Background
Shortly after the EULA changes were made back in May, all players were given access to /feed. Not too long after, it was suggested to remove it, which you can find
here. With the addition of Gamma, and its lack of spawners, it is perfect for a change like this to the Legacy servers.
Issue
At the time, it seemed like a great idea, "fixing the food economy, making food valuable, and restaurants useful." Simply put, it doesn't do that, and it never will. The idea removing feed would create an economy for it is incredibly flawed for several reasons:
Statement: "Removing /feed will create a food economy"
1. In the A/B economy, food grinders are incredibly common, therefore generating infinite meats easily. (Kinda why spawners were removed in Gamma)
2. Most upper-level players never had to buy food anyways, even without food grinders, because they had already amassed large amounts.
Statement: "
It doesn't feel like Minecraft"
1. You can always turn this off if you personally wish to have hunger for some obscure reason.
2. Minecraft is a sandbox game. Survival mode is an extension of that by limiting your resources. Food is not the thing that makes or breaks a sandbox game.
Statement: "
Removing it helped restaurants"
1. In the new Gamma economy, where there are no food spawners or prior stashes, I am yet to see single restaurant be created. This tells me that they are only profitable once the economy is well-established, when people have money to spend.
2. As part of the first challenge to the above statement, I mentioned that restaurants have only appeared in the well-established economy. Why? Because, people do not spend their money at these out of necessity, but rather, for enjoymnet of the experience. Therefore, removing /feed did not help these at all.
For the last few days, Reggles has asked in global about the removal of /feed. Based on my calculations, at least 60% of responses dislike it still. It did not affect the food market at all, it did not create anything economically, save for a few people making a minuscule profit off of building food grinders. If you /find any piece of food on the A/B vshop, you may purchase almost any kind of food for one Meeble or less! In actuality, that's lower then the price back in May.
Modification
Basically, bring back /feed! Before you all instantly dislike this idea, allow me to explain. I do not want, nor am suggesting adding /feed to the Gamma world. Without the things that made it futile to remove in the Alpha/Beta economy, it actually can serve a purpose. Therefore, I am suggesting we change the way Alpha/Beta and Gamma play styles are. For those who want the new economy, the "challenge" of hunger, and such, they may play in Gamma. It does not have all the factors that made a food economy impossible. But, for those complaining about number, they could go to Alpha/Beta, and play a different kind of Towny.
Benefits
Adding back /feed for the Alpha/Beta world actually has a lot of benefits.
1. It makes a lot of previous donors happy, because they really didn't get to voice their opinion when the idea was first suggested of removing it.
2. It splits the Legacy servers and Gamma into more than just an old world and a new one, it makes them different forms of Towny. If we develop this idea, we can add things to both A/B and Gamma. Since we cannot add on to the Towny plugin in the Legacy worlds, we can improve on it by restoring former perks, giving returning players a sense of familiarity that is absent when most people return.
3. If A/B have something that Gamma does not, it creates a reason to actually play the Legacy servers. The goal of adding the new Eco and Gamma was to "reset without resetting," but if A/B are just left sitting, then they will die out, permnantly. So, it is basically no different from a true reset in that case. Several people have already quit because they feel as if their work has been made futile, and while this is a small minority, it is more players leaving. If A/B can "share" players with Gamma, then there is a point to the older worlds, making quite a few people happy with all the Gamma changes who were not already.
