Sprite
Terrarian
Gotta say, I'm not happy with the 1.4.1 happiness rework. While yes, it is a VERY useful mechanic for certain NPCs (Tinkerer, maybe the Angler? Definitely the Mechanic), it's not very useful for other NPCs (Guide, Stylist, Tavernkeep).
However, the changes brought in 1.4.1 made optimizing happiness into one of the more tedious things in the game, right next to farming for Ankh Shield parts, and farming up fishing quests. The new town search radius is way too big, and causes problems for those of us who have a base with various NPCs living in it. (For instance, I have a town of 4 NPCs for the Ocean at 120' Surface, a town of 4 NPCs for Hallow in 122' Underground, and a town of 3 NPCs for Underground at 306' Underground.) The new radius makes them all unhappy, even though they're fairly spaced apart.
The changes to the love/hate relationships also HEAVILY penalizes the player for putting all related NPCs into the same biome (IE: Tinkerer, Clothier, and Demolitionist) just from one NPC not liking someone else, so they hike their prices. This really needs a rework, since you can't please your NPCs anymore without having to go through the hassle of shuffling other NPCs into places they don't like, or being stuck around someone they hate, then shuffling them back... You see where this is going?
At first, NPC happiness was a very good idea. Things worked and were tolerable. Now... It sucks. It legitimately sucks. Please, go back, overhaul this mechanic. It's so ungodly tedious to deal with now, I'd rather just slaughter my NPCs than deal with the shuffling (sans the Tinkerer. He's the only good NPC in the game.)
However, the changes brought in 1.4.1 made optimizing happiness into one of the more tedious things in the game, right next to farming for Ankh Shield parts, and farming up fishing quests. The new town search radius is way too big, and causes problems for those of us who have a base with various NPCs living in it. (For instance, I have a town of 4 NPCs for the Ocean at 120' Surface, a town of 4 NPCs for Hallow in 122' Underground, and a town of 3 NPCs for Underground at 306' Underground.) The new radius makes them all unhappy, even though they're fairly spaced apart.
The changes to the love/hate relationships also HEAVILY penalizes the player for putting all related NPCs into the same biome (IE: Tinkerer, Clothier, and Demolitionist) just from one NPC not liking someone else, so they hike their prices. This really needs a rework, since you can't please your NPCs anymore without having to go through the hassle of shuffling other NPCs into places they don't like, or being stuck around someone they hate, then shuffling them back... You see where this is going?
At first, NPC happiness was a very good idea. Things worked and were tolerable. Now... It sucks. It legitimately sucks. Please, go back, overhaul this mechanic. It's so ungodly tedious to deal with now, I'd rather just slaughter my NPCs than deal with the shuffling (sans the Tinkerer. He's the only good NPC in the game.)