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a multiplayer game of parenting and civilization building

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#1 2019-05-14 20:06:09

spurofthemoment
Member
From: United States
Registered: 2019-05-10
Posts: 59

Potential Solution for Abandonment

So I just had a thought: since abandonment happens a lot because moms can't carry babies and something else, what if a baby carrier was developed so the mom could tie the baby to her back while she does other stuff? Maybe you'd still have to put the baby down once in awhile to feed them, so it's not too OP, but it'd certainly be nice to have a way to carry the kid around plus other items as well.

As an example of how simple one could be, irl my mom used to carry my siblings around in a sling made of a single long piece of cloth and a metal ring. It could tie them to her front or her back depending on how she put it on.

Anyway, it'd probably just look similar to a backpack...except that only babies can go in it. Or perhaps, babies could just go IN a backpack (with their head sticking out, obviously) provided no other items are inside.

Thoughts?


My name's Ash. And yes, I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

And no, I've never played Pokemon. It just...kinda happened that way.

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#2 2019-05-14 20:12:22

lychee
Member
Registered: 2019-05-08
Posts: 328

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

Would be nice to have, although I'm not sure how much people would make it.

Clothes are pretty hard to come by, and people tend to prioritize furs for either BP for actual warmth. The convenience of having a baby carrier for the off chance you're traveling with a baby isn't too common of a situation.

Usually I just put down my babies when my doing something inside the village, and it's fine to have them wait and occasionally run to pick them up again.

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#3 2019-05-14 20:20:39

spurofthemoment
Member
From: United States
Registered: 2019-05-10
Posts: 59

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

Would it maybe work if the babies got warmth from "wearing" the backpack?

I mostly just like the idea of how it would look...probably wouldn't be super useful unless you were trying to start a breakout civilization since Eves usually don't have access to backpacks and people in towns wouldn't really need a carrier, like you said. I just like the idea of having another use for an item already in-game.


My name's Ash. And yes, I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

And no, I've never played Pokemon. It just...kinda happened that way.

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#4 2019-05-14 20:46:31

MistressZues
Member
Registered: 2018-04-24
Posts: 269

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I think this should of been implemented long ago even ancient ppl had slings for their infants.


Check this out upvote if you agree!!! https://www.reddit.com/r/OneLifeSuggest … heck_this/

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#5 2019-05-14 21:03:11

Amon
Member
From: Under your bed
Registered: 2019-02-17
Posts: 781

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#6 2019-05-14 22:04:55

CatX
Member
Registered: 2019-02-11
Posts: 464

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I would love this.

A piece of cloth would be enough:

https://lifehacker.com/turn-a-long-shaw … 1603736759

Not doable for early camps though. A rope + basket might be better.

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#7 2019-05-14 22:11:58

Solbusaur
Member
Registered: 2018-07-15
Posts: 355

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

Do not do a rope and a basket. The amount of mistakes people would make when doing milkweed runs


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#8 2019-05-14 22:15:27

jasonrohrer
Administrator
Registered: 2017-02-13
Posts: 4,805

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

This has been a long-standing request, for more than a year.

I'm VERY hesitant to add this, because I want babies to be a pain in the ass.  Taking care of one should involve sacrifice.  Right now, it's already too easy and not interactive enough to just stick clothes on them and plop them by the fire.

If you're out in the woods, you should be faced with a tough decision when the baby comes.  That creates amazing dramatic tension, and I can't imagine myself undercutting that aspect of the game.


(Even though we used slings with all three of our babies---I think it would make the game more boring, less challenging, less meaningful, and worse).

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#9 2019-05-14 22:28:25

DestinyCall
Member
Registered: 2018-12-08
Posts: 4,563

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I don't find this particular "challenge" to be interesting or fun.     It just makes me feel annoyed and resentful toward a stupid game mechanic that forces me to jump through hoops unnecessarily.   It makes parenting uncomfortable, so people don't bother and just use a communal nursery.

If we had a way to carry our babies, my lives as a woman could be full of adventure, traveling through the wilds and hunting for iron with my kids or looking for strange new villages.   And when the second baby comes, I'm faced with an interesting choice, since my burdens have grown and I can't get off easy this time around.   And if I live in the village, I can keep my baby close to me and help him learn my job instead of dropping him at the fire. 

Make the baby sling use the same slot as a backpack, so a traveling mother must decide between extra storage or emergency baby storage.    Make it a little hard to make so it takes some effort, but not so difficult that an Eve can't do it in a pinch.    I'm thinking something that uses rabbit skins or milkweed.   Three skins and a rope, perhaps?    Steep cost, but worth the effort.

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#10 2019-05-14 22:31:04

futurebird
Member
Registered: 2019-02-20
Posts: 1,553

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I hate being plopped by a fire as a baby. I would much much rather ride with mom and see what she was doing.


---
omnem cibum costis
tantum baca, non facies opus

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#11 2019-05-14 22:34:14

Tarr
Banned
Registered: 2018-03-31
Posts: 1,596

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I mean wouldn't it make raising children more personal if you could carry them around with you to work? While sure it's easier to just dump your kid at a fire and be done with it completely you still have to feed the kid or you'll get a skeleton in your sling instead of having a little bundle of joy.

