A new set of Gardening and Exterior Design expertises is being considered. These skills would potentially allow a player to purchase and decorate outdoor plots and grow/cultivate various plants. This is a brainstorming concept document. Implementation or scheduling is neither guaranteed nor implied. This is simply a "Request For Comments".
Players would be able to purchase deeds for outdoor plots/greenhouses. These plots would cost “lots” to place. Once an outdoor plot is created it might be decorated with player craftable outdoor garden decorations.
In addition to decorations, a Gardening system for these outdoor plots is being considered. Gardeners would be able to collect various common and rare plant seeds which might then be cultivated into actual living plants that require “food” and “water” to be maintained. Plants might also catch various illnesses, including microbiological infestations and predatory invasions (“Lokian bark mites are infesting my Kengrel plants again! I need a Bio engineer to make me some pesticides!”).
Plants can be cross pollinated with each other to create new species of plants that can’t be attained through normal seeds. Players can then make and share “clones” or “clippings” of live plants which can then be incubated to make more instances of that plant.
Some plants have actual harvestable products which can then be used in the manufacture of buff and healing items for players or pets or even poisons of some kind. Other plants are for decorative purposes only.
Plants can be kept in indoor flower pots until they get too big. At this point they must be transplanted into outdoor plots or greenhouses. Outdoor plots (not greenhouses), might be affected by weather events. Plants kept in outdoor plots, however, would have naturally better resources due to exposure to fresh air and natural sunlight. Entire farms could be built and maintained.
-The Dark Lord Helios
-Lead Designer
Here are some of the things that have been discussed in reference to the conceptual botany system:
Where
* A couple of smaller outdoor plots. Maybe a personal "herb garden" size and a larger "Flower Garden" size for a small family or the serious enthusiast.
* A couple of larger indoor "green houses". Perhaps something up to the size of a guild hall - call it a "Terrarium" or something of the sort. Multiple people could tend the plants.
* Both indoor and outdoor areas could be decorated. Outdoor areas have to be smaller and/or contain fewer objects to decrease potential for lag when you enter the area. Either that, or the content of the lot can't be visible until you step on the lot.
What
* Plants
* Trees
* Bushes/Shrubs
* Mushrooms/Fungi
Why
* Flora can be harvested once they "flower" (or whatever the equivalent might be). Some things that these resources might be used for:
o Chef recipe component for food, drink or other stat altering substances
o Directly usable as buff items
o Components in special weapon ammunition (poison cartridges for your Tusken rifle?)
o Directly usable as buff or stat altering items
o Something else?
* Flowers and plants can be "petrified" by a genetic engineer at any stage of their development so that the flower/tree/whatnot can be used as decoration. It won't grow any more or produce resources, but it also won't get sick or require taking care of
* You can just sit in your garden with your friends and chat it up
Got specific ideas to add? Question on how something might work?
-The Dark Lord Helios
-Lead Designer
"Got Seeds?"