Cooking idea

[Majikal]

I don't know if this is already in affect, but alot of folks cook without use of a fire and whatnot.. and most without even the slightest hint of RP. I'll admit, I've been guilty of this a few times.. but to see someone cook up some meat in the tavern just kinda gets to me. I was thinking of maybe a coded advantage to cooking in an area with a fire (firepit, campfires etc).. maybe it halves the cooking time or something. **shrugs** Just a though.

[Steel Leopard]

And all this time I just kinda 'assumed' that, codewise, I'd need a fire nearby to toast something.  XD

I personally think that having something like a fire being in the same room should actually not just be an advantage, but a requirement, for some cooking (such as roasting something).  

I mean, if you're roasting something, how are you heating it?  Bodyheat?
Putting it under your armpit and letting the Zalanthas eternal heatwave do the rest?

[Kankman]

I voted that you're a moron because I couldn't resist, but the idea has merit. I'd be more inclined to make a fire a necessary component in cooking most things. Or an oven. Or a stove. Or a grill.. Or blah, but really, cooking up some travel cakes in an alley (I'm guilty) is a stupid thing to be able to do.

Food is something a lot of players don't bother to RP at all, as far as I can see. Got a steak? Sure here you go... eat steak; eat steak; eat steak... So on, and so on. And I mean, raw meat in a backpack with your linen for sewing Lord Bulbous' aid a new pair of pants? Uncool.

Do I have a solution? No. There are too many troubles surrounding food, but making a stove/grill/fire/oven necessary for many cooking recepies might really help people stop treating food and hunger like an OOC inconveniance.

[Bestatte]

Currently, to me personally, the need to eat -is- nothing more than an OOC inconvenience. I'd probably buy food or cook some up even if there wasn't a coded requirement to eat once in awhile. But more often than not, the timing for that hunger echo to show up just totally sucks.

I mean - think about it. You're going toe-to-toe with that bad-ass raptor, SLOWLY kicking its ass while it SLOWLY kicks your ass, because you're both just about equally skilled and equally protected. You started getting the first hunger echo JUST as that raptor showed up, so you figured you'd have plenty of time before you actually needed to eat. And then:

tell raptor (holding a hand up) Oh, just a moment please, I'm FAMISHED!

Puleaze, gimme a break.

So yeah, it's an OOC inconvenience, more than anything else. I wouldn't buy food at the bar if I'm not hungry, because then I won't have any sids to buy it when I really am hungry. So I even roleplay it inappropriately, because the code promotes inappropriate roleplay of the situation by forcing hunger on you at times when you're not likely to be thinking about food, and -not- forcing hunger on you at times when you're sitting in front of a buffet.

As for required fires, there are MANY recipes for cooking that don't involve cooking. A piece of already-cooked meat can be crafted into strips - no cooking involved. Fruits sliced into slices. No cooking involved. Certain vegetation that produces -water- no cooking involved.

It's bad enough that we have to deal with being hungry, often at times when it can be a serious detriment and disruption to RP...

"Oh please don't torture me for the next two hours yet Lord Templar, I need a bite to eat first."

But to then have to actually find a place to cook? Meh. I'd rather just eat raw meat and not bother cooking it at all, if that was to happen.

[Kankman]

Currently, to me personally, the need to eat -is- nothing more than an OOC inconvenience. I'd probably buy food or cook some up even if there wasn't a coded requirement to eat once in awhile. But more often than not, the timing for that hunger echo to show up just totally sucks.

I mean - think about it. You're going toe-to-toe with that bad-ass raptor, SLOWLY kicking its ass while it SLOWLY kicks your ass, because you're both just about equally skilled and equally protected. You started getting the first hunger echo JUST as that raptor showed up, so you figured you'd have plenty of time before you actually needed to eat. And then:

tell raptor (holding a hand up) Oh, just a moment please, I'm FAMISHED!

