Eating, cooking and agriculture

My toughts on food, cooking and agriculture.

I'll start off with wishing that eating will be "forced". Meaning that if you dont eat youll suffer some penalties. But it shouldnt be too demanding. Maybe a meal (or two) per real life day. So when you log in for the day you could start with eating a meal and then go on adventuring knowing that you wont starve that day anymore.

I also thought about food having different qualities. If your cooking skill is low and the stuff you make your food from is low quality, then the created food would be of lower quality. When the quality is really low you would be eating at your own risk, maybe even get food poisoing and other "debuffs".
I think this would create a chance for chefs and taverns to get a reputation for example always serving good food. And people who doesnt like to cook (like me) would have a reason to go to taverns to eat.

And then there would be demand on good quality raw material. A farmer farming good wheat or rice could charge higer for it, as those five star restaurants really want to by it. Of course here Im again asuming that farming skill would have an impact on what youll grow. Best quality maybe only if the farmer have used fertilizers wich maybe alchemists could make. Youll get the idea..

People who really want to excell in their trade would have a better chance to get known

So whats your on opinion on this and on "forced" eating?
(and sorry for possible writing errors, english not my native language)

 

I'm all for forced feeding for the sake of the economy, but I cringe at the thought of needing to sit in front of my computer and watch food being consumed. This is not a good direction for game development to go. It's a waste of the players time since there is no need to go about food intake this way. A less intrusive idea would be similar to an I.V. feeding system.

Stock pileing food and just having the system deduct from your stock would fullfill the same purpose and still allow players to go about their business instead of needlessly watching their avatar eat.

Your thoughts on food quality and how it could become of value are interesting and think the developers should take this into consideration, but it's inclusion shouldn't take up a players time if he/she doesn't want to devote it. It seems that all of it could be done with eating being an optional, veiwable event.

 

Well, one thing that was good about WoW from a cooks perspective was that eating certain foods gave certain bonuses. Therefore there was an incentive to eat, and an incentive to have recipes, and an incentive to cook foods and sell them.

So I think you don't have to go overboard with the bonuses that are given, maybe something like eating these fish steaks increases your fishing ability by 10 or something of the like. I also liked feasts that could be prepared, buffing an entire party who was about to raid. But that is certainly a way to encourage the skill economically and from a player value perspective.

 

I like the forced eating so long as its automated. must have food in pack & you will consume as nessessary to avoid starvation, only active food eating (you click to eat) will give bonuses though.

 

Automated eating not to starve would be good I guess. I understand not all players like to spend playing time eating But from a roleplaying perspective it would be nice to have the option to manually eat at at taverns and inns. I like the idea that only active food eating would give bonuses.

 

While I personally enjoy requiring active eating (food and drink), I can see how that can really detract from others' experience. So I like the idea of automatic eating to survive but active eating for bonuses, as a compromise. Although I would like the option to make it active for me.

Let's make that cooking skill even more useful and meaningful!

 

As for what will happen, I don't know that the devs have said yet. But if we take from RG's previous Ultimas, then eating will be necessary. It was not necessary in the beginning of UO but it helped you gain skill if you were full. I don't think that's the case anymore but it makes me wonder if that could be the direction the devs might go in if RG wants it.

As for my opinion, I think the necessity of eating in game is A) great for role playing and B) great for cooks. What's the point of cooking if no one needs what you cook? I don't know that we need to worry about starvation, but having easier skill bumps if you are full would encourage players to either cook for themselves or buy food from other players.

 

Skill bumps would be fine, but what about a penalty if you are very hungry, like you can't aim that bow, the sword slips & you miss, magic fizzles a lot. Then at least the auto eating would keep you from that so you can function properly AND the cooking skill becomes usefull, if you click to eat (player crafted) then you recieve a bonus, if you click to eat plain fruit, then you don't recieve a bonus to....
hmmmm, let me see.... whatever is in your hand at the time because you are in a better frame of mind. Be it fishing, fighting, crafting.

 

And what about food spoiling, jerky for instance you can keep for a long time but you won't get any bonus off it, and prepaired dishes give bonus but won't last a few days

 

Food could spoil, but I'm thinking months, not days

 

Whaaaat? I think someone would beg to differ:



Now those are some serious bonuses to the Lightning Spells he's casting

 

I think it adds value to the game. Games where food is needed create an added area of strategy. Its not needed to have "meditation" in some game, but in those games you Mana moves up much slower. Making meditating a interesting strategy.

