Rework Infections

[O Negative]

Currently, an infected pinky toe that reaches 100% severity is absolutely fatal all of the time. This can be both frustrating and ruin immersion.

I'm not going to make the argument that it should be more realistic, because realism doesn't always equal good story telling or fun.

Instead, I'd like to suggest that infections should slowly damage the part they're affecting, and spread to other parts of the body over time. This would get rid of the frustration associated with death by infected pinky toe, and add a sense of immersion and storytelling for instances where a neglected infection spreads to a person's vital organ(s) which lead to their tragic death.

[b0rsuk]

I don't have a degree in medicine, but isn't infection spreading bacteria toxins across your body using your cardiovascular system ? And as you say a pinky is not such a big deal - you can amputate it. Do infections really spread from organ to organ ? I thought that was cancer.

[O Negative]

Eh, you don't need a degree in medicine to have a valuable opinion on a medical topic

Yes, cancer is widely known for its aggressive ability to spread to different regions of the body. Different tissue sources (lung, breast, pancreatic, etc.) have different reputations with respect to lethality based on their relationship with the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular and lymphatic systems act as a sort of highway for cancer to spread to different parts of the body. You'll often find that malignant cancer latches onto and thrives in areas of the body that get a lot of "attention" from the cardiovascular system; which unfortunately tends to be vital organs/tissues.

Infections aren't known to be so selective, but they act in a similar way; they do spread, and it is dangerous when that happens.

So, the realism argument holds, but I am trying not to make it the foundation of my argument.



My suggestion is more along the lines of correcting a contradiction. Death by infection suggests a sort of global mechanism by the infection. Removal of the infected part instantly getting rid of the infection and its affects suggests a more localized nature. I feel that my suggestion offers both, without taking away from the severity of it [infection], and would help with immersion

[Swat_Raptor]

Right now if you have a wound you only can get 1 type of infection. I don't see there being really that much issue with how the current infection works in terms of game mechanics but I think that it seems to lack depth.

I think that the way to address a lack of depth might be to rather than take the one type of wound infection and make it more complicated to instead make more types of infections that result from wounds.

1st idea, manhunter strain: if you get hurt by a animal which has gone man hunter (for non psychic wave events), you have a chance to get the man hunter strain which makes you prone to going berserk. make it contagious & make a drug which blocks this infection, you would then really want have a supply on hand because you will need to have guards and doctors which can detain the sick and not get sick themselves.

2nd Skin disease: wound get infected and results in, boils, dry scaly skin, and all that unpleasantness, not that dangerous but contagious & will ruin a persons mood, and make them hide in their rooms quite often until they heal, also puts a big damper on their relationships until they heal. doctors would want a immunity drug so that they can operate and not get infected themselves.

quality care could mitigate the chance & potency of the negative effects.

[SpaceDorf]

I find it hard to swallow that an infected toe kills a person.

Infection spreading would be more sensible.
Not like cancer, from organ to organ, but growing from infected bodypart to infected bodypart. But there should be a distinction between Vital Organs and Non Vital Organs ..

The race between immunity and infection is a sound mechanic and I like it ..
so when an Infection reaches a critical mass ( 50, 75% ) it should spread to the next limb in the bodydef .. from fingers to hand, from hand to lower arm or arm,
and then to body ..

Reaching 100% would just mean the bodypart is lost .. which translates right into losing a vital bodypart still kills the pawn, but not losing the pinky.

So you have the butchers choice .. do you think the pawn will heal fast enough, or do you cut of a finger in order to save the hand or the arm to save the pawn ..

Also there should be a size modifier attached to the bodypart ..
a large cut on a pinky is only a small cut on the torso .. a large cut on the torso on would compare to a few lost fingers ..

Which would emphasize the strain the wound puts on the body in general, so single wounds should heal a lot faster than multiple wounds.

In general I think this discussion should wait until A17 and the changes Toady2 Tynan & Friends made to the medical system are clear.

[Lav]

I find it hard to swallow that an infected toe kills a person.

It totally can though.

My grandmother just spent nearly a month hospitalized because of (tadaam!) an infected finger which she didn't pay proper attention in time. They had to amputate part of her finger in the end after several successive cleaning attempts failed, to prevent the infection from spreading further.

In fact, even a tiny papercut can be extremely dangerous.

Let's face it, it's a miracle anyone survives to 15.

[SpaceDorf]

Thats the process I described, or not ?

Amputation before the infection spreads.
Because this kills the person not the infected Finger by itself as it is now.

[Lav]

It is not quite as you described though.

First, there's no real distinction between vital and non-vital organs. Untended infections in vital organs will kill you faster and more reliably, but even a finger scratch has the potential to kill or cripple a person.

Second, there's no organ-to-adjacent-organ spread. If the infection hits the bloodstream, your entire organism is infected and organs begin to fail seemingly randomly, frequently more than one at a time (just like the guy in the link I provided).

[SpaceDorf]

I have to admit I was more thinking about necrotic tissue and the infection spreading through the flesh than infections spreading through blood.

I think at this point we should clarify and accept that infenctions are not one thing but can have multiple causes that act differently.

What I am arguing against is the model of one cut finger turning red, purple than black .. and as soon as the finger reaches black before the pawn is imune .. that pawn dies.

At this point you can argue medical reasons, bloodstream and whatnot however you want. This is where my suspension of disbeliev is not enough.
This finger is no vital organ.
And if the game does not show me the spread of the infection otherwise .. or give me an option to remove the infected part, my bullshit-detector is just to loud to ignore.