Pika Thoughts

Another Kicks the Bucket?

2012-07-12T20:40:00.001-05:00

So with TL's latest release of City Story Metro, rumors abound of City Story (original) being abandoned like Zoo, Empire, and Treasure Story. Seems very likely as this is the second week of no weekly updates and the Metro game's buildings are just too similar not to be considered its replacement.

Unfortunately, unlike Zoo Story 2's release, those who have played it have expressed extreme disappointment. Not just due to glitchiness, as somewhat expected of new releases from TL, but also because TL has brought back it's energy "feature", a feature I thought was stupid enough in Bubble Mania. Is TL pulling a Microsoft Vista and pushing a "well-meaning" flunk? It seems TL is only focused on greedy money spending "features" that annoy its customer base. Makes me wonder how big their customer base is now compared to the height of its popularity. Maybe it's all part of their get quick rich scheme.

To compound this, TL's silence adds for even more frustrated users who don't know if this is the abandon ship message or not. Ah well, I wasn't expecting any less from TL.

I had been placing my bets that Nightclub would have be the next orphan game. I can hear the crickets in Nightclub and I not in the good nighttime music way. Weekly when I check out Nightclub's weekly updates thread in the forums there's no responses. City's thread was similar in nature, but in-game, you could at least feel the activity, while Nightclub seemed dead in-game too. But, not one to bet on a loosing horse, I think I'll shift my wager to City.

Comment below. Will you be playing City Story Metro? Do you think City Story is being abandoned? Which do you think will go first: Bakery Story, Restaurant Story, or TL the company? Are you still interested enough to even care?

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Teleporting Glitch

2012-06-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

This topic was posted on 5/4 in the TL forums. There is currently a teleporting glitch (customers teleport to their seats, removing the time it takes to get to their chairs, and teleport out to leave). As of right now, it is still working. I can't say how much longer this will last for Bakery Story and Restaurant Story.

You will need the latest version of the two games, 1.5.1 (I believe), otherwise people will just walk through the hostess. (NOTE: 1.5.1 has an issue where 10 customers enter and leave until you have around 1-4 customers max at a time. This may affect consumption. ) You need to put the table one square diagonal to the door and turn it so that the hostess is blocking the customers' path. And then close off their paths, critical that there is nothing behind the hostess.

A little ASCII diagram. D is the door, W is the walls, o is any floor item to block peoples' path. H is the hostess, v is the direction the host table faces, and E has to remain empty. This can also be done so the host table is on the other side and faces the other direction.

W o E E

D   H

W o v

Here is a picture of it.

-sweetstuff525
If customers walk through your hostess, you don't have the correct version or they have fixed the game. Or if customers get broken hearts, you haven't done it correctly.

Whether or not this makes food consumption faster is another matter. And whether or not outweighs the upgrade's low max customer count glitch (where eventually only 1-4 customers max are in the game), I can't say either. However, someone pointed out that the customers seem to eat faster.

anmu11 did a little 30 minute experiment twice and says seems to be about a 28% increase. "I let BS run in the background twice, once with the 'normal' set up and one with the teleporting. I let it run for 30 minutes, checked with a timer. I checked the welcome back message (coins earned) and 3 randomly chosen counters to check the decrease in food sold."

The results:

Experiment A) Normal layout:
Coins earned 3073
Counters: all 3 decreased by 7

Experiment A) Teleporting layout:
Coins earned: 3951
Counters: 1 decreased by 14, 1 by 11 and 1 by 9

Experiment B) Teleport:
Coins earned (as stated by the welcome back screen): 3915
Decrease in food on counters: -9, -10, -9

Experiment B) Normal:
Coins earned (wb screen): 3045
Decrease on counters: -7, -7, -8

But others have reported (albeit from guesstimate) that it doesn't seem to affect food consumption and gold earning.

kahlan531 did it with 15 minute experiement that suggests no change.

Teleporting customers for 15 minutes:
Welcome back screen said 2,800 coins earned.
Actual coin difference was 3,074.
Three random food counters sold 14, 15, and 15 respectively.

