A Simple Procreation Solution

[UloDeTero]

This is a simple solution to the whole 'children' issue. It eliminates the possibility of playing as a baby, but RPing a mentally ill or childish charry would probably be the same anyway.

- When a player views his own character's Character Description page, he can set a character of the opposite gender as his 'partner'. This would signify a sexual relationship, and would only have any meaning if both characters set each other as their partners.
- A sexual relationship registered in this way would be invisible in-game, and would serve only to create a spawning-point in the location. Obviously, both characters would have to be in the same place at the same time for a spawning-point to exist. (It would disapper when they are apart, and a new one would appear when they're together)
- As usual, newspawns would spawn at 20, at a randomly selected spawning-point, with genetic data taken from two characters in the area. However, in this solution, those two characters are the 'partnered' characters. The newspawn is informed in-game of his parents, and the parents are informed of their offspring. (The names would remain as 'a man in his forties' format, since they can be changed to Dad or whatever.)
- In order to avoid a "I'm 23 and my mother is 25" scenario, there'd be a minimum age for parenthood of, say, 35 or 40, which would leave a big enough 'buffer' between parent and child. It would also allow new players to get used to the game before committing to parenthood.

Anything else not specifically controlled by the game mechanics would be open to individual RP. For example, do the parents choose a name for the newspawn? Are the parents obligated to care for the newspawn? Do unmarried parents now need to marry? Are brothers and other relatives treated differently, and how so? Can the parents sell their offspring to a childless couple? Is it legal to marry one's sister? etc.

[Racetyme]

The only problem would be the lack of partnered pairs to keep enough people spawning in. There would be a huge back up of people waiting to spawn in, and frankly that just isn't feasible. Perhaps if you have the option to get in line to be "born" or to just spawn, then it would work. I would always spawn though personally, I just don't see the point in waiting so long.

[the_antisocial_hermit]

I think that would be an option. I think no matter what suggestion would be implemented, it would have to be optional. Besides, if it were forced, there might be lots of spawns, but ones that would die fast on the parents because they were just new players that didn't understand the game and gave up too fast. Not that it doesn't happen in rl.. just kinda would be overkill in Cantr.

[SekoETC]

Meh, I want children, not newspawns. In fact even newspawns could start as 15/16-year-olds (another suggestion) since nowadays you age far too fast. My youngest character is 40-something and feeling old. Not to mention all the rest in their fifties/sixties/nearing seventy. You would have far more time to enjoy youth if you started as less than a twenty year old.

[Racetyme]

Well why can't we implement this suggestion, with the optionality, of course, and children at the same time? If you want to be born as, say, a 5 year old, you choose to get in line to be born to a partnered couple. If you don't want to play a baby, or you don't want to wait, or you don't want parents, you just spawn in as usual. I'm sure there is something I'm not seeing, but that seems feasible to me.

[SekoETC]

How about the parents select the age range of a kid they'd be ready to take care of (0 to 20 years) and a newspawner chooses their age (2 to 20 years), and they'll be assigned to a couple who accepts that age? Naturally older spawns would be expected to know more stuff than younger ones.

[UloDeTero]

There would be a huge back up of people waiting to spawn in

There would be no waiting involved. No-one needs to wait to spawn now, and spawn-points are used now. The only difference here is that they would be based on partnered couples, so there'd (initially, at least) be somewhat fewer spawn-points, which would translate IG as a baby-boom. (There would initially be more 'children' per couple than later on when more charries are partnered). The way to combat this would be to introduce 'partnering' before introducing parenthood, so that the number of spawn-points has a chance to rise.

I like the idea of the 'age at spawn' being pushed back a bit. I also like the idea of choosing the 'age at spawn', but it could get too complicated, I think. Besides, what kind of RP are you going to get out of a baby character? Anyway, maybe players who want to play as babies/children could submit a special request to PD or something...? I really can't see it being popular, except as a novelty.

Edited to add: Queuing for the chance to play a baby might work... Perhaps if the couple takes special 'medicine' or sets the relationship to "trying for a baby", they'd be added to the queue. It'd take a whole load of extra coding, though, I think, and would most likely be implemented after the main parenthood thing.

[Nick]

A two tiered birthing system will ruin the game.

[sanchez]

Why repeat this whole thread?
http://www.cantr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5578

[SekoETC]

Spawning and being born to parents must be two different things.

[Nick]

Spawning and being born to parents must be two different things.

No, then that will be a HUGE new aspect to Cantrian society that will make it a lot different than real society. It will make the spawning system make even less sense, and will just all in all be a horrible step of creeping featuratism.

[Sicofonte]

Why repeat this whole thread?
http://www.cantr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5578

Nobody seems to notice you

[SekoETC]

Well there's no way of making people happy otherwise, exept keeping things the way they are now, which would be a compromise.

As I suggested in the other thread, I don't think it would be unreasonable at all that when things were programmed and everything was ready to kick in, people would choose for their characters wether they are of the spawning or the birth-giving type, and after that newspawns would only be drawn by the spawner type population, and the birth-giving type would only multiply through making babies. They would be two different races, but the differences would be internal, so only the player would know of which type their character is. It could run as a test, if there isn't enough birth-giving type to find mates, they would eventually become extinct and we would go back to the old system, end of story. Or then these two races could co-exist, maybe peacefully, maybe considering each other freaks and warring against each other.

[sanchez]

Why repeat this whole thread?
http://www.cantr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5578

Nobody seems to notice you

pfbbbbtht!

[Racetyme]

Well there's no way of making people happy otherwise, exept keeping things the way they are now, which would be a compromise.

As I suggested in the other thread, I don't think it would be unreasonable at all that when things were programmed and everything was ready to kick in, people would choose for their characters wether they are of the spawning or the birth-giving type, and after that newspawns would only be drawn by the spawner type population, and the birth-giving type would only multiply through making babies. They would be two different races, but the differences would be internal, so only the player would know of which type their character is. It could run as a test, if there isn't enough birth-giving type to find mates, they would eventually become extinct and we would go back to the old system, end of story. Or then these two races could co-exist, maybe peacefully, maybe considering each other freaks and warring against each other.

I like that everyone is equal in cantr. I just don't ever want there to be two seperate races, or distinctions of any kind from person to person that they do not create themselves.