So, here me out, a Comfort stat

[Zeon]

make blocks of different types have a plus or negative comfort stat. comfort increases temporal resistance and helps against areas with low stability. so that really cool chair you got from carl the chair guy will actually do something

[Omega Haxors]

I considered adding a "soul" stat as a mod but couldn't find a justification for adding it that would be meaningful.
Basically it would be your mental health, and would go up or down based on certain criteria, and come with some sort of benefits or drawbacks.

Had a few ideas floating around but they all either end up being obscenely frustrating, or don't really add anything to the experience.
Ideally it would be something that pushes players to make things that look good, and play in ways that aren't just nonstop grinding.
Now the main question is how you add such a thing without punishing players for having the "wrong playstyle" is hard to figure out.
And making it a reward-based system isn't a good idea either, because then people will min-max it which will make the game even less fun.
You want to punish the player for playing in a way that makes them have less fun, but it's not like you can tell or dictate if that's the case or not.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Omega Haxors

[Thorfinn]

Maybe. I've vacillated on this quite a bit. It is a strong function of what the intent behind the stability mechanic is. If it's something related to the SAN stat in Call of Cthulhu, then this is from proximity to the horrors of Lovecraftian entity. That's my current take, and as evidence that's the intent, getting close to rifts is strongly negative to Stability/SAN. Something of that nature should probably not be able to be overcome by just looking at your favorite coffee mug. On the other hand, lots of people treat their mental issues with alcohol, and since alcohol seems to do nothing other than be some role-play thing that is otherwise useless, maybe that's where this is headed.

Though it's likely something to do with what game style I prefer, I think it would be really neat to have the Lovecraftian horrors closing in on you. Over the weeks and months, they progressively weaken the temporal barriers between their world and the seraph's, to the point that rifts are able to spawn drifters in increasingly bright conditions, and eventually, the seraph has no choice but to move away from the horrors, or give in to them. Which might not be all bad. Maybe I could finally get some insight into why some of them carry around that one flax fiber...

[Maelstrom]

Remember that the story elements are inspired by Lovecraftian themes.  I think the temporal stability isn't a measure of sanity as much as a kind of physical aspect of the world, a temporal weather if you will.  Given the prologue when opening (and that we play as a seraph, not human) I suspect we players are "sent" or choose to enter this world to be part of healing it of the catastrophe that befell the world in a prior age.  

Soooo...  I don't think we need mental comfort as much as the humans in the world do.  Just read through the dialogue of the traders.  Seraphs just need to make sure they aren't famished or temporally depleted, mentally they're tough as nails (at least in my thinking/lore).

[Thorfinn]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:02 PM, Thorfinn said:

On the other hand, lots of people treat their mental issues with alcohol, and since alcohol seems to do nothing other than be some role-play thing that is otherwise useless, maybe that's where this is headed.

I know talking to myself is a pretty good sign my stability is low, but I was thinking this would be kind of cool.

I don't know whether intoxication in the game does anything other than make the screen move around similar to when you are close to death, but if alcohol did have the effect of either restoring or slowing/pausing the loss of stability (probably the latter would be the better approach), then you could drink some booze before you headed into caverns, though it would cost you something in terms of a penalty to missile accuracy when fighting drifters, or maybe falling off your ladder. You would want to change things so that opening screens (like C) does not stabilize the view for knapping or forming. (Maybe that's how it already works. Don't know. When I'm mauled to within spittin' distance of death, I'm not thinking, "Boy, I could sure use a new coffee mug.") The idea is that you could have a home on unstable ground, drink an ale or 4 to slow the loss of stability, and still work there, though it should be at a penalty. Maybe smelting and smithing should wait until you are sober....

[Maelstrom]

perhaps add involuntary movement of up to 1 or 2 blocks to simulate stumbling.  Gives additional caution to caving as you might just fall down a pit and die thanks to your inebriation.

[Guimoute]

Comfort food like jams and wines affecting (restoring?) some of your temporal stability would definitely be interesting. Mine too deep for too long, sip some ale to hold a bit longer, like a real dwarf!

That would give them another purpose than roleplay, as they aren't great for storing fruit satiety points. Apples store for more than a year so no reason to ever waste honey on jams.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Guimoute