Walking customers for 15 minutes:
Welcome back scree said 2,800 coins earned. (Yes, exactly the same.)
Actual coin difference was 3,086.
Three random food counters sold 14, 15 and 16 respectively.

Finally, DaojinWildfire (a TL staff member) posted on the forums, "This is not a valid game mechanic, so it is hard to predict what will happen to your game each time to attempt this. It may potentially cause issues for your account down the line, so it is best that you do not continue to perform this bug.

If you do use this bug, we will not be able to predict what kind of issues you may experience. This will make it difficult to provide you with the proper support should you experience any issues that result from this. "

To which I've responded there, "Sounds like an empty threat... Plus, the game has many of its own bugs that does it really matter if you play inside "rules" or outside? =.=." We'll see how long that post lasts. . . ;).

Comment below if you have your own "experiment" results or a comment supporting or attacking using this glitch.

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Pet Hotel Story: Mature Rating "Pending"

2012-06-08T09:22:00.003-05:00

From The TeamLava "Story" Games (Storm8) Facebook, one of the users had a humorous insight into Pet Hotel:

"[Pet Hotel Story] No WONDER these games are for adults. Besides the sex ("Let's Do It" to make babies) and heavy drinking ("Bear has partied enough today"), the VIOLENCE depicted in this scene is definitely enough to scar children-- and OMG what ARE those bunnies doing in the background? Is that a threesome?? With a baby bunny as well? I hope this game is limited to over 21!!!"

Comment below with your own funny caption or add a new picture with a caption you've thought up.

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Ugh... Slots

2012-06-07T18:27:00.001-05:00

I don't think it's catching anyone off guard but if you play on an iOS, today is the last day to claim your 9 Gem "reward". Indirectly, of course, as it's against Apple ToS to reward in-game for downloading another game. Guess I'm not the only one who likes to skirt around rules. ;>.

For those who have done so already, congrats for reclaiming 6G and may you not loose them to a despicable gem trap. To those who haven't and have decided to let the goal expire, congrats too for standing your ground. Finally, to those who haven't and will (do it soon, you have few hours as of this writing), congrats on last minute procrastination. Have a cookie. ;>.

If you're in the last category, once downloaded and launch (all you have to do is click it once and quit afterwards), you're not out of the woods. You'll unlock an easy quest (buy a chair for Bakery Story and Restaurant Story and decoration for the rest) with 6 Gem reward (with 12 hours of procrastination if desired) and then you'll have 8 Days to get to level 6 in Slots... After which a new goal is unlocked with a reward of 3 Gems. They're getting sneakier with getting you to play...

Note, you will need to internet to play Slots to move to the next goals.

You gain one experience point each time you spend a dollar in that game. (You'll need 6395 XP to get to level 6.) You could make leveling quicker by betting 20 lines as soon as you open that option upon reaching level 2 and betting as much as you can. I haven't tested the feasibility of that (and won't, couldn't care less for this game). But bear in mind, if you're loosing too much money, you won't be able to keep it up to reach level 6... And I don't know if there's some sort of daily bonus if you run out of money. (Though there is Bonus coins on the home page which I'm assuming you gain as you play.) I have been playing 5 lines, betting $1 (for a total of $5 per spin), and doing 40 auto spins and as of level 5 1/4, I have $2400 so this strategy likely works (though most of my winnings I feel, come through the bonus games).

Comment below. Do you like the Slots game and will you continue playing after level 6? Are you tired of TL "forcing" our hands in a cheap ploy to download games or glad they're introducing you to new avenues? Do you have a tip to help with Slots winning?

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TeamLava Constantly Accuses That I Have a "Dirty" Mouth

2012-05-27T22:02:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This is a clean post with one curse word.

I'm a chatty neighbor. Those who've seen me on the forums (when I was more active) and who are my good neighbors will agree. I have around 15-25 neighbors intentionally since I prefer having a select few who I get to know better. Well one neighbor in particular, she knows who she is, seems to always get the worst side of me...

