Population limits

[tiddy ogg]

The largest "town" in Cantr is of about 80 people, merely a hamlet in RL terms. Far too small a number, even covering several such towns to have a viable currency and/or newspaper, as some have desired. These populations are limited by the restrictions on resource gathering. Unless this gathering limit increases with town size, there can be no further development of many of the places my characters have visited.
Discuss.

[Russell of Los Angeles]

The city of London didn't grow from a single town. It emerged (or merged) from many locales that were once small hamlets. So, maybe you just need to take another look at your concept of "town". Maybe a "town" in Cantr could be considered several regions organized together. It has to do with time and space, you know? How long does it take to walk from one end of London to the other?

And anyway, speaking more generally, there's a lot to be said about how Cantr succeeds and fails at representing our world.

[Cookie]

The Romans built london, never heard the story of the london stone? Then it expanded and merged with outlying towns and villages.

I don't think there should be any gathering limit, at least until roadmap is here. Otherwise town sizes a basicly being portrayed all the same which is stupid.

[Nick]

It's lack of players and therefore lack of characters more than anything else.

[wulf]

You could walk across London in a day (assuming you've got all day and are reasonably fit). The distance varies depending on your route but 25 - 30 miles should do it.

I think larger towns will come if and when the 'free roaming' idea is implemented. If two communities find themselves using the same resources, there will either be fighting between them or they'll start to merge into one larger entity, with some sort of shared government but distinct districts.

Wulf

[Lumin]

I really don't understand how gathering limits can be blamed for town sizes, unless magic or time travel is somehow involved...

[tiddy ogg]

So the first two replies really support my suggestion. How did these hamlets grow into a city? By utilising more land productively, thus allowing more resource gathering. If your resource base is fixed, you can't grow. You can trade, but the trader also has fixed resources, so there is always a limit.

[El_Skwidd]

Expand. The majority of towns in Cantr are run by little democratic councils with one or two armed guards. If diplomatic merger fails, then military action couldn't be that costly, could it?

[formerly known as hf]

If your resource base is fixed, you can't grow. You can trade, but the trader also has fixed resources, so there is always a limit.

And there's also always a limit in the real world, one we are starting to push to the edge to - why shouldn't that be the case in Cantr?

Resources are finite - the implementation of gathering limits is sthe close Cantr can get at the moment to reflecting this

[MrPenguin589]

What if you have sections of towns? For example:
Olip (west)
Lower Olip (west)
Upper Olip (west)

It would be like this: you can walk to these areas instantly. You can still gather the same resources there as the central area, but you will have different buildings, people, etc. This would allow for expansion. I think the main problem with the gathering limit is that it doesn't allow for that (expansion). If you get a population boom, guess what? They all starve. With this, those extra people have somewhere to go and farm and live and build houses, etc, but they don't have to travel for days to get there.

[formerly known as hf]

I think that's kinda what will happen once the 'grid' sytem eventually gets implemented...

[MrPenguin589]

So we're gonna have a grid system before a free-roam system?

[creepyguyinblack]

There are ever increasing means to make your own food rather than relying on raw food from the ground, as well as a method of farming once some minor programming is in place.
A city that coordinated well and made large amounts of effective foodstuffs, could support a much larger population than a simpler place with just gathering.
It's pretty much the ethos of cantr that more difficult things require one to work with others in order to be successful.

[T-shirt]

And there's also always a limit in the real world, one we are starting to push to the edge to - why shouldn't that be the case in Cantr?

Resources are finite - the implementation of gathering limits is sthe close Cantr can get at the moment to reflecting this

Resources have only become finite during the last half century. Before that time, the only limitation on resources was development and manpower. In Cantr even primitive settlements suffer from the finity of resources.

In the real world primitive societies do not even start to push to the edge of resource limits - why should that be the case in Cantr?

[Sho]

So we're gonna have a grid system before a free-roam system?

I believe those are just two names for the same idea, where locations are marked on a grid and characters can move freely on the grid.