No doubt the sales of chocolate and flowers have been increasing in the spiral. It's Valentine's Day next week after all. Date or no date, Valentina Heartsong comes to the Shopping District every year to share her holiday goodies with the residents of Wizard City. As much as I look forward to her visit, wouldn't it be cool if there was something more this time of year?
Almost every holiday has a special NPC to go along with it.
- Valentine's Day = Valentina Heartsong
- St. Patrick's Day = Pat O' Gold
- Easter = Eggbert
- Halloween = Spooky Bob
- Thanksgiving = Harvest Hannah
- Christmas = Felix Navidad
)
However, only two holidays offer a more in-depth player experience. During Halloween, players can complete quests and enter three towers with various difficulties. There's also a newer dungeon which sends brave wizards into the Haunted Cave to defeat some crazy killer vegetables. Christmas brings the Krampus skeleton key battles. I suppose it creates motivation to stay off the naughty list. Aside from those two occasions though, all players have to remember each holiday by are their designated NPCs.
I don't expect KingsIsle to create some big elaborate event for each holiday that's missing one, but it would be nice if they added one or two more to give players something to do during the "dry" months. Since 2015, KingsIsle has consistently added three big updates to the game each year (fall, spring, and summer). The fall update typically includes a new world, and the spring update usually contains quality of life updates and some update to or addition of a side activity. The summer updates are a little all over the place - ranging from ultra dungeons to PvP updates to last year's Wizard City revamp. One of the biggest things that I hear players complaining about each year is the wait for new storyline updates. After the fall update goes live and people finish the new world, you'll probably notice that some wizards disappear into a dark abyss until something new rears its head. Enter: new holiday events.
Holiday events feel special because they are special - they only come around once a year. Players thirsty for new content would absolutely lunge at the prospect of a new task. An entire dungeon focused on finding true love or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow would be fantastic, but I'd personally be excited for just about anything. Despite being relatively simple, Krampus is a fairly popular destination in December. A cupid or leprechaun skeleton key boss might pique the community's interest during late winter/early spring. Even a small quest chain much like Jack Hallow's might give the game a more festive spirit during Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, or Thanksgiving.
)
Like anything in the gaming industry, things take time to develop. I would assume adding more holiday events might take time and devs away from those three major updates I mentioned earlier. I'm betting that might even be the reason KingsIsle hasn't jumped on this already. However, if they did put effort toward this endeavor, at least it'd be something guaranteed to return each year. Although holiday events are repeats to some, they're brand new to others. Even then, I still complete the evil veggie dungeon every year during Halloween. Even though I know what happens and the content isn't difficult, it's still something "new" and different that comes out to play every October. I can't help but feel like I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
So, community, what are your thoughts? Would you be in favor of new holiday events? Share your opinions in the comments below.
