It would be enlightening to know if players are enjoying the food game currently, because if so it would be quite interesting to make the weather conditions last a little longer, causing more crises in the proto-capitalist (or outright neo-liberal) style our food game simulates.
The premises is that people don't enjoy repetitive tasks for the sake of it, or without much purpose. To have defined and stable seasons with reliable production prognostics, only subject to minor variations, may not be as fun and provide as many conflict opportunities as a less predictable system.
In theory when a region runs temporarily low on food it is likely that each realm will look after themselves, before than after its allies, causing at least some attrition, and making looting temporarily even more effective. In the other side of the island a overproduction could be making food rot and drop its price sharply, unbalancing the rural/city relations, creating political tension (this I have already seen happening). A stable and foreseeing realm will have stocks of food for if/when a drought comes, but warehouses can be looted, or otherwise damaged, and that would not be a total guarantee of safety.
The questions I suppose should be made first are:
1) Do people enjoy the food game?
2) Would they enjoy such harsh food game?
3) Can it be made so it is both harsh but not the sole focus of attention, so that the crisis can be manageable without devoting huge attention to the food game? Or would it not be possible to balance such unpredictability with a simple food system?
