The intent of this contract is to provide a way to release cooking information as it is found, while still encouraging future donations to allow future cooking research to be done.
Quizzical will agree to release the remaining known formulas and parameters useful in cooking for stats if you will agree that, should you obtain herbs still needed for testing, you'll donate them for cooking research.
This is a contract between Quizzical, a cooking researcher, and you, a Potential Food Eater (hereafter, PFE).
Quizzical will release pairing information for all herbs which have already been tested, as well as their coordinates. Pairing information and coordinates for currently untested herbs and other standard cooking ingredients will also be released shortly after they are tested. Quizzical will also publish the full stats formulas.
PFE will donate any untested herbs still needed for cooking research to Quizzical to be tested, both currently in the possession of PFE, and obtained by PFE in the future.
PFE will make a reasonable effort to determine whether he has untested herbs, and if so, offer them to Quizzical for cooking research. This can be satisfied by
Quizzical is not obligated to publish precise recipes, but only the formulas and parameters from which such recipes could readily be constructed.
Quizzical is not obligated to publicly release information on any "Stranger tech" foods which have the potential to do great harm to society. No such foods are known at this time, and it is unlikely that any will ever exist.
Quizzical is not obligated to release information on how to make masterpieces. Quizzical does not have such information.
PFE is not obligated to donate what he does not have, nor to specifically seek out or buy herbs to donate.
PFE is not obligated to do the travel needed to get the herbs to Quizzical. PFE may, at his discretion, instead contact Quizzical with the offer of the donation if he comes to pick it up, or perhaps leave it in a chest in PFE's camp for Quizzical.
PFE is not obligated to donate foods which many players can create in arbitrary quantities, such as fish or vegetables. In particular, PFE is not obligated to donate any food base items for testing which Quizzical may request in the future.
PFE is not obligated to donate more of an herb than is used in testing. In particular, PFE can keep any herbs once 10 debens have been tested. Furthermore, if PFE's donation of an herb brings it up to 10 debens available for testing, then PFE has the right to get whatever is left of his donation after testing rebated.
PFE is not obligated to donate any herb after it has been tested. "Untested" herbs means untested as of when PFE has the herb and could potentially donate it. PFE is not obligated to donate any herb which is tested between the time when this contract is signed and the time when PFE obtains the herb.
This contract will not take effect until Quizzical releases the promised information. If an insufficient number of people agree to the contract, Quizzical will not release the information, and the contract will be null and void.
This contract will expire at the end of the third telling. It will expire sooner if either Quizzical or PFE should quit the game.
PFE can indicate his agreement to the contract by sending Quizzical a /chat in game saying that he agrees to it.
The goal is to get everything tested and released in a timely manner. I care much less about the means, and if running in circles around the Lower Egypt chariot would work as a way to get everything tested and released, I'd be in favor of that.
The problem is that there are some impediments to this. Testing results can't be released until herbs are tested. Testing can't be done without having access to herbs, and that requires herb donations. Some herbs simply haven't been donated because no one has successfully harvested them. Others are out there in adequate quantities, but sitting in chests, or worse, getting smoked.
The question is how to get around these impediments. Obviously, not all possible means are justifiable, as we wouldn't, for example, want to violate private property rights of those who own the herbs.
I've repeatedly asked people critical of my approach to research to suggest alternatives. So far, no one has taken me up on that offer, which leads me to believe that such people merely want to complain for the sake of complaining.
This is my attempt at a way to allow the release of what I have right now, while still ensuring future donations. For those who claim that all they want is for everything to be released publicly, it's time to put your herbs where your mouth is or shut up. If you don't have any untested herbs, that's understandable, but if you wouldn't be willing to donate anything even if you had it and the results would be publicly released upon being obtained, then you have no right to cooking research results anyway.
If anyone has any better ideas, I'd like to hear them. I'm not holding my breath, though, as I've been asking for such suggestions for weeks, and gotten none.
If your goal is primarily to get cooking research results released in a timely manner, then signing this contract and encouraging everyone you know to do the same is the way to do that. If your goal is primarily to contribute nothing yourself, and only secondarily to get access to cooking research results, then you have no right to complain about how cooking research is done, anyway. As to which you prefer, that's up to you to decide.