Cannot eat something that sated hunger before.

[mortaine]

OK, I thought I was simply having trouble because I wasn't hurt and didn't have any "strength" (i.e. damage) to heal, and I was eating things that only heal.

But if that's the case, then the following foods don't sate hunger:
bananas
mushrooms
apples
spinach -- even though a day ago when I had spinach in my hand and was hungry, I ate them automatically.

So, what gives? I ate spinach when I already had it and then got hungry, but when I click the "eat" button it tells me that I am not missing any strength.

And I should probably post this in Suggestions, but I think any food should sate hunger, even those that heal. I mean, c'mon. It's hard enough to survive and stay interested in the game as a really clueless newbie, but to have to figure out which foods you can eat (not which foods you can eat safely, just which foods you can actually succeed in eating)-- it's a bit too hard, too frustrating.

[formerly known as hf]

I said exactly the same about not being able to eat all foods for hunger when I first started - confused me no end...

But, *sighs* how do we know that cantrians have the same bilogical system to us - there may have different digestion systems to humans....

But, yes, very confusing, still so for me - I'm always coming across new foods I do not know if they heal or are for hunger - but that's kinda half the fun - finding stuff in the Cantr world out

(at least that's what I telll myself to stop wanting to scream about it )

[Agar]

It's that whole discovery of foods and what does what that is so exciting. Dirt, the k-isle mapmaker, has developed a method of finding out which healing food is better than another, in a region or across the island. Sure, most people use onions or tomates, but once the second edition is done, everyone will be able to know which is better, and by how much.

[mortaine]

So, but what about foods I was able to eat before no longer being available for hunger satiation?

In other words: Why can't I eat spinach anymore? This thing now makes me wonder if things like mushrooms really are edible, just not when you click the "Eat" button.

[mortaine]

Also, I don't think discovering which foods do what is exciting. It's confusing. It makes no sense, biology difference or not. Maybe it's exciting to people who already know the game, but I'll bet those folks find a lot of things exciting. To people who are brand new, spending days and days just figuring out how not to die of starvation is, well, LAME. Sorry, but that's the perspective of a new player who really wants to give this game a chance; the first experience you have with the game, really, the first demand the game will make of you is hunger, and there's no evident way to sate it.

[Black Canyon]

It is true that healing foods could be used to heal starvation before. That is no longer the case.

[mortaine]

Black Canyon,

Did that change go through in the last 48 hours? Because here's what has happened:

My character had spinach given to her,which she held onto.
The system says something like "You eat some spinach." automatically every X number of hours, and I don't actually get hungry.
After a while, I run out of spinach, but figure no problem-- there's spinach here on the ground,and I can harvest some.

After the system prompts me that I am hungry,I pick up some spinach and click "Eat." The system gives me the "you do not need to recover strength" message. My hunger remains, as does the spinach.

So,I could eat spinach automatically to sate hunger, but not when I click "Eat." Apparently, nothing can actually be eaten with the "Eat" button, in my experience as a player (having tried several different foods, and running out of time and, frankly, patience). I have to get hurt in order to eat.

The other two characters I have are weakening out of starvation, because they didn't have any food, every food item they try to eat is apparently heal-only, and at least in one case, touching anything brings down the rath of a kind of domineering local leader.

[Black Canyon]

Regular food is eaten automatically once per day. Only healing foods can be eaten on demand and only if healing is needed.

[mortaine]

Regular food is eaten automatically once per day. Only healing foods can be eaten on demand and only of healing is needed.

Are you serious? So, there is basically no possible way to trial-and-error food sources, because you have to harvest, wait, harvest, wait-- eventually, you'll either get someone to take pity on you, or die of starvation. You can ask people,but may or may not get any answer, and it'll be about a day or so before you hear it anyway.

And yes, I know you can pick up food from the ground. In some places, this gets you beaten up by the local constabully.

No wonder there are so many dead bodies around.

[Black Canyon]

Usually if you ask in character other characters are pretty helpful with this kind of information. Some of my characters very frequently recommend certain foods to new spawns depending on the need.

[rklenseth]

As of now or since the new stat system has been placed, healing foods only heal damage while regular foods only affect hunger. This won't be changed anytime soon until a more realistic system of healing and recovery is implemented which is low as a priority on the Programming Department's list.

It takes a long time for someone to die from starvation so your characters should be able to find some source of food before they die. If they don't find a source of food before they die then it is most likely because of geographical and cultural reason for example overpopulation where there isn't a large enough food source or possibily regulations placed on food sources that doesn't allow certain people access which are all in game problems that must be solved by the societies that develop.

As far as that goes you'll have to figure out the rest in game.

[The Industriallist]

After the system prompts me that I am hungry,I pick up some spinach and click "Eat." The system gives me the "you do not need to recover strength" message. My hunger remains, as does the spinach.

So, here's your basic problem. That's not a prompt, that's just another event. 'being hungry' indicates that you failed to automatically eat, and have recieved hunger. It doesn't mean that you need to stick food in yourself.

Your other issue's really silly...here. pick a few hours (as few as your login rate allows) of each food-sounding resource. If you have any daily foods when the eating cycle comes, you'll know which one you ate, so you know what you can eat that way. Thus you find out in one or two days what's edible, even if you guess badly.

Or you could ask, as suggested before...

[mortaine]

Uh, it's not exactly *my* problem; it's a wording problem in the system. The basic problem is that the system reports "you are hungry," which is a state of being, not an event, in the English language. In fact, being hungry just doesn't work that way in the real world, and there is absolutely no parallel for how it works in Cantr. Go ahead and say "well, Cantr isn't like the real world" if you like. It's the standard defense I've seen when people complain that the system doesn't make sense and is problematic for players.

If it said "you have become hungry" or "your hunger has increased" or something equally lame and clumsy, then it would at least more accurately reflect what the problem and resolution are. The fact that you just cannot express this problem/resolution without being clumsy is a good sign that the mechanic doesn't quite work well.

I suppose if Cantrians were machines rather than biological entities, then you could change the wording to "Fuel cycling comple; your reserves have dropped." or something like that.

In any case, I made a suggestion in the Suggestions forum which included a simple wording change in the error message that would at least help clarify what's going on in this situation, and have been blown off with "The programmers are too busy."

[joshua johnson]

Mortaine,
You sound like you have a lot of ideas, and some of them may be good.

I am only placing a bet here, but I would say that the best way to make more of your suggestions actually happen is probably to volounteer to help with stuff. I am not sure who to talk to about that, but there are plenty of people who do know.

[Cherize]

So spinage or spinach, what ever you want to call it, that was gathered before is still both an eating food and a healing food, but new spinage is just a healing food.

And if you're starving to death, you can't eat healing food to get better, just regular food.