Proposal: Traditional Gender Roles
Passes at 12-0. -Purplebeard
Adminned at 12 Jan 2011 00:18:56 UTC
Reword the rule “Food”, or the first rule called “Food” if there are multiple, to the following:
Each ant and creature has an amount of food which is tracked in the GNDT and which may not exceed the limit for their Caste, or 5 if the Ant of Creature has no Caste. At any time, an ant may spend a positive amount of food and add the same amount to another Ant in the same Location, unless this action would make the latter exceed their maximum.
Whenever an Ant idles or leaves the game, all food they held is transferred to the Queen (up to her maximum), and they do not regain it if they de-idle. Whenever an Ant joins the game or de-idles, 4 food or all the Queen’s food, whichever is smaller, is transferred to them from the Queen.
Add to “The Queen”:
Unlike regular Ants, the Queen may have up to 50 food, representing the colony’s food supply.
Add a new rule, “Castes”:
All Ants have a Caste, which is tracked in the GNDT and determines their role in the Colony. New Ants start as Workers. The different Castes are:
* Worker. By far the most numerous inhabitants of the colony, these small females carry out most daily tasks of the colony, including foraging, brood care and nest upkeep. Workers may have up to 6 food.
* Soldier. These larger females with giant heads are primarily concerned with the defense of the colony, but they will generally act as workers if no enemies are nearby. Soldiers are limited to 4 food maximum, and their large mandibles make them unfit for carrying anything but Leafs, Twigs and Crumbs.
* Honeypot. These ants have been gorged with food by workers, and essentially serve as living food storage. Honeypot ants may not carry anything and may not go Above Ground. They may have up to 50 food.
* Drone. The only males in the colony, these small winged ants are cared for by the others and prepared for the nuptial flight, where they will attempt to mate with virgin queens. Drones may have up to 5 food, and can only carry Sugar, Crumbs and Mould.
* Virgin Queen. These winged fertile females have not yet mated, and are awaiting the nuptial flight so that they can mate and start a new colony. Virgin Queens may have up to 7 food.
* Mature Queen. The mother of and most important ant in the colony, this queen has been fertilized and no longer has wings. As her sole purpose is to reproduce, a Mature Queen may not carry anything. Mature Queens may have up to 8 food.
Set each Ant’s Caste to Worker, and the Queen’s to Mature Queen. Set the Queen’s food to 30.
Second non-core proposal. To my knowledge, no species of ant incorporates all these castes, but hey. Note that I did not include a way to change one’s Caste, because I couldn’t think of a fitting method. In nature, workers, soldiers and drones are simply born from eggs laid by the queen, new queens emerge in a prosperous colony from larvae that have received extra nourishment from workers, and honeypot ants are regular ants stuffed by workers to the point where their abdomens reach ridiculous sizes (these are only found in a couple of species, but they are simply too cool to leave out and might make for a neat way to ‘take out’ rival ants).
=)
Purplebeard:
The second paragraph of ‘Food’ is to prevent idling honeypot ants from driving the colony into starvation.