Remove curse removes Withering Less

[chezcaliente]

Also against this. Not everyone has the time to quest as much as others, and since most of my unfortunately short time available to be in game is spent roleplaying, the gold / XP losses as they currently stand are quite substantial.

[Egon the Monkey]

If the Withering was at the level TNVW seems to want, we'd run out of NPCs in a month or the DMs would be hand-waving why they're immune :P. Someone trading Withering removal for gold is trading XP for GP at a lousy rate of exchange and in big chunks. A potion will net you several GP per XP point lost, and even selling at the same rate as the NPC, you'll only get 2 GP per XP point lost. The trade of XP loss from deaths to profit is better on alchemy too if you're not hilariously unlucky.

In my opinion, a better idea would be to make it a little more obvious what the dangers are of being Withered, so players want to cure their PCs more regularly. Most PCs are in greater danger of being killed by another PC or a DM event than the Withering, so their priority is on resources and levels. Withering removal ain't cheap, and if you think it is, you're having a very good run. Things that affect every PC need to be balanced for the bottom end of the spectrum of PC resources and player questing skill, or they'll lead to 75% of PCs at L6 in Mistlocke, scared to do anything except Granary or Wolves and the other 25% as uber-zombies.

Something that might be worth considering is a well known newly discovered way to ward off the withering rather than curing it. If keeping the curse away long enough to raid or explore was something relatively simple to do but restoring it was a bit more costly, you might see more PCs afraid to make unprepared jaunts to withered lands. If it was a herb or something, it would also be available to wilds PCs.  Much like in Sanctuary, where casters never went anywhere without Abjurer's Nightshade.

Frankly I think it's fine as it is though. The withered areas are worrying as much for the grade of enemy there as the Curse.

[Diz-e]

Withering is already a major pain in the ass. Frankly, at level 8, it's extremely hard to manage AND progress unless you are a gold hoarder - even then, it is VERY expensive, and don't expect to be able to spend that gold on anything else. I haven't seen stage 1 since the second week of EFU:M.

[Spiffy Has]

Reminds me, to an extent, of the rotting death. :)

Alright, seems the consensus is to keep Withering as it is.