A modest proposal

[Zfz]

I find that gameplay thrilling.

Just curious. What do you do? Do you teleport to each zone? Or do you ride the chocobo always? Or do you mix in the free teleport and Return to complete your efficient route? Does your round trip give you any down time? That is, do you find yourself arriving early with nothing to do for 2-3 real world minutes?

I would enjoy the traveling and all if the nodes weren't fixed. That's the one thing I've always hated about gathering---fixed node positions. Even unspoiled nodes are basically fixed. There's a few positions concentrated in a very small area and they will only spawn in these positions. It's boring. I wish all nodes would spawn more randomly. It'd make gathering more of a "venture" instead of just assembly line work.

[Darra]

In an MMO like this, there are only 3 viable ways to make an income. 1: Crafting. 2: Gathering. 3: Kill selling. If you were to make it so that gathering from unspoiled nodes was easier, or removed them completely, then the supply would go up significantly, therefore killing the profitability of being a gatherer. Of course, you could compensate by increasing the quantities of materials required by craft recipes, but what exactly have you gained here? All you're doing is keeping the demand and supply ratios the same, but increasing the numbers. To give a real world example: Look at the current cost of crude oil, it's very low compared to a year ago, because demand lowered and supply stayed the same. Normally oil producers would have lowered output to keep the prices at levels that are most profitable to them, but for a variety of reasons they chose not to, ergo lower prices and less profits. What you propose will have the exact same results, but instead of demand lowering and supply staying the same, you're keeping the demand the same and increasing the supply. If your income relies on oil costing a set price (see Iran and Venezuela), then you're going to be screwed when the prices drop. Just like in game, supply shoots up, demand stays the same, the only winners are the crafters making higher profits whilst the gatherers get poorer and the kill sellers probably make just as much money.

[Zfz]

There is a definite difference between adjusting supply and adjusting demand.

The key thing about unspoiled nodes is that they are part of the end-game progression for gatherers. If only that part (Umbral Rocks) of the unspoiled nodes were changed to cool-down based, then I'd be perfectly happy. Everything else can stay the same.

[Iagainsti]

I agree, timed nodes are annoying, especially when you have a busy RL, plus you're usually busy with other content, helping FC members, etc. I do believe the nodes should be set to an hourly CD, so players like me can just log in, blow through our Cordial inventory, and farm the nodes we need in 5-10 minutes(sometimes that's all the time I have to log in on a weekday). I don't believe a system as such would impact the MB like some believe, bc the amounts gathered per hour wouldn't change.

[Zfz]

Well since now more people are able to gather, those who were unable to now will be making the gathering part of their routine, so there will definitely be a surge in supply and a decrease in demand.

Still, I think it's better to have more people standing at the start line (i.e. actually be able to gather the stuff) than to block out all of them just because their schedule doesn't fit.

[Shadygrove]

Asked a routing question.

My rotation: Return to Tranquil > Tele to Hawthorne Hut > 1:AM Crawler cocoons. Tele to Tranquil > Ride to E Than > 2:AM Antumbral rock. Tele to Ul'dah > Ride to S. Than 4:AM Platinum ore (1 game hour wait). Tele to Ul'dah > Ride to W. Than > 5:AM G3 Than. topsoil. Tele to Gridania > ride to C. Shroud > 6:AM Redolent Log. Return to Tranquil > Shroud topsoil. Ride to E Than > 9AM Gold Ore (1 game hour wait). Tele to Mists (FC house) > Tele to Costa del Sol > hunt Mandrake seeds. Tele to Wineport > 1:PM Dzmael tomatoes. Tele to Drybone > Black truffles. Free tele to Mor Dhona > 5:PM Thav. Mistletoe.

.... To give a real world example: Look at the current cost of crude oil, it's very low compared to a year ago, because demand lowered and supply stayed the same....

Actually supply increased AND demand lowered.

Well since now more people are able to gather, those who were unable to now will be making the gathering part of their routine, so there will definitely be a surge in supply and a decrease in demand....

How does that decrease demand?

[keyburz]

Soo... why are cordials on a long cooldown? Why not 6 seconds like a fireworks? Its not like you can use one while inside an unspoiled node menu, in which case would be op. But actually if you Could use one inside the menu AND 6 second cooldown, would make cordials more valuable... hm...

[Darra]

I agree, timed nodes are annoying, especially when you have a busy RL, plus you're usually busy with other content, helping FC members, etc. I do believe the nodes should be set to an hourly CD, so players like me can just log in, blow through our Cordial inventory, and farm the nodes we need in 5-10 minutes(sometimes that's all the time I have to log in on a weekday). I don't believe a system as such would impact the MB like some believe, bc the amounts gathered per hour wouldn't change.

Your system would in effect be an enormous headache and require far more resources than the current system currently requires. You propose that every node can be used 1 time per hour per player. Atm the game just has to remember to spawn node X at 5pm in zone A. Your proposal requires the server to now memorize the despawn time of anything from 1 to 15000 node X's (depending on how many people are gathering that node) within a 1 hour window and then remember to respawn those once the hour is up for each of those characters, then multiply that by however many different unspoiled nodes. You've just increased the server work load by an insane amount, just because you and some other players can't fit the gathering into your own schedule. So yeah, your system wont affect the MB, it'll just mean SE will need to spend more money buying new servers to cope with your demand.

[Zfz]

My rotation:

Ah, indeed teleports are involved. My ideal situation for a timed node system would be one where the nodes are distributed in such a way that the next spawn will always be in an adjacent zone, and at most times you have a choice of going one way or the other, resulting in the possibility of just wandering around Eorzea from zone to zone and enjoying the scenery while never having to work to a time table.

How does that decrease demand?

Because more people can easily gather the material they need, the demand for these materials on the market would decrease. In other words, there will be more people who choose to go the self-sufficient route because it isn't such a hassle to be so.

[chumsy]

Just wanted to add, why Truth of forest/mountains fall off when you change jobs back and forth but prospect doesnt? just make it the same.