Famines, Droughts, Over-farming, etc

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wichita
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Famines, Droughts, Over-farming, etc

Postby wichita » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:22 am

I tried to search for this topic for a while but eventually gave up. I wasn't sure excatly how to title it either, so that explains the drivel that got you to look at his. :D

I was thinking about the distribution of resources some, and wondering if it has ever been consider to occassionally introduce a resource allocation with certain resources. For example, say that all the fish were to suddenly die off in a particular town. Call it over fishing, or Red Tide, or whatever. In another lakeside town, a bloom in the fish population could then cause rainbow trout to become plentiful enough to catch.

It doesn't necessarily have to be an exact reallocation like that though. We could also consider the concept of crop rotation. If you grow corn in the same field for too long, the soil will become depleted of nutrients and become infertile. The solution is to alternate corn and soybeans so that the nutrients are replaced by the beans and the field remains fertile. So what is one day in Potatotown, some spinach starts to grow. "This is great!" the towns folk say. But then one day the potato fields crap out, and the people are left eating only spinach.

Or what if the potato famine hits Potatotown? Then what will all the townsfolk do?

Things like stone in the mountains, or wood in the forests, would probably remain static, but there could be a lot of interesting perturbations to the simulation if we shake up resources from time to time. I can imagine a rate of maybe one change per location every twenty years maybe...nothing drastic, but at least the possibility could exist.
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Postby Lumin » Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:03 am

I've always thought the way food is handled now makes life way too easy, as well as keeping trade and specialized occupations from developing.

While the crops are doing good it'd be smart to stockpile them against the next famine, so maybe farming will finally become a respectable profession or an organized thing in the community instead of just the default activity. Or how about a community of migrant gatherers?

And even if the droughts or whatever occur often, it's not like it'll be that much of a hardship since most places probably already have people with huge stockpiles of food, and in most cases even the smallest villages have animals.

So I'm tempted to say yes to this idea, but as I'm starting to think kinvoya's curse has rubbed off on me it would probably be better if I stayed out of this. :D
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Postby Snake_byte » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:35 am

Eee... I don't like this idea...
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Anthony Roberts
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Re: Famines, Droughts, Over-farming, etc

Postby Anthony Roberts » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:42 am

wichita wrote:Or what if the potato famine hits Potatotown? Then what will all the townsfolk do?


Even if implemented this wouldn't work.

Why?

POTATOS DON'T EXIST.

It has an E at the end, oh god. AN E FOR JOS SAKES! AN E!! POTATOE!!

*Suddenly dies.*
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Postby Talapus » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:47 am

Actually Anthony, the singular form is spelled "potato" while the plural form is spelled "potatoes", so therefore only the plural form contains an E at the end (near the end actually, since potatoes ends with an S). Don't do the Quayle thing, and spell potato right.
Last edited by Talapus on Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Famines, Droughts, Over-farming, etc

Postby Snake_byte » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:48 am

Anthony Roberts wrote:
wichita wrote:Or what if the potato famine hits Potatotown? Then what will all the townsfolk do?


Even if implemented this wouldn't work.

Why?

POTATOS DON'T EXIST.

It has an E at the end, oh god. AN E FOR JOS SAKES! AN E!! POTATOE!!

*Suddenly dies.*


Ya right, tell that to the typo gremlins. I doubt you'll find them as cooperative...
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Anthony Roberts
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Postby Anthony Roberts » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:49 am

Yeah, SIGH.

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I had to use a dictionary to prove myself wrong.

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wichita
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Postby wichita » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:54 am

Dan Quayle. :)
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Postby Talapus » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:59 am

Yeah I spelled his name wrong. Quayle said all kinds of interesting things, and if you want a good laugh, you should find a good list and read over them.
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Postby El_Skwidd » Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:45 am

I love you, Anthony. In a brother sort of way.

Yeah, food is easy. Even reducing the gathering rates a little might help things.
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Postby wichita » Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:51 am

I don't know that I am saying farming is too easy with this idea, as much as that it might be a way to stimulate trade, or help poor areas to suddenly have another bargaining chip to help promote growth.

Then there are always the poiltical implications of what happens when the only hematite supply on the island dries up and a new vein is found elsewhere! :twisted:
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Postby west » Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:17 am

Talapus wrote:Yeah I spelled his name wrong. Quayle said all kinds of interesting things, and if you want a good laugh, you should find a good list and read over them.


Indeed, over half of the "Bushisms" currently floating around are actually Quaylisms. The rest, of course, he actually DID say.
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Postby Jos Elkink » Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:56 am

Somewhat related - what would people think of requiring more processing for most foods? Like that you need to boil your potatoes and other vegetables, etc? In the sense that food is too easy to assemble right now. This would require a fix for new language areas, though, as completely new spawning locations will need some easy-to-gather food, otherwise they starve before they can build up any serious solutions :) ...

Ah well, more on topic: I like the idea, but think it would better fit with the more general change of plans as outlined in the roadmap, and besides, it has low priority compared to so many other ideas ;) ...
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Postby Nick » Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:07 am

Lumin wrote:I've always thought the way food is handled now makes life way too easy, as well as keeping trade and specialized occupations from developing.


I will smack he who disagrees with this.
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Postby Nick » Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:12 am

Jos Elkink wrote:Somewhat related - what would people think of requiring more processing for most foods? Like that you need to boil your potatoes and other vegetables, etc? In the sense that food is too easy to assemble right now. This would require a fix for new language areas, though, as completely new spawning locations will need some easy-to-gather food, otherwise they starve before they can build up any serious solutions :) ...


Yes

BUT

Like any new addition, you need to balance it first! This the key point that makes new, even wanted additions, unwelcome and unappreciated. When tiredness was added, productivity should have increased to make up for it, and the once-a-day hit limit should have been removed. If you're going to increase the ammount of work to be done on food, then you should be able to gather more of the raw stuff.

Or else you'll have hundreds of Cantrians asking you to make this change.

Then you'll have hundreds of Cantrians displeased with how it was implemented. The pattern is becoming quite clear.

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