

North Pole Oven recipes

Once again there's critical acclaim with regards to appearance, with the curly patterns on the plates and bowls helping to really convey that Christmassy feel that we all cherish. And that is very much needed since the foods themselves aren't exactly mainstays of Christmas dinner! Stew is certainly a wintry delicacy, although it wouldn't be found in my house on Christmas Day! And the yams are a really strange choice - surely a plate of roast potatoes and carrots would have been more apt?!

I do wonder if the unusual choices on this oven are an attempt by TeamLava to vary things rather than plump with the usual traditional dishes served up at this time of year. I can sort of understand, not least because we've got a number of turkey based recipes already as well as several other dishes which would be appropriate on the Christmas table. But I do like the tradition, and so would have preferred a new turkey design among the three, as well as a tasty Christmas pudding.

As for the recipe ratings, things go from bad to worse...

Yuletide Yams
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	8	1	10	5	4.6

Stocking Stew
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	3	1	10	5	3.1

Sleighbell Stew
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	7	1	10	5	4.3

They're even worse than the Frosty Fountain 'efforts'! I'm not going to ponder on these for long, except to say that the gamemakers were so lazy that they gave the Santa Cider and Stocking Stew (both 6 hours) the exact same stats, quite literally!

Just to top things off the two stews join the cider in having shocking names. Stocking Stew? Sleighbell Stew? Remind me never to visit the canteen at TeamLava Towers!

That's enough of the negativity. Let's now wrap up warm and step outside to admire the quality of the floor decorations which can be unlocked in these goals. The first is the North Pole Sign, which may only be 1x1 but is pretty high and looks great. The pole has the candy cane pattern and there's lots of snow involved too, both at the base and sitting on top of the sign. If the North Pole LTO were to be brought back in the next fortnight I'd be right in there purchasing it as these two (along with the table and chair from the update) would make the perfect combination.

The second floor decoration waiting to have its padlock removed is the Christmas Reindeer. This little critter is adorable! She may be small but is a big reward in these goals. The only downer is the price - you get one free through the goals but each additional reindeer comes at 60,000 coins. If you want an entire herd then that's a serious outlay! But if you've managed to procure a Baby Reindeer or a Red Nose Reindeer from past Christmases then that's a lovely combination right there.

And especially when they are positioned next to the Reindeer Grove. The final goal prize is a 4x4 whopper, containing a snow covered house, a number of wintry fir trees, an intricately designed sleigh, and two adult reindeer. For me this is a fantastic item very much worthy of the climax to the Christmas goals, There's lots packed in there, and it obviously goes with the other goal prizes very nicely.

Indeed all three have managed to find their way into The Garlic Tree's outdoor scene for Christmas, which will be showcased along with the rest of my restaurant this weekend. I'm hoping to get another couple of goodies in this week's update to finish things off!