I doubt the excess of cooking comms is a Hallifax-only problem based on price. I don't know about all the villages, but usually when I check the Rockholm store, the cooking comms are all at maxed out quantity, which tells me that there is an incredibly low demand for cooking comms or that there are a great many more ways to make meat/eggs/etc than to make other comms. Not sure which.

EDIT: I am also interested in knowing if the gem supply is going to be able to keep up with the demand from 2x comm costs plus Institute need for gems and what the Institute is supposed to do if we come out of the next revolt with no mining villages? Subsist off what we can get from others orgs at an inflated price? Just stop using harmonics if we end up with no way to get gems?

Farm rockeaters, turn them in, push prices down, get enemied by a retard in an allied org, and know my pain.

It's both, actually. Meat and eggs are much easier to quest for than many other commodities, and they're used far less than other commodities. I think what she was saying though, is that you guys charge too much for these things at the city market, so the reason you're not low of stock is that people buy elsewhere - owing to the fact that they won't do business as cooks if they don't find ways to cut their production costs for finished food items. (Maybe this also answers some questions for me about how people could possibly be using so many foodstuffs.)

That's roleplay for you! You can even read about it during the whole 'mining rights debate' in the Taint Wars history. I always found it to be an interesting angle on Hallifax, the Institute and their worldly outreach.

Off the top of my head, the following villages accept rockeaters:
Stewartsville, Dairuchi, Paavik, Shanthmark, Southgard, Rockholm, Angkrag, Estelbar. The new mining villages (Ptoma/Ixthiaxa) may as well, and there are probably others I've missed.

The chances of an allied org not controlling at least one of these villages are fairly low. Even in that circumstance, you can send in someone not enemied to the org to hand in rockeaters and buy gems.

There are something like 5 rockeaters in each mountain area, plus a handful in each mountain village, plus a handful in each sea, plus a fair number in the UV tunnels.

Gems can drop to a minimum of 108 in village shops (which doesn't actually take all that much).

With mastercut and a hammer, you can a minimum of 3 cut gems per, I believe. And I've seen people get more than twenty.

You get a minimum of three charged gems for each cut gem placed in the Sphere.

So, with a few precautions, you can get a charged gem for a maximum of 12gp (cheaper than, say, tarot/runes in most cases).

And you could get one for as little as 1.8 gold per, assuming you don't bump the sphere over 3000 facets.

You can then store these gems in a stockroom (I believe you already do), and stack up a significant stockpile without too much effort. The longest amount of time would be spent on harvesting them.

Really, if you think that's bad, you can always make a Gaudi alt and try a hand at farming wads.

Gems are used in Tailoring, Forging, Jewelry, Bookbinding, Artisan, and Arts.
Metal is used in Tailoring, Forging, Jewelry, Bookbinding, Artisan, and Arts.
Cloth, leather, and silk is used in Tailoring, Bookbinding, and Artisan.
Food comms are used in Cooking. In tiny quantities compared to the amount needed of the other comms in the other professions. So yeah, incredibly low demand.

So... since Researchers and Illuminati have to farm materials to use their guild skills, is this rewarded in any way other than the satisfaction of knowing you're participating in game lore?

Edit: I realize that came off sounding negative, but... I don't have to farm anything to use Shadowbeat, Acrobatics or Glamours, for example. And to hear people describe it, said farming of materials can be rather annoying.

A lot of people's guild skills require comms. Also, your violin didn't didn't grow on a tree. Well. Maybe on 125 trees.

Occasional guildfavours and contributing to a gold profit in your guild's shop (thus increasing the guild's own vaults), but that's about it.

Plus, accessing your skillsets in general.

Yeah, it's not a big deal to require gems for Harmonics, but coupled with the current commodity difficulties, it's been sounding a tad onerous.

Well... I don't really feel like they've got it any worse than ecologists or trackers.

I didn't say I thought it was that bad, since it hasn't been bad so far in fact its been easy and the only difficult part is sitting on a sphere and spamming HARVEST GEM repeatedly. I was asking what we were supposed to do if we lost a mining village or if gem production couldn't keep up with the demand on gems. Also, why is there always a competition about whether it sucks more to have gems or flesh wads? If there is a game mechanic that is un-fun and stresses players out, why does it matter which is more un-fun or more stressful? Are we not allowed to have our questions/worries addressed because Gaudiguch has it worse?


The Institute doesn't sell facets for a profit because the guild leadership decided that it would be pretty crappy to try to make a profit off of something that players need to actually play the game and have access to their skills. It isn't like an instrument where you can make a profit off the 125 wood that a bard can theoretically use forever, the gems fade after they run out of charges (not sure about flesh wads) and need to be respun when they fade or when you die or when you log out. Harmonics is also a primary skillset of the guild, not like fetishes/runes/tarot card in a tert skill. Not sure who made the comment that plenty of skillsets require comms, I think you can't make a direct comparison between Harmonics/Transmology and other skillsets that require comms (except maybe runes).

I'd still charge at least a tiny profit on each, to help build your coffers and buy fun stuff for the guild. You have a built in way to make mad cash over the course of time, use that to better the guild. Don't gouge people for it, sure, but even 1g or 2g profit per gem is better than nothing.

Harmonics isn't going to struggle to get enough gems. Like Xavius said, it doesn't actually cost much at all to harvest gems. I'd say around 10 gold gold per harvested gem and that is a pretty prudent estimate.

We just charge 10g per flesh that isn't Cluuvia (bashing buff) or Lovashi (main ingredient). Once you reach GR3 you get harvesting permissions, this is extra incentive towards those ends.

You charge 100 gold for each glob of Lovashi to make people want to get to GR3 faster?

The charge for Lovashi stings a little bit, but I can't say I mind helping to fill a new guild's coffers one drop at a time.

Maybe if you would actually favour people to GR3, they could harvest their own flesh.

Yes! It's not hard to get there and it's pretty good incentive all-around, since then you're a full guild member and we can start telling you Secret Things.

_{Though we're still lacking in the secrets department.}