Kilsin said:What are your thoughts on Harvesting, do you like collecting your own resources in-game or do you prefer to pay others to do it for you while you do other things?
I harvest everything I come across, though I won't let that slow me down if I'm trying to get somewhere important. Even when I don't do crafting I still collect the stuff because you just never know when you change your mind and decide to play with tradeskills.
Harvesting is something I do while I'm doing other things. Honestly, though, it's not fun - it's just something you do because there's usually no disadvantage to doing so. As far as I can recall no MMO I've ever played has ever implemented a harvesting system that was more than "here, click this" (not counting fishing). Not exactly compelling gameplay. If there were less nodes, but minigames associated with harvesting like the crafting from Vanguard or FF14 it might be a little more interesting. Or it might get old really fast, not sure.
I prefer to collect on my own but I also like to check the local auction house for cheap deals on materials.
In EQOA one of my big forms of money was crafting and reselling. It wasn't as good of money as my friend made from dueling people but I could afford a good chunk of the armor upgrades I wanted.
I was usually the one in the group that would let everyone else have stacks for selling and I would just take the crafting drops!
Honestly I hate harvesting...but I also think that harvesting and Tradeskilling should be comepletly seperate, youre either one or the other but not both. Then make it so harvesters could improve thier harvest, you harvest 10 maple logs, ok 5 you improve to rough planks (used for frame work and stuff like 2x4s in a house frame) 3 you improve to being treated for weather resistance (used in outdoor items that must be subjected to lots of weather) and the last 2 you really pull out all the stops and make them higly sanded, varnished and finished pieces used in ornamental items. Make harvesting and resources their own mini game and not just an add on to Tradeskilling
Someone up thread mentioned solo harvesting. I agree that harvesting (at least common/standard crafting materials) should be one of the few areas of the game that is primarily a solo activity. Provisioners shouldn't need to find a group to kill the angry giant hornets guarding every apple grove, and there should be some mineable ore nodes in rocky areas of the overland world, instead of deep, dark, monster infested caves.
Rarer or special materials should be hard to get. If blood ore needed to craft Blooddrinker Swords only exists at the bottom of the Howling Pit of Despair in a boss room, and spawns once an hour, then a crafter can get in a group going there. If they don't want to, they can always purchase the ore from someoene who did party there. If that resource is in demand, then groups can treat the resource node as a consolation prize for those who don't get from one of the named spawns in the zone while camping.
I'm a hunter killer. I can't stand harvesting or trade skilling in general. I love the people who do that stuff because it fills out the world, but I want nothing to do with it. Give me a deep dungeon with a rare spawn to find and camp break so I can loot my item from my enemy's corpse. There's "nothing" worse than playing a game like W3 and killing some boss enouncter and getting nothing but crafting items. Where's the loot? I love the almost single minded goal and motivation of learning about a piece of gear, finding where it drops, and going and making it happen. That's the best kind of quest there is, imo.
I agree that harvesting should be primarily solo, though as in Vanguard one ideally should be able to group for it to get better rewards. Either more materials per node or a better chance for rares.
I agree that it makes sense very unusually for a particular recipe or material to be found in a dungeon or raid or other challenging environment.
I disagree very very strongly with the thought that any materials other than very unusual materials needed only for certain items should be found in areas harvesters can't get to without groups or raids.
Harvesting as one of the few things we can do when we don't have time to group or don't want to group would be nerfed almost to uselessness if we can only harvest common materials. As in Vanguard I should be able to solo harvest rares and if they are ever put in the game ultrarares on my own if I am willing to risk the mobs and am clever enough to avoid them.
I agree that occasionally materials for certain unusual items might be harder to get as suggested above but I should be able to run around on my own and get the materials crafters need for *almost* everything. With the obvious limitation that for skinning I would need to be able to kill the mobs - even someone as dedicated to having some solo content in the game as I am won't suggest that mobs *give* their skins to harvesters unable to take them.
