Revision as of 07:54, 22 March 2015

The Ascent Magna Carta has been signed. No longer are colonists slaves or mindless servants. They now have "rights" and motivation, or the lack thereof. They are no longer mindless drones, but have the beginnings of personality and now have the ability to expect some things. So this is how this all works ...

The concept of HoN is that once basic levels of need are satisfied, or mostly satisfied, a person can and will move to the next area of need to become satisfied. The lower on the scale, the less happy, thus less motivated a person is to strive for the loftier things in life. As each area of need is satisfied, a person becomes happier, thus their morale goes up.

I want to take each level on the HoN scale and identify what structures in game address that level. This will let players know more of what they need and why they need it. New structures will be added later to give more options in several levels, but each is being addressed now.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs (HoN) is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological Review. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. Maslow used the terms "physiological", "safety", "belongingness" and "love", "esteem", "self-actualization" and "self-transcendence" to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through.

Physiological Needs:

"Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements."

Buildings for 1st level: Residential tower/module, Food in warehouse(all 4 food types needed for 100% Food Security).

Safety (Security) Needs:

Personal security

Financial security

Health and well-being

Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

Buildings for second level: Hospital(1 for every 50,00 colonists), Basic Medical Supplies(stored in warehouses. Consumed like food).

Love/Belonging Needs:

Friendship

Intimacy

Family

Buildings for third level: Entertainment Complex (1 per 50,000 seems to work well. More for faster socialization. Less for slower)

Esteem & Self Actualization Needs:

For game purposes, these two have been combined at present. They are very close and are sometimes blended by some who view the scale in 4 levels.

"'What a man can be, he must be.' This quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be."

Higher(Tertiary) education is considered a large part of this.

Buildings for 4th/5th level: University(1 per 5-10 offices. More faster. Less slower. Can have too many and not work well), Mine Office Building (1 per every 20 mines), Farm Office Building(1 per every 20 farms).

Above, you will see these items laid out when you hover your mouse over the Entertainment Center.

The Food and Housing Security are the Physiological Needs.

The Employment and Healthcare Security are the Safety/Security Needs.

The Social Integration are the Love/Belonging Needs.

The Ambitious colonists are the ones satisfied in the Esteem & Self Actualization Needs.

Morale is an overall colony wide reflection of the "mood" of the colonists. The more needs satisfied, the happier they are and the higher the morale. Morale does not change quickly since it is a measure of colony wide attitude. We can see that it is trending up or down. This lets us know if things are getting better or worse. At present, the highest morale is 76% until more structures are added.

Ultimately, this reflects the productivity of the colonists. The happier, the more productive they are. If you do not want to take the time to address these needs, the game also allows you to ignore them and just put up more mines and farms to get your total production. Addressing the needs or your colonists allows you to improve efficiency and increase their production. Ignoring the upper levels of HoN will drop your production, but not stop it. Not providing the physiological or security needs will bring production to almost a complete halt. Not feeding your colonists will cause riots and completely stop production.

This is our understanding of what has been implemented into the game. We hope this helps others understand a little more what some consider great game play features. After a little while, it will seem normal and we will see our production raise to maximum levels. New buildings and features will be added later to let us customize these or specialize in areas more. Once upper level HoN is addressed, farm and mine production will increase from 75% base to up to a 120% increase. Well worth the effort and time it takes.

All will need to be patient as you work through the first negotiations with the colonists. It bodes well that civilization is returning and quality of life is improving enough that colonists now have some rights and voice into their employer's empires. Looking back in history, the more people's voices were heard, the better things got. The more freedoms directly correlate to the new technologies and better quality of life for everyone. The hope is that we all are not just about making more credits, but bringing quality life back to the stars. Something better than what was, or we will see the same collapse. We need each other and the colonists to finally make our way back to Earth! So help us bring joy and happiness to the smallest among us. If their rights are protected and addressed, ours are sure to be also.

Words from the Ancient Wisdom tell us, Treat others the way you want to be treated." Treat your colonist well and you will be treated well by them. Just because our neural pathways are suited for space flight, doesn't mean we are better, just different. Let us be the light of hope and freedom as we work our way back to an Earth that may be in extreme darkness.