First I'd like to say, I (carefully and intentionally) have one of the cleanest (almost to the point of professional) mouths online. (A huge exception is the occasional use of "crap." To me, it isn't even "profanity" since I usually use it lovingly to refer to a group of items I like. Thus when I'm angry/irritated and use it, I don't even realize it.) Offline... that's a different story. I have an innocent appearance and people are always surprised when a curse word slips out. xD! Though I do not use curses regularly; I am mostly a good girl...

Well in TL's opinion, a particular neighbor of mine always seems to be really good at letting my bad side shine. o_O. I'm constantly getting the "Your message contains inappropriate word(s). Please enter a new message." pop-up when I try to post on her wall. O_o. She's one of the reasons I started the "Inappropriate" Words article on my TL Story Games Guide website.

Now for your reading pleasures, the "inappropriate" words that come out of my filthy mouth, bolded below for your enjoyment. :O.

"I think it's a glitch." This one made me want to turn around and add, "bitch," which would have gone through just peachy.

"Just in time to harvest my bananas!" All is fine until you get too excited about "nas".

In Empire Story, "Yeah, the Imperial Palace is new." Palaces are no pals of TL, I guess.

Just today she got me saying "Is 5 mil 20x23? You're missing that or 23x26."

If you're curious how I know exactly what is being flag, when I get that pop-up, I try to remember what exactly I wrote. Then on my wall, I will write the message and copy it. If I still get the pop-up, then I will carefully go through and edit the message until I find exactly what doesn't (and thereby what does) flag the system. The hardest one so far has been "nas!" I wasn't expecting the exclamation mark to be the point of failure. ^^''.

Comment below? Do you have a weird "inappropriate" word? [Feel free to also comment at the bottom of the "Inappropriate" Words article if you encounter one later and have issues finding this post.] I will add it to my article.

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Workaround: Gems from Dragon Story Goal

2012-05-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

We all know the game updates, with the Dragon Story goals, have some nasty "features" we don't want, especially Farm 2.0.1, so here's a work around for those who haven't updated to the latest update, but still want the 6G per game you get from downloading Dragon Story. The specific instructions are for iOS since they are the only platform that has goals. Keep in mind, if you are viewing this in the future, long after the first day this is posted, this may no longer be a promotion.

Before updating to the latest version, (1.5.1 for most of the Story games, 1.1.1 for Pet Shop, 1.1.2 for Zoo Story 2, and 2.0.1 for Farm), sync your device to the computer, making sure to copy the version of the game you have to the computer.

If you are unsure, if you have it synced or not, in iTunes, click on your device on the left under the Devices section, and go to the Apps tab.
Make sure Sync Apps is checked and that your Story games are checked.
Click Sync.
Go to Apps on the left under the Library section. Your Story games should be here.
If you'd like to check the version, right-click on the icon and click Get Info. Under the Summary tab, it'll have what version of the app you have.

Disconnect and update the game(s) through the device's iTunes store.
Complete the Dragon Story goal (you will need to download Dragon Story and at least launch it, tutorial completion not required) and the next goal that is unlocked. (You get no reward when you complete the first goal. It is not until the second goal do you earn 6G and 3XP.) This can be done for each game that you play that has goals and you will get 6G in each of the games.
Delete the game(s) from your device. Since the game is stored on TeamLava's servers based on the ID of your device, the game data is safe.

On the menu (click the button at the bottom of the device), press and hold until the icons start wiggling.
Press the x in the top left hand corner of the app and choose Delete.
Press the menu button to exit the editing menu.

Sync your device and the older version from the computer will be back. Enjoy~ Farm Story without the "Tap to Manage" and Bakery Story without the new two customers at a time feature. ;).

Update: Today in Farm Story, which is the only one I hadn't updated temporarily to get the gems, I received the Dragon Story goal. The first automatically completed and the second has not time limit. So it may be possible to not have to do this work around. :>.

Comment below if there is a step that needs to be clarified (please elaborate on what/why it is confusing) and I will update that step to try to make it more clear.

