Jason & OHOL vs. Maslow's Hierarchy

Wuatduhf · 2019-05-20 19:30:55

This is a follow-up thread to my in-depth analysis over Jason's questions asked during the fences update: [Discussion] A look back on questions raised from the Property Update

There were a few questions that I did not go into detail with, that I would now like to touch on.

jasonrohrer wrote:

"Where's trans-generational conflict? ... Where are the monarchs? Where are the guillotines?"

(tl;dr at the bottom as usual)

Enter Maslow's Hierarchy!

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory encompassing the human condition and our prioritization of certain needs that are universally shared across society. Each tier is important in the expansion on what we call "society", as without the pillar below it, the needs of the individual cannot advance without being considered 'irrational'.

How does this tie into OHOL?

In OHOL, we primarily see the first tier of Maslow's Hierarchy, and sometimes the 2nd & 3rd. Let me go into these now, so that we can easily see how these relate to the current gameplay experience:

Tier 1: Physiological

Homeostasis - Stability of the human body despite changes in environment (temperature)
Food & Water - Not just preventing starvation, but a guarantee that you have food available at a moment's notice
Sleep - A place for downtime (Fire/bakery)
Shelter - A place of gathering (Fire/nursery)
Sex - The guaranteeing of the next generation, making sure the lineage doesn't die out

The 1st tier of Maslow's Hierarchy focuses on the basic physical needs of the individual being handled. Homeostasis focuses primarily on temperature, the only non-constant that the in-game player can affect. This can be affected by activities like

Though we cannot drink it directly, gathering water is a vital component of maintaining the food supply. Because a large chunk of time involves laboring over supplies that maintain either the food or water supply, we can consider an overwhelming amount of One Hour One Life is stuck on the very first tier of the hierarchy. Most rational & gameplay-oriented players are stuck in this 'loop'.

Tier 2: Safety

Personal Security - Security from violent individuals, natural environment (bears)
Emotional Security - Security on the presence (or lack) of other families, and tolerance to/from other townmembers
Financial Security - Personal welfare from the communal pool of resources in town.
Health - Guaranteed safety from violent attacks (Med Pads)
Accident Safety - Confidence in others helping in emergency

The 2nd tier focuses more on the wellbeing of the individual and their 'security' in life. Since OHOL primarily operates in collectives and does not have enough support for personal wants/needs, we can extrapolate aspects of these individual needs to the group at large.

Does the town 'feel' safe in its current standings if a violent individual were to come along, or a griefer brought violent creatures into town?
Does the town 'feel' safe to its members to interact with one another, inside and outside of their families>?
Does the town believe it has stockpiled plenty resources to sustain all its citizens' current projects/workstyles?
Does the town have enough medical pads prepared and un-griefed for use in a violent outcome?
Does it have enough medical pads in case of an emergency situation? (usually bears/boars/stab mistakes)

Most towns/villages fail to meet one or all of these requirements, thus the rest of the rational players not stuck at Tier 1 are stuck at Tier 2, working to gather more materials to stockpile, trying to keep the village safe from griefers/'dangerous' foreigners, and otherwise.

Tier 3: Social Belonging

Friendships
Intimacy
Family

The third tier in the Hierarchy does not translate well into OHOL from IRL; I will chalk it up as the individual player(s) finding belonging within the Town/village. Sometimes this takes place at birth, if the person's mother/parent gives them enough affection that they want to see the place grow. Other times, it is spurred on by seeing the general well-being of the town itself, and if they are able to have positive interactions w/ others. Roleplayers may take the concept of marriage and 'act it out' through wedding ceremony.

This tier is one that seldom players are able to perform naturally, excluding the maternal support. Sustaining a large stockpile of resources, medical supplies, and food, while having a sustainable population, is close to impossible. Only in villages where the 'Yum bonus' has been catered to for every townsmember or a true abundance of food and other goods do towns get to experience this tier of development.

It is also detrimental to towns when players act on Social Belonging in the absence of their Physiological and Security needs. Such players may end up enhancing the speed at which the town's stockpile of resources, food, etc. deplete, while contributing little to nothing in return for their growth of emotional connections.

However, if towns were able to maintain all three of these tiers, the town's society reaches the point needed for a local culture to develop. The time opened for interactions between family members, external families, and partners would eventually lead to a tradition to be passed down from generation to generation.

