Mentor Talk (OOC)

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Adamus

Mentor Talk (OOC)

Post by Adamus »

Introductuon

I broke with tradition when I did not recommend wheat as a first field. Duke_of_Earl, a valued and respected member of our community, indeed my mentor, has called me to task. With his permission I am going to post our exchange of letters here.
Adamus

Re: Mentor Talk (OOC)

Post by Adamus »

This is the letter I recieved from Duke_of_Earl

Hello. How are you?

I noticed the field recommendations are currently set to corn and veggies.

The first field recommendation should always be set to Wheat.

The mentor letter also recommends(ed?) this with a follow up suggestion to take corn or veggies if they don't want to farm wheat; corn especially if they do want to farm chickens for their second field.

The second field recommendation is usually meant to be set to the seasonal field at the change of season with the exception of town needs. Typically, wheat again in the spring, corn in the summer, chickens in the fall (with letter recommendation alternatives of sheep or cows for weavers and butchers respectively), and veggies in the winter. Corn or Veggies as needed can usually stick around for the fall and spring recommendations too.

Wheat though is the crop we've long encouraged everyone to have at least one of and first and all year round as it is an excellent cash crop and usually a high demand/fast moving prooduct which also provides chaff for your house's roofs.

Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
Adamus

Re: Mentor Talk (OOC)

Post by Adamus »

Here is my response

Duke_of_Earl:

It is a pleasure to read your clear prose. I understand your points of tradition and value. I just don't agree that they should be my guiding principals in mentoring new comers to our fair city of Fenia.

Bear with me for a moment. Secfenia is the slowest game I play. Just as it slowly reveals itself in the added complexity of each level, it has also, slowly, taught me patience. I have learned to train for that next skill and practice for that added workshop level. I could not have waited 10 days + for a wheat harvest when I first started playing. I would have been so out of here.

Very few gold coins are needed to survive or thrive in secfenia. What is needed is patience and imagination. When I encourage our newly propertied players to plant corn or veggies, it is because I want them to have the thrill of accomplishment, not the disapointment of waiting 3 days for someone to respond to their offer of work. I want them to be able to eat and sell the products of their fields so they will feel committed to the process, not that they could be just as bored on an hourly wage making widgets for Amco.

I hope you understand my position. With your permission I would like to post both our letters on Fenia's Mentor Board so our people can see them and decide for themselves what fields to plow.

Badger Adamus

Fenia Town Mentor
Adamus

Re: Mentor Talk (OOC)

Post by Adamus »

And Duke_of_Earl's second letter


That's fair, yes alright.

You do have a point about the speed of other fields compared to wheat, it's just that wheat typically does pay out more money at the end of the day; and at the community level we also need to make sure the town always has enough wheat available.

Perhaps wheat is a better field for level 3 recommendations these days rather than level 1, but we do still need some encouragment of wheat farming somewhere in order to keep domestic stocks/reserves up.

Seasonal output differences are imortant at low level too. You also make more money by changing fields seasonally until you master horticulture and/or animal husbandry; and/or buy a pet that boosts your yields. Keeping the same fields year round is thus also a better stratefy for level 3+ who have those courses under their belts then they are for level 1; at least if maximizing income is a priority. If it isn't then I suppose it doesn't really matter.

Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.

-Duke
Adamus

Re: Mentor Talk (OOC)

Post by Adamus »

This is a comment, not a letter

I have posted this exchange so people can make their own decisions. When I changed the mentor's field recomendations, I did not change the wording in the leveling letter so it continues to suggest wheat as a first field. Both points of view are out there for creatures to consider.

Duke_of_Earl does an excelent analysis of costs and profits. I have denigrated that motivation more as a debating point than in any disbelief in those motivations. Duke's suggestion that players with more experience should be encouraged to move into wheat is one I strongly support.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I currently have a wheat field. I sell half the produce it produces and save the other half to raise cattle. With my next harvest I will have enough wheat to feed my cattle for at least 10 days. Their hides will eventually provide supplies for my weaver workshop. I think this is a different matter than raising wheat for the purpose of raising wheat.
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