Harvest nodes---will they increase when Xpac goes live?

[jbc1948]

Right now there are enough for Beta as pretty much the only thing folks are trying for is the rares to update the TS achievement. When POP goes live considering the large amount of mats needed for recipes the should be an increase in nodes. Mats will be in extra high demand especially early on when people are trying to level up their crafters .<br />An alternative could be an increase in the amount pack ponies, gatherer goblins and Guild harvesters bring back each round. You could also decrease the return time to 1 hour an leave the basic amount harvested the same.

[Taled]

The amount of harvests will only really be an issue at launch - Personally I'd think the scarcity would be good and intended at the introduction of a new area and tier of crafting, as we wouldn't have had time to explore and find the materials.

[Shmogre]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Taled"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Taled said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475201#post-6475201" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">The amount of harvests will only really be an issue at launch - Personally I'd think the scarcity would be good and intended at the introduction of a new area and tier of crafting, as we wouldn't have had time to explore and find the materials.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>Except for the fact that as of right now and for an unknown time after launch, the only way for tradeskillers to level is through writs, which currently take hundreds of materials and almost 9p per writ. At 15 writs per level (with vitality), you are looking at thousands of harvestables and a lot of plat simpy to level (see my post <a href="https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/no-more-pony-goblin-upgrades.581855/page-2#post-6474408" class="internalLink"><span style="text-decoration: underline">here</span></a> for an example). PoP is not a normal expansion for tradeskillers, and the demands for materials are going to be high since there is no other source of tradeskill XP.<br /> <br />As for exploring and finding nodes, most tradeskillers have to harvest for the rares anyway...neither the pony nor the goblin brought back a reliable amount of rares to depend on, so we already had to go out into the world to harvest (with the possible exception of KA and the shadeweave buds, but we still had to go to Thalumbra to get those fershlugginer fungal outgrowths).<br /> <br />The devs are working hard to make sure there are enough combat mobs available so there isn't a huge adventuring bottleneck when the expansion goes live. Asking the same consideration for tradeskillers, especially when those harvests are the ONLY way we can level in PoP right now, is not unreasonable.

[Mermut]

If harvesting is the ONLY way to get materials (there have been noises that they may NOT upgrade ponies, goblins and guild harvesters for the new tier), they need to increase the number of nodes. The node density in PoM is very light... and it is the ONLY place to get the nodes. Handcrafted gear will be nearly obsolete at launch, with the freebie gear, so making the completely obsolete by the time anybody can make them would be... a bad idea. It would also make it impossible for crafters who are low level adventurers to do the eventual TS timeline as they wouldn't be able to GET any materials to do the time with..<br /> <br />We've gotten very little direct feedback about anything tradeskill related, so I double we'll hear anything on this either <img src="/images/smilies/frown.gif" alt="Frown" />

[Shmogre]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Mermut"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Mermut said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475212#post-6475212" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">(there have been noises that they may NOT upgrade ponies, goblins and guild harvesters for the new tier)</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>Injecting a note of caution on this: The comment about the pony/goblin upgrades was made on Discord by a dev who is not involved with tradeskilling or the mechanics of it.<br /> <br />After much consternation on the part of tradeskillers, he said that he actually did not know for sure and was not involved in the decision making, so not to assume one way or the other. (Basically he tried to help, but spoke about something he wasn't actually sure of and stepped into a big pile of <stuff>.)<br /> <br />We actually don't know what is happening with the ponies/goblins/harvesters yet (there are many people making their feelings known in <a href="https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/pack-ponies-wont-be-able-to-collect-new-tier.581861" class="internalLink"><span style="text-decoration: underline">these</span></a> <a href="https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?posts/6474435/" class="internalLink"><span style="text-decoration: underline">two</span></a> threads, though, including the dev's reply.

[Mermut]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Shmogre"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Shmogre said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475218#post-6475218" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">Injecting a note of caution on this: The comment about the pony/goblin upgrades was made on Discord by a dev who is not involved with tradeskilling or the mechanics of it.<br /> <br />After much consternation on the part of tradeskillers, he said that he actually did not know for sure and was not involved in the decision making, so not to assume one way or the other. (Basically he tried to help, but spoke about something he wasn't actually sure of and stepped into a big pile of <stuff>.)<br /> <br />We actually don't know what is happening with the ponies/goblins/harvesters yet (there are many people making their feelings known in <a href="https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/pack-ponies-wont-be-able-to-collect-new-tier.581861" class="internalLink"><span style="text-decoration: underline">these</span></a> <a href="https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?posts/6474435/" class="internalLink"><span style="text-decoration: underline">two</span></a> threads, though, including the dev's reply.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>Yup.. hence the comment about 'noises'.. we have no solid information, just concerns based on the only direct feedback we've gotten on the topic. And that feedback, while certainly not definitive, is still worrying.

