Rationing Food.

[da mitey warrior]

NPC cooks are cool, but unlimited supplies of food make clan life soft.

So, let's introduce rationing!  After all, you shouldn't be able to get an unlimited supply of food from the cook.

Features:
You get a limited number of food items per IC day.  
The amount you get depends on your clan rank.
If you've already got your ration for the day you cannot get any more, come back the next IC day for the next day's rations.

Example.  
In the Byn runners get 1 bowl of stew/day.  Troopers get 2 bowls and Sergeants get 3, Leiutenants and up get unlimited.  (Just an example)

Results:
-Much Harsher.
-Food becomes more important to clan members, especially low ranking ones.  Getting promoted means you can eat more.
-Food, being better controled, has more value and can be given as a reward, used as a bribe etc.  
-No more waiting until you're starving and then eating 12 bowls of stew in one sitting.
-Rations wouldn't accumulate, so you won't be penalized for playing 6 hours a day.
-Ration settings can be tweaked to reflect in game reality.  Like if the clan is falling on hard times rations can be cut back.

[Ghost]

I am in favor of a harsher life.  After all, seeing the number of corpses increase everyday at the doors of the dragon temple, but still living with a payment and always "You are too full to eat more... You are not thirsty.. Your stomach cant contain anymore" type messages, just because you are wearing some kind of cloaks/abas that represent a house, does not seem right to me.  Yes just wearing is enough, because it is possible to iddle in a tavern or do a little chores to live like this.

But I doubt such limit can take place. After all, clans are where newbies learn  how to play the game.  And although harsher, independents or those that are member of non-coded clans (in my opinion) have greater fun.  So I cosider it a give and take.  Make your choice and play that way.

[UnderSeven]

Try to keep something in mind, the majority of the game is dirt poor, we as the players generally represent the more well off people.

I don't know that we should make the game into something where we have to spend all our online time doing crafting skills just to make enough to eat.  That doesn't sound very much fun.  But if you want to play that way, it would be fairly easy to make a char who was dirt poor.

[Crazy Hakhim]

I think that there's a point to rationing, and there are also valid points against it, but my general point is, that I think that any rationing, or the lack of it, should be addressed IC.

I think it's totally logical for the management of an organization to think - "Hey, they don't need all that we're making available to them! We just want to keep them well enough to serve, we don't want to supply them with the means to get free lunches for their friends!" Or anything like that.

Of course, it's logical for a management to think a hundred other things, as well, but that's my point - It's up to them.

[Vega]

Personally, I don't see any problems with the amount of food a clan gives its people. In order to operate well, a person needs to be well-fed otherwise they give half-assed performance. In world of limited resources and people, the most go to the people in control and to remain in control, they require loyal, high-performance servants.

The situation could be more realistic I think if they varied the type of food different ranks get. So far, a Cadet in X organization gets the same food options from an NPC cook as a Captain in X organization. An officer of Captain rank certainly sounds more important and while he could purchase food of higher quality with his hard-earned cash, so could the Cadet. So all in all, higher quality of food for higher ranks would give a stronger representation of the rank/power differences.

[creeper386]

There's a problem here. Those cooks are also where the food comes from when going on missions, and such. You can't take those cooks to war or any other thing, even though a large group probably would have supplies and someone that can cook them decently along for any long trip. It's ussually doesn't work that way. So either you hunt when you are out there, which doesn't make much since for some missions or some clans. Or you stock up before you go. If everything was completely rationed ... You'd have to have things planned way ahead of time with hire ranking people getting extra food and storing it away just for the trip. Very rarely is there a PC higher ranking then Sergeant except in the case of nobles and they don't always run missions outside of the cities.

Also, one bowl of stew has troubles feeding a normal person. Let alone a large person, or a half-giant or something. They DO eat more. I've had dwarves that ate more then other skinnier characters. I think a larger character could starve if restricted to one bowl. Plus it doesn't really consider anything. A troope comes in half starved from a completed mission and the cook tells them they can't have but one thing to eat? WTF?

Anyways, I'm against things like this as a lets change everything in the game to this! There'd have to be ALOT more thought then just, "It should be harsher so lets make clanners starve to death!"

Those are just the thoughts of ...

Creeper

[Delirium]

"Clanners" should just get paid less.

They've already got free food, free water, free uniform, and a free, safe place to stay.

Then 250-500+ 'sid a month on top of that?

Plus, it makes a position as a soldier rather undesireable from a pay standpoint.

[SpyGuy]

"Clanners" should just get paid less.

They've already got free food, free water, free uniform, and a free, safe place to stay.

Then 250-500+ 'sid a month on top of that?

Plus, it makes a position as a soldier rather undesireable from a pay standpoint.

Not all guards get free armor/weapons in their uniform.  Also, the less they make the more they just become automated sparring machines.

But still, harsher is better.

[wizturbo]

Clanners shouldn't be hired so quickly.

[Pungee]

Firstly, nice to see Da Mitey Warrior again. It's been awhile.


Secondly, to the topic.

Having played more than my fair share of tribal types who don't get unlimited food or water I have to say...I agree with DMW. Now, I'm not saying that the houses should have to adhere to this or that they would do so out of some weird necessity. But I mean think about it, most places that hire on warriors and such are businesses one way or another. Noble Houses might not choose to adopt such things because they, to an extent, can come by funds easier than others. However I can definitely see Merchant Houses rationing food just to be cheap. They are, after all, businesses. And when it comes down to it, they need to protect their bottom line.

So, in conclusion I think it should be up to the particular organization to decide if they want to ration food. I can see the Byn doing it to toughen the new recruits, or Salarr for the same reasons.

[EvilRoeSlade]

There's a problem here. Those cooks are also where the food comes from when going on missions, and such. You can't take those cooks to war or any other thing, even though a large group probably would have supplies and someone that can cook them decently along for any long trip. It's ussually doesn't work that way. So either you hunt when you are out there, which doesn't make much since for some missions or some clans. Or you stock up before you go. If everything was completely rationed ... You'd have to have things planned way ahead of time with hire ranking people getting extra food and storing it away just for the trip. Very rarely is there a PC higher ranking then Sergeant except in the case of nobles and they don't always run missions outside of the cities.

And why can't the Sergeant just buy rations for the mission?

Also, the less they make the more they just become automated sparring machines.

I don't understand how you figure that.  I've been the de facto leader in a clan in which you got paid 50 sid a month, and people usually didn't spar unless I specifically told them to.