[MUD-Dev2] [Design] [REPOST] Food in MMOs

[Dana V. Baldwin]

Matt Chatterley wrote:
> 1. If we don't, we get sick and eventually die.
> 2. It's a social event.
> 3. It tastes nice.
>
[Snip]
> Given typical player behaviour, this means everyone will most likely
> strive to keep their health at 1.2 all the time. But this has met
> our purpose, as they are now habitually eating and drinking as part
> of game play.
[Snip]
> The trick is to stop players always eating mega-value-1-gp-hedge-bread
> simply because it "makes the hunger go away" - which hints at basic
> notions of nutrition, etc. If they always choose to eat in the inn
> because thats the > easiest way - then thats fine by me, because
> under the hood, the innkeeper might be hiring a crafter (cook), who
> is buying items from other crafters (farmer, butcher, baker), and it 
> makes the whole cycle continue - because it creates a chain of sinks
> for produce.

What are the goals of this system? They appear to be to design a cool
system, self serving. "I want players to eat".

To me this translates into the player saying "Remember to click that
icon once an hour".

A secnodary goal seems to be to provide an economy sub game for
crafters. A nice loop for them but the "customer" in this case is again
reduced to, "remember to click that button once an hour".

As a player, non crafter, I do not seem to be getting anything rewarding
out of this loop unless I do achieve the 1.2 state which is expressed
here as undesirable in the system, yet is the only positive for the
player outside of avoiding the 0.8 state.

What value to the player does the stated purpose of "habitually eating
and drinking" provide? Can more value be provided by exploring the
"social event"? What are the implications on other systems such as
inventory space and management and availability of food for consumption
and crafting?