ChefVille Aftertaste: Does Catering belong in ChefVille? [Poll]

While both of Zynga's cooking games, Cafe World and ChefVille, already had plenty of similarities in their basic gameplay setups (that is, both games deal with cooking a variety of dishes for automated customers), the two games come with different executions which make them feel unique. Unfortunately, ChefVille's unique qualities look to be shadowed in the future via the release of timed Catering Orders.

The ChefVille Catering feature is almost identical to that of the Catering feature in Cafe World, as players are required to cook a specific set of dishes in bulk, collect items from friends, or purchase items for their restaurants, and they can help their friends earn progress along the way. As players join their friends' crews, their progress is shared, but the stress and challenge is still high due to the short time limit to earn a Gold Medal. In the game's first Catering Order, for instance, players have just two days to earn the Gold Medal either on their own or with the help of friends, and this is just the first of many orders that will tear players' focus away from other things.

While most veteran or at least dedicated players may not have trouble actually completing these Catering Orders for their top prizes, there's definitely a place for debate as to whether or not the Catering Orders should exist in the first place. ChefVille was already brimming with content, from timed ribbon holiday events to general quests that reveal new appliances and ingredient stalls, so what is this Catering feature trying to achieve?

In theory, the time players spend trying to complete these Orders (which will likely require players to cook recipes they've already fully mastered) will slow down their progress elsewhere, and stop certain players from becoming over-leveled or running out of content before Zynga can release more. That's a fine goal, but what about the bulk of the game's players, that already have multiple quests left to complete, and haven't had a chance to unlock the game's full selection of appliances already? They're likely to become incredibly overwhelmed with the release of these timed Catering Orders, just as players became flustered with Cafe World's orders. In fact, many formerly active Cafe World players stopped playing the game altogether because Zynga refused to stop piling things on their proverbial plates, so could this Catering release in ChefVille be just the first part of a complete repeat between the two games? Is this the beginning of the end for ChefVille's diehard fans?

Personally, I'm incredibly disappointed to see Zynga resort to adding Catering Orders in ChefVille instead of creating something entirely new, but we want to know what you think about the ChefVille Catering Truck as well. You can sound off in the poll or the comments below.

What do you think of the Catering feature in ChefVille? What do you think of ChefVille's new catering system? Do you think it increases the potential enjoyment in ChefVille, or is this a feature that should have been left only in Cafe World? Let us know in the comments!