I have to say, as of what i've seen from "Stardew Valley" so far, I love it. The hints of a local community spirit are great and I' d like to suggest diving deeper into it. Still we are planting things for mostly selling them and buying new things for planting again... Would it be possible to implement another (not a replacement, so to leave players the freedom to choose) way of living? - The player needs to eat a certain amount of food each day (so he/she plants things partly for their own life) - At the local community building could be a bulletin (as little daily/weekly etc. quests), people need from you, the farmer, for their living (food, herbs) or their own craft (raw materials for the saloon, the blacksmith etc.) => in reward you get things they produce by themselves (you might choose between two or three options they generally produce [like meals, crafted things, tools, furniture] OR have collected like seeds). Alternatively or in addition to the bulletin at the local community building the player might get the same quests (of the crafts at least) in the saloon, at the blacksmith etc. - You might have to produce a certain amount of particular things per week/month for the local community as well, about which you could get informed by mail. At the end of each week/month everybody (so the player as well) gets things of what the community has produced and you (might) need. The important thing is: The player does have no need at all for selling or buying things. So he/she might be able to play the game by being a great farmer, but not to get bigger and bigger and/or to sell more and more things to earn more and more money - but to take part in a local community, which acts together to secure the living for all of them.
I like the idea of a monthly quest for a large amount of crops.. Maybe besides money it could give a small amount of relationship with everyone? Not really enough to build them up fast but more to help fight the decay of ppl you haven't focused on in a while
I actually just referenced this topic in the "More Polite Conversation" thread (hooray for hyperlinks!). My suggestion was inspired by your ideas, kplasa. I just focused on improving the sense of urgency preparing for a festival would make. My idea was that we could take on a quest to help someone prepare for a festival (Egg Festival, Luau, the Fair, etc.). To do this we'd submit bundles of high-quality farm products at the Bulletin in the Community Center. That way we could feel included in preparing for the festival and have additional content to focus on for years 3 and onwards.
1.) I disagree with this, as it removes the ability for miner styled gameplay. This would be a better idea for a mod, so it's optional. 2.) Honestly, this would be nice instead of just getting gold all the time. Added! 3.) Town quests would be good as well.
Thank you for referencing this topic, Slick-Elbows-Moi! I really like the idea of more complex festival preparations. They are definitely a good thing and I would love the festivals themselves being more detailed/complex as well. It's definitely in the same spirit as my suggestions to make living and farming/mining etc. possible in Stardew Valley without the need for money-based interactions, but simply acting as a community together.
I'm sorry, Khaosius, I did'nt mean to penalise different preferences of players spending their time in Stardew Valley. So the first idea might be optional (or a mod) as well. It's nice you like the idea of the two other suggestions.
