"Ate without table" should become "Ate with table"

[Ser Kitteh]

We should keep "ate without table" because it's become such a widespread joke among players. It's a thing you throw out in conversations to see if you get a reference. It's an in-joke, a meme, and one that's a bit more newbie friendly than human skin apparel.

[corestandeven]

I'm not a fan of the negative 'ate without a table' buff either, as seems out of place when facing other horrors and negative events. Equally a negative buff seems odd when pawns sometimes choose themselves to eat away from a table, not the player. I would get it if the player forced a pawn not to eat at a table. A positive 'ate with table' seems out of place as well, as once you have built a table it seems quite gamey to have almost constant positive buff.

I would have the -3 effect until the moment a table has been built and a pawn first eats at the table, which for most players will not be that long into the game. At that point those pawns get a +3 effect for having first eaten at a table, but then that positive mood effect is a one-off and disappears after 24 hours. Then those pawns do not get either the 'ate without a table' or 'ate with table' buffs, unless players deliberately disassemble or sell all the tables in a colony. Makes it a little more complicated yes, but avoids the annoying -3  'ate without a table' when pawns choose to eat away from the home zone which players cannot really influence.

[MajorFordson]

Shouldn't it simply be a "hidden" general slight debuff to comfort?

[5thHorseman]

For the first 14 years of my life, I would always eat on the floor, out of choice. Sitting and eating at a table has always been uncomfortable to me.

I sold my dining room table after owning it for 2 years and realizing I'd eaten at it about 10 times. Now my "dining room" is an extension of the kitchen.

[Injured Muffalo]

Personally I have had to sit in hot dirt near fire ants and have lunch; I can attest that I had a -3 mood penalty for the rest of the afternoon as a result.

Yeah but did you go murderous rage and kill your best friend because Reason: ate without table?

Woah, woah. No one does that. It's 50 other things, like high psychic drone plus lack of table that make you want to kill. It's -3. Granted, annoying and those bastards need to go to the table if there is one, but, the "reason" is pretty meaningless.

I honestly don't know what the "reason" means; it could just be the most recent annoyance before the latest mental break.

As for my experience, I can tell you that I experienced a sad wander after that lunch. But I was also tired, ate nutrient paste for lunch, uncomfortable, hot, I mean, a table honestly would have been something. I wasn't camping out, I was at work and just had to eat and get on with it.

[cultist]

I think it serves a purpose in that it forces you to create at least one room where pawns tend to run into each other, because they all need to use it. This triggers various social events and develops relationships. Without this need, some of your pawns (like researchers or miners) would just be hermits who never interacted with the others in any meaningful way.

[DubskiDude]

I think it serves a purpose in that it forces you to create at least one room where pawns tend to run into each other, because they all need to use it. This triggers various social events and develops relationships. Without this need, some of your pawns (like researchers or miners) would just be hermits who never interacted with the others in any meaningful way.

If a near-constant -3 to mood is there to encourage players to make tables, well... not sure that's the most effective approach, if that's the end goal.

[erdrik]

If a near-constant -3 to mood is there to encourage players to make tables, well... not sure that's the most effective approach, if that's the end goal.

*shrug* Worked for me.

[Scavenger]

I think it should give a cleanliness bonus, eating at a table. While eating on the floor is dirty. More likely to get food poisoning without it.

[bbqftw]

You could do this, then increase all the difficulty's mood penalties by 3.

[DubskiDude]

I think it should give a cleanliness bonus, eating at a table. While eating on the floor is dirty. More likely to get food poisoning without it.

This makes some sense, but then again it would hurt any pawn that works away from the base, like hunters.

[Scavenger]

I think it should give a cleanliness bonus, eating at a table. While eating on the floor is dirty. More likely to get food poisoning without it.

This makes some sense, but then again it would hurt any pawn that works away from the base, like hunters.

Hand sanitizer!

[Pryomaniac Ida]

Eating at a table is not exactly something worth celebrating but having to eat a meal standing up or in your lap is kind of shitty. The penalty reflects that.

Sort of like there's a mood penalty for being in darkness but not a mood bonus for being in a bright area. What really matters is the final mood balance of the game. If having a table would be a mood bonus then they would have to take that mood point out somewhere else just to add another line to the list of mood statuses.

[Jumper]

Eating at a table is not exactly something worth celebrating but having to eat a meal standing up or in your lap is kind of shitty. The penalty reflects that.

Sort of like there's a mood penalty for being in darkness but not a mood bonus for being in a bright area. What really matters is the final mood balance of the game. If having a table would be a mood bonus then they would have to take that mood point out somewhere else just to add another line to the list of mood statuses.

so eating a meal in your lap would bother you for 12 hours. I am sat watching a movie with a meal on a tray and I don't think I will be worrying in 12 minutes let alone 12 hours.
when you go to the cinema do you need a table for snacks ? or a drive through, do you pop out your car table ?
its nicer to sit at a table but hardly something to put you in a mood.

Also why have colonists pick up meals and keep them in gear. makes no sense if they want a table. leave your meals by the table.

[Pryomaniac Ida]

Eating at a table is not exactly something worth celebrating but having to eat a meal standing up or in your lap is kind of shitty. The penalty reflects that.

Sort of like there's a mood penalty for being in darkness but not a mood bonus for being in a bright area. What really matters is the final mood balance of the game. If having a table would be a mood bonus then they would have to take that mood point out somewhere else just to add another line to the list of mood statuses.

so eating a meal in your lap would bother you for 12 hours. I am sat watching a movie with a meal on a tray and I don't think I will be worrying in 12 minutes let alone 12 hours.
when you go to the cinema do you need a table for snacks ? or a drive through, do you pop out your car table ?
its nicer to sit at a table but hardly something to put you in a mood.

Also why have colonists pick up meals and keep them in gear. makes no sense if they want a table. leave your meals by the table.

Making a plea for realism is pretty silly though and when hours pass in seconds a 12 minute mood penalty would mean nothing.

The developers obviously want to give an incentive players to provide some place for colonists to eat but instead of adding another mood buff for every single colonist in the game at all times they made a penalty for failing to provide it.