Overall: The event is not popular. I find it dull. The lock pick and reindeer side “games” are widely perceived as a blatant cash grab that is the polar opposite of what Christmas should be about.
Prizes:
* The main bakery prize is not as good as recent event buildings but it’s ok; it probably gets more criticism than warranted. The fact that you can’t chain the buildings to get bonuses reduces desirability.
* Some of the daily prizes are good, such as sentinel outposts.
Mechanisms:
* The main game is pure chance with no luck mitigation other than to obtain more currency. A feature to shuffle is noticeably absent; I wish it was there but adding it wouldn’t “fix” a random game with no skill element
* The nativity calendar could be a nice little present on the side but instead of finding a way to engage players to complete the calendar, the prizes are really bad so there is little motivation to participate, and the availability of lock picks is miserly so there’s no way to really participate without paying
* The reindeer thing is horrible. New players can’t believe they still have to pay after getting all the reindeer. Think about that for a moment - when people work out exactly is on offer here they can’t believe it at first because it is so bad.
Summary: Go back to the drawing board on this one. The spirit of the season is fun family charity; this event is the opposite of those things. Being miserly - or being perceived to miserly at Christmas - is not fun for players and bad for the brand.