Some of my best experiences are from moms who didn't just chuck me down on a fire but spent my whole childhood talking and interacting with me. While you see it as a set it and forget it style of play you are getting actual one on one time with your child while not giving up all your freedom (to keep max freedom you just chuck the kid in the fire) while also not being complete stuck doing nothing (opposite would be just sitting around with your kid at the fire.)

I really don't think it would make child rearing in game less meaningful but instead more meaningful.


fug it’s Tarr.

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#12 2019-05-14 22:40:40

Twisted
Member
Registered: 2018-10-12
Posts: 663

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I agree with Tarr, actually taking your baby with you as you work and do stuff is a lot more personal than just plopping them by the nearest fire. Besides, even if you get a baby while out and about you probably won't have a sling on you, especially if it occupies an existing clothing slot - you'd rather have something useful instead until you get a baby.

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#13 2019-05-14 22:41:33

CatX
Member
Registered: 2019-02-11
Posts: 464

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

jasonrohrer wrote:

This has been a long-standing request, for more than a year.

I'm VERY hesitant to add this, because I want babies to be a pain in the ass.  Taking care of one should involve sacrifice.  Right now, it's already too easy and not interactive enough to just stick clothes on them and plop them by the fire.

If you're out in the woods, you should be faced with a tough decision when the baby comes.  That creates amazing dramatic tension, and I can't imagine myself undercutting that aspect of the game.

(Even though we used slings with all three of our babies---I think it would make the game more boring, less challenging, less meaningful, and worse).


Well, I humbly disagree...


Usually, when I give birth in the wilderness, the tough decision is whether I should bring my basket home with me and have my baby run after me. Usually I just leave my basket.

In one life I decided to keep building a road even after I became fertile. I took a horse and went searching for flat rocks. All babies born in the wilderness /died before I could even pick them up, so that issue solved itself.

To me, the dramatic tension in the game comes from whether there is enough food around to provide for a baby. That tension will still be there, even if we can carry our babies with us. Yes, I can see how the game might become easier, because surviving alone is not a problem. The challenge is building a camp quickly enough so that your kids don't starve before the local food supply is spent. But if it becomes too easy, I'm sure there are other ways to tweak the difficulty.

It would feel more meaningful, and interesting, if as a baby instead of being placed by a fire my working mother brought me with her.

It would feel meaningful to bring my own baby with me when I had to leave the nursery for whatever reason.

I would feel like I got to know my babies a little better, if only for a few more minutes of game time.

I would feel a lot more like a real mother, if that makes sense.

Last edited by CatX (2019-05-14 22:46:03)

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#14 2019-05-14 22:49:55

CatX
Member
Registered: 2019-02-11
Posts: 464

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

Solbusaur wrote:

Do not do a rope and a basket. The amount of mistakes people would make when doing milkweed runs

Haha, you're right smile

Maybe
Reeds + rope
Or
Straw hat + rope

smile

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#15 2019-05-14 22:55:37

Léonard
Member
Registered: 2019-01-05
Posts: 205

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

CatX wrote:

To me, the dramatic tension in the game comes from whether there is enough food around to provide for a baby. That tension will still be there, even if we can carry our babies with us.

Yes, exactly.
Ideally that's how this should work.

Piggybacking on a dumb limitation (not being allowed to use some form of container for babies) is yet another example of a contrived mechanic in this game.
In fact, I'm pretty sure it being contrived is the reason why almost no one appreciates the "dramatic tension" the way Jason describes it.
It's frustrating by nature and fundamentally breaks immersion.

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#16 2019-05-14 23:19:54

LostAlice
Member
Registered: 2019-05-11
Posts: 7

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

I definitely agree with Tarr that having your mother take you with her is a far more meaningful experience than being plopped down by the fire, but I could honestly still see child rearing as still a commitment. I wouldn't say have your baby always being fed and you'd have to grab them out of the harness or whatever to feed them occasionally.

I think this would be a great way to improve the baby experience and frankly if your harness has limitations this isn't a complete solution to the baby problem and would create some interesting situation where you'll be forced to stop working and either take care of them both or put one at the fire and with still having to feed them it doesn't remove the hassle from having a baby just allows you to bond more with your kid.

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#17 2019-05-15 00:19:36

spurofthemoment
Member
From: United States
Registered: 2019-05-10
Posts: 59

Re: Potential Solution for Abandonment

futurebird wrote:

I hate being plopped by a fire as a baby. I would much much rather ride with mom and see what she was doing.

Same! I love how Twisted occasionally gives his babies tours of the village, and I think that'd be way less of a pain in the butt if I could carry the baby with me. So far I've never been able to stay with my babies throughout their childhood, because I was in the middle of something that I needed to stick with (like carrot farming) when they were born, and/or because there's already a nursemaid at the fire, so me sticking around is kind of dumb and a waste of resources.

I understand why you don't want to add them, but so much of this game's logic is based on "well, in real life I could do this, so maybe..." that I think a baby sling would fit right in, since it's one of the first solutions I thought of to the problem of having to carry the baby everywhere. I agree with the others who have said that not being able to do so just because of game tension and for no other in-game reason feels contrived.

Babies are one of my favorite parts of the game, so I'll probably always be having ideas about them.


My name's Ash. And yes, I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

And no, I've never played Pokemon. It just...kinda happened that way.

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