I see this as true for food. Should I stop and eat now to gain my strength/engery/what-ever-you-want-to-call-it and risk getting attacked by the has-goul? Or should I wait till I get to the town and risk running out of strength/engery/what-ever-you-want-to-call-it before town?

Should I eat the more expensive shepards pie and be full longer and ready for any battles? or should I eat the cheaper bread, and not last as long but save money and time.

then there are the benifits that could be added. Pumpkin Pie has a lot of sugar, giving you a bit more 'pep' in your attack, but less energy for the long run. The Shepards Pie will last longer But might leave you with a 'heavy' tummy, causign you to feel tiered or slugish for a little bit after before the energy kicks in.

Over all... I think it add to the imersion if executed with some dynamic thought. I would certaintly enjoy it and it would add relivence to people that want to RP a cook.

 

I remeber being an early cook in Aion and cornering the Aether Jelly market. Cooking should be balanced with the other professions.

If blacksmithing provides me with minimal gear and repairs, that's equivalent to food counteracting debuffs. If other professions provide stats and buffs for the top tier / rare recs, so should cooking. That said, I'm perfectly happy if neither does. It can all be out of combat / RP. Consuming food on cooldown (i.e. you're hungry) could provide a bonus to a culture / rp / crafting level.

 

I agree 100% and was going to type this in my original post, but no one else ever seems to understand this, so I've pretty much just given up on taking the time to lobby for it.

I feel that strategy from food consumption goes much deeper than any one meal though. It's taking the possible dangerous trip to buy it; it's budget planning so you don't come up short when you need to buy food, and it's about supply management. It's about capitalizing on your enemies lack of planning. However, the need to make a player sit and watch food consumption animation just isn't needed. You can still have the element of strategy -- not to the detail that you speak of -- and not need to have your time interrupted.

Adding you idea with a hunger status bar that deplets over time would be great. Those that want a bit more of the strategic element can have that option. I'd even use it, but to be foced to give up time for trivial aninimation on a highly regular basis, is a poor direction to move.

 

Well, it looks like some form of quality for food is in the game. A new fishing pole is now available in the Add-On Store. Here's the description:

"This unique, indestructible fishing pole increases your chance to catch fish, the quality of the fish caught and the speed they are caught. While fishing poles with similar effects can be crafted and purchased in the game, this particular fishing pole never needs repair."

So at least fish will have different qualities. Hmmm...I guess this now confirms that fishing will indeed be in the game. It also shows a little about the crafting system since it basically states that crafted items can have "effects" and even fishing poles will need "repair." And if fishing poles need repair...then "repairing" overall will be a huge part of crafting.

 

I am for the eating in the game.... have it similar to UO, you don't have to watch your avatar take every bite, just click on the food in your backpack and depending on what you have to eat or drink, your hunger will go down. I want to cook in the game, so without people needing to have to eat, it makes my skill useless.

 

I could deal with this.

 

Im good with eating hapening automatically from stock in your backpack, if emote is needed make it quick gulp of food / drink. Have variety of eating emotes for RP's like my self, mayby even lenghty or automatically repeated thing so make immersive "dinner". Remember some sound assets (of using spoon/fork, not so much of belching )

 

I like the idea of "food" having consequences, but I think they should be mostly positive (like regaining HPs, Mana, or Stamina overtime). While resting around a campfire, a chr should regain at a normal rate, if just standing still, there should be no regein. With the exception of stamina, which should regain if standing still (like catching your breath), you should also loss stamina while active, but not at any given rate, maybe in a burst, say at the start of an activity. I think a chr should become exausted, but not to the point of not being able to move. I think being Full, Hungry, really Humgry, and Starving would do.

I like the idea of food spoilage too, and even giving you mild poison if rottin. I think this would cause vendors/players to keep good quality foods in stock. I think Fresh, Slightly wilted, Nearly rotten, and Rotten would be good indicators.

Now I also think that a "day" in the game should be 8 hours, this would be good for having to rest/eat every 2 hours, and give foods a 3 day shelf/backpack life.

Maybe if the day was 9 hours there could be a 3 hour night cycle, I'm hoping ppl like. And seasons too, where the weather changes. Adding green houses, as a house add-on to grow year round.

Potions should have instant boosts so they can be different from food effects. Not requiring resting or a campfire, things like that.

Having to build a fire and roll out a bed roll to log-out in the wilderness was one of the cool things in UO, but having to wait for a secure camp, was a little too much.

 

Any one say fish steaks?? Yum yum!!