So, right now, the conversations colonists have only seem to give them either a positive or negative mood boost. But I had the idea, what if they could do something else?
People learn a lot from each other, especially if they are in the same profession. Doctors, scientists, chefs, they all have their own ways of doing things, they all know little tricks of the trade that someone else might not know, and through conversation, sometimes one will pass on a useful little gem of knowledge to another and help them improve their methods.
What if, when two colonists who share a similar profession, determined either by the priority listing or their skills, or even some other method, had a chance to generate a small amount of experience towards that profession as a result of having a conversation with each other. For example, you have a cook in your colony, they're a good cook, maybe 8 or 9. Then another guy comes along, he's also a good cook (or she), and they are... 14. The two talk, they laugh, they share stories of how they struggled to feed so many hungry mouths and rumbling bellies during the winter and fought off ravenous squirrels with naught but a spatula and two tooth picks, and amidst all that they mention how they do things differently, or suggest improvements on how the other cook does things.
My suggestion, the chance to learn and improve a skill through conversation with another who shares that skill by sharing their experiences via socialising.
Skill exp was just boosted. I don't think this is necessary. I like the idea, but not if it grants an experience re-nerf.
However, Tynan has talked about reading books or something to learn skills instead of just do them (like cooking and poisoning your colonists while doing it), so maybe their could be a teacher skill (social?) that does something similar to what you said or a fellow cook could teach another person for that skill (not two cooks cooking and socializing, but someone standing by them "training" them). If you have a lvl 20 doctor and 0 other doctors, you would likely want a lvl 3 doctor with a burning passion be an apprentice with the lvl 20 doctor making sure they don't cut off an arm when installing a bionic leg, etc. Probably average out their levels (11.5 overall, for this example) so you could eventually replace someone if something went horribly wrong to them but also not throw a lvl 3 into the mix and hope for the best.
The opposite could happen too, and also just because you're an expert in math doesn't mean you can teach it.
Quote from: BetaSpectre on February 27, 2015, 07:59:27 PM
The opposite could happen too, and also just because you're an expert in math doesn't mean you can teach it.
True, but it's better than no one at all teaching you. Maybe a 50% skill cap (lvl 20 doctor can only teach to lvl10) unless they have a "teacher" trait.
Doctors, EVEN with the reduced skill deteriotion, probably won't ever reach level 20, (Inless it locks once their dere.) So best you could get is maybe a good amount of time of level 15 or something, and thats if your medic area has tons of action.
Character traits could factor into this - abrasive people are less likely to share experience/teach others, people with high social skills are better at teaching, etc. I'm sure there are other traits that could be included/developed into such a system.