Maximum Foraging Capacity

[Kalai]

^ edited post where maybe should have posted a new one, but now I forget which parts were an edit. Ranging is fun and deposits seem neat.

[Chettaman]

A much cooler idea, Venomz. This is why we keep you around, man.

[valeria]

Honestly, I think if the forage delay was just increased somewhat it would help solve a lot of the spam-salting spam-grabbing problems.

... does anybody else watch Prospectors?  How long it takes them to find a bit of aquamarine?  Zalanthas is like the complete opposite, where it doesn't take much time at all to find a lot of things, especially precious stones and salt, but the value is a lot lower.

[Kalai]

Trouble is that would make the tedious parts even more tedious. Having it simply take longer to get what you are after when already having to discard 3/5 things and happening to be looking for 2 things that don't share a keyword ... yeah no. Increasing scarcity should not come at the expense of fun. In concept, depletion can make matters more fun for the grebber, both for potentially making their haul more valuable (to players, specifically) and for having to explore and face new risks. Longer timers don't do that.

[Eyeball]

Honestly, I think if the forage delay was just increased somewhat it would help solve a lot of the spam-salting spam-grabbing problems.

... does anybody else watch Prospectors?  How long it takes them to find a bit of aquamarine?  Zalanthas is like the complete opposite, where it doesn't take much time at all to find a lot of things, especially precious stones and salt, but the value is a lot lower.

The delay makes one vulnerable enough as it is without extending it. I'd rather that the frequency of success be lowered than that.

[Synthesis]

Honestly, I think if the forage delay was just increased somewhat it would help solve a lot of the spam-salting spam-grabbing problems.

... does anybody else watch Prospectors?  How long it takes them to find a bit of aquamarine?  Zalanthas is like the complete opposite, where it doesn't take much time at all to find a lot of things, especially precious stones and salt, but the value is a lot lower.

The delay makes one vulnerable enough as it is without extending it. I'd rather that the frequency of success be lowered than that.

The pre-delay doesn't make you more vulnerable.  The post-delay does.  But the post-delay could remain the same, while extending the pre-delay.

I think additional delays aren't really the best solution though...like other people have said, it just increases nuisance factor without really adding anything else.

[John]

... I actually like the deposit idea. Obsidian sold to the office can only be found from a deposit. It's a pain in the ass to break down well, and the source can run out temporarily. I think it spawns at a good rate too.

I think obsidian depsoits are a good counter example to this thread. There is a finite resource for obsidian* that regens over time. Originally when it was first introduced there were battles over the deposits (minimal actual deaths as far as I know). Then over time it stopped. Now if we could identify the reasons for this (perhaps it was due to salt being introduced as a limitless resource) then that would point at ways to get it back. However it could simply be thatplayer's desires changed and now there's just less fighting. As has been pointed out, raiders were once common and aren't anymore. I think we need to look at why there's less overt conflict before we start trying to change variables that may, or may not, have major changes to how the game works. Although if the obsidian depsoit code could be easily adapted to incorporate a version of the ideas in this thread, that would suggest that the cost of doing this is rather low and so there's little reason not to give this a chance.

Personally I think the ability to restrict certain foragables to certain rooms (instead of zones or however it was done) already addresses one of the problems (people moving 1 room from the city and then foraging for high vlauable goods. It ensures the risk is commensurate with the reward. Although it doesn't (necessarily) address the conflict aim of this proposal.

* At least in certain forms.

[Lizzie]

Raiders were once common because there were once staff-supported raider clans. Raiding was an actual plot-driving function of the game. It is no longer an actual plot-driving function of the game. Now, being an independent raider, or even one with a couple of buddies working with you, it nothing more than "see random hunter. Kill him for his shit. Sit on his stuff for a RL week, then sell it all off at scattered NPC merchants around the game-world. Rinse, repeat.

The raider clans that existed previously had depth. And staff support, for some of them. The raiders now lack that depth and support. That's why raiders are uncommon now.

Obsidian mining is still lucrative, but it seems like every apartment has a few dozen shards and pieces of the stuff on a shelf somewhere and every GMH has bins and crates full of it. There's a glut on the market.

I once played a character who managed to forage for diamonds and rubies. I brought them to Kadius, and how much did they offer to pay me for them? NOTHING. They didn't want them. So I was stuck with -very- valueable gems, that I pawned off at the nearest NPC merchant whenever they could afford to pay for them (which was maybe one stone per RL week, if that).

Foraging for roots/food: again - apartments, bins, filled with tubers, roots, etc. etc. etc. Many of them roasted. Like someone did that just so they could boost their cooking skill, and let the crap food stockpile instead of junking it all and RPing that they're giving it to the homeless or sending a care package to their mother or throwing it in the Gaj to watch the free-for-all that ensues.

The system isn't broken. The play is broken. Players are not even trying to play in a believable way. Fixing the code will result in players finding new ways of breaking their play.

[Chettaman]

She's right. She's absolutely right.
A change like this in the code is just another way to force us to roleplay, which I like, but at the same time.

[Armaddict]

Raiders were once common because there were once staff-supported raider clans. Raiding was an actual plot-driving function of the game. It is no longer an actual plot-driving function of the game. Now, being an independent raider, or even one with a couple of buddies working with you, it nothing more than "see random hunter. Kill him for his shit. Sit on his stuff for a RL week, then sell it all off at scattered NPC merchants around the game-world. Rinse, repeat.

The raider clans that existed previously had depth. And staff support, for some of them. The raiders now lack that depth and support. That's why raiders are uncommon now.

...I don't know where you got this idea.  Vast majority of 'raids' I've suffered out in the wilds have been from independent, single-man attacks.  By far.

More than anything else, the big change has been that everyone trusts each other more.  I've said it before...the 'I'd like to go hunting with you' proposition was, once upon a time, code for 'I want to kill you out in the sands' for a good period of time.  People were either alone or in a clan.

Edited:  Was only really responding to one part of your post, but quoted all of it.

[FantasyWriter]

Why do people get pissy when someone who roles up a different character concept than they did makes more money?

[Hope]

Why do people get pissy when someone who roles up a different character concept than they did makes more money?

[The Silence of the Erdlus]

Originally when it was first introduced there were battles over the deposits (minimal actual deaths as far as I know).

Holy shit that's funny.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I think it's great. More deposit like objects would do a couple of things to me ... one, visibly illustrate scarcity, and two, change the narrative for using tools. For instance, I hate the way you chop trees. You don't know what sort of wood you're getting. Same with foraging for branches, although I'm alright with foraging for those. Trees, though? Deposits, dammit. Same for true gems, more valuable salt, etc.