ChefVille Aftertaste: Are we cooking event dishes for nothing?

With the recent expiration of the Halloween event in ChefVille, I'm left to think back on not only the game's October event, but also the County Fair event that introduced the first dishes that we could cook for "Ribbons," rather than "Mastery Stars." Now that we've been through two such events, and their themed cooking appliances have become rather useless in our cafes, I've started to wonder: what was the real point of cooking these dishes anyway?

Sure, one could argue that the exclusive prizes in both events were worth spending days and weeks cooking hot dogs, pumpkin chili and more, but what of the Ribbons that we earned along the way? They've simply vanished into the ether and have no overall effect on our progression once the events are over. While receiving exclusive, limited edition decorations may have been enough incentive for some to participate, I know a lot of my neighbors would have personally tried a lot harder to finish the events had there been a better prize waiting for them on the other side.

Ultimately, these Ribbons should have been changed into Mastery Stars at the end of the events, to give players further incentive to participate, and even give them greater incentive to spend real money to finish them in time. As it stands though, these events seemed catered to only the most "hardcore" of the game's player base - those players that have hours each day to dedicate to cooking dishes just with the thought of some free spices or decorations to push them through. Plus, if players didn't receive all of the Ribbons for a particular dish, there's no reason to ever cook them again in the future, as any additional Ribbons that they might earn can't help them expand their restaurant to a larger size.

There's still a chance that these limited edition events could change and become more entertaining in the future (read: not so stressful), but until they offer Mastery Stars instead of Ribbons, I still don't think Zynga will receive the great reaction from players that it's hoping for.

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Did you enjoy playing through the County Fair and Halloween events in ChefVille? Did you earn all of the Ribbons in both events? Do you think the prizes you received for doing so were worth all of the time and effort to earn them? Sound off in the comments!