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Dragon Story: DragonVale Rip Off

2012-05-19T17:39:00.001-05:00

HAHA. I know why TL doesn't like players posting to third-party websites on their forums... It's because they can't censor those materials outside of their forums. ^.~.

So a member was asking about Dragon Story farming and dragon leveling. I posted on the TeamLava forums that I do not play their DragonStory but do play DragonVale by BackFlip Studios which they ripped off (I'm not the only one who's noticed: Dragon Story vs DragonVale Review). I then went on to speculate that Dragon Story dragon leveling is likely similar to DragonVale.

In that game, it's actually better to stop at level 7 until you have an abundance of food, especially if a higher level doesn't give that much a boost in coins collected. Reason for this in DragonVale (which I assumed works in Dragon Story the rip off), it takes more and more food to raise each level and the food used from level 7-10 can actually raise another dragon from 1-7. So unless it's better to have one max dragon than two level 7 dragons, players shouldn't focus right away on maxing out their dragons' levels. I proceeded by adding, of course someone should do some data mining to come to a correct conclusion for Dragon Story instead of just being able to speculate on it.

Well, I checked today and my post was completely gone. I'm not surprised. :3.

Conclusion: TL loves to censor and hates to admit to their dirty deeds. :>.

On a different note, kooky panda hates it when I'm sacrastic... ;>.

Every week, bawpotter starts a weekly updates thread and ends the first post with a list of "player wishes" (goals, gifts, and coin contents) to start discussions. This is my response to someone who mistakenly exclaiming they can't wait for goals to come out.

"HAHA. Sorry, I can't help it since this is addressed each week, so you'd think someone would reword it. bawpotter in this thread is listing "topics of discussions" not "TL planned releases." Sad this misunderstanding still occurs each week. Along with people coming in on Thursday saying they don't have weekly updates yet when the first posts says you may have to wait until Tuesday. Gotta love this place, same old, same old. :3."

catgirl4777 also added: "What??? What do dancers have to do with it???!!!!" [In this particular thread, he included something about, while the dancers are getting ready, let's talk.]

Of course kooky can't stand it and says, "Hey guys, take it easy on Bawpotter. It takes alot of time to put up these threads and Bawpotter takes the time to get these up for you guys. If you have suggestions for him, you can send him a private message, but please do not detrail [sic] the thread

calling out these things."

Of course it takes a lot of time and energy to keep something up weekly - I do it weekly on my site when I update the Weekly Updates pages. Though... if you ask me, they'd save this wasted effort if people responded directly to DaojinWildfire's weekly update threads so a lesser moderator doesn't have to waste time to repeat it. Heck, I thought repetition of thread topics was against the forum ToS... Just saying.

But honestly, how is it derailing the thread, informing that member of the truth? After all, if not me, then likely it'll be poor old bawpotter saying that once again, these are just player wishes to open up discussions. Heck, I'm being nice, saving him the trouble. ;>. Or he could just make it really, really clear that his list of goals, gifts, and coin contents is a list of player wishes, not official release announcements by TL. *Shrugs.* Guess some people like the same old, same old.

Comment below? Do you like Dragon Story? Do you like how TL seems to be releasing rip off games instead of fixing bugs/glitches? Have you played DragonVale? Is my sarcasm too harsh?

Pre-Interview with Yanochka

2012-05-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

Updated: 5/17/2012

I am giving players a month to come up with their own questions they would like to ask her and then will paste her response to the questions in another post.

BASICS

-Gender: Female

-Age or range (e.g. 20s)

-How'd you come up with your ID? Does it mean anything?

-Do you do any gardening in real life? What other hobbies do you have?

-What do you do for a living?

-Most of us know you're from Russia. Do you visit often? What do you like most about that place? Least?

-Share a bit of your personal life, that you're willing.

-Share a bit of your family history (parents/grandparents' lives), that you're willing. - RealFarmer1222

FARM

-How/why did you start playing Farm Story (FS)?

-What aspects did (since we know you've stopped playing due to TL's latest changes...) you like most about Farm Story? Least (besides the new gem trap)?

