Suggestions Box (Aug 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...

 #116: Offer special deals to all players

The introduction of the Gem Dispenser last week was exciting stuff, but only for iOS users. As has been the case with the various Value Packs and Bundles since the start of the year, Androiders have been excluded from this special deal, with only iOS players able to partake. Moreover the most recent Value Pack appeared to be offered only to those iOS users who have not previously made a gem purchase.

Notification for Gem Dispenser

Something needs to be done. The platform disparity has been present for too long now, and the gem dispenser has really flagged it up big time. The Android community is large enough that it makes a significant contribution to the game, so this is certainly not an issue which can just be swept under the carpet.

I can only assume that the problem is of the technical variety. There's no financial sense in the gamemakers excluding Androiders (unless they have shares in Apple of course!) so there must be a coding issue or special rule exists which prevents some in-game promotions. Whatever the problem I'd prefer Storm8 to come out and tell us and, if possible, offer up a remedy which evens the playing field.

 #117: Add recipes to basic appliances

The return of new appliances outside of goals is very much welcomed after a long barren spell, but it has come to the detriment of the basic appliances. None of the Basic Stove, Basic Oven, Basic Grill and Drink Machine have been given a new recipe in a long time now. Indeed you have to go back to the Hawaiian update at the end of April for the last fresh foods not on a new cooker.

Before that we'd been on a run of lots of new recipes on the basic appliances, so the sudden dearth does seem to have been very deliberate on the game's developers part. Do they feel there are too many dishes already on the basic appliances? Or do they prefer us to be stunted by the need to construct cookers? Whatever the case, I'm not keen on the current state of play.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't got a problem with new non-goals appliances. We went an extremely long time without one and it was great to see them return, but for me Storm8 have gone too much the other way now. A balance is needed - perhaps one non-goals appliance per month would be nicer, with any other new recipes added to the basic cookers.

 #118: Bring back new item LTOs

Has anyone else noticed that all the limited time offers over the last few months have been re-releases of old content? I don't have a massive problem with this - after all its always nice to have the opportunity to get hold of an item which had previously been consigned to history. But I'd prefer a mix of old and new with the LTOs.

Pirate Fountain LTO

There's something exciting about completely new items being available for only a short time. Plenty of players will disagree, not least because they usually come at a steep price. I get that, but if you've saved up enough gems there's an opportunity to get hold of a really valuable piece which few others will have. I guess the same can be said of re-releases too, but by default there's going to be more widespread holders of LTOs which have come around on multiple occasions.

 #119: Add a Bollywood theme

In July we had an Indian themed update which I really enjoyed. I think there's scope to take this theme further, and an update revolving around Bollywood is the obvious choice.

Items from Indian themed update as shown on Storm8 Blog

I must admit that I'm not very knowledgeable about Indian culture, and that includes Bollywood. But from the few glimpses I have had, Bollywood seems to be full of vibrant colours and sparkling energy. I can imagine lots of really bright and enticing decorations spawning from a Bollywood theme, and think that such stuff would satisfy the vast majority of the playing population.

 #120: Be prompt with upcoming seasonal sales

As we enter the highly anticipated period of the year which will take in Autumn, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas, the obvious suggestion to make is for lots of seasonal sales. But I've done that before, so instead I'm going to take a different slant.

 Previous Suggestion Box posts

 25/07/15 July 2015
 29/06/15 June 2015
 25/05/15 May 2015
 25/04/15 April 2015
 28/03/15 March 2015

At times in the past, sales have been offered at awkward times. The prime example is last Halloween, when we were all begging for old content to be re-released. In the end it was, but only two days before the 31st, which was something of a let down!

It's really in Storm8's interests to deliver any sales nice and early. In the world of Restaurant Story players are very punctual with the seasonal specials - many have already redecorated for Autumn and I'm sure we'll be seeing ghosts and ghouls in some diners very soon. So there's no harm in the game's developers setting their stall early. People will participate in such sales, certainly moreso than one which comes just prior to the big event.