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SURPRISE! Two more NEW ITEMS as Summer Game 2015 DRAWS TO A CLOSE!

by eli

Wait! WHAT'S THIS?! Two COMPLETELY NEW items have hit the Summer Game Shop in the closing days... the Adorable new SNAZZY SWANKY WRITING SET and the Super-Useful POCKET POWER TOOL! And that's not all... we've also restocked the MUG & BEANS COMBO! So get in there and HAVE AT IT!

And for you hardcore superplayers, an announcement: after careful consideration, we've decided not to drop any other SUPER PACKAGES this year. While they are fun to make and fun to buy, they ultimately result in more prizes going to less people, and well, that's just not the LIBRARY WAY. So, we're going to regroup our quantities we were holding aside for possible packages, and RESTOCK SEVERAL ITEMS in the shop with additional, limited quantities AFTER THE GAME ENDS NEXT WEEK! So, stay tuned, play nice, make the most of the WANING GAME DAYS, and as always....

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Comments

How about the sketch messengers? There are over a hundred left of each and they've been out for seven weeks. Can we finally order a second one?

Oh, and one more thing. So does this mean that there will be no more new items, combos, or packages this year? Everything that will be out is out with the exception of a couple items being restocked?

Thanks for letting us know; I remember playing mental games trying to decide if I should wait to see what was in the packages, or trade in my points for certain individual items. I never even thought about how combos meant fewer people overall getting prizes. So good choice. (My 12yo is hoping you restock the chocolate! I doubt he's the only one...)

"So, we're going to regroup our quantities we were holding aside for possible packages, and RESTOCK SEVERAL ITEMS in the shop with additional, limited quantities AFTER THE GAME ENDS NEXT WEEK!"

I'd like a little clarification please? Does this "regrouping" mean there were some planned combos that are still going to happen, or won't there be any combo packs offered at all?

I was saving up my points until the end expecting there would probably be a combo package I would like, and haven't ordered anything except one item yet.

I really appreciate the stuff anyway, and thank you for the heads up on the restocks! I will try to keep checking in.

The Game has been pretty phenomenal this year!

I don't think I've very ordered as many different things as I have this summer. I love all the little, useful items. I just feel bad for whoever actually fills the orders, with daily drops I usually ordered things as they came before they ran out instead of waiting and requesting a bunch of things at once.

The pocket power tool is awesome!!

The SNAZZY SWANKY WRITING SET is funny and cool!!

Only 2000 points from the pocket charger hopefully I can work on more badges before they're out :)

Glad I didn't save up points this year for the bundles! :) Are we able to order a second messenger bag now?

Thank you, Library! I was planning to buy a battery charger, and now I can "buy" one from you. What a great item!

Yeah the power adapter is just what I needed since I was planning on going out of the country next week :) Perfect travel item

And now, whoops, they're gone! The power tool was a thing I didn't realize I needed until I saw it here. I hope they can be restocked either for after the game ends or for next year.

Any chance you can tell us if the Power Power Tool will be an item that gets restocked? I have been checking every morning, and was dismayed to see that in the 12 hours between your post last night announcing this new (and awesome) item and this morning when I checked the Shop, it was already out of stock. :( We were hoping for a large cooler (like last year's, which we use all the time!), but without that, this charger is certainly what we would have chosen to spend our accumulated points on.

I was really hoping for a tea package like the coffee one, since way back when the game started, the mug was referred to as a "tea tumbler". Or a different kind of mug with an infuser, or something like that. But I guess that one was it. Oh well.

I'd love a tea package in the future - I don't drink enough coffee for a bag of beans to be worth my while, but if there was something with a mug, infuser, and tea I'd snap it right up. I wonder if one of the local tea businesses (Tea Haus? Arbor Teas?) would be willing to work with AADL to put together something for next year.

I agree with @jgryniewicz and @crwilley - it would be great to have a package that includes loose tea from Tea Haus or Arbor Teas. I'm one of those odd adults that never acquired a taste for coffee.

@sarai, i think they might have given away a Roos Roast ceramic mug the first year they had that prize. I know we have one in our cabinet, and I don't think we would have purchased it since we are rarely in the shop...

Seems like everything is selling out this year, and more quickly. Is it because people have more points than in years past? Less items/quantities available?

I think people have more points, yes - I know I have a lot more points than I did any year in the past, and the Master badges haven't dropped yet.