Tier 4: Self-esteem

Status - The person's current reputation
Respect of others - Respect from other people within the Town
Respect of Self - Respect for one's status within said Town

While the 4th Tier of Maslow's Hierarchy is more abstract than the previous ones, it is also the tier critical where the cultures of the Town would expand enough that a political institution forms. All the ongoing relations between family-members, external families, and otherwise would provide the foundation for players to seek personal recognition, status, importance, and respect.

Given that OHOL has gold crowns and unique, colored clothing, the establishment of a political structure, like a monarchy, could form, along with many other potential political systems (capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism). Their establishment would depend on the environment and the variables leading up to their formation. The success of each system becomes highly dependant on what the players in later generations are willing to tolerate.

In addition, Self-esteem is also the level at which institutions, such as law enforcement, and other job specialization, would begin to form. For Jason, this is the privatization of goods, specialization of roles within villages, "Where are the Monarchs?", etc. that he is trying to have 'naturally occur' in OHOL.

Tier 5: Self-actualization

The "final" tier of the Hierarchy is not going to be touched on here; this explores the realm of potential for the individual, where they transition to achieving their personal ambitions/goals. This one needs little discussion at the moment, anyway, as it is beyond the current scope of OHOL and what Jason is trying to accomplish at this time.

In conclusion....

If Jason is trying to implement systems of politics, cultural development, getting players to 'care about their families more', et cetera, Maslow's Hierarchy needs to be further examined. Having players struggle to gather resources, survive, maintain their family lineage, and providing limited (to no) tools to defend themselves (Property fences honestly do not count) is restricting the majority of players to the 1st and 2nd levels, with some deviating up to the 3rd for good/bad reasons. Unless something changes that provides more types of foods, more types of "law enforcing" methods, maintaining the survival of a Family, Village, or Town, we will not see progress made into the 3rd and 4th levels of Social Belonging and Self-esteem.

Discussion, as always, is appreciated.

Last edited by Wuatduhf (2019-05-20 19:33:14)

futurebird · 2019-05-20 20:04:32

I generally agree although, there are some flaws in the Maslow's Hierarchy theory. Mostly that people tend to think it means that you *can't possibly* focus on needs higher up in the pyramid until the lower needs are met. Having worked with students who have been homeless, refugees, from situations that were violent and unsafe I can say that that just isn't how people operate. The lower needs can and *will* be set aside to get some taste of the higher needs. I think about my student who took time out from an assigned work-study program every week that he needed to have enough food to eat to spend time working on his drawings on the building roof top. So, my point is that real people need a slice of all of the layers in the pyramid and will make all kinds of sacrifices to make that happen.

But, in terms of this game and your application of the theory here I think it makes total sense. People worried about food don't have much attention to put in to government. People without a sense of a family unit and love aren't going to have as much time for making their homes look lovely.

GreatShawn · 2019-05-20 22:05:25

omg this is what jason need to look at! +1!

Wuatduhf · 2019-05-20 22:41:21

futurebird wrote:

I generally agree although, there are some flaws in the Maslow's Hierarchy theory. Mostly that people tend to think it means that you *can't possibly* focus on needs higher up in the pyramid until the lower needs are met. Having worked with students who have been homeless, refugees, from situations that were violent and unsafe I can say that that just isn't how people operate. The lower needs can and *will* be set aside to get some taste of the higher needs. I think about my student who took time out from an assigned work-study program every week that he needed to have enough food to eat to spend time working on his drawings on the building roof top. So, my point is that real people need a slice of all of the layers in the pyramid and will make all kinds of sacrifices to make that happen.
But, in terms of this game and your application of the theory here I think it makes total sense. People worried about food don't have much attention to put in to government. People without a sense of a family unit and love aren't going to have as much time for making their homes look lovely.

You're correct on that. I try to distinguish that part by making it try to strictly conform to OHOL, and I also try to highlight that some people are going to skip straight to the 3rd tier as an 'irrational' activity. It's not logical or reasonable to go straight to establishing relationships than helping keep the village supplied with firewood, food, crops, or clothing, children, and security. Sometimes it's necessary and we skip straight to the 3rd Tier because we're all 'afraid' of the babies SID'ing on us because we don't "care" about them enough.

breezeknight · 2019-05-21 09:12:38

futurebird wrote:

