Exactly. Then, even if all orgs agree to it, you have to have people who patrol places like the Mountains of Madness to enforce it. A good number of the people who strip earwort are actually Mag enemies, but nobody wants to sit around and guard it all the time, so they usually get away with it.

Is there even a "LastHarvest" skill equivalent? It was my impression back in the early days that Lusternia intentionally made the whole herb-patrol thing impossible, and having been one of those patrollers in Aetolia myself, god bless 'em for it.

Unless you catch the person in the act, there is no way to tell. You can make assumptions otherwise.

Herbs that provide nice defences like Faeleaf did and Earwort does now do find themselves on the edge of being stripped a lot. Merbloom just died regularily because of the way melds interact with herbs supposedly.

Oakstone can die in a fire.

I'm eternally grateful that no such organization exists here.

Me too

Isn't earwort a fungus? I was always under the impression that fungi grow pretty fast

Having an Oakstone in Lusti would be silly.

That being said, it's just common sense not to strip harvest, (and to leave 5 or so, even if it's peak), you're screwing your own future self in doing otherwise.

It does however, appear to be a new way to 'grief' large groups of people, "I don't like what you did so I'm going to strip all the herbs, and you can't do anything about it, muwhahaha!"

Earwort is a sort of snail plant. The AB file of it describes its interesting ways of working, but I don't have it just yet. Something about microscopic snails crawling into the inner ear.

Well I kind of see it like this: If there was an 8 second instakill that warriors could do (all warriors) and the only way to stop it is to eat a certain herb. And alot of herbalists and warriors stripped it. That people would be outraged, and that maybe just maybe someone in authority would at least make it grow just a little bit faster. I mean less than one per day on the eve before its peak? That is horrible. Does it even grow 1 per day during peak? That is the major setback with it, besides stripping if the crap wont grow, then jeez... make it grow like other herbs, how hard is it to increase its speed, especially since it isn't an herb that is secondary like kafe or something, it is a MUST have herb, that can be stripped even by applying health to your head..... so it is wasted on a grand scale in combat fights with bards/warriors.... a grand scale.... either that or make it so the only way to cure truehearing is eating myrtle... that would be the right thing to do....

Unlike Deafness, which Estarra said was an affliction and NOT supposed to be a "defense". Truehearing is a DEFENSE so why is it treated like an affliction when you apply health to your head? -shrug-

Alright, how would all of you suggest this sort of thing be controlled? I didn't like Oakstone in Achaea. I was suggesting something kinda like it here, just not as bad. What are you going to do when some idiots decide they want to hord all of certain herbs and they become so hard to find your characters can't fight properly? I'm open to other suggestions.

Make Nature Guard last 1 in-game year, and be renewable before it wears out.

Tada.

Any Wiccan/Druid guild can save all the herbs they'd like, forever. Still requires maintenance, and no monopoly.

It's just the snails that are needed for the earwort effect, right? How about an event in which the snails can be cultured.

(Nothing like the adder quest though!)

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that if you have head wounds applying health will cure them before it strips blindness/deafness.

Maybe I'm not sure how Nature Guard works, but wouldn't that mean that Warriors and Bards would be unable to ever harvest anything?

That's the old one, Nature Guard doesn't allow anyone without Nature to harvest below 10.

edit: Actually, what would people think of a change to not allow -anyone- to harvest below 10 with guard up?

I believe it actually prohibits ANYBODY from harvesting below ten, Nature or no. At least, that's what I hope it's doing-- it's what was submitted. Heh.

I can't harvest, so maybe it does. If so, that should be a reason to keep it guarded, but the power cost is horrid over large areas and it doesn't last long, even with trans.

edit: It's obvious I'm falling asleep, horrid in the sense used alongside Renew rather.

Power cost isn't so bad if it lasted longer, though.

It cures deafness as soon as you apply it. Not sure if it cures wounds at the same time though. But any head hit, if you apply to heal the wound, you will lose truehearing, first and foremost


@Xenthos, why not make a skill in Herbs itself to help with guarding? Does it have to be a commune/ecology only thing? Or can it possibly be a skill put into the skillset itself so herbalists are not reliant on ecologists for saving the plants? Maybe just put it in hunting so that trackers/ecologists could? Or would that be asking way too much, a skill for helping herbs in the actual tradeskill itself?

A skill for helping herbs is in the actual tradeskill itself. It's called "replanting". That job is our curse, but ultimately, it is up to the herbalists to replant and make sure that areas are thriving. Nature guard and the Ecology regrowth thing are aides, but not the primary tool. Nature guard would prevent stripharvesting, which makes our lives easier-- but not everything will be guarded all the time (lots of areas, and a hefty power cost), and we'll still have to spend lots of time replanting.

Just a bit less, since there won't be quite as much stripping.