Back to school goals content report

Over the course of the last week everyone has been very busy with the back to school goals, and having now finished them I'd like to share some thoughts on the content which is available exclusively through the quest.

We'll start with the new appliances, which inevitably provided the main challenge of the goals. Both needed a new part in order to build.

New parts 

The Apple Knob and Drip Pan continue the trend of two fresh parts per goal set, as was pointed out in my part analysis last weekend. And with the ever-popular Mallet also making an appearance, it continues to rule the roost as the most commonly called for part of late.

So what of the Lunchbox Stove? This is the first of the cookers unlocked, and it holds three recipes.

Lunchbox Stove recipes

It appears that school lunches in the US vary greatly from here in the UK! I actually had to look up 'PB&J' as I had no idea that it stood for peanut butter and jelly! It's not something which is all that popular on my side of the pond - so much so that I can proudly say I have never tasted peanut butter!

The other two offerings don't scream of school lunches (packed or otherwise) to me either, but I realise that different cultures will approach the matter differently.

Let's now focus in on the recipe ratings:

PB&J Lunch
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
5	3	2	8	5	4.1

Corndog Lunch
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	5	2	7	5	3.6

Cheesy Lunch
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	5	2	10	5	3.9

It makes for bleak reading, with all three dishes performing poorly across the major factors. Add in the fact that Storm8 have been lazy enough to apply the same stats as they have for some previous goal recipes of the same lengths, and you've got a permit to move on quickly.

Doing that, let's study the Cafeteria Oven's dishes.

Cafeteria Oven recipes

This time I'm more in tune with the three meals, and imagine that the Pizza Day is what would be offered on Friday, when healthy eating would go out the window at my school! Using trays to present the food ties in nicely with the regimental nature and lack of imagination often associated with school dinners.

To the ratings, and things aren't going to improve much:

Meatloaf Day
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	5	2	7	5	3.6

Fishstick Day
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	5	2	10	5	3.9

Pizza Day
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	4	3	10	5	4.1

Again it's yellows and oranges which dominate, indicating low scoring efforts. To increase the frustration, the Meatloaf Day and Fishstick Day mirror the numbers of the Corndog Lunch and Cheesy Lunch exactly. Lazy is the word! It's not difficult to provide six recipes all with different figures (including length) in a goal set, so why don't the gamemakers do that?!

I won't give up any more time for these substandard dishes, and will instead turn my attention to the three floor decorations which can be accrued in this quest. The Teacher's Desk is the first you'll come across. A 2x2 piece, here you have the teacher giving a lesson at the board, with a busy desk of books and stationary in front. Standalone I think this is a cool item, and definitely a solid starting point for a school themed section.

However things become less impressive when we also place the Coloring Corner. Notice that the three kids positioned around the colouring table are all slightly bigger than the teacher - that can't be right! It's an unfortunate situation which takes the gloss off what is otherwise a really good decoration. The Coloring Corner is a happy place to be with bright tones and smiling children.

 Back to school

 12/08/15 Goals
 12/08/15 Update

Then we finish with the Cafeteria Fun. The smaller scale of the Teacher's Desk is again demonstrated, but this time we've got a direct comparison since the teacher is among the bots in the Cafeteria Fun. She's a little larger here, and probably more suitably sized. Again there are lots of smiling faces on show, and with food trays, drinks, bags and even a basketball at the side, you're getting plenty of detail from this final goal prize.

Although the scaling is certainly off (I assume the Teacher's Desk was scaled down as it was felt it was too big for an early goal prize) I am impressed with the content as a whole. Add in the stuff freely available in the initial update and you have enough decorations to really do a school theme justice. Once I pack up my Summer outlook next month I may just consider reserving a space for a classroom environment. There won't be any peanut butter though!

Now is probably the right time for me to notify you lovely readers that I'm off on holiday for a week starting tomorrow, which means I won't be around to make an update post this coming Wednesday, although I should be back for the next one after that. And I've got an RS2 News article all set to be automatically published on Saturday (I hope nothing dramatic happens between now and then!), so you won't be starved of reading for long!