Gathering Cluster Question

ArchivedUser

There can be a compromise between nodes-for-everything-everywhere versus regional-nodes;  Nodes of specialized types.

While mountainous areas could have a slightly higher incident of normal lumbar nodes spawning there could be hilly areas that are slightly more likely to spawn rare lumber nodes that produce the best hardwood for bows and such.

Rare ore nodes might differ in spawn rates and types between mountains, hills, and the underealm. More common ones might be found most everywhere (except perhaps in  swamps).

Swamp, coastal areas, and plains could each spawn common flower nodes but each might have a certain specialization in rare flower nodes. Add in seasonal effects and a rare bluebell node may turn into a rarer frostbell node during the winter.

Herds (meat/leather nodes) could move with the seasons as well through hard coding the spawns to disappear and reappear as if the animals are migrating. Fishing nodes could move with the currents and seasons.

Since metropolis ZOIs are looking to be quite large with careful planning a group of players could grow one that encompasses several biomes each with their own common as well as chance for rare nodes.

But considering the nodes deplete and reappear at random even a metropolis would find itself needing to enter a trading agreement, or try to take resources by force.

ArchivedUser

Static resources create static items, which will be worth less over time. 

SWG was THE best crafting system in a game ever, without question. They want crafters to matter in this game and master craftsmen to be masters. That means dynamic resources every time, with different stats. Those stats would go into some seriously insanely great items (with decay over time), and lower quality resources would mean lower quality items. It's much more immersive that way for people who love to craft, and people after the best stuff.

Shift resources, and make us survey in some sort of medieval way. "You pick up the soil and place it into a flask, and the plant life growing from this soil will have 986 quality" (or somesuch). Some other place, the soil has 300 quality. Over time, that 900+ area would shift (mulching was removed, or something happened in the interim) to 600 or 400 or whatever, and the 300 area would have soil improved by worms or mulch or whatever. Pretty much what happens in the real world. You can get pure gold nuggets, or gold in with a bunch of rock that you have to process. Nuggets would be 999, flakes in rock would be 300 or 200 or something. Since this is a fantasy world, even the rocks might be changing underneath because of dragons or magical pixies blowing air at the rocks or whatever - the whole point is that shifting resources make for better (and more interesting) crafting every time, along with better or worse items.

And yes, you can fight for those 900+ resource nodes as long as they last, it also makes things interesting.  

ArchivedUser

Oh, you all are talking about static as in always coming up in the same spot. That should be all mixed up also. Have stuff spawn in different places around the globe, and have it be different quality every time. That's how you get master craftsmen. If they have to caravan to get good stuff in so your city has the best swords or what have you, so be it. If a bunch of intrepid people go out to see what the resources have shifted to and try to grab it and bring it back, all the better. Everyone's busy, nobody's bored.

Worked for YEARS Pre-CU SWG, and yes, the best armorsmiths were the BEST because of it. Hell, I'd head to Coreillia to hunt TINY little stupid birds for days for "Avian Meat" for my husband's Combat Medic stuff, and the meat had these INSANE stats. Tons of other people doing the same, some flagged, and sometimes I couldn't resist temptation . Makes life interesting. Kill little birds, PvP a bit, kill more little birds, husband's mind poison had people flopping about like fish in 3 ticks during mass PvP. Perfection! Shift and shift devs, please