The population of Lusternia is starting to increase again, and we face another issue now. It has become very well known that Herbs is the single most profitable tradeskill. As a result there are many novices who know nothing about how it works stripping rooms bare. We also have more and more people clamoring for health refills, which require 8 galingale per. As a result, galingale is becoming quite scarce. This problem is compounded by fewer and fewer people taking on Alchemy. It often takes an hour or more to find an alchemist, and then another half hour to find someone who will sell galingale to said alchemist, all so you can get a few refills. Either the growth rate of herbs needs to be increased, or health refills will need to use less galingale, perhaps 4 per.

It would be great if there were ways to control harvesting, but since that seems kind of unlikely to happen in Lusternia... reducing the amount of herbs needed for certain elixirs would be a nice alternative. Though, I am not sure how would this impact any herb shortages... less herbs would be needed, probably allowing Alchemists to make their produce more elixirs.

I doubt it would help. Lowering number of herbs = alchemists lowering prices (you know they will). What needs to happen is for those herbalists to learn to plant and not overharvest.

And maybe not keep lowering the price so those who actually do plant go back to planting and harvesting, and more will pick alchemy and actually refill. Herbs may be the most profitable tradeskill right now, but considering how unprofitable the rest are, that isn't saying much.

An automated burnout feature might work.

If you haverst over a certain amount of an herb so many times the earth will reject you taking from it for however long. No messy player interactions needed.

If you strip all of one type of herb from a room, have the ground rebel against you when you go to pick another herb that month.

Only if, say, forgers get metal burnout, and tailors get cloth allergies after a while or something. :/

No, tailors could get the visit from moths, forgers have the visits from rust affecting even their steel supplies.

Edit: To say something on topic... if the ground where able to react against someone who harvested down to 0 would be okay. Maybe herbs rejecting those harvesters from further recolleting.... This would probably make any player intervention against overharvesters not needed.

Mmm I don't like this idea. I don't want RP to become so governed by rules and 'magic' (ie, magic boulders that know not to hit your enemies) that it looses its freedom.

the forest dwellers already have a way of 'protecting' herbs, making them only harvestable by other forestals. This could cause trouble but it is a possible solution.

Thing is, if you're outguilded, do you lose the ability to harvest? or can you be a rogue herb picker?

I think you can. I think the only tradeskills attached to a guild are forging/enchantments/alchemy.

Well, Quidgyboo, the best alternative in my opinion would've been player control instead of a "magic"... but none seem to get any support. But hey, overharvesting is such a drag that it would be great to stop it.

I still like the idea of a herbalist being abl to purchase a small lockable greenhouse that they could grow some of their own herbs in.

Well, yeah, overharvesting's a drag, but it's just like people buying out comms really. Not really something that SHOULD be prevented via OOC measures, so to speak. :/

The problem is, herbs are the only products used CONSTANTLY. If gems run out, or steel runs out, we live with it. If herbs run out, people get screwed, bashing comes to a halt, combat becomes a race to see if you can hit them with an aff they dont have herbs for, cookings specialty items cease to exist, all alchemics run dry, essentially the world falls apart, if all the wormwood in the world is consistantly eradicated by a small group of people, they could make crotamine the single most overpowered attack in existance, with, once the existing herbal stockpiles run dry, a very dangerous instakill. Would making every novice with a shortsword envenomed with crotamine the power to take out anyone else be a good idea? Hell no.

It costs 1 power and 1 mistletoe to use Nature Guard. And it has to be renewed constantly if that were to be a solution.

Not even all of those, either. Nature guard puts Serenguard herbalists out in the cold.

Of course Serenguard are used to being out in the cold.

This is something that's really been ticking me off too. If you strip every plant from the room then you need to die. Gah.

Edit - Having said that, Nature Guard really isn't a viable option. I've found nearly all the mountains stripped bare, most of the galingale in the forest gone and all the yarrow in Oleanvir stripped. The amount of manpower it would take to perpetually guard those rooms would be impossible to maintain.

If I had to guess, the herb problem is everyone who started playing said "OMG I CAN GET HERBS" and since it made the most in achaea, they did so. Having 60% of the game or whatever it must have been to start having herbs did not make for a lucrative market, so in reaction everyone then forgot herbs. I'm sure it will balance out eventually.

EDIT: I am no exception. I was uber pissed when I found out geomancers couldn't get herbs.

As an herbalist from the day the game started open beta this problem has plagued Kree the entire time here. He has planted and replanted till his fingers bled and my replant macro has been rubbed clear of any lettering. Up until recently, say two weeks ago or so, Kree was fine with it. I felt it part of Kree's nature to do this constantly, to the point where he rarely gets to harvest now. But now I can hardly make myself log on and play Kree for more than ten minutes. Kree dreads walking around the different areas and seeing none of the herbs that should be growing there. He dreads having to run from one tiny valley to the Oleanvir or one cliff face in the Serenwilde to the mountains... ad nauseum, just to find a few plants to transplant. I however dread these things because the strife and combat that is integral to the game would be gone. Gone for the simple fact nobody could properly heal themselves, unless you hire a healer to follow you around and heal everything for you.
But as far as answers; I have to voice my support for the idea of once you harvest any plant to zero you should no longer be able to harvest any plant for at least twenty four hours.

Kree would rather just take away the ability to harvest for much much longer periods. Call Kree an herbal fascist But it is how Kree makes his money.

dont get me wrong. I pull an average of 10cr a month (sometimes as high as 35) when actively harvesting on Akraa (trans herbalist, his only trans skill left) But that is mainly in sparkleberry which is about the only herb that isnt overharvested because only the experianced herbalists go up to pick it. (IE we know what in the hell we are doing and what our actions will have on the market). I would like to see cartels for all trades in every city/commune. Also the ability to TRADEBAN for trademasters, revoking their liscence to trade while part of their city/commune. Get tradebanned, have to earn the right to get unbanned. Otherwise leave your city and keep your trade.

10cr a month?

I don't even make 10gp a month on average. -sigh-