Sign In

### Topic

#### Regarding Mood

To me, the mood system seems a little redundant. I mean, really it's just a different kind of energy meter, but pretty similar. A lot of the same things boost or drop it, and it doesn't have as many noticeable side-effects.
And the balancing of it is off too: mood was an issue for me in the beginning, when I couldn't make my own drinks, and so I was constantly losing mood. I stopped making stinky cheese and got me a blender, and mood became a non-issue, as long as I made sure to have some fruit handy for blending. After acquiring higher-level animal and plant interaction skills, I don't even bother making drinks; my animal and plant interactions, for food and quests, produce mood as a by-product. My mood hasn't dropped below "pretty happy face" in a long time, and I haven't even paid attention to it.
The tl;dr of it is that I think mood needs to be more distinguished from energy, and that it needs to be better-balanced over the course of the game.

Posted 23 months ago by RobotGymnast | Permalink

### Replies

- One of the most apparent "side-effects," as you call them, is the direct correlation of your Mood level to how efficient you are when performing a task: the higher your Mood, in most cases, the faster (and with less energy) you can do stuff.
  Posted 23 months ago by Yeoman | Permalink
- That's definitely a good start. It's unique and interesting, although I'd say it needs to be more exaggerated, because with skills that make any task go quickly, it's barely noticeable.
  Posted 23 months ago by RobotGymnast | Permalink
- Mood also determines how much xp you get for performing a task.
  But yeah, my mood never seems to drop.
  Posted 23 months ago by SuperHappyFun | Permalink
- I think mood effects need to be a little more prominent in shaping gameplay, and that mood needs to be regulated a little more across levels.
  Posted 23 months ago by RobotGymnast | Permalink
- Mood majorly shapes gameplay here at the beginning. Given my mood icon, I guess I'm constantly in the foulest mood ever, and I can't seem to budget it. I occasionally drink something I can't afford much of, then it's gone. I pet and caress things up the wazoo and it barely makes a dent. If your mood is way down, getting +1 or +2 for petting something doesn't really help.
  If I decided mood were critical to my survival as a player, I'd make it a priority and do nothing but work on mood, and then I'd have no skills now, no badges, very little in my inventory. I had to decide: Do I keep my mood up and do nothing else, or do I proceed with my game and just let my mood deteriorate? It was that clear-cut a decision. I abandoned my (largely ineffective) efforts to keep my mood up and concentrated on the game. This will serve me better, because over the long haul I can gain skills and tools to make my own drinks. Then mood won't be a factor.
  What strategies have others used?
  Posted 18 months ago by Supershero | Permalink
- The only time my mood drops noticeably is when I kill trees, which I rarely do, so I'm not sure I get the point of it.
  Posted 18 months ago by larky lion | Permalink
- Just you try aging a lot of cheese repeatedly, larky, and then you'll see! ;)
  Posted 18 months ago by RM | Permalink
- Mood is not a factor at all, especially if you donate/level. I used to crash a bit when I would mine/refine but now I hardly ever drop below the top 2 or 3 levels.
  Posted 18 months ago by Jepro | Permalink
- Oh, I forgot about the stinky cheese! But that's also a huge energy drain, which somehow seems more urgent.
  Posted 18 months ago by larky lion | Permalink
- I'd also like to point out this thread is months old.... the mood didn't used to drop as quickly as it does now. There was a change in the rate a few tests back, and the immediate response from the newer players was they were having serious difficulty managing their mood. Yes for levels 20+ it is a whole lot easier, but any changes to mood to make it more relevant to players beyond the starting (and content filled stages) will also impact the 'beginning' player base profoundly. An eye also needs to be kept on over-frustrating or overwhelming people with game concepts early on.
  Perhaps it's in the works for a 'down the road' adjustment that 'older' levels have a harder time keeping happy (funny, but the people in retirement homes can range from simply happy to happily annoyed, or just plain depressing)... or perhaps an overly happy world is exactly the aim. Mood just doesn't seem to have a huge effect on game balance... yet.
  Posted 18 months ago by Travinara | Permalink