Alternatives to clan cooks

[Briarfox]

If I worked for someone who was well-to-do and ran a lucrative business I might expect better food: fresh fruit, sweet breads, seasoned meats, etc.

If I worked for someone who was cheap and cared more for profit then the welfare of employees or just an average sort of business I would expect food that was okay but cheap: basic breads, basic meats, nuts, etc.

If I worked for someone who had a poor business or didn't care at all for their employees I would expect very cheap or barely edible rations: old dried meat, stale breads, gruel, etc.

I do like:

• Give NPC cooks less fancy food to distribute indefinitely, but allow PC's to give cooks raw food products (i.e. meat, flour, cheese, eggs) and see some additional food(s) added to the menu.  That might give PC's an incentive to track down specific cooking materials as well as a real benefit to those hunters bringing in loads of fresh meat.

I would like to see more pc cooks. I would also like to see more craftable foods that are not clan-only. Or if kept clan-only with particular recipes, it makes no IC sense to be able to make a fruit cake one day and if your job ends not be able to do it the next. If you learn a recipe by joining a clan, if you successfully can make it, it shouldn't just 'poof' out of your memory.

[LoD]

I get tired of spam-eating three bowls of "8-eats-per-bowl" Byn stew.

I could've sworn there was some code developed that allowed your character to eat an entire food object without the in-between stages?  Something like <eat bread all> or something that was implemented back when people complained about the spam generated by people eating massive bites of food?

-LoD

[FuSoYa]

I get tired of spam-eating three bowls of "8-eats-per-bowl" Byn stew.

I could've sworn there was some code developed that allowed your character to eat an entire food object without the in-between stages?  Something like <eat bread all> or something that was implemented back when people complained about the spam generated by people eating massive bites of food?

-LoD

If there is that's the first I've heard of it.

Brandon

[Yam]

I think that is only in SoI.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Have them remove hunger.

I get tired of spam-eating three bowls of "8-eats-per-bowl" Byn stew.

No.  Hunger and thirst code are good in my opinion if annoying at times.

Brandon

I would like to see a command called devour, with a minor delay, that would finish off a food item, instead of cooks that sate hunger. I agree that eatting spam is annoying.

[Fathi]

I do not want the system of NPC cooks to change at all. Every clan I've ever played in has had more than one cook: one that provides certain items to low-ranked PCs, one (typically in the officer's barracks / manor / what-have-you) that provides fancier items to the leaders/highbloods.

One suggestion that I do have, however, is that food be made more filling, overall. I know some foods already are quite filling, but I hate seeing this:

> You are very hungry.

> You eat a bowl of soup. [That you have to 'eat' three times.]

> You eat a bowl of soup. [That you have to 'eat' three times.]

> You eat a bowl of soup. [That you have to 'eat' three times.]

> You eat a breaded and fried kalan fruit. [That you have to 'eat' twelve times.]

> You are full.

Should it really take -that- much spam-eating to bring my character up from a state of hunger that isn't starvation?

Edit: And to add, I don't want the quality of food given by NPC cooks to change, either. I like the fact that the food is fancy. It reinforces the belief that working for a merchant or noble house is a highly-coveted position that most commoners would be lucky to even dream of having.

[Salt Merchant]

One suggestion that I do have, however, is that food be made more filling, overall. I know some foods already are quite filling, but I hate seeing this:

> You are very hungry.

> You eat a bowl of soup. [That you have to 'eat' three times.]

> You eat a bowl of soup. [That you have to 'eat' three times.]

> You eat a bowl of soup. [That you have to 'eat' three times.]

> You eat a breaded and fried kalan fruit. [That you have to 'eat' twelve times.]

> You are full.

Should it really take -that- much spam-eating to bring my character up from a state of hunger that isn't starvation?

I like this suggestion. For those that want to eat slowly, there are emotes and "taste". I'd like eat to result in the entire food object being consumed in one command.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

For those that want to eat slowly, there are emotes and "taste". I'd like eat to result in the entire food object being consumed in one command.

Hey. Now this I dig.

[jstorrie]

I don't think it's broke. Don't fix it.

[AmandaGreathouse]

I think it should either stay as is, or if it is changed, I'd like to see it reflect the local game and crops as the menu items. Maybe have a limit on the more expensive items (like steaks and ginka foods), not to completely exclude them, but to limit it to maybe one per day of each, and let you 'fill up' on the less expensive/fancy things, while still allowing you a reasonable taste of the good stuff.

