How about the output being restricted to 50% unless proper tools are equipped ?
Considering Efffort:
This would be a huge amount of additional effort for adjusting the existing "Profession System".
It would even require AI changes that are currently not necessary - see below.
Considering Immersion:
It would not be immersive for me to have a Miner work in a Mine without Equipment.
Especially if there is inconsistence that workign with and without Equipment was both possible ...
Considering Gameplay:
It would make it feel inconsistend and confusing to allow both variants.
Half-hearted weak compromises have never made anybody happy but just frustrate everybody.
Considering AI:
Since we implemented the "Settler Profession" the AI already has a small AI logic to buy Profession Equipment when needed.
At most a tiny adaption of that logic may be necessary if we see in testing that the current logic is not good enough - I believe however it is.
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Summary:
I see little issue to make the concept I suggest work - in fact the Profession XML already allows it.
All suggested changes I have heard so far from others would only make it less fun and more effort to me.
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Why not simply give it a try and see how it feels in test games for
WTP 4.1?
Then
team and supporters can simply decide if they want to keep it or not.
I could for WTP 4.1 create a
separate branch for this feature so it can be
tested safely.
Only
once it is agreed / confirmed we would then
merge it into the master.
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To give you numbers that may reduce the panic:
A city with
50 Colonists would need about
1000 Equipment in total to have
all its workers equiped.
(As I said, each Colonist would require
only 20 Equipment to be equiped for a Building or Plot Profession.)
Also during the process the Equipment can
always be reallocated by simply changing Professions.
So
all decisions a Player take can be reverted since
nothing of that equipment is lost /
used up forever.
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Yes, it will
change gameplay. That is the
purpose of this concept.
But change may also be
interesting and fun ... just give it a chance.
It is honestly pretty funny to me that
players never trust my concepts when I propose them.
And later on
once implemented community loves them anyways and would
not want to play without anymore.
e.g.
Happiness
Health
Crime and Law
New Movement System
Settler Overhaul
Artillery Overhaul
....
Every single time people screamed and feared the world would end when I suggested such a feature.
And in the end it proofed every single time that it was actually fun to play with these additions and changes.
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As I said:
I offer to build an
internal test version of this in a
separate feature branch once we start work for
WTP 4.1.
It would not be any additional effort for me, since as I said I would use this for my private WTP modmod anyways.