I was talking to Trans Alchemist yesterday, and we were talking about the skill and how it's really just Concoctions for the most part, instead of Alchemy. I don't have the skill myself, but I think the only skills that don't use herbs are the Stone and Quicksilver. If it's alchemy, shouldn't other things be able to be used to brew with? We came up with a short list, and I may have forgotten some of them, but they could include:
Coal (raw or processed)
Silver
Gold
Iron (A rusted nail in an apple and left for a day, helped someone who wasn't getting enough iron in their diet.. I think.. For example)
Bird feathers
wood chips/dust/ash (From processed wood or from raw Lumber)
Seawater/swamp water/tainted water
Sand (beach and desert sand could work differently)
Gems..
Alchemy should be more than just mixing herbs together for the majority of skills, expecially when it can be a pain in the arse for alchemists to get all the herbs they need. Like the other trade skills, alchemists should be able to have at least a few things they can make by buying ingredients, or gathering them themselves..
Yes, I know part of the reason that Concoctions from the other games were seperated into Herbs and Alchemy was to get some people working together, and partly to remove the monopoly on herbs.. But with there being no way to stop over harvesting.. It is like a lot of the alchemists have a useless skill.

Perhaps there could be an 'Envoy' or a Trademaster chosen by those with Alchemy, who could submit ideas to the admins for alternative ways to create elixers and salves?