ARCHIVE: CLOK BBS

The first stage of the farming reform is finished.

TILL:
- till field to create or expand a field in the wilderness. This takes a long time, and can take longer or be harder depending on the environment. Some areas will require heavier tools, such as a pickaxe or a pick mattock in very cold or rocky environments.
- till plots to till plots in a field and ready them for planting.
- till # to till a specific plot.

PLANT: Works same as before, but you won't be able to plant in a plot if there are weeds there. Seeds purchased previous to this posting won't work - please buy new seeds.

WATER: Works same as before. Will be set up to auto-repeat soon and stop you when no more watering is required.

WEED: Used to remove weeds from your field. Smaller amounts of weeds can be done by hand, larger amounts require a tool such as a trowel.

Other additions:
- Crops will wither if they remain unwatered for too long.
- Weeds will slowly reduce crop quality, and can eventually wither them if left too long.
- Wilderness plots completely overgrown by weeds will disappear and lower field capacity. You can till field to expand your farm again if plots have been overgrown.
- Farming skill is taken into greater account, effecting the quality of tilled plots and planting, and ultimately effecting the crop's selling price.
- Weather, particularly rain, can erode plots.
- Different tools can be used for tilling. Some are slower but result in better quality, some are more exhausting and faster, but result in lower quality - but may be required to till tougher terrains. Tilling tools are from smallest to largest: trowel, hoe, shovel/spade, pickaxe, pick mattock.

To come later:
- Pests and pesticides
- Crop rotation
- Fertilizers

Auto-watering now works, and stops you when the whole field is well-watered.

Does rain cause you to not have to water crops as much?

Yep. Rain waters your crops for you.

Nifty stuff! Soo happy to farm again. Thanks for working so hard on this!

Okay, so last night I decided to plant some watermelons after my failed experiment with corn.

I planted the crop at around 10:30 pm. I weeded it three times before I went to bed at 1:30. I got back to my crops at 10:30 this morning and this is what I saw.


There is some earthy soil here that could be used for planting, with enough space for 36 individual planting plots total.
You see the following plots available in the field...

1: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
2: A thick leafy vine bearing small unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (some thin weeds)
3: A thick leafy vine bearing unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (nearly overgrown with weeds)
4: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (several weeds)
5: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (some thin weeds)
6: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
7: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
8: A thick leafy vine bearing unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (several weeds)
9: (withered crop) (dry as a bone) (several weeds)
10: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
11: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
12: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
13: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
14: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
15: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
16: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
17: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
18: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
19: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
20: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (several weeds)
21: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
22: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (some thin weeds)
23: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
24: A thick leafy vine bearing unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (several weeds)
25: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
26: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
27: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
28: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
29: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
30: A thick leafy vine bearing unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
31: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone)
32: A thick leafy vine bearing small unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (nearly overgrown with weeds)
33: A thick leafy vine bearing small unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
34: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (a few thin weeds)
35: A thick leafy vine bearing unripened melons. (dry as a bone) (nearly overgrown with weeds)
36: * A thick leafy vine bearing large watermelons. (dry as a bone) (some thin weeds)



Now it's bad enough that the weeds grow every few minutes to twenty minutes. Weeds don't grow that fast that I've ever seen. My plots disappear completely (four of them) and the rest of them, as you can see, are dry as a bone and riddled with weeds. ( I watered last night before bed too.)

I wish that the weed growing time and the watering time could be looked into and maybe adjusted. I would hate to think that I would have to dedicate every single moment I'm in game to tending a single plot of land for weeds that seem to grow at the speed of light and land (next to a river, mind you) that dries out like someone is holding a hair dryer to it.

I love the new farming system but I don't want to have to sit here weeding (every 20 minutes >_<) and watering to produce a result. I understand that you're going to have to do both to tend your crops, but so often?

The water timer hasn't changed from before - the only difference is that crops can now dry out and wither.

Weeds still can grow very quickly, but I've significantly lowered their chances to do so. While these weeds seem to grow extraordinarily speedily, remember we've also got crops that are growing from seeds to ready-to-harvest in a matter of hours.

Thanks for everyone's patience while factors are adjusted - I thought I'd err on the side of "too hard" rather than "too easy", lest an angry mob raise their torches and pitchforks crying "Slay the Nerfer!!" every time something is adjusted.

Lastly, keep in mind that loggers get termites and spiders and their hands caught in sawblades, miners get more than their fair share of bad things that can happen - in the wonderful world of farming, weeds and some crop loss come harvest time are the things you're going to be expected to have to deal with.

What about irritating pests like rabbits and so on? And birds?

[quote=Isiaa]What about irritating pests like rabbits and so on? And birds?[/quote]

As Rias said,

[quote=Rias]
To come later:
- Pests and pesticides
- Crop rotation
- Fertilizers[/quote]

Just harvested my first batch of turnips with the new system. so far, I love the new changes.

My initial thoughts...

While not necessarily a bad thing, It's a bit unforgiving for someone who wants to farm before dinner, spend the evening not playing CLOK, sleep, and then harvest the next day, returning 12-15 hours later. Definitely requires a serious time commitment. Of the 120 plots I prepared yesterday, 43 were withered (one entire section, which I suspect I didn't water enough, plus some random withered crops in my other two fields.)

The initial till field time/progress (using a hoe from the old system at the moment, haven't seen any of the new tools for sale in the coalition shop) seems a bit fast. Considering that a well maintained field could potentially be reused many times, it should take more than a few goes from fully rested to exhausted to get a 40 plot expansive field.

There is currently no skill gain for tilling, weeding, or watering, making this probably one of the hardest resource-gathering profession skills to raise, compared to mining and logging which provide skill gains for pretty much everything, at least (Although I do think the skill gain rates for mining are a bit high.)

17) Orris: I've heard a lot of talk about farming lately. If anyone wants help keeping their crops watered when they're away, I'd be glad to put my hydromancy studies to good use!


Awesome. Heh.

Thanks for the farming system so far! I look forward to more advancements with fertilizer, crop rotation, and all.

Any plans for using horses and ploughs?

I'd love to implement that, eventually.