Puleaze, gimme a break.

So yeah, it's an OOC inconvenience, more than anything else. I wouldn't buy food at the bar if I'm not hungry, because then I won't have any sids to buy it when I really am hungry. So I even roleplay it inappropriately, because the code promotes inappropriate roleplay of the situation by forcing hunger on you at times when you're not likely to be thinking about food, and -not- forcing hunger on you at times when you're sitting in front of a buffet.

As for required fires, there are MANY recipes for cooking that don't involve cooking. A piece of already-cooked meat can be crafted into strips - no cooking involved. Fruits sliced into slices. No cooking involved. Certain vegetation that produces -water- no cooking involved.

It's bad enough that we have to deal with being hungry, often at times when it can be a serious detriment and disruption to RP...

"Oh please don't torture me for the next two hours yet Lord Templar, I need a bite to eat first."

But to then have to actually find a place to cook? Meh. I'd rather just eat raw meat and not bother cooking it at all, if that was to happen.

twink.

editted to add:

The idea is, that you would need some sort of "cook-pit" to cook food that requires heat. Not slices of fruit. I thought that part was fairly obvious.

It sounds to me like you're against the idea of making food more realistic so that you don't have to start roleplaying it realisticly, and the "broken" state of the food code now allows you to feel no guilt about playing in an unrealistic manner.

Don't get me wrong - I've cooked travel cakes in alleys without any sort of emoted fire or whatnot, but damn, if there were going to be improvements I sure as hell would not oppose them because it makes life easier.

[ShaiHulud]

I don't know if this is already in affect, but alot of folks cook without use of a fire and whatnot.. and most without even the slightest hint of RP. I'll admit, I've been guilty of this a few times.. but to see someone cook up some meat in the tavern just kinda gets to me.

Many cooking items do not require a fire, but perhaps only heat, or a knife.  Some establishments have described areas, such as fire-pits, for anyone to use in cooking thier own foods.
If a player is say, grilling scrab meat with no fire or in a place without a described "roasting area", then that is poor play and awareness of enviroment on thier part.  I like to icly try to address such inconsistencies in the enviroment, tactfully while remaining ic if possible.

I was thinking of maybe a coded advantage to cooking in an area with a fire (firepit, campfires etc).. maybe it halves the cooking time or something.

I think the uncoded, 'emote-prop advantage' of a fire or proper tools is enough to warrent using them, regardless of coded skill bonuses derived.
But, perhaps if there were bonuses for using a fire, it would encourage those who craft scrab steaks in thier lap to use them, and rp with them

[Anonymous]

Someone once brought up using rocks found in the desert that have been heated in the sun as a good place to cook up some meat, so I don't think a fire should be necessary.

[Bestatte]

Nah Kankman, I usually DO roleplay it realistically. But sometimes it isn't realistic to expect my character to notice that she's hungry. Like - when she's in the process of being tortured. Or when she's in the middle of a fight with a mean nasty monster. Or hell - even when she's in the throes of mudsex ecstasy, for that matter.

Just like once in awhile I'll RP out having to take a pee, and I'm not forced by the code to empty my bladder, I feel hunger is just one of those things that shouldn't be necessary by virtue of the code. But it is, so I deal with it. I'm opposed to anything that makes cooking MORE realistic than it already is, for that reason and that reason alone.

[Agent_137]

no to the idea because it hurts playability.

Plus, a fire or a grill isn't appropriate for all cooking.

And if you add it as a bonus, you're saying it's just that. a bonus.

Instead, make fun of people who cook meat without a fire in game.

tell twink (squinting at !twink) What are you doing with that slab of meat there?? Fondling it?

and then refuse to believe that they are eating cooked meat.

tell twink (gawking) You eat -raw- meat? Sick! What are you, some kind of halfling crossbreed?

