Provide a warning about garden crops dying during extended server downtime

Pretty simple piece of feedback. When a notification is provided to players about server downtime, include a statement about how downtime will affect gardeners. My understanding is that crop death due to downtime has been bothering players for a long time, so if there is no technical solution forthcoming (such as garden stasis), SE can at least finally acknowledge how downtime impacts crops and provide suggestions for how to avoid losing items during such downtime.

EDIT: The notification for gardeners would ideally include the following information:

*That garden crops can and will die during server downtime (This is not common knowledge, especially for new gardeners)
*That gardeners should be sure to tend their crops by a specific time so that they will survive the downtime, OR that gardens should remain unplanted for X amount of time before scheduled maintenance
*That items lost due to crops dying during server downtime are not recoverable by GMs

Here is the thing, SE has said plants will survive long maintenance (24 hours) and they will. They stated in the notes for this maintenance no unusual actions would need to be taken by the players.

But they still let plants go over 24 hours causing short life plants (like expensive onions) to die when normally they would survive...It's not cool SE

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Originally Posted by AzhiDahaki

provide suggestions for how to avoid losing items during such downtime.

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Well the simplest solution is just don't plant things when we're told about a maintenance and you know you won't be able to tend them.

Sorry that probably sounds a bit harsh, but normal garden operations require frequent tending. If you know you're not going to be able to do that for whatever reason, don't plant something.

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Originally Posted by worldofneil

Well the simplest solution is just don't plant things when we're told about a maintenance and you know you won't be able to tend them.

Sorry that probably sounds a bit harsh, but normal garden operations require frequent tending. If you know you're not going to be able to do that for whatever reason, don't plant something.

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No, I think based on the number of players impacted by this issue the simplest solution would be to provide a warning. Not everyone sees a maintenance notification and thinks about how it will affect their garden, but a simple text reminder would alleviate this.

EDIT: Also, your solution is not really a solution-- the problem will continue to affect players unless you personally intend to inform every gardener what to do

EDIT: But, yes, if SE wants to include in their server downtime announcement something along the lines of, "don't plant any new crops for a week, and make sure you harvest everything by this day, or make sure you have watered it by this time for it to survive the projected downtime!" , that would be along the lines of what I'm suggesting.

I have 17 gardens, most of of which I use for crossbreeding. I take care of 64 plants and pay friends to take care of the rest. Today I came on to find 8 Glazenut plants, 4 Blood Pepper plants, and 8 Krakka's dead. All the rest were ready for harvesting.

So, I not only lost those plants, but the expensive Than 3 soil they were planted it, and any possible crosses I may have gotten.

My friends have not checked in with me on how much damage was done in their gardens, but one of them grows my end-result crossbreeds of Blood Peppers and Thavnairian Onions. Those will be expensive losses.

I think it's bullshit that SE doesn't just freeze garden progress during lengthy maintenance when we have no control over tending our gardens. :mad:

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Originally Posted by SimonRose

I have 17 gardens, most of of which I use for crossbreeding. I take care of 64 plants and pay friends to take care of the rest. Today I came on to find 8 Glazenut plants, 4 Blood Pepper plants, and 8 Krakka's dead. All the rest were ready for harvesting.

So, I not only lost those plants, but the expensive Than 3 soil they were planted it, and any possible crosses I may have gotten.

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I think it's bullshit that SE doesn't just freeze garden progress during lengthy maintenance when we have no control over tending our gardens. :mad:

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I agree, and wow, I thought I had it bad losing my one plot of 4 thav onions & 4 glazenuts. Obviously even highly experienced and responsible gardeners like you are negatively impacted by how downtime affects this gameplay mechanic.

It would be better if they just halted growth during maintenance. Warnings only help if you notice them before planting and it's very easy to skip over a bit of news. In my opinion, it should be a matter of convenience for the player, not some pop-up warning or a requirement to be watching the news feed for maintenance all the time.

I agree with this, but short of halting growth, a notification would at least acknowledge & help reduce the problem

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Originally Posted by Dustytome

It would be better if they just halted growth during maintenance.

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Looking at it from SE's point of view adding a warning would take little to no effort as it's just a few lines of text whereas halting growth would actually require dev work.

I guess also from their point of view not many players are affected by this. A lot of people who have access to gardening don't ever plant seeds. So maybe that small amount of players isn't worth the effort : /

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Originally Posted by worldofneil

Well the simplest solution is just don't plant things when we're told about a maintenance and you know you won't be able to tend them.

Sorry that probably sounds a bit harsh, but normal garden operations require frequent tending. If you know you're not going to be able to do that for whatever reason, don't plant something.

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Wouldn't it just be more prudent to SUSPEND PLANT GROWTH rather than expect every player and every GC to dig up what in many cases are weeks worth of nurturing? You can't always predict exactly WHEN the plant will bloom, and growing things like jute are a long term project. Sorry, but your answer is totally unacceptable! I lost 28 plants (all 3 garden plots, planters in my apartment and my house) because the game gave bad advice about plant survivability! With me it was an inconvenience... but if I'd been growing jute or something similar, I'd be... best keep my thoughts to myself.