[Barzalene]

I think that what is served should depend greatly on the resources and philosphies of the clan.
I voted it depends thinking some clans shoul dhave better food and some should have worse. But then I realized that complaining about the food can be fun. More appropriate for some outfits than others though.
I'd like to change my vote to stay the same. Or evaluate on a clan by clan cook by cook basis.

[Yam]

The Byn stew really needs more genitals in it.

[LoD]

The Byn stew really needs more genitals in it.

Mess Hall [W]
A few stone tables lay scattered about the room.
A robust, sandy-blond woman is here, stirring a large pot.
A slender, black-haired manservant is here, cleaning tables.
The husky, fork-bearded man is here, sitting at a stone table.
The broad-shouldered, muscular man is here, sitting at a stone table.
The willowy, green-eyed man is standing here.

Laughing coarsely, the husky, fork-bearded man speaks to the broad-shouldered, muscular man at a stone table.

The willowy, green-eyed man nervously sniffs at a bowl of stew cradled in his hands.

Eyes widening in disgust, the willowy, green-eyed man exclaims, in sirihish:
   "There are escru testicles in this!"

Glancing up from his table, the husky, fork-bearded man exclaims, in sirihish:
   "Wait wait -- WAIT!"

Tilting his head toward a robust, sandy-blond woman, the husky, fork-bearded man asks, in sirihish:
   "He got MORE than one?  What the fuck!?  He's just a runner!"

Searching his stew, disappointment evident in his tone, the broad-shouldered, muscular man says, in sirihish:
   "So much fer the small perks..."

[Fathi]

The Byn stew really needs more genitals in it.

Mess Hall [W]
A few stone tables lay scattered about the room.
A robust, sandy-blond woman is here, stirring a large pot.
A slender, black-haired manservant is here, cleaning tables.
The husky, fork-bearded man is here, sitting at a stone table.
The broad-shouldered, muscular man is here, sitting at a stone table.
The willowy, green-eyed man is standing here.

Laughing coarsely, the husky, fork-bearded man speaks to the broad-shouldered, muscular man at a stone table.

The willowy, green-eyed man nervously sniffs at a bowl of stew cradled in his hands.

Eyes widening in disgust, the willowy, green-eyed man exclaims, in sirihish:
   "There are escru testicles in this!"

Glancing up from his table, the husky, fork-bearded man exclaims, in sirihish:
   "Wait wait -- WAIT!"

Tilting his head toward a robust, sandy-blond woman, the husky, fork-bearded man asks, in sirihish:
   "He got MORE than one?  What the fuck!?  He's just a runner!"

Searching his stew, disappointment evident in his tone, the broad-shouldered, muscular man says, in sirihish:
   "So much fer the small perks..."

You guys ever wondered why the cooks at both Byn compounds are female?

> l e (toward the mess hall)

The chubby, apron-wearing man stands upon a table here, teabagging a crock of stew as it cools.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

OMG!!!

Stay on topic!!! (That was funny as hell, though.)

[Dalmeth]

If clan cooks were removed, I'd at least demand a greater degree of success in basic processing of food.  For instance, smoking and just plain cooking.  As it stands, those processes can be quite tiresome if even a third is lost or turns out burned.

Also, the other forms of food would need to become more available as well.  Some shops should sell preserved meat and veggies on the cheap, and the variety of plant foods in general should see a drastic increase.  As it stands, the only place that has a good balance of food is Red Storm.

[X-D]

I agree with Dalmeth.

I voted should just fill you up, and that is hunger and thirst I hope.

But hell, if removing them meant that every class would get a boost to cooking, then I'd vote REMOVE THE BITCHES!!!

The current arbitrary maxes to cooking based on class is silly to an extreme.

[Morrolan]

Thoughts:

(f) Cooks could charge a small fee per meal (in conjunction with a salary tweak), and provide travel ration packs to officer PCs to be issued as appropriate.

I voted "other."  I think clan cooks should be "merchants" who sell food items cheaply to clan members.  Further, Every rank of the clan should get a different list.  Military ranks should be able to buy ration-packs.  And all of them should remove hunger as a 0 coin option with the emote based on rank.

That's my take.

Morrolan

[Kyviantre]

I know for a fact that on Harshlands and SoI, the role of a cook is always a very popular one, for some reason, a certain group of players just enjoy taking care of others and being a "motherly" figure.

Done that, had to spend a min of 3 OOC hours a -day- to keep everyone even remotely close to being fed (...I failed about half of the time).  And everyone that's played with me knows that I like tidying and cooking and that sort of stuff.

