Suggestions Box (Apr 2015)

Every month I list five things I'd like to see added, altered or abolished from the game. Because even though my long time of playing Restaurant Story clearly shows I love it, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some of the ideas I'll air will be significant game changers while others will be low-key and irrelevant in the eyes of many of you readers.

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

 #96: Keep the expansions coming!

Last Friday the gamemakers brought a big smile to my face with a brand new expansion. This was the first new expansion in the game during my time playing, and has given me a new lease of life!

Notification for new expansion

But now I'm going to get greedy. One new expansion alone is exciting, but I'd like to see Storm8 go all out and introduce more expansions too. The new maximum size is 24x27, but surely there is scope for more?! I've got enough content in storage to probably fill double those dimensions, but will settle for expansions up to 27x30.

Having said all that I'm only two thirds of the way to having enough coins for the 24x27 expansion! However if further expansions were added I would definitely go for them as well. And there are scores of others who feel the same way and - crucially - spend gems to execute their expansions. So there's money to be made for the game's developers here.

 #97: Remove locked content

Also in that surprise Friday update was the announcement of a removal of the goal items from the Spring 2014 goals. That was a first, and led me to wonder about how players who have had those decorations padlocked for more than a year feel about seeing them vanish forever.

As far as I know, only goal content you fail to unlock after having started the game show up, and that for me means the prizes from the Olympic themed goals way back in August 2012.

Locked Olympic content in floor decorations tab of market

Those items have haunted me now for over two-and-a-half years, and I want something done about it! The word from Storm8 has always been that removing locked content would mean also removing it from players who have it unlocked, but following that Friday removal it seems they're not worrying about that anymore.

So the gamemakers need to step it up and end my agitated staring at that podium! Ideally they would actually unlock them as a limited time offer, but based off the Spring goals content removal that appears to be asking too much.

 #98: Make surroundings seasonal

I've discussed making changes to the streets surrounding our restaurants before, but here is a simple yet effective idea for how to spruce up those tiring streets. As the year goes by, the surroundings should change to reflect the current season. That could really enhance the seasonal themes we have in our diners, and could help get into the spirit of the season.

The roads could be dusted with snow throughout Winter and a scattering of leaves during Autumn. The lampposts could have banners draped from them for Thanksgiving. And there could even be sparkly decorations in the windows of the surrounding buildings at Christmas - that would be so cool!

 #99: Improve organisation of LTOs

Regular contributor LauraBeth gets the credit for this one! Quite often when there is a limited time offer it is not listed at the start of the relevant tab, but instead at a seemingly random place halfway through.

 Previous Suggestion Box posts

 28/03/15 March 2015
 21/02/15 February 2015
 24/01/15 January 2015
 13/12/14 December 2014
 15/11/14 November 2014

This is of benefit to nobody - less observant players may completely miss the deal (assuming that they tap through the daily notifications without looking which I have been known to do!) and the game's developers miss out on potential purchases. And those who are well aware of this shenanigan have to tap feverishly to discover what's what.

The solution is glaringly obvious. Storm8 need to always display LTOs at the very start of their respective tab of the market. Complete with the orange banner showing the time remaining before it goes we'd definitely not miss out then!

 #100: Keep coming up with suggestions!

Wow. One hundred suggestions. When I first started the Suggestions Box in September 2013 I never envisaged it would still be going strong after all this time! This is the appropriate moment for me to thank everyone who has offered up an idea over the last 18 months and helped make it one of the most popular features of the blog. Without your contributions I seriously doubt that the Suggestions Box would still be churning out great ideas on a monthly basis.

So here is the 100th suggestion - keep 'em coming! I personally don't have all that many new thoughts to add so do like to hear your ideas, no matter how wacky! And you never know, you may just see your suggestion not only given the official write-up on here but also implemented in the game (I know I have!)

So keep filling that box!