Thanksgiving goals content report

This year's Thanksgiving goals expire on Thursday, so time is of the essence if you haven't yet completed the numerous tasks. I have (sort of - more on that later!) so thought I'd offer up some of my thoughts on the content which was available exclusively through the quest.

Introduction to Thanksgiving 2017 goals

First up, a comment on the cost of the various items which need to be bought along the way in these goals. This is becoming a recurring theme, but it has to be said - the goals are getting very expensive. Costs are escalating to a point where players are struggling to see much profit, largely because their counters are overflowing. I've still got over 15,000 plates of Boiled Lobster and 9,000 plates of Baked Scallops stinking the place up from the second set of Halloween goals.

It all comes to a head with the appliances, which are serious coin guzzlers. In the case of this quest, the Harvest Oven comes with a 42,500 coin price tag, while the Leaf Oven is a 57,500 coin buy. The latter is the fifth most expensive cooker of all time, and the most expensive since the Lemonade Fountain was added in June last year.

There was a time when I would purchase up to 10 of each goal appliance in order to try and fire through the goals swiftly and bring you these reports sharpish. But now I have to be frugal in order to save coins and that generally means a longer wait for these blog posts.

And that's me talking as an old-timer with no shortage of coins and plenty of commitment to the game. For a fairly new player these quests must be so daunting to the extent that I wouldn't be surprised if they were put off playing on. That doesn't bode well for Storm8 who need to be able to attract new faces on a consistent basis.

Anyway, let's take a closer look at the two appliances, starting with the Harvest Oven which requires 6 Wiring, 6 Harvest Scythes and 10 Harvest Wreathes to construct. The latter is a new part, while the Harvest Scythe makes only its third appearance and first since the Stone Oven was released in April.

Harvest Wreath and Twig Crown

Let's look to the recipes the Harvest Oven provides:

Harvest Oven recipes

It has been pointed out to me that the Grilled Brussel Sprouts are actually slight recolouring of the Sage Mushrooms on the Basic Stove, with even the loaf alongside maintained. However the other two dishes are original - the Varenykis is a dumpling type food whose origins are in Eastern Europe. Although they have become popular over time in the US I'm unsure how they relate to Thanksgiving. Meanwhile the Harvest Stuffing comes in a nice fluted bowl which gives it a unique appearance.

Here are the accompanying ratings:

Grilled Brussel Sprouts
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	7	1	5	5	3.2

Varenykis
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	6	1	5	5	3.5

Harvest Stuffing
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
1	7	1	4	5	3.3

As is customary, each of these dishes has an identical statistical makeup to a number of existing entries. In the case of the sprouts there are either other recipes with the same figures with that number dropping to five for each of the Varenykis and the stuffing. It therefore goes without saying that I am not going to dwell on what is a group of disappointing performers in the profit and portion categories. They do better on the XP front, but not well enough to deserve any recognition.

On we go, and the Leaf Oven calls for 8 Fuses, 12 Twig Crowns and 8 Spring Leaves in its construction. The Twig Crown was introduced with these goals, but it's the Spring Leaf that merits further discussion. This is only the Spring Leaf's second ever outing, with the first coming when it was initially added... in April 2013. Who cares that it relates to the wrong season?! After three-and-a-half years of waiting this leaf is finally back in business, so we should rejoice!

Now for the recipes, of which there are once again three:

Leaf Oven recipes

With the addition of the Kale and Ricotta Pizza we now have 14 pizza dishes in Restaurant Story. Usually I start whinging once we have that many variants of a recipe, but in the case of pizza I'll happily keep my head down. It's a classic restaurant food and naturally comes in a wide variety of forms. And I love it, even if this particular one sounds a little too healthy for my liking!

Healthiness seems to be a common denominator with this trio, with the Pumpkin Ravioli and Cauliflower and Asparagus Tart making serious use of vegetables. The latter dish is a history maker as you will know if you've read the most recent Suggestions Box - it has the longest name of any recipe the game has ever seen, with it being so long it doesn't fit into the recipe list entry!

Maybe I need to introduce a length of name factor for the recipe ratings? On second thoughts, let's stick with the usual palaver:

Kale and Ricotta Pizza
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	5	2	5	5	3.4

Pumpkin Ravioli
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	3	1	10	5	3.1

Cauliflower and Asparagus Tart
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	9	1	10	5	4.9

Before we do any dissecting, it should be said that all six recipes in this update come with a different duration. That isn't always a given, so credit where its due to the gamemakers for that.