[Quillyne]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Mermut"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Mermut said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475226#post-6475226" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">Yup.. hence the comment about 'noises'.. we have no solid information, just concerns based on the only direct feedback we've gotten on the topic. And that feedback, while certainly not definitive, is still worrying.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div> <br /> <br />+1<br /> <br />At this point, this expac has nothing more than new levels/recipes to appeal to crafters. The worry that the ponies are going to be mired in the swamps of Thalumbra and that we are going to be returning to the bad days of node camping only means that gaining those levels will be that much harder - reducing the appeal of PoP even more.<br /> <br />Radio silence is only feeding concerns about just how rough crafting will be in this next expac. I know a number of crafting-centered players that have no intention of throwing money at PoP until they have a better idea of how the concerns about nodes and gatherers are going to be addressed. They want to know what value added there will be with this expac.<br /> <br />I know that the devs are busy; however, some feedback on the gatherer/node density issues would go a long way towards helping people decide on PoP...and, of course, clear up the rumors, misconceptions and uncertainty floating around forums and server chat.

[Shmogre]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Quillyne"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Quillyne said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475235#post-6475235" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">I know that the devs are busy; however, some feedback on the gatherer/node density issues would go a long way towards helping people decide on PoP...and, of course, clear up the rumors, misconceptions and uncertainty floating around forums and server chat.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>Big +1 to that.

[Sudedor]

There's been a lot of noise about the pony / goblin / auto harvesters being a problem, but I think those are just symptomatic of the real problem, which is the material requirements of the TS combines. They're probably too much. Probably way too much if the reports I'm reading are accurate. I haven't touched TS on beta, so I cannot comment from personal experience, but the reports continue to come in with numbers that seem . . . wrong.<br /> <br />There should never be a lack of common raw materials. Auto harvester or no auto harvester, common materials should be, well, common. They shouldn't stand in the way of progress.

[Shmogre]

Hi Sudedor...here is what it took my sage for a rush order writ a few days ago (from another <a href="https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/no-more-pony-goblin-upgrades.581855/page-2#post-6474408" class="internalLink"><span style="text-decoration: underline">thread</span></a>):<br /><div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Shmogre"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Shmogre said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6474408#post-6474408" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">An example of the materials required for my Sage for a single rush order writ (Crystal Blast and Feast), which is currently giving around 7% XP *with vitality*:<br /> <br /><div style="padding-left: 30px">240 storm stalk</div><div style="padding-left: 30px">30 gnarled entwood</div><div style="padding-left: 30px">30 golden ember</div><div style="padding-left: 30px">45 nightmare cichlid</div><div style="padding-left: 30px">45 rock fern</div><div style="padding-left: 30px">45 greatmole meat</div><div style="padding-left: 30px">300 Celestial Incense - total cost/writ = 9p (writ reward is only 1p10g, for a net plat loss per writ).</div> <br />Multiply that by 15 writs per level (with some variation in materials from the other two recipes that are part of the writs), and it's clear that the number of harvests (as well as the plat outlay) required to level is extremely high.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>The amounts are really high, especially when you factor in that there is no other way to gain XP than through writs. For a single level *with vitality* (it's much worse without), that means sages currently burn through thousands of of materials, 22.5 stacks of fuel, and over 130 plat.<br /> <br />Things are still in flux, so there is hope it will change before launch...no torches yet, just empassioned feedback from a passionate group of folks. <grin>

[Alenna]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Sudedor"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Sudedor said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475665#post-6475665" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">There's been a lot of noise about the pony / goblin / auto harvesters being a problem, but I think those are just symptomatic of the real problem, which is the material requirements of the TS combines. They're probably too much. Probably way too much if the reports I'm reading are accurate. I haven't touched TS on beta, so I cannot comment from personal experience, but the reports continue to come in with numbers that seem . . . wrong.<br /> <br />There should never be a lack of common raw materials. Auto harvester or no auto harvester, common materials should be, well, common. They shouldn't stand in the way of progress.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>they are and so is the fuel cost we aren't even breaking even on the writs we are losing plat on them.

[Sudedor]

<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeQuote" data-author="Alenna"> <aside> <div class="attribution type">Alenna said: <a href="index.php?goto/post&id=6475808#post-6475808" class="AttributionLink">↑</a> </div> <blockquote><span class="ae_quote_symbol">“</span><span class="ae_quote_content">they are and so is the fuel cost we aren't even breaking even on the writs we are losing plat on them.</span><span class="ae_quote_symbol">”</span></blockquote> </aside></div>Writ payout is a problem, but honestly, I believe they'll fix that. I'm a lot more worried about the raw material costs / count.

[Kander]

We've doubled the amount of harvest nodes. Next Build.