And if you eat meals like a normal person, you'll never get the hungry echo. Morning, noonish, and evening. Honestly, you really only need two of those. Eat until you're full. Make a scene of it. "Don't fuck with me halfbreed, I haven't eaten in three days, and you're between me and a meal." is much better than, "Damn, I hate eating. It's SOOOOOOOOO disruptive of all the time I spend doing other things. I wish I could just carry and IV bag around with me all the time. Uhg."

And -always- eat until your full before going for a trek into the desert.

[ShaiHulud]

Cooking and eating is a fundamental root of social interaction. There are others, including the desire to procreate.
Nearly all social interactions have food as a center or part.
I will fight for more realistic cooking, though contented with things as they are.  Food also helps describe a society.  Many use food in customs and have unique foods to offer in trade, or not.  Chefs in real life, and Master Cooks in Zalanthas, have the opportunity to define traditions, styles...and cooking and dining is an excellent source for rp, which can accompany almost all other things.  I hope to see more development on regional foods and foods unique to certain cultures.  The seasonings project is a boon. I am excited about this craft and its potential for defining Zalanthas' atmosphere and many cultures, as you may guess.

[Bestatte]

Yes I agree that cooking can be a lot of fun. I've enjoyed learning new recipes as I come across them. But I don't agree that forcing people to cook in a certain way, or forcing them to eat, is the answer to "realistic" roleplay. In fact, I don't think that "realistic" roleplay is always the most appropriate route. Sometimes as Agent said, playability has to be the focus, and realism has to take a back seat.

Imagine if you were told that from now on, if you wanted to play a tribal in tribe X, you HAD to use -only- spice X to cook with, and no other method of cooking would work for you?

I like the code of the game. I like the sense of realism. I like the skills, I like the playability. I like the balance. I think that adding to realism, in this case (which isn't about the spices, or the variety of cooking, but rather with the code itself), would take away from playability, and thus skew the balance.

[ShaiHulud]

Playability is not in question.  Crafting inappropriatly is.  So either education or code inforcement is the answer.  I think education is the answer.  Changing/adding/using code only if nessasary.  The cooking craft code is, well, the best anywhere and getting better.  Let's not shorten rp opportunities by claiming them menial and not worth attention.
Perhaps I can cook an elborate meal and serve it graciously to you while you discuss matters of importance with another.  Or, you can spam eat a Mekillot steak beforehand. :cry:

[cyberpatrol_735]

Ah, well yeah.. I say a fire isn't nessassary.. it just needs to be enforced. Say you're out in the desert and its a mighty hot day.. lay that meat on a rock, or pull out a piece of glass you found and cook that bitch.. You don't need fire.. its a desert world with a blazing sun 24/7. Zalanthas is -nothing- like earth, its terribly hot, there isn't rain, everything is dry.. it wouldn't take much to burn anything.

[Krath]

I would like the idea if the EFFECTS of fire in the room could happen. Meaning if you dont have
a fire pit, the Fire could spread, etc etc..But I voted you were a Moron because I could
not resist, Regardless I enjoy this idea.

[InsertCleverNameHere]

I was guilty of cooking from thin air before. Though it was an ignorance thing and my first week into the game, where the games I'd come from before, that sort of thing was perfectly acceptable...
It ended abruptly when I was baking myself a nice loaf of bread, in the quit-area connect to the Barrel, and someone asked what I was doing.
"Making a loaf of bread, what's it look like?"
"Um.. with what? No fire.. You some kind of flamin' magicker or somethin?"
*blahblah man eyes you suspiciously*
"No, uh... Excuse me." *stand, e,n,n,n,n,n*
Incidentally I keep away from that no-no now.

[JollyGreenGiant]

I voted bad idea, but only because not all cooking requires a fire.  Cutting up fruit, drying fruit, and I'm sure there are some others I haven't thought of.

