The past, the poppies and the gem dispenser

I'm back from my break, and so am duty-bound to round up the activity over the last week, which includes two traditional updates and a very special offer for iOS players.

We'll get those two updates out of the way first. On Wednesday 19th August there was a medieval themed release which included a range of new content, unlocked at level 10. You can see all the stuff via the following image taken from the Storm8 Blog:

Items from Medieval update as shown on Storm8 Blog

These items all add to a burgeoning collection of medieval decorations, most of which were added way back in late 2011. The likes of the Renaissance Table and chair, Spinning Wheel and Harp Player were all introduced back then, as was the Renaissance Chest. So there's scope for a really well put together medieval diner if you're willing to spend big.

As far as the content added in this most recent update goes, it's probably the Psychic Reader which is the most popular. Not only does this 3x3 floor decoration look the part in itself, but it also offers some flexibility - I've already read of several players who plan to use this piece for Halloween. At 16 gems it's a decent deal too.

The other two floor items released are the King and Queen and White Knight. The former is great value at 22 gems, and is a serious upgrade on the hugely overpriced Royal Guests which has been in the market for almost four years. The White Knight is also a good bet, even if it is much smaller. At least it is for coins, and worked in with other décor (particularly from the Renaissance Chest) it could really aid in bringing your place to life.

And the remainder in the update is for coins. The Crest Banners for the walls are a must for a medieval layout, while the Ye Olde Castle wallpaper makes for a quality backdrop. There's also the Royal Carpet which is cheap and definitely screams of stepping back in history.

Lastly there's the Olde Stove. I make that three consecutive non-goal cookers for coins, which may just be an indicator that Storm8 have given up on flogging appliances for gems. That would clearly be good news, and although we can't be certain of anything, I can't imagine that that concept did much for the gamemakers, both in regards to income and reputation.

The three recipes on the Olde Stove all look fine enough.

Olde Stove recipes

It's particularly nice to get Drumsticks added. I always find it amazing that with over 500 dishes now in the game there are still some foods missing, and I suppose this was one of them!

Ratings time, and you may wish to close your eyes...

Drumsticks
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	4	2	8	9	3.9

Fried Cookies
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
1	6	1	8	9	3.6

Giant Corn
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
1	6	1	10	9	3.8

It makes for ugly reading, with all three recipes ranked among the very worst in their respective durations for profit and portions. The steady XP scores are not enough to make up for this, and results in all three earning a poor overall rating.

So let's move on, and cast an eye over the update which came our way yesterday evening, Wednesday 26th August. It was a box update, which was not all that surprising as we hadn't yet had one this month. The Poppy Crate is a 24 gem purchase and upon opening you'll receive one of eight possible prizes.

Notification for Poppy Crate

You can see a few of the attainable items in the above notification, with the remaining prizes shown in this teaser from the Storm8 Blog:

Items from Poppies update as shown on Storm8 Blog

Incidentally the wallpaper shown here is the Floral Meadow which is available to buy in the market.

Here's my feeble attempt to draw up a distribution list for this box:

First Prize (1% chance)

• Poppy Stroll

Second Prize (10% chance)

• Poppy Cat
• 'Poppy Picking'

Third Prize (35% chance)

• 'Poppy Vase'
• Poppy Princess

Fourth Prize (54% chance)

• 'Poppy Divider'
• 'Poppy Bouquet'
• Poppy Pots

As ever there is plenty of uncertainty. If you can correct any prizes positioned in the wrong tier or provide the official title for an item do feel free to leave a comment with the details.

This is the third flowery crate in recent months, following on from the Tulip Crate and Roses Crate, plus there's been the Gardeners Chest. I quite like this consistency in the theme of the boxes. The theme being something diverse and colourful obviously helps, and being able to mix and match between the crates is nice.

Looking at specific items, there aren't many which entice me to invest. The lower ranking prizes are particularly displeasing, but I'm sure the likes of the Poppy Stroll and 'Poppy Picking' could be combined with other bright outdoor decorations to make a sensational setting.

Now to an update for iOS users only which popped up last Friday. The Gem Dispenser is a 1x1 floor decoration which comes at some cost - it requires 225 gems to buy which is a record by some distance, and that's a limited time 50% off offer.

Notification for Gem Dispenser

Why the extraordinary price? As the name suggests, the Gem Dispenser yields gems, one every 12 hours to be precise.

This is a major moment for the game. Until now gem production had been restricted to mastery of recipes and completing sets of collectibles repeatedly, both of which have their limits. As far as we know this innovation is available for all of time, meaning there is an opportunity to attain a steady flow of incoming gems for infinite time.

Of course the high cost of the Gem Dispenser is a serious turn off. For such a powerful item it's not all that surprising, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of anger at the fact that for the vast majority a real money purchase will need to be made to get hold of it. When it comes to Restaurant Story I am in that bracket, although without the fury. I can't afford it, so I'll just move on. It's not that difficult!

On the other hand, in Bakery Story there was much more to think about. Having exploited excessive numbers of free gem videos over the last couple of months, I was in a position to buy the Gem Dispenser, not once, but twice. It didn't come without much pondering though - after all parting with 450 gems is not a transaction to be taken lightly. Nevertheless, I'm now the proud owner of a pair of Gem Dispensers, and await the bearing of their fruits.

Timer for Gem Dispenser collection in Bakery Story

That will be quite a wait. Assuming I can make two collections every day it will take 113 days (or 16 weeks) to make my investment back on each of them and start making pure profit. In reality there will be an inevitable lag which results in the occasional collection being missed. It could be something like 150 days before I get out of the red, but that's not a concern for me. I've been playing the game for over three years so a few months of patience to set up some steady gem production is not a problem!

The only aspect of this feature which I find disappointing is its exclusivity to iOS. We've seen Bundles and Value Packs throughout this year which Android has missed out on, but this is something more. Gem production is a massive prospect, so to deprive Androiders is downright cruel. I'm not sure what the reason for it is, but I can only assume it's a technical one since this is an item which will almost certainly make Storm8 big bucks.

That's it for this catch up! Normal service will now be resumed with update posts coming relatively promptly on update day starting next week.