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| Notification for Chinese Celebration |
This is a box update with the Chinese Celebration being the solitary addition. For 24 gems a pop you will get one of nine prizes at random from this crate, with your luck dictating the rarity (and quality) of the item you procure.
I'm kind of on the fence with this update. On one hand it's an expensive box and yet another Asian theme. But on the other hand I do like decorating for Chinese New Year. It is much more specific than the general world updates we sometimes get, and after the really cool goal set in 2014 I'm definitely ready for more CNY stuff.
However we do have to face the facts: despite being the first box of 2016 this is the third box in six updates and the fourth released in nine weeks. That's well above the all-time average which is generally accepted to be one in four. Or in other words, one a month.
Homing in on the theme, I know that plenty will be unhappy about another Asian based update. There have been a good few such updates throughout the game's history, but it's worth pointing out that there have been fewer of late, with only two in 2015. As I've already touched upon, tying it into a topical event does make it more acceptable, at least in my view. Chinese New Year is one of the more interesting celebrations around, and there's definitely scope to make it work. But did Storm8 succeed?
Update: Thanks to Maya's Place for allowing me to show off her results from the box:
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| Items from Chinese Celebration box as shown in Maya's Place |
Here we have a view of eight of the prizes. Typically there are nine but it may be that on this occasion there are only eight. After all that did happen a few times last year.
With this image in tow, here's a breakdown of the prizes:
First Prize
- New Year Cafe
- Festival Dragon
- Festival Dancers
- Festival Treats
- Festival Queen
- Festival Pup
- Festival Flowers
- Festival Lamp
- ?
If you've opened the Chinese Celebration box and can shine a light on the missing item, do feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post!
As the first prize, the New Year Cafe is shown on the in-game notification. It's the latest in a long line of 4x4 decorations which involves someone serving condiments from behind a counter, with the likes of the Juice Bar and Apple Vendor being other recent examples. This format is becoming a little tiring to be honest, although when such items are well crafted I'm happy to let it go.
The standard server-behind-counter style is not that well disguised with this café, yet I'm still feeling positive about it. There's lots of bright colours and fun, plus the bot whose face is screwed up is hilarious - it looks like he's not enjoying his CNY treat!
Let's now look at the other pieces shown in the notification. The Festival Treats features two folks cheerily preparing food on a mobile kitchen. This is a fantastic idea for an item, but sadly I'm not sold on its execution. The fact the kitchen is a bike is not all that clear, with the munching guy and the hanging lanterns almost hiding the front wheel (at least in my eyes). Therefore at a glance you could mistake this for a fixed cooking unit, which is a shame as the bike is what makes it unique.
Next is the Festival Dragon, which is a sculpture of sorts. We're entering the year of the monkey so I'd have preferred a giant ape on a plinth, with the next year of the dragon not until 2024. But beyond the technicalities it is a good addition, with the often superficial sparkly glint actually apt for this solid gold creation. Ideally you'd be best with two of these so that they can guard an entrance, but even one is decent at 3x3 in size.
The other second prize is the Festival Dancers. This is an action shot with four girls dancing and waving their fans. Like with the New Year Cafe there appears to be lots of vibrant colour here, not just from the archway draped with lanterns and banners but also the girls themselves. One of them even has pink hair! Not sure that's a Chinese tradition but we'll run with it!
New Year 2016
06/01/16 Healthy lifestyle
The rest of the goodies in the crate are the ones which make it a gamble. As far as I know they're all 1x1, with the Festival Queen being a real disappointment given that she's a third prize. At that tier you're really looking for something more substantial. No disrespect to this lass though - she's looking lovely with those flowers in her hair and is certainly ready to take in the New Year.
There's also the Festival Pup who follows on from the Ring Barker last week - another pooch in clothes. I stated my lack of excitement at such items, and this dog certainly falls into that category. The costume actually reminds me of a porter. Maybe the Train Conductor should team up with this pup!
Finally there's the Festival Flowers which is a small basket of red, orange and yellow flowers. Clearly it's not worthy of your 24 gems, but there are plenty of boxes with a weaker booby prize. Note that those sparkles I pointed out on the Festival Dragon are again in force here, with them this time being totally out of place. Too much twinkling Storm8!
With the crate dissected we've reached the end of the analysis. As much as I'd have preferred a normal update I can't complain about a Chinese New Year themed week. It's a theme full of energy and fun and with no CNY stuff last year I think we were due another update on this major event.
Something interesting is that Chinese New Year isn't until 8th February. So we've still got another two updates before we get to the day itself, and that leaves me wondering why the gamemakers have opted to push out a CNY update so soon. The most plausible answer is that Valentine's is on their minds - I'm going to assume that either next week or the week after will see the start of dedicated Valentine's Day content.
Whatever is in the offing over the next couple of weeks, your love for now should be directed at Chinese New Year - 新年快乐!
Impressive, you typed Happy New Year in chinese! :)
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