[Jacques]

I would suggest that instead of REQUIRING a cookpit or a grill that a room with one of those in them can be considered a tool that aids in your "cook" skill. So without one, it's really much harder to make that grilled scrab steak, while with one, it's a little easier. This would require a little bit of recoding, but would, in fact, give people an actual in-game benefit for doing their food preparation in an area suitable for it. I'd make a more detailed suggestion regarding items that don't need a fire to be "cooked", but without knowing how the cook code actually works I can't really be any more specific.

(Edited to fix a few typos)

[Sanvean]

I like the idea of not making it a required thing, but adding a bonus for the people who are working in a room that has a fire description or where there is a campfire.  That manages to encourage it without being too hard core and hurting playability (which I think a requirement would do). I'll ask the coders if this might be possible and see whether or not it's an easy tweak.

[Bestatte]

I think that's a great compromise; that rooms with fire descs, or created campfires act as a boost, much like various tools work to boost the ability to craft other things.

[Sandstorm Phoenix]

Added to that - and to add to the existing nifty campfire code - I'd like to see more flammable objects.   Dried dung, certain thick grasses, hide scraps, etc.   Not all cookfires have to be roaring log-fed masterpieces.    For some food types, the smoked cooking options for example, you wouldn't want a large fire.

[Angela Christine]

I voted that you're a moron because I couldn't resist, but the idea has merit. I'd be more inclined to make a fire a necessary component in cooking most things. Or an oven. Or a stove. Or a grill.. Or blah, but really, cooking up some travel cakes in an alley (I'm guilty) is a stupid thing to be able to do.

Hey, that might work, as long as it was a hot alley.  You mix your dough, form the dough into thin patties, and then slap the dough patties onto the adjacent sun-heated mud-brick wall.  When it falls off the wall, it is done!


It would be nice if rooms set-up for cooking gave a small bonus to the cooking skill.  This could be a simple camp-fire, or a fully decked-out kitchen.  A fire wouldn't necessarily help with all kinds of cooking, but a kitchen with proper tools certainly would.  Perhaps a permanent kitchen could give a higher bonus than a simple campfire?


I would also like raw meat to have a small chance of giving you a pesky but non-life-threatening illness.  A digestive illness that only lasts a couple hours (a day or two IC) but causes embarasing gas, cramping and the runs (since defication is not coded, this would be expressed simply by echos and left up to the player to RP).  Worms infesting your digestive tract, which cause you to have a slightly faster hunger rate, because they are stealing your food,  which would be permanent untill you swallow a simple, inexpensive purgative (which could be available in herbalist shops).  A case of the sweats and shakes as your body deals with the poison, causing a slightly increased dehydration rate -- there might be an herbal cure available but it wears off within a few hours on it's own.

Races that can eat bodies might have a higher resistance to these illnesses, as would people with high endurance.


AC

[Zharal]

I just had to put my two coins in on the making of travel cakes in alleys.
Being that there is no water and the humidity level is zero, and the fact that it is damn hot.  I believe you could make as may travel cakes as you want, provided you had the pacients to sit and allow the moisture to evaporate, which in an area like the desert environment of nak, it wouldn't take that long.  It is by all standards a lump of dough, left to harden in the sun or bake near a fire source.  Its not like a loaf of bread that you have to work the dough, place in a container, allow to rise, punch it, allow to rise again, then back in an oven.  So in my option, you want to make travel cakes in the streets, go for it, just be careful they don't get stepped on.

[Sanvean]

Tenebrius added this in, and I've edited some rooms so they do provide crafting bonuses to the appropriate skill.  For example, the Gaj roasting pits have a cooking bonus.  If you find a room that you think should give a crafting bonus, please use the idea command as follows:

idea This room should give a bonus to <name of crafting skill>.

Thanks!

[Rhyden]

I voted moron, you shouldn't have put it as an option if you didn't want people to chose it. LoL. Anyways, it is a good idea. Sometimes I just want to slay people who cook meat in taverns or who don't rp even having any sort of cooking material or apparatus.