Basic and Complex Needs Brainstorming Recap + Last Brainstorming Session + Poll

Hello everyone,

Sandrine here! I’m ready to share with you the summary of the latest community brainstorming session and the new theme. Note that this Patreon post is for Patrons only so please don’t share it. Thank you!

Basic and Complex Needs Brainstorming Recap

We’d like to thank you all for participating in the Basic and Complex Needs brainstorming session. We gathered your ideas from the comment section as well as from Discord and Reddit. Here’s a general summary of the ideas that stood out to us. Please keep in mind that if you don’t see your idea there, it doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t be taking it into account when working on this aspect of the game. In the same way, listing the ideas below doesn’t guarantee that we will add it to the game either since we will be focusing on the most important features first in order to be able to release the game. More interactions and features will be added overtime after launch.

• 🎨 Needs would vary depending on the Parafolk’s personality. For example, a Parafolk with a passion for art would need to make art somewhat regularly to feel happy
• 🎭 Some secondary needs suggestions considering they could vary from a Parafolk to another: alone time, freedom / free time, time with family, time with friends, arts and crafts, nature, fitness, cinema and literature, etc.
• 👨‍👦 Children could have different needs than adults which could change when they grow up
• 🗨️ Some needs could decrease faster or slower according to a Para’s values or personality. For example, an extrovert would need to fulfil the social need more often than an introvert
• 😣 A too often ignored need could be harder to fulfill properly. For example, if your Para has been in isolation for a long time, they would need to do more than just have a chat with a simple passerby they don’t know to get their social need fulfilled
• 😢 Needs could be harder to fulfill if a Parafolk is not in a good mood. For example, a stressed out Parafolk could have trouble falling asleep and their need might not be fully fulfilled when they wake up in the morning
• 🗓️ Setting up a routine for your Parafolk’s daily needs. They could get up at a specific time, go to the toilet, and then shower without having to ask them everyday
• 🍽️ Some basic needs could take up less space over time. For example, it would get faster for your Parafolk to prepare their meal as they buy the right kitchen appliances and/or gain more cooking experience
• 😴 Realistic consequences for a very low need. For example, a very tired Parafolk could become clumsy, be on edge and fall asleep when watching television
• 🛁 A hygiene need could be ignored for a long time even when critical depending on the Parafolk’s personality and attention to cleanliness but would affect their social interactions and perhaps relationships
• 🥱 Parafolk animations could reflect what specific need has to be fulfilled soon
• 👭 Separate social needs for family and friends
• 📈 A Parafolk’s social need could increase faster when talking with someone they have a good relationship with, but much slower if they don’t like the person they are talking to
• 🍎 Being able to snack while doing another activity such as studying or helping a child with homework
• 🚿 Being able to choose between a quick shower only to fulfill a hygiene need or a long shower for self-care to also increase comfort and influence the Parafolk’s mood

Here’s a word cloud to see what has been mentioned the most in the Patreon comment section of the previous brainstorming session:

Results of the poll on the Needs brainstorming post showed that most of you would like fulfilling needs to take up less space on a day-to-day basis. From your comments I could see that you wanted a good balance so that it is not too easy but you don’t spend over half of the day fulfilling basic needs. We’ll keep that in mind as we refine the design of needs and balance the gameplay.

Since the last brainstorming topic was shared on April Fools’ day, I also asked you for your input on cat whiskers and some of you replied! Here are some of your recommendations:

• Whiskers long and adorable as possible
• Rescue cats who lost their whiskers
• 2 long and flowy whiskers like some dragons have
• Frizzy whiskers for stray cats
• A chef cat with actual kitchen whiskers

Last Monthly Brainstorming Session

That’s right, this month we will host the last community brainstorming session. With these 16 community brainstorming including this last one, we find that for the time being we have gathered enough information for the design of the most important features of Paralives. It is possible that we host more of these sessions in the future but I can’t guarantee it yet.

This month’s last but not least brainstorming session topic is all about Pets! To get started, you can ask yourselves the following questions:

• 🦜 Dogs, cats and horses are confirmed for the game. What breed would you like to see in the game?
• ⚾️ What kind of pet furniture and items should there be in Paralives?
• ❤️ What kind of interactions should a Parafolk be able to have with their or someone else’s pet?
• 🥫 How complex should a pet’s traits and needs be? What would be different reactions they could have?
• 😱 How could pets and wild animals impact Parafolks physically and emotionally?
• 🩺 What kind of pets related jobs would you like to see?

We’d love to read all your ideas in the comment section of this post. As usual, we will open this brainstorming session to the public next week on Discord in the #pets channel and on Reddit.

Happy brainstorming!

Poll: Pets

This month's brainstorming poll question: If we could add only one more pet option to be added to the game, which one would you want?

You can answer in the poll below. If you can think of something that is not in the options, don’t hesitate to share it in the comments.

Have a good weekend everyone! 😺

Sandrine