I generally agree although, there are some flaws in the Maslow's Hierarchy theory. Mostly that people tend to think it means that you *can't possibly* focus on needs higher up in the pyramid until the lower needs are met. Having worked with students who have been homeless, refugees, from situations that were violent and unsafe I can say that that just isn't how people operate. The lower needs can and *will* be set aside to get some taste of the higher needs. I think about my student who took time out from an assigned work-study program every week that he needed to have enough food to eat to spend time working on his drawings on the building roof top. So, my point is that real people need a slice of all of the layers in the pyramid and will make all kinds of sacrifices to make that happen.
But, in terms of this game and your application of the theory here I think it makes total sense. People worried about food don't have much attention to put in to government. People without a sense of a family unit and love aren't going to have as much time for making their homes look lovely.

yes, but ...

those students are still living middle in a society filled with options, even if those options are not directly accessible to those people, they are a prospect, a perspective to live towards, those can become goals

those students who have chosen to refuse the daily chore of normality & went a la Walden are the society's bloom, they can indeed afford it because there is that normal background still going on

all that is missing in OHOL

- - -

Maslow in comparison to OHOL :

lowest tier - physiological needs - are hampered by the game's main objective - survival game, you are in constant danger to starve, your mother abandons you, there's a 50% chance nobody cares for you while you're a wee kid, you are naked, abandoned, bored & set out to survive on your own, often because the life as an adult is not that much better
you are beaten to tech up asap, you are frantically running between food source & securing the next food source, securing the backpack, the basket, the stone
you are in a constant stress situation, would this be RL, people would have fled, well ... many players have in fact !
OHOL's life is a life in constant artificial distress

second tier - security - for a year we had two mighty weapons able to kill with just one blow, after many fights Jason was willing to succumb to a feable option of being healed by others, there is no freedom in OHOL to heal yourself or to prevent being killed, you just can't do anything about if someone sets out to kill you - to kill is fun (if you like to play violent games) to survive is not
now we have a third mighty weapon & we have racism newly added to the game
there is NO SECURITY in OHOL
OHOL's life falters on this tier already - you are not only not safe to live in OHOL's settlements, no, you have a very high chance to be killed whereever you go, whereever you're born, even if you flee
cause even if you have the chance to find a spot without murderers & foes, you will still encounter the danger of the biomes, the temperature killing you, the animals there mainly with one goal programmed - to kill you
& then people are asking why players don't leave the settlement, there is nothing interesting out there but lots of additional distress to the first tier distress added, so that's why

3rd tier - love & belonging - i said that meantime ad nauseam - OHOL is filled with egotistic players who play a singleplayer middle in a multiplayer game - yes, there are nice players still left, but the game is not in the least programmed to support what it claims to offer - civilization & parenting
the game's main focus is on technology, mods (even if they skew the gameplay towards domination), cumbersome crafting & violence
females are there because, well, it happens kids come IRL out of a womb, so OHOL has females, but that's all there is about feminine options, most players still present in game are MALE pretending to play female, Jason is oc, a male programmer thinking he knows what female needs are
did your kid die ? who cares - did you kill your mother ? who cares - do your bones disappear ? who cares - is your work wiped out ? who cares
OHOL is made around the notion that you are a tiny bit of working unit in a sea of work, so that's the best belonging you get
are you Eve ? - bad for you, cause your lineage won't survive, you have no power to name the spot you've chosen, nobody will ever remember you, let alone honor you, the best you get is a page outside the game where you can look up how far your murderous descendes succeeded to withstand death

4th tier - esteem
OHOL's freedom lies in killing
you have no freedom unless you mix up freedom with the skill to kill before you get killed
your reward is to have wiped out lineages
your reward is to have your murdering deed advertized with the red color & a death scream of your victim
your reward is to collect curses & end up in Donkey Town
your reward is to practice killings
that's the esteem of OHOL, everything else will decay or will be wiped out with some update or just by the low number of players still playing
now you still wonder why the players retention is low ? why should anybody play OHOL at all ? where is the reward to do so ? are you a masochist or a sadist, then you will be able to gain some esteem from OHOL, otherwise it's normal to not play it anymore, the game doesn't reward you for your time spend with it, it's even set out to punish you for that, lol

5th tier - self actualization
if you like to murder, then that's the best you can get in OHOL about that,
everything else is programmed to turn to nothing
because Jason thinks that makes a good game many people long to play, yeah ...

- - -

Last edited by breezeknight (2019-05-21 09:21:55)

Schlorghan · 2019-05-21 20:31:49

Interesting, we need a way to make the game easier, but that wouldn't be fun, so like in reality we could work hard to make it easier for the next generation.

Improvements like the well are good examples, before that, it was just survive and no breaks.

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#1 2019-05-20 19:30:55