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| Notification for latest Autumn themed update |
Autumn content is abound in this week's update, with a harvest theme full of those lovely rich colours that are associated with Autumn.
You need to be at level 27 to access the new content. Here's the complete list of additions:
Tables:
With 11 new items introduced this is a packed update. Obviously there are other goodies also available but we'll get to them later. For now let's focus on the totally new stuff, and there's an image over on the Storm8 Blog displaying it:
It's not often this happens, but the two items I'm most excited about in this update are both available for coins! The Harvest Tree is a major 3x3 decoration which depicts a lush tree covered in leaves of many shades of orange, brown and red. But there's also some green branches to be had - this was quite a gamble by the gamemakers as it could easily have backfired, but in this case mixing and matching the colours seems to have worked. The attached grassy floor and sparkles do count against the tree, but overall I'm just delighted that we finally have a more leafy alternative to the Fallen Tree.
The Harvest Haystack is so much more diminutive than the Harvest Tree, and yet is the other new piece I'm pumped for. The darkening tone of the 1x1 stack as you move down helps really convey the boxy nature of it, and although we already have the Hay Bale table, it's good to get a floor decoration which won't be tarnished with tips.
The other floor decorations to be added land on the other end of the pricing spectrum. The tree and haystack represent excellent value, whereas the Harvest Flowers and Kids' Cornucopia most certainly do not. The former looks great with much time and effort clearly having gone into designing and arranging all the flowers which are packed into the pot, but it's very much a 'sideshow' item aimed at enhancing your diner rather than setting the scene itself. That just won't do when there's a 35 gem price tag.
The cornucopia is at least an imposing and headlining 3x3 decoration, but it falls into the all too familiar category of too cheery. I hate to be Mr Grumpy, but this addition is just too lighthearted for my liking. We have a group of kids who are full of smiles as they indulge in the fresh fruit and veg pouring out of a woven cornucopia. There's nothing wrong with the designs as such, but the colours are too bright for me - for this season I'm looking for something of the earthy variety, as is the case with the Harvest Tree.
Speaking of content which is not value for gems, the Cornucopia Candle falls right into this bracket. For 15 gems you can buy a tealight sitting in a cornucopia-shaped holder and attached to the wall on a stretch of wood. In all honesty this is a pretty item which has some really intricate detail in the form of the berries around the outside of the candle. But for 15 gems there's no way I'm investing.
Sticking with the gem theme, the Haystack Stool depicts a small hay bale covered in a patterned cloth. It may be 4 gems, but I do quite like this chair. It's relatively simple and will go nicely with the aforementioned Hay Bale table. I'd like to say it matches the table introduced in this update, but sadly the Haystack Table disappoints. There's nothing wrong with the haystack, but dropping the circular sheet of glass on top ruins it. If the game's developers had just increased the diameter of the haystack's top there'd have been no need for the glass, which unfortunately looks rather ridiculous.
At least there's no glass in sight with the Cornucopia Counter. This counter is all rickety wood, with images of a cornucopia on the sides. Part of me wishes they'd not included those, instead just leaving it as a generic wooden box. But at least the inclusion of the horns informs of the season, and there are relatively blank wooden counters already in the market anyway.
The Harvest Tile confuses me in that it doesn't really scream of harvest, but nevertheless I do approve. The lighter squares perhaps don't fit all that well with Autumn, but I like how this is a somewhat unconventional flooring. Usually chequered tiles are quite rigid in design, whereas this one seems to be a little more 'free-flowing' and haphazard. It's nice to see something a little different.
The last of the decorative additions is the Harvest Wall. This is another thumbs up, with the use of many shades of gold rating favourably with me. I tend to think that most new Autumn themed wallpapers are similar in design, so it's refreshing to see one which is markedly different. The 1 gem price is obviously a downer, but with the right surrounding I could see myself purchasing a few of these.
Last on the agenda is a new appliance. The Harvest Stove ensures we have three straight regular updates with a fresh cooker, With the prospect of another six gems for mastering the recipes on-board, there's no doubt that the return of non-goal appliances is really good news.
To build a Harvest Stove you'll need to gather 6 Yellow Steel, 6 Acorn Knobs and 4 Harvest Scythes, with the last of these a new part.
It's satisfying to see the Acorn Knob return to the fold having made one previous appearance - that was with the Autumn Stove which was released a year ago on Friday.
Here are the recipes provided by the Harvest Stove:
The big story here is the Tomato Soup. Such a simple dish and yet it has taken all these years to see it added to the game! We already have Tomato Bisque on the Basic Stove of course, which is kind of a creamy soup, but it's great to see Tomato Soup added all the same.
Now to the recipe ratings:
The overall situation isn't great although with two of the dishes reaching a score of five in the overall stakes it's not a disastrous case either. The biggest positive to take away in my opinion is the lack of statistic repetition. For their respective durations the Corn Chowder has a unique profit and the Pumpkin Pancakes has a unique XP. The soup doesn't have any unique numbers but at the same time it isn't identical across the board to anything existing either.
You know things are going well when I even give off a perfume of positivity regarding recipes, and generally this update does have me nodding with approval. We've already seen a harvest themed update this year and it's been covered in the past too, but it is an immensely popular theme which comes with lots of possibilities so I can't say that I'm too fussed about the repeat.
And my nods of approval are about to become manic as we take in another special sale which runs for 30 days.
There are 45 items included in a major Autumn sale as well as those decorations exclusive to the Thanksgiving goals from 2013. That's right, as they did for Halloween, Storm8 have re-released an old set of goals for players who weren't around at the time. And that's really big news for one of my great neighbours - Nibble and Noms has been campaigning for the return of the Leaf Pile every year since its original appearance with no success, but now we have evidence that dreams do come true! (Thanks to Ratatouille for bringing the Leaf Pile's re-release to my attention!)
Some quick housekeeping: the Autumn Fireplace is not part of this sale, but is instead presented as a standalone limited time offer valid for only five days. You can find it a little further into the floor decorations tab.
Looking at the various stuff included in the sale, there does seem to be quite a bit of overlap with the Autumn sale we had in September, with a lot of the 45 decorations included having also popped up among the deals then. I won't complain though - it's great to see the gamemakers looking ahead to Thanksgiving by offering these items, and gives me yet another reason to be optimistic for both Black Friday and Christmas.
Of the sale content, two stand out in particular. The Cider Bar is one of the most popular pieces the game has seen, and even at 38 gems I'm sure it will be a common buy over the next few weeks, while the Autumn Gift Box at 50% off is seriously enticing. The general consensus is that this is a fine box, and for 12 gems just about everything inside can be considered fair value.
So all in all I'm pretty happy. There was a bit of a mix when it came to the new content, although with so much Autumn themed decor already in my locker that's okay with me. And with the sale in full flow there's the option to add some of the vintage stuff from yesteryear. Just be wary of blowing all your gems when Black Friday is around the corner!
- Haystack Table - 17,000 coins
- Haystack Stool - 4 gems
- Cornucopia Candle - 15 gems
- Harvest Flowers - 35 gems
- Kids' Cornucopia - 39 gems
- Harvest Haystack - 9,000 coins
- Harvest Tree - 29,000 coins
- Harvest Wall - 1 gem
- Harvest Tile - 4,700 coins
- Harvest Stove - 31,000 coins
- Cornucopia Counter - 32,000 coins
With 11 new items introduced this is a packed update. Obviously there are other goodies also available but we'll get to them later. For now let's focus on the totally new stuff, and there's an image over on the Storm8 Blog displaying it:
 |
| Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog |
It's not often this happens, but the two items I'm most excited about in this update are both available for coins! The Harvest Tree is a major 3x3 decoration which depicts a lush tree covered in leaves of many shades of orange, brown and red. But there's also some green branches to be had - this was quite a gamble by the gamemakers as it could easily have backfired, but in this case mixing and matching the colours seems to have worked. The attached grassy floor and sparkles do count against the tree, but overall I'm just delighted that we finally have a more leafy alternative to the Fallen Tree.
The Harvest Haystack is so much more diminutive than the Harvest Tree, and yet is the other new piece I'm pumped for. The darkening tone of the 1x1 stack as you move down helps really convey the boxy nature of it, and although we already have the Hay Bale table, it's good to get a floor decoration which won't be tarnished with tips.
The other floor decorations to be added land on the other end of the pricing spectrum. The tree and haystack represent excellent value, whereas the Harvest Flowers and Kids' Cornucopia most certainly do not. The former looks great with much time and effort clearly having gone into designing and arranging all the flowers which are packed into the pot, but it's very much a 'sideshow' item aimed at enhancing your diner rather than setting the scene itself. That just won't do when there's a 35 gem price tag.
The cornucopia is at least an imposing and headlining 3x3 decoration, but it falls into the all too familiar category of too cheery. I hate to be Mr Grumpy, but this addition is just too lighthearted for my liking. We have a group of kids who are full of smiles as they indulge in the fresh fruit and veg pouring out of a woven cornucopia. There's nothing wrong with the designs as such, but the colours are too bright for me - for this season I'm looking for something of the earthy variety, as is the case with the Harvest Tree.
Speaking of content which is not value for gems, the Cornucopia Candle falls right into this bracket. For 15 gems you can buy a tealight sitting in a cornucopia-shaped holder and attached to the wall on a stretch of wood. In all honesty this is a pretty item which has some really intricate detail in the form of the berries around the outside of the candle. But for 15 gems there's no way I'm investing.
Autumn 2016
Sticking with the gem theme, the Haystack Stool depicts a small hay bale covered in a patterned cloth. It may be 4 gems, but I do quite like this chair. It's relatively simple and will go nicely with the aforementioned Hay Bale table. I'd like to say it matches the table introduced in this update, but sadly the Haystack Table disappoints. There's nothing wrong with the haystack, but dropping the circular sheet of glass on top ruins it. If the game's developers had just increased the diameter of the haystack's top there'd have been no need for the glass, which unfortunately looks rather ridiculous.
At least there's no glass in sight with the Cornucopia Counter. This counter is all rickety wood, with images of a cornucopia on the sides. Part of me wishes they'd not included those, instead just leaving it as a generic wooden box. But at least the inclusion of the horns informs of the season, and there are relatively blank wooden counters already in the market anyway.
The Harvest Tile confuses me in that it doesn't really scream of harvest, but nevertheless I do approve. The lighter squares perhaps don't fit all that well with Autumn, but I like how this is a somewhat unconventional flooring. Usually chequered tiles are quite rigid in design, whereas this one seems to be a little more 'free-flowing' and haphazard. It's nice to see something a little different.
The last of the decorative additions is the Harvest Wall. This is another thumbs up, with the use of many shades of gold rating favourably with me. I tend to think that most new Autumn themed wallpapers are similar in design, so it's refreshing to see one which is markedly different. The 1 gem price is obviously a downer, but with the right surrounding I could see myself purchasing a few of these.
Last on the agenda is a new appliance. The Harvest Stove ensures we have three straight regular updates with a fresh cooker, With the prospect of another six gems for mastering the recipes on-board, there's no doubt that the return of non-goal appliances is really good news.
To build a Harvest Stove you'll need to gather 6 Yellow Steel, 6 Acorn Knobs and 4 Harvest Scythes, with the last of these a new part.
 |
| Harvest Scythe |
It's satisfying to see the Acorn Knob return to the fold having made one previous appearance - that was with the Autumn Stove which was released a year ago on Friday.
Here are the recipes provided by the Harvest Stove:
 |
| Harvest Stove recipes |
The big story here is the Tomato Soup. Such a simple dish and yet it has taken all these years to see it added to the game! We already have Tomato Bisque on the Basic Stove of course, which is kind of a creamy soup, but it's great to see Tomato Soup added all the same.
Now to the recipe ratings:
| Corn Chowder | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5.0 |
| Pumpkin Pancakes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 5.2 |
| Tomato Soup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 4.5 |
The overall situation isn't great although with two of the dishes reaching a score of five in the overall stakes it's not a disastrous case either. The biggest positive to take away in my opinion is the lack of statistic repetition. For their respective durations the Corn Chowder has a unique profit and the Pumpkin Pancakes has a unique XP. The soup doesn't have any unique numbers but at the same time it isn't identical across the board to anything existing either.
You know things are going well when I even give off a perfume of positivity regarding recipes, and generally this update does have me nodding with approval. We've already seen a harvest themed update this year and it's been covered in the past too, but it is an immensely popular theme which comes with lots of possibilities so I can't say that I'm too fussed about the repeat.
And my nods of approval are about to become manic as we take in another special sale which runs for 30 days.
 |
| Notification for latest Autumn re-release sale |
There are 45 items included in a major Autumn sale as well as those decorations exclusive to the Thanksgiving goals from 2013. That's right, as they did for Halloween, Storm8 have re-released an old set of goals for players who weren't around at the time. And that's really big news for one of my great neighbours - Nibble and Noms has been campaigning for the return of the Leaf Pile every year since its original appearance with no success, but now we have evidence that dreams do come true! (Thanks to Ratatouille for bringing the Leaf Pile's re-release to my attention!)
Some quick housekeeping: the Autumn Fireplace is not part of this sale, but is instead presented as a standalone limited time offer valid for only five days. You can find it a little further into the floor decorations tab.
Looking at the various stuff included in the sale, there does seem to be quite a bit of overlap with the Autumn sale we had in September, with a lot of the 45 decorations included having also popped up among the deals then. I won't complain though - it's great to see the gamemakers looking ahead to Thanksgiving by offering these items, and gives me yet another reason to be optimistic for both Black Friday and Christmas.
Of the sale content, two stand out in particular. The Cider Bar is one of the most popular pieces the game has seen, and even at 38 gems I'm sure it will be a common buy over the next few weeks, while the Autumn Gift Box at 50% off is seriously enticing. The general consensus is that this is a fine box, and for 12 gems just about everything inside can be considered fair value.
So all in all I'm pretty happy. There was a bit of a mix when it came to the new content, although with so much Autumn themed decor already in my locker that's okay with me. And with the sale in full flow there's the option to add some of the vintage stuff from yesteryear. Just be wary of blowing all your gems when Black Friday is around the corner!
I have been campaigning, and I'm stoked to see its re-release!! Unfortunately though, it still shows as 'Locked by Goal' for me ;_;
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed that Storm8 Support can open up the goals for me!!
I'm crossing my fingers for you too! :)
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