However things aren't quite so positive when we get into the nitty-gritty, with the pizza having three fellows with matching numbers and the ravioli four. Only the tart succeeds in bringing us a unique set of statistics, but with it being an 8 hour effort there is no shortage of competition.

The tart ties for the third worst profit and portion numbers in the 8 hour bracket, with only the Grilled Eggplant and Pineapple Chicken (both Fire Pit Grill) fairing more poorly. Its XP gain is a different matter altogether though - 128 XP places it fifth in the duration out of 81 recipes. It actually only misses out on a perfect ten for this factor by a whisker. A strong showing, and especially impressive when we consider that each of the four 8 hour dishes netting a greater XP were released way back in 2013 and 2014.

 Thanksgiving 2017

 10/11/17 Goals
 10/11/17 Update

Thank goodness there was something to give thanks about with those six recipes! How about the floor decorations unlocked in the quest? There were six of them - three in the main chain and three in the bonus goals. We'll start with the main strand and the Glowing Turkey. A 2x2 sized piece, this item is one of those that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside with its luminous outlook and dinky blue hat. Initially I attempted to incorporate it into my restaurant as the centrepiece to my main section, but unfortunately it's just a little too small to fill the necessary space. A shame since it looks really good.

All is not lost though. The Turkey Display (which LIDA3209 reports on the Storm8 Forum as being a crossover job from Fashion Story) is also 2x2 but its square shape ensures that it fills the space efficiently. The two-tier table is covered in little turkeys and bordered by autumn leaves. I didn't expect it to, but this decoration does the business as my centrepiece, with its generally dark appearance fitting in well with the woody surroundings. You'll get a good look at it in the context of my place when I do a whistle-stop Thanksgiving tour in the near future!

The last item which loses its padlock in the main chain of goals is the Harvest Turkey. This one is 3x3 and depicts a huge turkey with those classic autumn tones. Then at the base are the fruits of the harvest, quite literally. Lush grapes and strawberries are joined by corn, pumpkins and more. You can't deny its standing as a showstopping final prize, although if truth be told by the time I got to this point I was somewhat tired of turkeys. Maybe that's the lack of Thanksgiving in my DNA from being a UK player, but I've never known a Thanksgiving themed update to be so focused on the turkey.

Luckily the bonus goals do offer a respite from the turkey invasion (at least when we look at the rewards), with high demands as ever but also the opportunity to get hold of three goal prizes from the distant past.

Introduction to first step of bonus goals

The Pumpkin Pot, Cornucopia and Thanksgiving Desserts were all goal rewards in the 2012 autumn goals, and this is the first time since that they have been obtainable. It has to be said that 2012 was a vintage year for autumn content, although my judgement may be skewed by that being my first holiday season in the game. I'm pleased that the huge contingent of players who weren't around back in the day have at last been afforded an opportunity to obtain three really nice decorations.

The Thanksgiving Desserts in particular are a beauty with the selection of puddings stacked in a rickety cart - it reminds me of the steampunk content which is a personal favourite theme.

But now for a bombshell - I have passed on these bonus goals! This is a first for me in more than five years and with the timer still ticking away I hold no regrets. They may be glorious prizes but I already own them and don't fancy the build-up of food on my counters which I touched on earlier. Plus with Black Friday now days away I've been working tirelessly to bring as many recipes to within one batch of level four mastery (including the Glazed Turkey) so would rather work on that.

In summary, I feel that this set of goals was tainted by the spiralling costs which are surely pricing out those players with fewer coins in their pocket. Atrocious profit and portion returns on the new recipes only exasperates the problem, but at least the XP to be earned seems to be fairly good. And generally the content itself was of a high quality, even if the turkey itself was overexposed!

Before I close this chapter, what do we think is coming next? Black Friday is never guaranteed, but if Storm8 are planning to cook up something special what does that mean for the weekly update? These Thanksgiving goals expire on Thursday which, going by recent trends, would mean the next quest landing on Thursday or Friday. But would the game's developers really want to juggle both an update and a major sale? And if we do get another update what will the theme be? It would obviously be too late for more Thanksgiving but probably too early for Christmas, so maybe a generic autumn theme?

We shall see. For now it's back to the mastery grind!