Topic

Does tree maturity have a use?

I often go by trees, but unless it's fr a quest, or I'm feeling bored, I tend not to pet/harvest trees. More mature trees don't yield more per harvest (which is a feature I'd like), or yield anything better per harvest. If they were my own trees, I'd do the bare minimum amount of petting/watering necessary to keep them alive, since maturity doesn't seem to make a difference. Could this be incorporated more as a gameplay aspect?

Posted 18 months ago by RobotGymnast Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I really hope they don't implement a bonus for old trees unless there's also the decline aging trees go through (stop producing leaves, fruit, seeds). Most trees eventually die of old age, no matter how much love they get. Glitch trees don't. If the game provided incentive for keeping trees around longer, without any motivation to clear them - the whole patch/tree/poison/dirt debate gets even worse. Can you imagine the uproar when a new player clears an 'old growth' tree if it had some sort of bonus... just so they can finish their seedling quest?
    Posted 18 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • maybe different, but equal bonuses depending on stage?  more fruit in middle age, more mood bonus for young trees, and more misc. items for old trees? or something like that?
    Posted 18 months ago by Tarod Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Should the trees not have a fixed lifespan, so that after a certain age they start to die naturally and can be replaced. When the game opens there is going to be a steady stream of new players trying to complete tree planting quests, not to mention the continuing need for patches and soil. Also the trees should actually need petting to keep them alive - I'm not sure that is still in place.
    Posted 18 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Harvest size is tied to skills... so the end result of varying bonuses for various stages would be - the higher skilled players would harvest from the higher yielding trees (saving them lots of time and energy avoiding the young ones). You can visually see what stage of life a tree is in, there is no guesswork, which becomes apparent after a few days of playing... so the more experienced players would be the ones to most benefit from that type of mechanics change. It created a 'rich get richer' scenario.

    Seriously, why would I bother spending energy to tend a young tree and get 6 cherries, when I can spend the same energy and harvest a mature tree for potentially 36... + the bonus stuff? For that matter, why not keep 5 cherry trees at home for a potential of 180 cherries and spare myself the 30 young ones in the world?
    Posted 18 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Trees currently give off bonuses and XP when petted and watered.

    Also, harvesting trees and selling the raw materials on bulk is good for the game and good for you as a player (you make money).   There are rarely bulk (250) sales of cherries, eggs, beans, gas and bubbles.  This test, I experimented for a time with doing nothing but harvesting trees and selling the product in bulk on auction.  Every auction I posted was snapped up in minutes - I could not keep up with supply, especially for beans.  I suggest this is a good habit that more players could pick up, especially those at lower levels, because you make mint fast (so, there is your bonus).

    Also, +1 to trav's point: tweaking this to award more bonuses for mature tree harvesting would screw up the whole 'clearing trees' balance, which was finally working pretty well this last test.
    Posted 18 months ago by zeeberk Subscriber! | Permalink
  • fwiw, glitch trees *do* die of old age, it's just hard to tell that this is happening.
    Posted 18 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you wander out to the bogs, you can see lots of trees dying of neglect/old age.  Sort of depressing, but it actually works out since they die and new ones can be planted by the influx of players looking for empty patches for a quest. 

    Not so much in the meadows and forest because of the traffic there (so, the likelihood of them being tended increases there, they stay alive and mature for a long time there).
    Posted 18 months ago by zeeberk Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @katlazam - they die from lack of attention... but I've never heard of a tree becoming dead when it remains tended. Lack of attention is not the same as old age.
    Posted 18 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The last time I saw a tree suffering from neglect was when the devs forgot to switch the game off between tests and I came back home to piles of meat instead of piggies and sickly looking trees. Abit of petting sorted out the trees but I had to eat the pigs ;)
    Posted 18 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Trav, this is true, but devs have previously explained the process by which fully mature trees die of old age here in the forums. Can't search for it now, but it does exist.
    Posted 18 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @zeeberk shhh you'll screw with my harvesting business! I really need to increase my prices since I sell out within an hour - the current project requirements make for simply massive demand for food ingredients and they're far away from supplies - though with map teleports this will probably be limited.
    Posted 18 months ago by Catari Subscriber! | Permalink
  • One thing: Fertidust is not that expensive. It has no cool down. It think it is mostly overlooked. 
    Posted 18 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lol, I remember that,  Heathermomo :) 

    Also, how can you *tell* that pigs are eating trees?
    Posted 18 months ago by Hburger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You can tell because they don't ever get hungry and refuse to hand over the meats, whereas a piggy who has no meats for you is invariably hanging out in a treeless spot.
    Posted 18 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have had to feed piggies who are hanging out near trees.  Piggies eat food left on the ground, but they don't harvest trees. 
    Posted 18 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have had piggies snaffle my tree harvest before it got to my bag though - at least I see a "yum"
    Posted 18 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have seen my pigs eat my fruit.  I also had them saying "num, num" or whatever under my fruit tree and there was no harvest for me.  This also explains why my unfed pigs didn't die. 

    It takes a short time for a seedling to produce.  This is not long but you will have to wait a bit after planting.  As I recall, you won't get a full harvest until the tree matures.  Also, if you have the skills, you may get other goodies with the harvest.  I always pet and harvest my own trees regularly.  I don't pet and harvest other trees as often as I used to unless my mood starts to get low. I do almost always pet and harvest trees that I don't have in my yard such as Egg plants and gas trees.
    Posted 18 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink