Suggestions Box (Jul 2017)

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.

You can share your own suggestions too via the comments. If I like them, I may even include them in the next instalment!

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

 #231: Allow restaurant search by name

I've lost count of the number of times I have stumbled across a truly epic diner on the Storm8 Forum but been unable to visit because I don't have the Storm8 ID of its owner. Of course in the main players do use their Storm8 ID to post on the forums, but there are plenty (myself included) who use a secondary account when posting, but do include their restaurant's name in their signature.

Furthermore, there's something ungentlemanly in my view about sending a player an invite on a whim in order to have a peek at their place. Yes, you could just post on their wall to delete the neighbour request, but that's an additional action which shouldn't be necessary.

So I'm suggesting that we should be able to search for a player by their restaurant name. This would allow more flexibility in visiting diners of interest and on a personal level would be a nice way for me to meet some of you wonderful blog readers who have not been to The Garlic Tree before!

 #232: Introduce a gap in the wall option

This concept has crossed my mind in the past, but takes prominence following my annual revamp which now sees the punters enter into an outdoor section.

Outdoor entrance at The Garlic Tree

No matter which of the current door designs you invest in, there's no way of blending it in smoothly with any outdoor wallpaper. It just looks out of place and awkward, which is why I'm calling for the option to just remove a wall panel as an alternative to having a door. This would give a gap which is more reflective of the open nature of the great outdoors. Ideally we would have a dedicated door to go with every outdoor wallpaper but even I reckon that would be asking a bit much!

 #233: Add community events

Community events are a long standing feature of Dragon Story and Fantasy Forest Story, two of the other titles carrying the Storm8 banner. I only play the latter and must admit that there's only so much that such events boost the community spirit, but it is something which I believe would benefit Restaurant Story.

Glitzy Gala world event in Fantasy Forest Story

Essentially a community event (at least in Fantasy Forest Story) offers prizes for carrying out a certain number of everyday functions, with some of these earned individually and some as a community. it would be cool to have something similar in Restaurant Story, with serving dishes and making neighbour visits counting towards the grand total. You could even make the score gained from serving food vary from dish to dish, meaning that we would have to work together to discover which recipes were the best choices.

This feature would do good things for the game at a time when more and more players are either calling it a day or playing much less frequently. The fewer updates are taking their toll, and the odd event like this would be great for banding us all together with a common goal.

 #234: Include 'vintage' items in sales

This entry is inspired by a comment from regular contributor Nibble and Noms. One of the most appealing aspects of the summer themed sale at the end of June was the inclusion of a few pieces of decor which have not appeared in the game for many a year. The likes of the Celebration Balloons and Fireworks Display had been collecting dust in the gamemakers' storeroom for a long old time, so long in fact that even some veteran players could not recall seeing them before.

 Recent Suggestions Box posts

 24/06/17 June 2017
 27/05/17 May 2017
 22/04/17 April 2017
 25/03/17 March 2017
 25/02/17 February 2017

Nibbles and I were among them, and it is a thrill of sorts to have items appear in a sale which you've not had the opportunity to purchase previously. This doesn't happen often, with the game's developers often choosing the same selection of items to frame in orange time and again.

So my request is that more of these 'vintage' items of yesteryear are fished out of the dark depths and thrust into the spotlight. It makes sense for all parties, with players who have seen numerous sales come and go more likely to get involved if there is content available which hasn't seen the light of day for years.

 #235: Bring back weekly LTOs

This suggestion was also brought on by a comment from Nibbles. We've gone through spells in the game's history where limited time offers have been a weekly ritual, usually released alongside the weekly update. But it has now been the best part of five months since the last LTO, with that being the Mardi Gras Float re-released with the Mardi Gras goals.

Notification for Mardi Gras Float limited time offer

It would be really nice to see LTOs become a regular thing again, especially with the long gaps between updates. A weekly offer would give us something to discuss and ponder, and would do no harm to Storm8 when it comes to players splashing real money to get a valuable item. It doesn't even necessarily need to be new content which is showcased - an existing piece related to the most recent update theme or the current season would do the trick.