-What are your top wishes for game features? It can be a new system of sorts, items, etc.

-You're semi-famous for your 3D layouts. Describe your layout creation process a little. Where do you get the ideas/what inspires you? How do you plan it out? Tips/tricks?

-How long does design process and then implementation take? - sugarnspicedenise

-Want to give shoutouts to any neighbors?

BAKERY

-Can we get a picture of your current bakery?

-Do you do a lot of decorating/redecorating?

-Are you a Mystery Box junkie here too? :p.

-What do you like playing about this game?

OTHER

-Do you play any non-TL app games?

-What are you doing to keep yourself busy now that you don't play FS?

-We know you host a Russian Farm Story forum as many of us have visited it for its great Mystery Box list, even if we can't understand anything else. When did you start that forum? How is that forum different from TL's? Same?

ENDING

-Anything else you feel would be important to share with the readers?

Entertainment, One Wall Post at a Time

2012-05-03T11:47:00.002-05:00

Updated: 5/4/2012

A list of some funny/entertaining wall posts I found in a thread and two from my neighbor, to start us off. Before I begin, I did not come up with any of these. :3.

City:

Growing cities is the aim. Making money is the game. This and cleaning to great acclaim is necessarily one and the same. - kaiville 5/9/2012
I arrived, said hi, and got out the mop and brush. With your city revived, I bid goodbye, leaving in a rush. - kaiville
This Easter, rabbits hid their eggs, making them disappear. The children scampered and had fun, like they do every year. - kaiville
Oh the action, as we keep our cities in a good state of care. This gives me great satisfaction as I sit here in my chair. - kaiville

Farm:

I want to dew you! [Left on a full farm]

Restaurant:

Ham and Eggs: A day's work for a chicken; a lifetime commitment for a pig.

General:

I broke up with my treadmill...We're not working out.
You're such a good friend. If we were on a sinking ship and there was only one life jacket.... I'd miss you lots and think of you often!
I was here but now I'm gone. I left some tips to carry on.
Love is like Google. You have to go through a lot of SPAM before you find what you're looking for.
Always and never are two words you should always remember to never use.

Comment and let's add some more to this list! Refer to often for a quick laugh! ;>.

First Bakery and Then the World

2012-04-30T22:46:00.001-05:00

So I reached the once hailed level 96 in Bakery today. Not sure what I'm supposed to feel... Glad I made it. Remorseful for all the time (well) wasted in a game instead of being productive. Ready to celebrate with the other big wigs. Hold it up high and proud like a badge of honor announcing to the world how ridiculously addicted to this game I am! Enthusiastically look forward to conquering three more levels to get to 99.

Actually, I think I'm mostly just sick of looking at Love Muffins and Molten Lava Cakes, it being May and all. Thank goodness my Christmas food has sold. Wasn't looking forward to "Christmas in July" like a hicks. I'm starting to feel like those players who comment about having "more counters than tables." Maybe my customers don't like the sweets. How exactly do I go about hiring a new baker in bakery... Maybe I should ask the manager of my restaurant for some recommendations and tips. Oh wait, that's me... In that case, I'm fresh out of ideas. I guess I better look forward to having Shamrock Cookies for Halloween. Maybe have a little green and orange thing going on. ;>.

On a different note, is it me or did my drink sales in Nightclub slow down even more this week. o.O. I was looking forward to my Emerald Isle's counter to clear a few days after Mirage was released so I could put the new drinks there. But now it feels like a few days is going to turn into next, next week's weekly updates. Drink more, I say!

Comment below. What were your thoughts on reaching 96? Was it all you hoped it would be? Or if you're not 96, are you looking forward to it or don't care?

Day at the Beach (Non-Story Games)

2012-04-28T22:35:00.001-05:00

This is not game related but a little about me. :D.