Personally, one of the best things about being in a clan was not having to ever worry about food or water.  Don't take away the cooks!  Don't change their food to virtual grub - its nice to be able to scowl down at a lowly rinther over your ever-so-tasty tandu sausage (or whatever).  Don't change it to be 'included' in pay, since in some clans, the recruits don't get paid at all, and even when you do start getting paid, you need to actually see your boss/leader, and if you're offpeak, you'll starve many days before that happens!

Ergo, I'm all for keeping them as they are!

[brytta.leofa]

Don't change it to be 'included' in pay, since in some clans, the recruits don't get paid at all, and even when you do start getting paid, you need to actually see your boss/leader, and if you're offpeak, you'll starve many days before that happens!

Good point.  It's easy for pay to lag several "months" at a time.

[jhunter]

I don't see any reason to change them to something other than what they are currently. My reasons are basically the same as put forth by others in this thread.
I would much rather see changes to food so that characters don't have to eat insane amounts of food in order to get full. It should be more realistic and food items shouldn't take spamming commands to eat.

[Shiroi Tsuki]

I wouldn't mind if food items filled you up the same amount (because I remember when food was crazy worse than it is now, the first time I played), but I would like a 'devour' command.  So that I can just shove that kalan fruit in my maw, peel and all, and be done with it.

[Yam]

Kalan seeds are more poisonous than halfling hugs.

[Desertman]

I am against pretty much anything "Insta-Gifted" with no apparent real time economical stand point.

What I mean is I dont like the idea of cooks dishing out hundreds of meals to people, but bank accounts for Houses and the like never seeing a decrease for it.

I would be in favor of getting rid of clan cooks and instead forcing them to buy/hunt/harvest their own supplies based on their own IC economic virtues.

Not only is it more realistic, it would open up a ton of jobs in several clans...Hunters, Cooks, Supply/Quartermaster Personnel.

Right now we have "Insta-Food" NPC's that are cutting out the potential for a lot of realism and RP opportunities for the sake of unrealistic convenience.

(I hate anything done with "Virtual Money". Sure you can argue that the cooks get the food by spending virtual money from virtual bank accounts that the clans are supposed to have, but in the end, I hate that, just a personal opinion.)

When I am part of/run indy groups, we always work together to supply ourselves and its a beautiful thing.

The major clan PC's shouldnt be denied such a fun opportunity, and IMO, thats exactly what insta-cooks do in many ways.

Sure I would still want to see VNPC clan populations and NPC clan populations work off the assumption that they are taking the correct measures to keep themselves and thier specific units/branches supplies, but the PC's, I would like them to become VERY responsible for handling and planning their own supplies.

Its just more fun than "Insta-Cook" magick to do it that way for me.

Can you imagine if Byn PC's suddenly had to start making "supply" runs or actually had to start taking cuts in contract pay for the purpose of buying up supplies.

Being a huge fan of the Byn, its my favorite clan that I have the most experience in, from top to bottom, I have to say I would love it.

Also, any of you that have ever asked the cook in the northern Kadian compound for food, you know that it is completely possible to run an entire clan based on nothing other than PC harvesting.

One branch of a clan already does it in fact and I have never seen a clan memeber starve to death yet.

Will some Houses have to go through the extra expense of hiring hunters and cooks to supply their pc ranks?

Yes.

Is that a bad thing?

Well, I guess it might be if you like spending your stipends and virtual House pay on nothing but jewelry and silk instead of hiring pc's.

(That is an entirely different issue for me as well. When you accept a special app family member/noble/templar/high ranking military personnel, it is not your job to wander around with your uber coinage ect and further how "cool" and "badass" your special app PC is. You got that role to increase the enjoyment of the rest of the playerbase, in many ways you are a mini-IMM and you should act like it. That pc wasnt given to you for only your own enjoyment, it was also given to you and intrusted to you with the understanding that you would use it and all of its resources to create fun things for the more mundane pc's to enjoy.)

[Salt Merchant]

Can you imagine if Byn PC's suddenly had to start making "supply" runs or actually had to start taking cuts in contract pay for the purpose of buying up supplies.

Being a huge fan of the Byn, its my favorite clan that I have the most experience in, from top to bottom, I have to say I would love it.

My impression of the Byn is that they're a bit short on contracts as it is, and that their mecernary philosophy pride compels them to earn their livings by the sword, not by grebbing, hunting and crafting.