Farms are broken...

[Kauldric]

If I put 1 person on 6 standard fields they produce *more* rice than 6 persons on 1 standard field. Can someone explain to me how this makes sense?

[Honeywell]

Farms don't produce food per worker, they produce food per tile. Any more farmers on
a field than needed to plant and harvest the crop before the frost is wasted labor--so it's your job to manage them properly.

If your one person fields are not bringing in a full harvest you'd make more food spreading out those 6 farmers between 2 or 3 fields.

[Kauldric]

Terrible game design? What is the point of allowing 6 workers per farm if there is zero point of ever having them?

Manage them properly? Are you kidding me? The entire idea of putting so many workers makes no sense at all. Why allow it and confuse players? Hello?

[Honeywell]

Because depending on the difficulty level your playing on, the weather, how efficient you design your city and how adept you are at managing the citizen's health and happiness all of those things impact the number of farmers needed per field.

This game isn't that complicated but it does require a willingness to learn and for you to want to manage the production chains. It's cool if you don't enjoy those things--this game probably isn't for you--but I don't think "terrible game design" is a fair criticism.

[Kauldric]

Do you have the data to back up the claim that 1 worker per farm is not optimal in all situations?

[Ready2produce]

Originally posted by Honeywell:

Because depending on the difficulty level your playing on, the weather, how efficient you design your city and how adept you are at managing the citizen's health and happiness all of those things impact the number of farmers needed per field.

This game isn't that complicated but it does require a willingness to learn and for you to want to manage the production chains. It's cool if you don't enjoy those things--this game probably isn't for you--but I don't think "terrible game design" is a fair criticism.

+1

[Ready2produce]

Originally posted by Kauldric:

Do you have the data to back up the claim that 1 worker per farm is not optimal in all situations?

Playing styles vary in the same game ... no one plays the same game as anyone else.

Honeywell really answered your question ... 1 farmer per field works for some players.

I'm sure there will be things you'll discover and share with fellow players.

[Joelle]

I tend to agree. If I am correct as well here, the fishing dock continues to increase overall yield with each worker added versus the farm that sees steep diminishing returns past the first worker. I think consistency in how they implemented this would be better than its current state.

[Honeywell]

The farms, pastures, orchards, storage yards and graveyards can all be resized so it makes sense to calculate them per tile.

It also can't work the way you suggest because farms don't produce food overtime like the fishing dock. The food is produced all at once--if adding more workers increased the farm yield you'd be able to exploit that by maxing out the workers during harvest.

If you're seeing steep diminishing returns on your farms they're overstaffed which is easy enough to fix.

[Joelle]

My point there was just to say really anything past 1-2 workers on a farm adds no additional value and I agree with the original poster that there's no reason you should have 6 slots there. 2 workers can get the crop to 100% by Autumn to start harvesting without any upgrades and you can fully harvest the crop before winter without losing any goods. I just fail to see the need for the other 4 workers.

I did notice in your video you took your workers off the farm once it was planted and put them back when it had fully grown. Personally I don't think that should be an option and would suggest they change the way the game is played in one of two ways:

1) Crops don't grow unless you have a worker on the field tending to them. In theory, you'd expect they are controlling weeds, irrigating of sorts and the like to explain the need to be on the field from a design standpoint.

2) Actually add yield bonuses by keeping workers on the field doing additional things, such as weeding, spraying etc. Perhaps certain slots for the field are different roles in particular to align with this thought. Avoiding this by taking your workers elsewhere would mean you'd get a base yield + any normal bonuses from the tile if on fertile ground or the tier of the farm plot itself (field vs. plantation etc). This would also add a layer of depth to the farming process too that currently doesn't exist and then I could see proper justification here for having more than 2 workers.

[Honeywell]

It isn't correct to say that there's no reason to need more than 2 workers on an 8x8 field.
And what you're suggesting in point 2 already exists--fertilizing fields increases yield and workers are needed the entire season to apply the fertilizer.

I don't agree that adding new farm employee types adds depth or solves an issue with farms but the developers seem open to suggestions and feedback so I'm sure your thoughts and ideas on farms are being read.

[Lexi]

Will more farmers, on a single field, harvest faster?

So it is not a question of how much is produced, but if you can get 100% of the crops in before winter (on the harder games).

[Joelle]

Originally posted by Honeywell:

It isn't correct to say that there's no reason to need more than 2 workers on an 8x8 field.

Can you clarify why you believe there is a reason to add more than 2 workers on an 8x8 field? My assumption here is you are starting the season with both workers assigned before march, the crop selected and everything is good to go. They then work from March to just before autumn and begin harvesting slightly prior to Autumn. In most instances I have seen, the crop is completely harvested within a month or two thereafter and before winter. Is there a scenario you have in mind where this isn't the case or you are considering some other assumptions on initial state outside of what I shared above? It isn't important whether you or I think it is right or wrong, just more so that we seek to understand the differing opinion and details that support it.

[Honeywell]

Yes, specific situations include lower than usual temperatures and incoming disasters. In both of those situations the time to harvest is shorter and more workers can be used to compensate.

In general, any number of things will impact worker efficiency and the number of farmers needed. The crop that's planted, the difficulty level you're playing on, town proficiency, technologies unlocked, field upgrades, event bonuses, whether you're still dealing with frequent sprains and foot fractures, a tool shortage, unhappy or unhealthy workers, and poor town planning all come to mind.

And I wouldn't be surprised if there are more situations I'm forgetting.

There are so many situations where more than 2 farmers on a standard field are "justified" I feel like you may not have played the game long enough to have an informed opinion and are basing your feedback on first impressions.

[Dreack, Asgore's Royal Guard]

( Sorry for my poor english )

- Can you clarify why you believe there is a reason to add more than 2 workers on an 8x8 field?
- Is there a scenario you have in mind where this isn't the case or you are considering some other assumptions on initial state outside of what I shared above?

I have two.
1. At the begining of the game, you have some trouble with the food and you need the harvest to be more quicker than usual for feeding your people. More farmer mean a faster harvest and so less dead.
2. The event when water flood your crops, for the same reason.

For my own observation, more people in a building only mean a faster production, so more goods. In the case of farm, the number is fixing per tile. So it's a fix number, but having more farmer mean a fertlizer and a maturation more quicker and a fast harvesting.

[Lady Jane]

If you actually watch the game play before winter, you can see that with less workers means less harvest. Not everything in your farm gets harvested if you have less workers.
At the start of the game, it's best to have more workers in a field than more fields with less workers to maximize your harvest.
Also, if you are having issues of getting more food at the start of the game, during winter, remove your workers from farming and add them to your Gatherers and Hunters. You can do it easily under 'Statistics (I) > Town Overview'. Just make sure you put them back to Farmers right before it's time to sow the seeds in.