- The banners were new and were worth a lot of points
- The Lego installations were worth 1,000 points where previous years similar things were worth 200-300 points, and there are more of them
- The PowerArt and canoe art installations are worth more points than the Explorer badges were in previous years. (edit: or maybe they're not, all the codes in the Explorer locations were worth enough points to bring it up?)
- I've seen people with 50,000 points' worth of friend codes on their scorecards, and that's totally new.
- and every year the potential is there for people to carry over even more points from previous years.

(...plus I think a lot of the items were cooler this year than they were least year...)

(edit again: I just looked up last year's final totals.
Players Playing: an ASTOUNDING 4,920!
Badges Earned: an ASTONISHING 68,040!!
Codes Entered: an AMAZING 339,062!!!
Points Earned: an AWE-INSPIRING 30,033,470!!!!

...so last year the average points-per-player was around 6,000 - this year it's about 19,000, and the game isn't over yet.)

@crwiley and @lisa
I agree! Thanks for putting it in perspective. I also have been feeling like prizes are selling out way quicker then ever. I agree that it's the increased number of points that players have, combined with how snazzy cool the prizes are this year!

I used almost none of my points last year; I only took two sets of the glasses. I was not particularly motivated to select any of the other options last year. So I had points to spare this year.

I would like to see smaller zip bags, like makeup bags or pencil bags, rather than just tote bags.

Ooo! I'm excited about some items getting restocked... I hope I can get a couple items I didn't snap up before they were gone the first time. :)

I'm really disappointed to hear there won't be any super packages. I've been saving my points, and holding off on buying lots of items I want because I thought there would be a good chance to get them in a package. I enjoy the anticipation of seeing item drops, but maybe when items come out they could have a designation to let players know it will be part of a package. That would cut down on players unintentionally ordering multiples because they really like an item. I'm worried I've missed out on lots of cool things, so I hope I don't miss the restocking.

First year playing the game: I didn't realize we could choose to hold over the points until next year!!!!!

The prizes are great. I hope the lego figures get restricted. Missed out on that.
love the summer game.

Will there be any more things in the game shop or are these the last prizes???

I just ordered the SNAZZY SWANKY WRITING SET!!! so cute

Im so sad that i didn't have a chance to get a POCKET POWER TOOL!

Oh I a sucker for writing stuff! My teacher's desk has so many pens and pencils, I could start my own store!

I'm watching the numbers on the red messenger bag like a hawk. Does anyone remember from last year if the last prize drop came before or after the last badge drop? I seem to remember the erassers being released as part of a package too late to use the codes from them...

They said that there won't be a new "prize drop" in the sense you might be thinking - some items (but we don't know which ones) will be restocked after the game officially ends.

Yeah, I think we've seen all there is to see. It's just a mater of what gets restocked.

In the past when you ordered a shop item that came with a code you could enter it and get the points even after the official end of the game. Those points just roll over to your next year's shop balance.

@willow

I know! I was lucky enough to check the summer game shop one last time before going to bed on Tuesday. They looked like they were going fast so I ordered one without my usual do-I-really-want-this deliberation. I hope it's ready tomorrow. I can't wait to see if it's worth it.

I've always wanted a portable charger (a.k.a. the POWER POCKET TOOL)!
I'm so glad I got one before they sold out!

Just picked up my Summer Game Shop order. The librarian who helped me said they had gotten in 12 tubs full of prizes yesterday. So, thanks to all of the people who have to wade through the piles of prizes to find and distribute them!

I can't even imagine how much work it is filling the summer game orders! In past years, I made a few big orders, but this year, I'm ordering just one thing at a time and it feels like weekly! I'm guessing the order fillers can tell the difference in how prizes are being ordered!!

Are the orders taking longer than usual? I ordered one of the pocket tools but it is still showing as "pending" -- could it be at the branch, or are some of them delayed? There's no problem with a (short!) delay, but I would like to know if there is some systemic slowdown.

In reply to by sarai koster-m…

FYI - there were over 900 orders just last week. There is only so much room at the branches to store prizes until enough get picked-up, so yes, there is a slight delay - with over 5000 players things are busy! Thanks for playing!
- erin

I'll toss my code out there one more time! TREE996. Hope to meet some of you in person this evening!

What about offering coupons for the Friends Shop as a shop item? A $2 coupon would buy a hardcover book....and might get some new people into the shop to buy even more!

@Juliettie. They did a $1.00 off a book coupon for the friends book store upon completion of the book reading portion. I'm thinking giving more than that wouldn't leave them with much to purchase the wonderful prizes they offer?

Well, are there directions for the pocket tool? I turned it on, then couldn't get it off, and then once it went off, I can't get it back on! Yeah. Well. If anyone has tips, please let me know.

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