[MUD-Dev] It's About Time Dep... Food

[John Buehler]

Eric Leaf writes:
> From: "Sasha Hart" <Sasha.Hart at directory.reed.edu>
>> [Eric Leaf]

> I'm not at all trying to center a game around eating. The only
> real drive in this manner is that in a game where you have trades,
> an obvious one would be a farmer. And giving the two options of
> either having food or not having food, only one of those would
> make a farmer useful. My personal belief is that food/food
> production is the most basic component of an economic system.  So
> assuming I can create some identifiable purpose to eat food, and
> then some enjoyable experience to grow and sell food, I will get
> the foundation of a good economic system.

Don't make food a required direct consumable for player characters.
Make food an NPC consumable.

I favor a game environment with lots of NPCs, where the NPCs define
the structure of the game, not the player characters.  The player
characters operate within the society of the NPCs.  So if 95% of the
characters are NPCs, then 95% of the population is dependent on
food.  If the player characters rely on NPCs to keep the world
operating and maximally entertaining, then the players will want to
ensure that the NPCs stay happy and healthy.  Now you're back to
needing a viable economy based on availability of food and
everything that entails.

Eating is entertainment of taste, smell and touch.  None of those
senses is handled by the computer and as a result, only someone
interested in eating for visual or other reasons (e.g. roleplaying)
will bother with it.  Players will not find much entertainment in
having their characters eat.

JB

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev