Faction - Moonwood Beavers (oriental theme)

624 votes

Moonwood Beavers is a faction based on assorted images of oriental cultures like China or Japan. As Folktails specialize in farming and Iron Teeth in industry - Moonwoods excel in crafts, being less efficient in mass production, but benefiting from manufacturing chains.

It’s foundation is the use of bamboo and specific approach to aesthetics.
Gameplay focus on unconventional use of resources for construction and more complex planning of decorations to suit their peculiar tastes. Bamboo complements timber and paper is also used for building.

Little strokes fell great oaks - is the motto of the Moonwoods. They prefer keeping their tranquil traditional lifestyle and steady toiling rather than race for minute progress or gain. They believe in the need for balance in every aspect of their life, and step by step they master their skills and carve the wasteland into the garden of perfection.

See more: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VGsVJ9tLOOUc5Fxjy84AsgFt7VSg_IN9rVvTQiJ_I6s/

Under consideration Faction Suggestion Suggested by: Gin Fuyou (12 Sep, '21) • Upvoted: 14 Apr • Comments: 34

Comments: 34

13 Sep, '21
Zam!
With this faction being based on bamboo I would add some faction unique traits and structures :

- all platforms and stairs are available from the start and don't require planks (just like all typical Asian scaffolding)

- Faction unique structure: bamboo pipes (better version of aqueducts in one of the other proposals)

- Faction unique resource: rice - can only be planted on submerged land and will start dying when out of water (istrlead of completely dry like other resources)

- Faction unique building: fireworks factory, allowing to turn regular explosives into fireworks that can be placed and fire like regular explosives. Boosts morale and happiness for limited time.

- Faction special trait: Beaurocracy - all production, harvest times and transport requires a Planning Beauro (building) and set schedule for every job. This allows beavers to work in multiple positions at the same time, switching jobs according to schedule.
8
22 Sep, '21
Kyeudo
Rice isn't planted in flooded paddies because it needs that much water. It's actually because weeds can't tolerate flooding like rice can. I'd suggest flooded rice grow faster than non-flooded rice and otherwise grow slower than wheat.
3
22 Sep, '21
Mr. Kidswear
I like drum stand!
just one thing i wanna say
「鼓童」is a specific name of drum artist, so i afraid make some problems.
I recommend to use 「鼓動」insted.
It means "drum beat", fits better for this facility.
1
25 Sep, '21
Lion-Rye
the kits could clime bamboo in a knew leisure bulding the bamboo gardon
27 Sep, '21
Philostic
Just a note here - the use of the term 'oriental' when referring to eastern cultures is antiquated and not well received by some.
1
28 Sep, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin
Philostic, oh, it's news to me (not a native speaker as one could notice), I'll consider it.
29 Sep, '21
Noct
Oriental is a perfectly fine adjective, and can refer to anything from Asia, typically East Asia. It comes from the Latin and basically means “of the East”. If it was truly offensive, carpet makers would have been canceled for making oriental rugs. For reference, the term “Occidental” is its counterpart for “of the West”.

Also, bamboo can be made into planks, but it is an involved process; probably best to gate it behind a higher science cost.
30 Sep, '21
zachary jones
I recently added a suggestion for a faction that could be merged into this one quite easily. In my suggestion the only extra feature not mentioned so far here was for certain buildings to be built on stilts so that they could start building on water more easily from the start. This would also fit in very well with the eastern aesthetic. Any building that isn't required to be on the ground could have a faction specific counterpart.

Also, I really think you guys should put some effort into marketing in China/Asia. This sort of game would go down very well over here, and it wouldn't require a great deal of extra work. Plus it opens up one of the largest (literally) gaming markets on the planet. A faction specific to eastern culture would help a lot with that.
1
08 Oct, '21
Hawkeight
fun fact; when testing which could hold more weight, Iron vs bamboo, Iron snapped first cause it was inflexible. I'd say that's good reason to say this faction comes after Ironfang as a harder level.
09 Oct, '21
Rakaziel
The question is how to balance this entire faction So far they have:

Bamboo as a faster growing alternative to Birch, which is a straight upgrade (like the Deep Water Pump),

Rice which is balanced by its different growth speeds (so they get that one for free)

Paper as a building material (considering the amount of research and infrastructure you need to get paper, I would compensate that with very low Research costs for the buildings themselves)

Focus on aesthetics (the easiest way to balance that would be to give them a greater functional bonus from it, like working faster)

Maybe a Focus on Spirituality (also a greater bonus)

Probably the same dependence on homes and social interaction for reproduction as the Folktails (so they get that one for free)

A Weakness to disharmony (how does one measure disharmony? Happiness? Working Hours?)

A Need for central planning (lower maximum path length as measured from District Center?)
11 Oct, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin
Rakaziel, bamboo is not a straight upgrade, since it's not usable for planks (with my idea at least). Also they have a penalty for normal wood. So it's a trade-off.
Crops could be balanced by requiring since to open potato \ wheat. Well, I think there is a lot of possibilities to balance faction like that, but it's hard to do on paper only.
23 Oct, '21
Kenneth Ferland
Interesting concept with Bamboo and rice agriculture, but my mind was immediatly filled with the image of a beaver with thick glasses and bucked teeth like something out of a Bugs Bunny war propaganda short.
08 Nov, '21
mrfoogles
I don't know about the whole thing but rice seems like it fits the game.
01 Dec, '21
Anton
Good idea for a DLC
01 Dec, '21
Anton
+100 likes for the drum and the Tai-chi garden! This will look extra awesome!
19 Jan, '22
Gregersenpai
I would love an Oriental themed Beaver (or Tanuki) Faction. Check out my ideas for how they could be mechanically different from other factions in my other post:

https://timberborn.featureupvote.com/suggestions/272485/increased-faction-differentiation-by-allowing-faction-specific-resources
25 Jan, '22
Anton
"- Faction special trait: Beaurocracy - all production, harvest times and transport requires a Planning Beauro (building) and set schedule for every job. This allows beavers to work in multiple positions at the same time, switching jobs according to schedule."
That's unfair! I think all the factions should have a similar option.
20 Feb, '22
Mark Taylor
I really like this idea. I'd suggest giving them some sort of 'bonus' to how long crops will last when flooded, because they'd be a specialists in that kind of farming. Beaver Geisha Houses for Beaver reproduction would be... interesting. I suppose they would require tea for a tea ceremony... which means growing tea...
27 May, '22
Rayne
Are they kappa? Kappa are a type of monster believed in Japan to live in rivers and build cities. Their skin color is green, and there is a theory that Japanese who saw otters mistook them for kappa. Or are they raccoon dogs? Beavers are called "河狸(River Raccoon Dog)" or "海狸(Sea Raccoon Dog)" in Chinese. Of course they are beavers, but I thought it would be interesting to incorporate this type of culture. Just brainstorming.
27 May, '22
Gin Fuyou Admin
Rayne, no I think they are just beavers that happen to settle in Asian regions, native to bamboo. They acquired some similarities of past human cultures of these areas due to availability of resources and weather conditions, like using bamboo and paper in building or growing rice. Their architecture also adapted some shapes they found among human ruins, which fascinated them in a way for using curved lines and shapes unusual for their previously strictly pragmatical designs of dams and lodges.
Click to enlarge

27 May, '22
Rayne
Yes, beaver geopolitics or convergent evolution. The hot and humid environment of the Asian region made it more suitable for growing rice than wheat, and wood was preferred over stone for buildings. Bamboo is a plant that was abundant in Asia, so whoever lived there used it for building materials and crafts. I believe that whether it be humans or beavers, if they try to adapt to their environment, they will end up with the same kind of civilization. It is very reasonable.
Whatever it is, I am interested in their architecture.
Click to enlarge

02 Jun, '22
Rayne
If you add a golem to this faction, the Tea Serving Doll might be an inspiration, In my opinion, although it's too creepy, so the cuter the better.
19 Jul, '22
Andrew
The correct term is "Asian", not "Oriental".
In some cases, "Oriental" may still be used for inanimate objects (eg "oriental rugs"), but it's offensive for anything living.
1
Click to enlarge

28 Nov, '22
Eriewmatay
I wish for a new well-being building: Teahouse
Requires resource "tea leaves" to be maintained (or doesn't need, if required for balance)
Provides well-being: "Social life - Tea Drinking"
02 Dec, '22
Shweta Narayan
I love this, but side note that "oriental"'s considered racist in much of the world, and "East Asian" is a better neutral term.
1
28 Dec, '22
Wenth
Drop the overtly Asian twist and just make it a more decorative faction that gets a negative if they don't have a constant level of décor and instead of using bamboo have them use the cat tails already in the game as a resource to make something faction specific for a bonus like a big house that only holds 3-4 beavers but gives a buff.
16 Jan, '23
truloo
Gonna add my voice to those asking for the language to be changed on this one. "Oriental" shouldn't be used this way, it has strong racist overtones in English (especially in the States). Please change uses of the word to "Asian" or "East Asian" as others have suggested.
1
19 Jan, '23
Jcheung Admin
as you might be able to tell from my name, i have some slight connection to that term.

oriental specifically refers to east asia.
asian can, and does, include the middle east (turbans might be interesting headwear for beavers), russia, and many more countries.

the language is fine. i have yet to meet any "east asians" who have been offended by it. i have, however, met other races who have been upset that "oriental" was used in front of them. by two people who that would have referred to.

am i supposed to be offended just because you are?
02 Apr, '23
Tommy Westbrook
Using "Asian" in this context isn't any better than "Oriental", as is outlined above (and regardless of what the possibly questionable term is if someone of that group uses it please don't correct them). You're still boiling all East Asian culture down to the aesthetic and general spiritual vibe, doing nothing but changing the language (which as was said above 'Asian' isn't accurate in the first place) doesn't stop it being Orientalism.

If a faction like this is put into play then it needs to draw from a specific culture. Not 'Asian', not 'East Asian', ideally not even just Chinese/Japanese/Korean/etc but a specific region, kind like how Kung Fu Panda is specific to Chengdu. But for sure not cherry picking different elements from various cultures under the same umbrella, that would be like putting a shepherd's pie, crepes, and bratwurst on a plate and saying it's all the same because it's all European.
1
01 Jun, '23
MengXia_27
Beaurocracy is a great idea, in fact the current two factions could have a similar post
10 Jul, '23
Allen
I really think that beaver factions should be based on specific concepts or mechanics. This isn't, this is just copy and pasting something from RL without any explanation for why the elements should go together. As a concept, it ends up being held together by stereotype rather than substance, and this is apart from the concerns about insensitivity other people have raised.
1
10 Jul, '23
Gin Fuyou Admin
Oh, Allen, how nice of you! After all that I wrote and put together - it's just "copy pasting something from RL". Wow, such much sensitive!

I'm not saying everyone should like my suggestion, nor denying it using stereotypes and not being very creative, but I just don't see that as something bad.
Just impressed with that attitude.
06 Oct, '23
KeanuXKnight
What if we take this to a more fanatical route. Give them access to early game paper and or allow them to make paper from rice. then make their automatons made of paper and metal. these origami automatons will get a debuff when wet, and will avoid any submerged routes. the way these automations are powered is by capturing spiritual energies with paper balloons. Two new buildings could be added for them. A paper folding workshop where balloons, and automaton parts are made. and a cloister (of sorts) where beaver priests will fill the paper balloons @ shrines and temples with the spirit gathered from beavers visits. this way the faction would have its own theme to differ for the others.
25 Jan
Treasuretrove
Based on your idea, Spirituality could be an essential need for this beaverkind.
Wisdom could be a new resource that is only available once the beavers reach a certain age, while the basic life expectancy of this beaverkind is reduced but has increased profits from happiness.
This increases the difficulty of the starting setup and delays the progress for the endgame.