Wow, this kind of solution hasn't occurred to me. Nice one! I have a bog house, so can grow all the herbs I want privately -- but I'm glad TS made this change, because there's been a lot of grief over this.
Having said that, I'm sure not everyone will be happy ;-p
@glitchlog: "So migrant gardeners can have time to admire their work, public plots'll be locked to the seed planter for 60 seconds after harvestin time."
I'm looking forward to a group of needy harvesters hovering around that one patch that will be one of theirs after 60 seconds...I can see further friction ensuing... just saying :)
This change will have zero downside for the generous people who plant things for others to harvest. This change will have minimal downside for free-spirited people who look for unclaimed herbs, whether or not they replant before they depart. This change will make life better for herb-wanting people who plant and manure their own seeds in the hope of a harvest. Reduced guarding behaviors will improve the garden atmosphere.
The only play style seeing a negative impact is pvp conflict over who can first grab a new sprout. Such pvp grab-contests aren't my idea of community. I think the community nature of the herb gardens has been improved and not lessened.
*does a happy dance* THANK YOU TS!!!!!! So good to see this happening finally. So much unhappiness has been caused by those that want to take without offering! Wonderful news!!!!!!
The lock was much longer than 60 seconds on the Yellow Crumb I just tried to harvest. It was definitely more than 4 minutes then someone else harvested it, don't know if it was the original planter or another glitch who got in after unlock.