Moral and gameplay dilemma.

[HaleyRocks]

So, since it was unavoidable, i started a new save. Just for the work boots. With the Predictor, i saw that they are in, as well as crystal shoes... Two birds with one stone!

Well problem is, i cannot decide whether i go Community, or Joja... Joja is easier and gives the best perks overall (you can shop late in the day, clint doesn't leave shop on Fridays, can buy Auto-petters and yes i need 4 because i plan to get many animals here also, Pierre closing on Wednesdays no longer puts your planning off, the trophy actually does something and produces soda etc). But i lack the achievement for beating the community bundles!

Please help me decide?

 

[Lew Zealand]

You need Joja to get all the achievements so really there's only one choice. If ConcernedApe didn't want you to go Joja at least once, then why did he make that an achievement in his game?

 

[stardew_luv]

Either it’s a game. It’s not like that community center is ever used once restored. A few people enter once or twice a month but otherwise it’s a decoration or trophy. It doesn’t bring the community together, Ginger Island and the saloon is where everyone goes to mingle or hang out.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

I've played the game enough that I honestly don't care and basically always do joja. The last time I did the cc is closing in on 5-6 years ago...

I also do some other morally ambiguous things that are probably worse in comparison but hey, it's a game, let me do my corrupt deeds alone

 

[Maher]

If you want a four candle evaluation from Grampa (and the iridium generator that comes with it) on 1 Spring 3, I think the CC route is a little easier. With Joja, you must get fully upgraded farmhouse, spouse, master of the 5 ways, full hearts with pet and one complete list for a four candle eval. Unless you're incredibly lucky with the museum, that means opening GI in year 2 and getting the resort built so you can complete the fishing list.

I don't like that pressure and find grinding for the bundle items a little easier. The completion and ceremony points give an easier path to 4 candles.

But like I said, it really depends on how bad you want the iridium kitty. I put a pretty high priority on it, because until I have a galaxy sword with a crusader enchantment, I hate the skull mines.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

If you want a four candle evaluation from Grampa (and the iridium generator that comes with it) on 1 Spring 3, I think the CC route is a little easier. With Joja, you must get fully upgraded farmhouse, spouse, master of the 5 ways, full hearts with pet and one complete list for a four candle eval. Unless you're incredibly lucky with the museum, that means opening GI in year 2 and getting the resort built so you can complete the fishing list.

I don't like that pressure and find grinding for the bundle items a little easier.

But like I said, it really depends on how bad you want the iridium kitty. I put a pretty high priority on it, because until I have a galaxy sword with a crusader enchantment, I hate the skull mines.

Yeah the extra points from the cc and cc completion cutscene go a long way

getting to 12 is really easy with the cc but you have to pick up some trickier points if you go joja

You still have two whole years but if you only start thinking about it late in that second year you definitely don't have the same leeway

 

[Jayamos]

Have definitely gotten four candles via Joja but yes it takes some planning. High friendship and plenty of g helped, did not complete a collection.

 

[24k Ancient Fruit]

My very first game was a Joja run. The game ended up getting benched shortly after the Joja Community Development form was complete.
My next 2 games were CC runs.
My current game is a Joja run (albeit with Stardew Expanded and Ridgeside Village in tow).

CC is definitely more work to accomplish and hence gave me a better sense of accomplishment after I'd completed it. Stardew Expanded (my 3rd game) gave me more of a sense of closeness with Pelican Town when the CC was completed with... well... "Community Day" on the 22nd of each month following CC completion. However, as Pierre slowly but surely wore away at my forbearance as he continued to take credit for my produce that I had sold to him for quick cash...

I chose to go with Joja in my next (and current) game. With Joja, the farmer unlocks the potential to make money faster by unlocking the Greenhouse with simply paying cash if (s)he is good at Fishing. If (s)he is an adept fighter in the mines, then this can mean potentially unlocking Ginger Island in late Spring or early Summer. In this playthrough, I am enjoying some of the expanded Joja storyline that Stardew Expanded offers as well as seeing some changes in Pierre's (whom I rarely interact with in this game) as being affected by Joja's local success in Pelican Town.

If you are asking for advice on which run to do in your new game, then I would simply say:

Do the route that you did NOT do in your last game for the sake of mixing it up and experiencing something different.

 

[Maher]

OP raised this as a moral dilemma and we've been very pragmatic in our responses.

Here are the moral points in favor of Joja:

1. As 24K notes, you find that giving Pierre a monopoly becomes problematic when you do the Pierre's Prime Produce quest.
2. Shane gets to keep his job.
3. Jodi continues to have a cheaper, if less healthy, option to feed her family. We can assume that that's a choice she needs to be able to make on a week by week basis.
   

 

[Miretar]

I have never done JoJa. Given that our characters started the game working there and leave to get away fro the company, turning around and shopping there would be hypocritical. Beside, having seen what a big company can do to a small one, the option is unpalatable to me.

 

[24k Ancient Fruit]

I have never done JoJa. Given that our characters started the game working there and leave to get away fro the company, turning around and shopping there would be hypocritical. Beside, having seen what a big company can do to a small one, the option is unpalatable to me.

Had I started out by doing the CC route in my first game, then I would probably be thinking the exact same way as you today!

When I had chosen to do Joja in my first game, I had decided to think of it as job advancement within the Joja company.

 

[Maher]

I have never done JoJa. Given that our characters started the game working there and leave to get away fro the company, turning around and shopping there would be hypocritical. Beside, having seen what a big company can do to a small one, the option is unpalatable to me.

Yeah, I have a thread called "Why Joja?" where I struggled with this a bit. When I did do my Joja save, I skipped the opening cut scene and the "rat problem" cut scene so as not to deal with the cognitive dissonance you cite.

 

[CoolKid575]

I did Joja on my first farm because it was easier for me to just save up compared to finding all the items for the CC; but I honestly don't see the moral problem doing either route. Even if the CC is restored, it doesn't seem to bring the town particularly closer together and Pierre isn't inherently better then Joja (see: him passing off your fruit as his own).

 

[24k Ancient Fruit]

I did Joja on my first farm because it was easier for me to just save up compared to finding all the items for the CC; but I honestly don't see the moral problem doing either route. Even if the CC is restored, it doesn't seem to bring the town particularly closer together and Pierre isn't inherently better then Joja (see: him passing off your fruit as his own).

You are right. In the vanilla game (unless anything changed in version 1.6+), I do not get much of a sense of the community being drawn closer together by going the CC route as nothing seems different after the CC cutscene other than Pierre being open every day and Clint taking Fridays off. We wouldn't even know that anything is different by speaking to any villagers outside of Pierre. Not to advertise mods here, but Stardew Expanded does attempt to give the feeling of community closeness after the CC is completed by giving us "Community Day".

 

[iota]

I prefer community bundles and have beaten them a few times now c: I think pierre's shop is "cuter" than Joja's, whereas Joja's is just an eyesore. (Also, after you beat ALL bundles, Joja's place turns into another establishment.) Story wise, there's not much different with the vanilla version which is a bummer, but eh.

 

[imnvs]

Completing the CC comes with rewards you do not get from going Joja.

 

[HaleyRocks]

Completing the CC comes with rewards you do not get from going Joja.

Yes, but you can combine both. In my previous save, i opened up all bundles, save 3 from the Fish-Tank category; then i suddenly turned Joja and simply bought the last upgrade.

Either way, i weighted the answers and think i am going Joja again. Too many bonuses to overlook, despite all of them being easily overlooked by players.

Thank you everybody for participating!

 

[Maher]

Thank you for sharing your decision!

 

[One More Day]

If you want a four candle evaluation from Grampa (and the iridium generator that comes with it) on 1 Spring 3, I think the CC route is a little easier. With Joja, you must get fully upgraded farmhouse, spouse, master of the 5 ways, full hearts with pet and one complete list for a four candle eval. Unless you're incredibly lucky with the museum, that means opening GI in year 2 and getting the resort built so you can complete the fishing list.

Kinda disagree here. Getting 4 candles means getting 12 points, which is pretty easy with either route, if it's not your first farm or two.

I mean, you get 7 of those required 12 points just for reaching 1,000,000g in total earnings, which isn't exactly hard. That means you only need another 5 points from everything else together.


So, as long as you also pet and water the cat each day, talk to and gift a bunch of villagers up to 8 hearts, reach the bottom of the mines for the skull key and reach an average of level 6 across the five skills, you're there.


You don't need to catch all the fish, or marry, or upgrade the house, or get the rusty key, and you certainly don't need complete the CC.

 

[24k Ancient Fruit]

After finding out what I found out yesterday, I thought of this thread and decided to share this here too.

If you go the Joja Route and are playing Ridgeside Village, then there will be one eligible bachlorette who will never marry you because she despises Joja so much.

At least someone is outspoken enough to stand up for their beliefs against Joja, much to the chagrin of my character. Abigail and Sophia could learn a thing or two from this chick (but they don't)!

She also seems to be written up as some sort of a mirror character to those players who would say to Penny "I don't quite feel the same way about you" during her 10-heart event, in that similarly to how those players end up leading Penny on up until her 10-heart event (through Penny's eyes), this person does accept a Bouquet from the farmer (even when they have completed the Joja route) when they are at 8 hearts with her to lead them on into thinking that it might be possible to one day totally be together with her. However, I suspect that the writer of Ridgeside Village made her do this so that regardless of which route the player takes, it would be possible to unlock a special item that would only be obtainable by reaching 10 hearts with this particular character.