Today, I went with my family to Galveston, Texas, to pick up trash for Adopt a Beach organized by my father's company, Nexon. After breakfast of some fresh fruit and cereal bars (no milk! only OJ and apple juice), all the volunteers shimmied into the "trash picking gear": sunscreen, black rubber gloves, gray Nexon-logo'd visor, and a trash picker tool. Everyone was already pre-set wearing a teal volunteer shirt, with a turtle on the front and the Nexon logo on the back. Carrying red buckets and light green plastic trash bags, we set off to the beach, a short trip down a sandy path.

It had rained recently so the beach was covered with seaweed. One of the park rangers (we were inside Galveston's park) had briefed us, informing us that turning over the seaweed may uncover debris trapped underneath. So with great enthusiasm, my family and I started searching. Right away, my sister found a toy soldier. There was also going to be a contest later of the most unusual thing found. (We entered the soldier and lost third place to a chair leg...) From here, there's not much else to cover. The rest of the pick up was boring. My "trash" they meant partial bits and pieces and by materials they meant "plastic." My mother was tasked to be our record keeping since they wanted to know what types of materials we found. Tally at the end: Too many plastic pieces to count, two cigarette butts, two pieces of man-made wood (yes, not branches), five rubber bits, and an "other" we couldn't identify.

Well my favorite part was after a lunch of sandwiches, chips, soda, and cookies (from each major food group, very balanced like Garfield would say) when my family and I went to a more sandy (read, less seaweed-y) beach and just played in the waves and watched clams. Call me a little too curious or easily entertained, but my sister and I dug up clams (I'm surprised how close to the surface they are) and watched them burrow. I learned: Too far from the beach and they almost lay stationary, but too close and they get washed away with the tide and can't be observed for long. At just the right area, when a bit of water washes over them, they stick their tongue out and start "digging" into the sand. Slightly weird watching these "inanimate" objects move without hands deeper into the sand. Makes me feel like I'm slacking off with my tongue! But then again, it's already bad enough having "sand everywhere" to not to have to include on my tongue.

Leave a comment. When's the last time you visited the beach, went someone where cool, or volunteered? Do you want to know more about me through these kinds of posts or should I keep it to only Story games related posts? I also have interviews with some interesting forum members and Story games players. Is that something you'd like to read?

City Updates

2012-04-25T10:44:00.001-05:00

I was looking at my City and wondering how am I going to fit this upcoming weekly updates... I both look forward to and dread weekly updates in City. Among other reasons, I'm a collector and like to showcase my "collection" of buildings.

Unlike Bakery, Restaurant or some others, it doesn't look too out of place in a City if you have all the different buildings out at once. If not for that fact, my City would look even weirder than it already is. The players who pull off different themes in one Bakery or Restaurant still amaze and awe me.

So, weekly updates are a time of trepidation where I decide if I really can squeeze in some more buildings and heartbreak when the answer is no. And indecisiveness while I put up and take out buildings and move things around. The equivalent to virtual furniture redecorating, but on a bigger scale.

Speaking of which, that is one gigantic inventory we have in City. Buildings, skyscrapers, stadiums, and even the Empire State Building fits in it (and multiple copies if you're a rich tycoon). Where does it all go? And it neither gets wet nor leafy from the rivers and trees also stored there. Must be some gnomes from Farm meticulously working their magic.

Share your thoughts. :). What are your own feelings towards City weekly updates? Have you even bothered with the recent ones due to lack of interest in them? Do other games give you a love/hate relationship with weekly updates? Or if you play Empire, are you jealous of the other games or like how it's so quiet? I know most people want expansions. Are there any who have a compelling reason more expansions would be a bad idea?

Coming soon: A guide on how-to navigate a blog, to help newbies and maybe even give some insight to veterans.

Silver Lining to Weekly Update April 12

2012-04-23T11:33:00.002-05:00

This is an old post (posted 4/12/12, at the bottom of page 9) from the forum about the weekly update that contained "Treat Dispenser" that received good reviews so I'd like to use it as my first official blog post. :3.

"The silver lining... This week's junk appliance costs 10k instead of 17-30k and has grass and pre-cut strawberries in case you run out of decorations when serving customers during peak hours. So go ahead and reward yourself - it's okay if you put the savings towards the gold needed for the 20 mil last expansion. No one will blame you for being stingy. ;O.

