Planting System

[Conan The Conqueror]

1. Increase max number of plants per area

2. Slightly increase plant maturation time

3. Make more areas suitable for planting

Given the robust nature of our server, I think that our planting system can be beefed up a little bit. As it stands, you can plant a seed and then wait a day or two to give it a chance to mature...only to find that someone harvested it right after it sprouted. It's not like this happens every now and then...it happens quite often. Given that new plants have been added recently, it happens even more so. People are content to leave a field of nightshade growing, but butcher any other new plant they find :(

I'm not saying we need hundreds of plants per area, but it gets a bit irritating to find "There are already too many plants in this area" or "This region isn't suitable for planting all the time. With fewer areas to plant, the plants are being crowded in a few spots and then fill up quick.

I am also not advocating super growth, though if there was some way to have a fertilizer to speed growth. Maybe a perk for rangers and druids = their plants grow faster than those planted by others. Just a bit rough to wait a couple of real days to get one plant grown and find nothing.

Areas that are currently not suitable for planting, but not sure why they aren't suitable: West Point, Rugged shore, Ruined Tower, High Cliffs (I think this is the name of the area)

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Jungle Soil is actually very poor.

Leave it as it is, but the other suggestions are fine.

[Conan The Conqueror]

It is a sub-tropical island, which means it is not all jungle terrain.

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Ah.

Well, that makes sense.

[I can has fun?]

Wouldn't a druid be exactly the person to make a decision like, "There's too much fucking nightshade all over the damn place." Can't you just prune back the overgrowth?

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Yep. I already did this to an area, and I am planning on doing it to others.

[Conan The Conqueror]

I have been culling over planting for sometime now. But inevitably, I see a huge patch of some plant or other tucked away in the corner of a map.

I think the assumption is that maxing out the number of plants is best, when really all you need to do is let a handful of plants mature for a while. Then you will have plenty of produce to fuel your needs. 25 of a single plant in one area...planted by a single person is overkill.

[Snoteye]

Can't you just prune back the overgrowth?

The problem lies in over-enthusiastic players getting ahold of an abundance of generic seeds.

[Egon the Monkey]

Yeah. I have been going to great lengths to find the rarer new plants and plant them in areas where nobody goes. I think the problem is non ranger/druid players thinking OOH NEW PLANT and harvesting the produce first, not the seeds in case they kill it.

I think we need to have the ranger/druid players get a couple of Massive Sacks o'Seeds from the DMs :D.

[I can has fun?]

The problem lies in over-enthusiastic players getting ahold of an abundance of generic seeds.

Huh?

I'm talking about a PC who throws all the seeds away when they're done pruning. The point is not to collect seeds for planting, but dispose of them permanently.

[Snoteye]

You are missing the point (by a long shot). You can prune all you want, there will be someone to replace the plants in no time, and there's a good chance they'll be replaced with identical plants because most players are more interested in the actual planting than making sure all plants are represented.

[Johannes]

The restriction on the number of plants per area will be maintained as is due to technical limitations.

Your other suggestions will be judged on their merits.

[I can has fun?]

You are missing the point (by a long shot). You can prune all you want, there will be someone to replace the plants in no time, and there's a good chance they'll be replaced with identical plants because most players are more interested in the actual planting than making sure all plants are represented.

I think you may be missing mine. There is an entire PC class dedicated to the remedy of precisely this problem. My point is that this can and ought to be handled in character. It's a terrific opportunity for conflict.

PCs won't be so eager to play Johnny Appleseed if they run the risk of facing down an angry druid with a cave bear enforcing the balance!

[Snoteye]

Druids don't exactly outnumber all other classes.

[PanamaLane]

First off, the DM's have done a wonderful job with the planting system. It's a really cool feature in efu that a lot of people ignore or look over. However, I do think a few tweaks could be made. The "overzealous" planters cause problems for the "green thumbs" generally. They put plants in strange places, they plant the same kind of plant over and over again, they harvest blindly without knowing the consequences on the plant, its annoying.

So, why not cut down on who has the ability to work with plants, not just who can "read" the plants, like druids and rangers can. Give non ranger/druid classes a plant failure percentage both in the harvest (ie, you fail to harvest from this plant) and in planting (the seeds fail to take root). This would ensure that at least the majority of plants are coming from the classes in the know.

An alternative idea to this: At some point I recall a DM mentioning that they could add skills into the game. How about a gardening skill? Then you could make it a skill check to work with the planting system.