One Hour One Life Forums

Okay, I apologize for my role in perpetuating the "let boy babies starve" meme.  I was focused too much on optimizing for game mechanics, and not considering the roleplaying angle or how other people may value that in their own gameplay.

Part of me wanted to reply that you're just as free to get things done as a female -- just ignore any babies that spawn near you.  There's nothing actually "freeing" about being a male, from a game mechanics perspective.  But roleplaying, there definitely is.  So again, sorry for that.

This anti-male issue has been discussed in other threads here as well, and I will repeat the conclusion I have come to:  Males should be allowed to live, but should maybe be kicked out of the village when they're of age.  I do think division of labor in terms of wandering/exploring and "holding down the fort" makes sense, and that division makes the most sense along gender lines (since nobody wants babies spawning when you're off in the wilderness searching for things.)

A dead baby counter seems like too much of a challenge to griefers, to me.  We don't want 4chan-style "10000 GET" nonsense with people trying to kill as many babies as possible.

That said, my day job is as a data scientist.  I am a data junkie.  I would be more than happy to run any kind of large-scale report on (sanitized/anonymized) server data, to generate some reports.  I have access to hadoop clusters at my work, and my employer is (usually) fine with me running hobby data through them, since 9/10 times any tools I end up developing to facilitate that kind of stuff will prove useful for my actual job as well.

Not to make this too political, but I was thinking along similar lines with regards to biological sex... like, there's a not-insignificant portion of the population that is intersex.  Perpetuating gender binaries is not only politically incorrect, but biologically incorrect.  Maybe a simple game mechanic in which a player's "actual" gender does not match their image?  So they look like a male, but can spawn babies (though maybe not nurse) or they look like a female but are sterile?  Not sure how to make that clear to players what's going on, but it would add an interesting twist to things...

I agree with large carrot farms being unweildy to get started and to maintain.

I have been focusing on creating small (seven plots:  three to seed, four to feed) farms directly next to ponds.  Four ponds can sustain a seven-plot farm.

I think if we can get to a place where most of the wetlands are full of these small farms, then any new Eve will be able to get started almost immediately upon spawning, and live a full life and raise children.

So far I have mostly seen settlements where people build something in the forest (because the green grass is pretty, I guess) and then have to send people to collect water from wetlands, trap rabbits in grasslands, search for milkweed, etc.  Rather than doing that (and leaving those precious -- fragile -- resources unwatched most of the time, vulnerable to newbies) I think we should build tiny farms directly next to the ponds, trapping/clothing outposts directly next to rabbit areas, etc.  Protect the vulnerable resources by having the people who care about them actually right there.  We should travel to interact and trade, not travel to get water for farms or bring rabbits back to a central campfire.

When they do, that's great.  But many -- especially newbies -- do not.  They're just an extra mouth to feed.  At least with a female, you still have new babies spawning.

I should clarify that I only support a "let male babies starve" strategy given the current state of civilization.  Elsewhere, I have proposed that all the Eves gather in one place so they can centralize and control the spawn point for new babies.  If we got to that point, then we'd need males to go out into the surrounding area and establish and expand farms, textile plants, logging, etc.  We aren't there yet though, and females are currently more useful -- even if for just that one thing, because sometimes that one thing is exactly what your farm needs -- so sorry for the baby boys.

For eve.  Yes?

I don't forget that, I just don't know that that makes anything worse.  I suppose you have a point though, in that by centralizing everything we create a more inviting target for the trolls.  But that's an argument against centralizing rather than an argument against controlling births.  Controlling births in the manner I describe will indeed result in centralization... but ANYTHING that centralizes things will have vulnerability to trolls.  That's something worth figuring out...

Also note that MANY people are mistaken about which stage is the fruiting stage.  I've seen plenty of people pick the milkweed when it is FLOWERING, not FRUITING.  So often, even people who think they're doing it correctly are not.  (Not implying that's the case with anybody here, just pointing out that it's an issue.)

I second this.  I had been talking elsewhere about "balance" and I think this way of putting it captures that point quite well.

Boys are useless mouths to feed, on average.  Some experienced players will be more help than a drain, but one useless male can destroy a village by eating too much and not contributing.  Females can breed, and continue the village.  I usually support letting male babies starve, since they'll just respawn anyway.  Sometimes if I'm born a male, I'll just run off into the woods myself and save my mother the decision.

I am planning to relocate all farms to be next to the water.  Not "near" the water -- directly next to it.  Farms grow just fine in wetlands.  Having the ponds within eyesight elimates the need to store/transport water pouches or clay bowls in volume.  It also allows the farmers to monitor water usage more directly, preventing them from being drained or misdirected.