RS2 News (Jun 2015)

It's been seven weeks since my last Restaurant Story 2 round-up, and in that time there has been a lot of activity in the game. In fact the high volume of things to do has been characteristic of RS2 so far. After the first couple of months we've had all sorts of bits and pieces to work on, meaning that there's very little time during which we're cooking leisurely.

This has its good and bad points. Personally I'm quite enjoying the busyness of the game. A lack of quests is often cited as a criticism of RS1 and I can see why - the monthly goals are generally quite easy and can be completed within a few days if you invest heavily. There's always something fresh to work on in RS2 and keep us on our toes. At the same time that can be tiring, especially if you lead a busy life. For a lot of players accessing the game is something which can only be done at certain points of the day or week, and challenging and time-consuming goals are not a good fit for such users.

 RS2 News

 02/05/15 May 2015
 11/04/15 April 2015

Since my last update there have been two cruise events have come and gone. First was the 'Rock 'n' Roll Cruise Catering Event' which was over only six days as opposed to the 10 days for the Tropical event.

Main page of Rock 'n' Roll Cruise Catering Event

Consequently there was less to win, with only a Rock 'n' Roll TV for reaching the end instead of a gem dropping customer. The Grand Piano won on completion of day 5 was probably the most lavish of the prizes, although I wasn't quite so excited to get it since I've already invested in the Player Piano!

Personally I found the event to be of an easier nature than the 10 day version. The physical evidence of this comes in the form of one of my opening orders - my request for 10 Oranges remained in place from the start until early on day four. So for the first half of the event I was able to get on with only two order slots in action!

Overall I definitely give a thumbs up to the shorter events. They may not yield the same quality of prizes but they still have their benefits and don't lead to quite as much stress as a full length event. We'll have to wait and see if the events are going to alternate in length, but I think that would be a good idea.

Within days of the Rock 'n' Roll event concluding a new goal set popped up.

Introduction to Spring Fling Dance goals

The 'Spring Fling Dance!' featured the Spring Queen as a regular visitor who would leave behind Confetti and later Hearts. As you'd expect this seasonal monarch received quite the abuse from the players for failing to turn up often enough! In this case there was perhaps reason for the anger as her visits were erratic - some players (such as myself) found that the Spring Queen appeared around once an hour while other had to wait up to two hours between visits.

At least the Punch Cart was a more popular feature. In a similar mould to the Water Cart, this new item added a bit more variety to everyone's diner, with the bots shouting for punch as well as water. It would have been nice if Storm8 had kept it active on a permanent basis.

Punch Cart in action in The Onion Bush

Giving customers a glass of punch resulted in Confetti being given, which in turn was needed to cook some of the goal recipes. The 1 hour reload time for 10 glasses from the cart was something of a pain, particularly because it wouldn't commence until you had collected 10 Confetti from the drinking punters.

The bulk of the goals involved mastering dishes, and once more a stash of Mastery Spice was essential to finishing within the time limit. This was particularly important because of the valuable Confetti and Hearts needed as ingredients for the goal recipes - it took long enough just to have all the necessary components to cook so halving the number of cooks was a lifesaver.

I can't say I really enjoyed the Spring goals. I felt there were not enough decorations to earn by working though the quest, with only the Confetti Cake at the end being a reward. For the amount of time and effort needed to reach the conclusion, access to a single dish isn't really sufficient in my view.

Hot on the heels of that quest was another strand of goals called 'Game of Scones', a nod to Game of Thrones.

Notification for Game of Scones goals

It was very interesting to get an imitation of a popular TV show (and book series) in a Storm8 game. It's not something I've seen before in these games and was met with acclaim by most of the community.

A shorter batch, these goals focused on one new recipe only, the Blood Orange Scones. On this occasion there was no wait for a special visitor, with the Blood Oranges needed for cooking being dropped by ordinary customers when they asked for water. Nevertheless this did mean sitting with the game open for longer than usual to stock up, although that's a strangely therapeutic thing to do when you're lying on your sunbed!

Like the Spring goals, the Mastery Spice was absolutely critical to getting done. If you have enough Garden plots open to often get Vanilla growing I really recommend preparing some Mastery Spice so that you're in as strong a position as possible for these goals.

During this latest goal set there was a sale which was the first of its kind.

Notification for Premium Commercial Range sale

For a limited time the Premium Commercial Range was on offer at 20% off. Normally 120 gems this was a decent discount if you fancied adding a third Commercial Range to your armour and ease the strain of the goals (which were reliant on this appliance). Unlike when you spend gems to fast-track through goals and events, this investment is one which you would reap the benefits of forever more. Having said that I am very much a decoration man when it comes to gems, so I stayed clear!

It was only hours after the climax of the Game of Thrones goals that the 'Egyptian Cruise Catering Event' event entered the fray. A 10 day slog, this was a full blown event with a major final prize. The ultimate aim was to unlock Nefertiti, a wannabe Pharaoh who would visit every so often and drop Pistachios which in turn could be used to prepare Chocolate Pyramid Cake. What's the point? Because this cake gives gems when served!

So off everyone went on the quest with high hopes of capturing Nefertiti. I on the other hand was very concerned about my chances. On holiday at the time, I was determined not to set alarms and be overly attentive, so the event would be quite the challenge. And yet I actually strolled through the first few days without too much difficulty. It was only on the last couple of days (which thoroughly enough were after I got home!) that things got tricky. I was five gems short of finishing day 9 before the bell so had to spend some purple jewels for the first time in an event in a bid to give myself a favourable shot at the final day. And with the help of some quick serves I did it!

Unlocking of Chocolate Pyramid Cake

Over the last few days I've been embarking on the convoluted process of collecting Pistachios from Nefertiti and cooking Chocolate Pyramid Cake. It's certainly a less satisfactory prize than the punctual Luana from the first cruise event, but at least there's the guarantee of gem rewards. I've already made up the five gems spent in the event, and am now waiting to get my first 10 gem haul from the cake!

On Thursday yet another activity made its entrance, with a short four day goal set ahead of Father's Day. It's Sarsaparilla which is the bain of everyone's lives this time, but hey, where would we be without a bit of a challenge!