When it was first announced that the way botanizing & gathering on tiles would be changing, I was a little reluctant to get excited. I decided to play it safe and just approach it with a ‘let’s wait and see’ approach, and I’m so glad that I did.
Normally characters would run around, right click and interact with a tile, and you’d botanize or gather on that tile with no real visual indication on if you’d receive anything, and it felt like a lot of RNG. With this latest change, players will be able to SEE if the tile contains a node you can harvest, and then the amount of items harvested, quality, and specific items, are skill based.
I love it. I love being able to visualize what’s being harvested, and being able to head directly to the area I want instead of trying every single tile where I might not get anything at all.
After a few minutes of running around, I had a good selection of harvested items. It doesn’t feel too underwhelming, and while the items I harvested were nothing exciting, my skills are also not that great, so it felt on par as far as balance goes. This gives me a renewed reason to wander around exploring and harvesting the bits and bobs that I can SEE instead of passing them all by. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!