Though I'm sure we'd all have forgiven TL if they'd forced us to use the Drink Mixer to make the new drinks and disappointed us with no new appliance this week (or worse, an Easy Mixer, my head swims just thinking of that). After all we cheered when they slipped in the Candy Canes on the Candy Cane Maker... And the mixer makes Love Potions; can't be that stretch of an imagination to be able to include grass, leaves, and soy beans as ingredients in the mixer. Maybe we should thank the guy who was looking out for our well being... I mean, heaven forbid we bakers get leaves in the Oolong Green Tea and we don't want to think about what'll happen if the yogurt from the Fruity Yogurt Parafait mixes with the yogurt from the Strawberry Smoothie. Yet, peeking over, I don't see Restaurant Story's world coming to an end for this transgression of no new appliance this week. I guess it has stronger chefs and servers there."

A joke is not as funny if it has to be explained, but for those lost, most of the Story games receive weekly updates. In Bakery and Restaurant, where you run a bakery and restaurant respectively, you have cooking appliances with specific recipes. E.g. You can make Love Potions, Oolong Green Tea, and Strawberry Smoothies on an appliance called the Drink Mixer. Only recently, TL has been releasing what people refer to as "one-recipe appliances," referring to the fact that the new appliances have only one (and now three) new recipes, but take parts gifted/requested from neighbors. This makes it a more laborious task to create, prompting some to feel TL is making it harder for newbies and urging people to Gem skip complete the appliances. There are outcries of why TL doesn't just use existing appliances or add to the repriotoir of existing "one-recipe appliances," in a sense recycling the appliances. This was meant to be a funny poke at a reason for these appliances.

After party:

Read below for the rest of the dialog, in which I explain, it's not the updates themselves that makes me think TL is cheating us, but the fact that they find releasing weekly updates more important (and maybe hoping they're enough of a distraction for most) than fixing many of their known issues and grievances.

"As much as I enjoy weekly updates... It frustrates me when people forget that TL is distracting us by dangling shinies in front of our faces so we forget the real issues. ;>."

In response, one commenter felt I was mean: "That's kind of harsh. Maybe people just have different priorities from yours."

So I responded, "I guess my priorities of hoping that TL would get around to fixing signatures on the forums, look into gem traps, getting goals to Android users, fixing the gifting system when goals are around, among their many other issues instead of masking those issues with weekly "updates" of more pixels to decorate our places is only held by me. There's only have so many hours in a week so only a set amount of things can be taken care of. Again, I do like weekly updates and shinies. But at what cost and sacrifice?"

Piggiful succinctly agrees: "I guess that could be true. There's gotta be a boat load of people who doesn't care about gem traps, losing coins, losing parts, losing plates, accepting a switcheroo gift.........."

On a different note, most people understood the humor and reasoning.

sehana, short and to the point: "LOL pika"

flytothestars: "LMAO ~ made my day^^ And just when I thought "Hoooray!! I'm done with seasonal appliances" we get a grass appliance :x And ironically after I explained to a nber about how useless nozzles were.. What a knee-slap =)"

My neighbor, Yum y [ID: trinityblaze] expanded on my wall: "You seriously made me laugh out loud. I think many people on the forums just aren't aware of all the assorted problems so they're able to swallow whatever TL puts out."

Comment below. What are your thoughts on TL's weekly releases? Do you like them? Or are you in the group that's (not exactly holding their breath but) hoping for something more? I'm in this group and keep praying TL will see the light.

Hello World

2012-04-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

I will collect my muses and comments about the games and TL here, so that my website doesn't get cluttered. This likely will also include some of my more entertaining posts from the forums. I may also include updates and thoughts on the Story games site I run.

Currently, there is no set schedule - posts will occur when I have something to say. So subscribe to get notifications when a new one is posted.

Feel free to comment below. The best part, no stupid illogical TL forum rules to follow. ;). But please keep it fairly appropriate - use your best judgement.

Let me know if there's any topics you'd like to get my thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you guys!