The Sociologist wrote:The Sociologist wrote:The Sociologist wrote:There has been a crash in the animal population in Akypor Forest South. We were used to 5-8 horses, essential for the food supply, and some turkeys. Suddenly, we got hawks as well. Had never seen them there before. Now, horses are down to 3 (rather unheard of), turkeys down to 1 and no more hawks. The situation seems highly unstable.
Given that the Akypor Xanth Commune's potato harvester is producing potatoes at a fixed rate which devalues all the time, and we can't hunt in AFS, even we will be obliged at some point to tell newspawns to get lost. Not good for growing the game since they have few places worthwhile to go in those parts.
Could this general pattern be looked at, please?
Update a day later: the turkey has now disappeared.
Later on the same day: total animal population now down to two horses.
Just a few hours later the horse population is down to 1 horse. The changed system is not working and the forests cannot be sustained at these levels.
Day later: There are now no animals whatsoever in AFS.
Please bear in mind that we did exactly what we were supposed to do in terms of a society simulator, namely build up a complex and sophisticated culture, sustaining a population far larger than should be there, and which relies on a complex mix of carefully husbanded animals, trade of steel, iron, wood, etc, for carrots or spinach, and the building of a second potato harvester in Akypor.
However, the potato harvester values aren't rising to keep pace with food consumption. Neither does it yet seem possible to lock in the food value by cooking potatoes, something I had suggested be implemented at the same time as this process. Finally, this week's new system has destroyed the local animal population entirely even though this effect was not encountered in other areas. Why? It would seem the system is somehow penalizing intensive but managed exploitation of the animal population above its breeding numbers.
Please note, that I support the idea of changing food values. All I ask is that cooking be introduced for potatoes (especially), and maybe carrots and spinach, as soon as possible, and that some effort, even if tedious, be made to update the harvester values to keep pace. Finally, why does the animal management system no longer preserve breeding herds? What then would be the point of maintaining breeding herds at all?
I count myself as one of a minority of strategy players remaining in the game. Many things programmed in the past while have been truly great from that perspective, ranging from radios to the idea of having resource scarcity in the first place, to the idea of placing higher value on prepared food. However, please be aware that the current implemention risks penalizing those towns whose superior levels of organization have up to now enabled them to take up further newspawns/new players still entering the game and give them a life worth living.
You see, the point is that New Xanth, ie AFS, is the product of strategy-playing, and therefore rather more sophisticated in how it exploits available resources. Indeed, it exploits them very intensively.
I am looking forward to an urgent clarification as to what is happening to breeding populations.
