Suggestions Box (Oct 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...

 #246: Add a traditional wedding theme

Every now and again we get elements of a wedding theme in an update, most significantly with the winter wedding theme in January 2016. But that was essentially an incorporation into a winter theme, and so truly traditional wedding decor such as the Wedding Caterers and Spring Wedding are few and far between.

I'd like to see the game's developers give us an update genuinely revolving around a wedding. There's no shortage of avenues that could be explored, and I suspect it would go down quite well with the community. Admittedly I do have an ulterior motive here since early plans for some 2018 decorating are already formulating in my head, and a wedding theme could be very handy for me!

 #247: Unselectable decor when wallpapering

When placing wallpapers have you ever been unable to slap one on because of a large floor item which is blocking the wall? I know that I have, and it's pretty frustrating.

 Recent Suggestions Box posts

 23/09/17 September 2017
 26/08/17 August 2017
 22/07/17 July 2017
 24/06/17 June 2017
 27/05/17 May 2017

So let's make a small correction to the game's code - when a wallpaper is selected in the market all floor decor should become unselectable, thus allowing the player to place a wallpaper without any risk of it slipping.

I don't believe this would be all that difficult to implement given that there is already a mechanism in place to turn content transparent when a wallpaper is selected. A small change which would have big consequences when re-designing your place.

 #248: Fix 'new' box glitch in market

Here's an issue which for some reason always gets me worked up when I visit the boxes tab in the market. You'll notice that the first crate listed - currently the Musical Crate - always comes with a 'new' sign no matter how new it actually is.

Musical Crate in market

Indeed the Musical Crate was released along with a New York themed goal set back in May. It may be the newest box in the game, but it's been kicking around for nearly six months which by my reckoning means it is anything but new.

Some might go as far as to call this false advertising: 'oh look, a new box, better give it a go and see what's inside'. The reality is that most players are probably aware enough to recognise that there's a glitch in play here, but there are still some who may be sucked in. Therefore Storm8 need to squish this bug either by removing the 'new' text or by introducing a new box which can inherit it.

 #249: Release alternatives of curtain wallpapers

Just this week the Red Room Curtains were introduced in a Halloween themed update. I gave them a positive review, largely because of the fact that they are suitable in many surroundings. But for additional flexibility I'd like to see them replicated in some alternative colours.

This would give us all the more options, and help ensure that restaurant refurbishments look as good as they could be. We already have four curtain wall decorations in differing colours, so I see no reason why the gamemakers couldn't do something similar here with this wallpaper.

 #250: Make Black Friday the best yet

Blimey! We've reached the 250th entry in the Suggestions Box, and so it is only apt that I revert to a rather familiar plea... let's make this Black Friday the best yet!

Notification for Black Friday 2016

Last year's festivities was headlined by a sweeping sale on crates, with just about every one (past and present) available at half price. Opinion was split, with many players delighted at the scope of opportunity whilst others were distraught at the lack of certainty in their gem spending.

This year I'd like to see more of a balance. Boxes for 12 gems are very enticing and I'd certainly go for some, but a solid range of floor decorations freely available to purchase is necessary as well to provide some solace for those adverse to the chests. It's also vital that there's a mix of coin and gem content - all gem items just irritates everyone! And more than anything, I'd like to see the Gem Dispenser return, and at a competitive price. This machine drops 1 gem per 12 hours, and did make a comeback for Black Friday 2016, but at 270 gems. That was too steep, so let's see Storm8 be a little more generous as we get into the Christmas season! And for goodness sake, make it available for Android players as well as iOS users!

The sale should run throughout the weekend, and ideally should add new items each day on top of what's already up for grabs. This would be a money-spinner for the game's developers and have us hooked to the app. Also, the end time needs to be made very clear. There's been confusion and controversy in the past, so let's have a deadline which is definitive and adhered to.

And one final hopeful suggestion - half price expansions. It's been done on the odd occasion before, but with the high end ones that were added on Black Friday last year being so expensive, even being able to execute one of these on the cheap would put a very large smile on my face!