Farming, the least popular skill!

[WingedFish]

I quit farming when I started growing cabbage in the patch south of fally... right next to a field of limitless cabbage.

 

 

 

Then I looked at the prices of (p++) poison (likely the best thing I could make with farming), and it's like... 20k? With crazy high herblore? not profit if you ask me.

 

 

 

The only real way to profit with farming is ranarr seeds, unless i'm missing something?

[matthew_t_d]

With the abundance of farm animals already in the game - chickens, cows, pigs etc. I'd really like to see farming extended to include raising some animals as well. Raise a coop full of chickens and get X feathers and Y raw chickens to cook and fletch with. Perhaps players could lease space to raise their animals from the various farmers around the traps... or even make a Barn an available add-on for your POH.

 

 

 

+1 lol i was gonna say exactly that. They should make seeds easier to get and perhaps a market where you can buy/sell livestock lol. And make the meat worth using (normal cooked meat - heals 2, your homegrown organic and freerange stuff should heal 20 maybe :P)

[Punitive_D]

Id like you to find me more then 10 people in all of runescape that use baskets of strawberries for food.

 

 

 

Well here's one of your ten -- when I get a huge slayer assignment, e.g., kill a zillion fire giants, I've been known to take a couple baskets of strawberries. You can pack lots of healing into little inventory space. But they're no good against things like metal dragons, where you need lots of healing in one bite.

 

 

 

Farming is relatively unpopular because people like instant gratification. That's why they like combat -- they get to see a red number go up every couple seconds and get multiple drops per minute. That's also why so many people cut wood -- just walk up to a tree and watch your inventory fill in a hurry. Farming is the opposite. And it should stay that way. Diversity is the beauty of runescape, and it's nice to have a skill for deferred gratification players.

 

 

 

Farming could be improved by making good seeds more readily available. Thieving is too slow. If I kill 100 dragons, I'll get hundreds of runes, but no decent seeds. Why can't high level monsters drop valuable seeds more often? Why should I have to cut wood or shell out cash to get decent tree seeds? If I kill a steel dragon, I'd like a shot at a magic tree seed (not that I have the level to plant it, or anything). Why not?

[tastywheat1]

I also use baskets of strawberries as food when assigned a rediculous amount of monsters for slayer tasks, theres 2 out of 10 for you. :D

[Greedom1]

I absolutely adore farming and herblore. (91 and 86 respectively.)

 

 

 

As much as I enjoy farming, it needs some work.

 

 

 

It does NOT need a minigame, or for that matter easier/faster ways to level.

 

 

 

 

 

First and foremost, they need to fix the growing times so they are consistent. I've frequently had fruit trees take over 20 hours, while the other plots are around 14-18 hours per tree. Same thing with herbs. Sometimes it takes 75 mins, other times it takes 150. There's no excuse for this inconsistency unless it is intentional. More than likely it's a bug that has needed to be fixed for a looooong time.

 

 

 

 

 

Farming also needs more variety. Not in the plots, but just some higher level (and new) allotment / bush / hops / tree seeds. Any of which could be used for an additional herblore update. Why can't I plant and grow a teak or mahogany tree anywhere? This would be an easy fix and difficult to abuse -- especially if you made it a special plot (akin to the calquat) that was far from a bank.

 

 

 

 

 

However, farming does need more plots. With as wide and varied as this map is, it doesn't make much sense that there aren't more plots all around the map. Why none deep in the desert? (Near the river of course) None in elven lands? None on Ape Atoll? The addition of an allotment during the Great Brain Robbery quest was nice, and they need more of that.

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, farming needs to be made more attractive to lower lvled farmers. Farming really doesn't become viable (profitable) to train until you can grow certain herbs (not just ranarrs...) Usually this is about lvl 60 (for both farming and herblore). Usually, by lvl 60-65 people have gotten over the misery of early farming and can start to appreciate its benefits.

 

 

 

The easiest way to "force" people to farm and herblore more is by making a new quest with a great reward but has requirements of 60-65 farming and herblore. Naturally this isn't the best way to achieve this, just one of the easiest.

[Greedom1]

 

The only thing that really needs changing are the failing rates. At very high farming, even the lowliest of herbs/plants can die on you. It's pathetic that a 93 farmer sees most of his limps die on him or that a 88 farmer can't plant a marrentill without certainty of success. Cooking has "no burn" levels, farming should have "no die" levels.

 

 

 

I completely agree. However, I think they may already have it built in. I haven't lost a poison ivy seed since about lvl 85 (planted over 400 since), but I do lose whiteberry seeds still (maybe 1 in 12 or so). Even though I think the farm level has an impact, it needs to be much greater than the impact of what the seed you're planting. (Higher level seeds seem to die less often, at least for me.)

[Celestrana]

I keep my farming worry free by paying the nearby gardener to watch my plants and make use of My Arm's disease-free herb patch whenever I'm growning herbs. I admit, I'm not a "pro farmer" and I don't use a perfected farming route to gain a lot of farming exp in a short time but I do what I can and do what I need for farming.

 

 

 

One improvement that I would like to see in farming is a way to get some seeds back from the plants that you harvest.

[highlanders]

Duh.

 

 

 

In a pragmatic point of view, farming is useless. Sure you could make a little money growing herbs, making super compost, getting magic tree roots: but other money making methods are far better at making money than farming. So pragmatically talking (yay I invented a word) it's a waste of time.

 

 

 

 

 

Sure you could say skills like FM are useless and people still do it.. They do it for the achievement cape. But an achievement cape in farming, that's (example) 2 months for a very rich no-lifer (80m), 4 months for a poor no lifer (20m), 8 months for a no-money no-lifer, then 4 months for a rich lifer (80m), etc you get the idea. So why should people like it? Useless, and long; that's what I would call a waste of time.

[qeltar]

Again, to understand why and how farming is viewed, one must take into account that the vast, vast majority of Runescape players are immature children who do not understand much of anything. Once you keep that in mind, it all makes sense:

 

 

 

- People who say farming is "boring" when it takes only a few seconds a few times a day, while those same people will stand in bank clicking bows for hours on end or killing 500,000 dust devils to maybe get a d chain, which is considered "not boring"?

 

- People who say farming is "useless" while ignoring that it is an easy money maker;

 

- People who say farming doesn't make good money, simply because they have never figured out the smart ways of doing it, yet think that truly pointless skills like fletching are "great money makers" even though they make virtually no money at all.

 

 

 

The good thing is that the short-sightedness of most RS players is part of what makes farming lucrative to those who do it.

 

 

 

~q

[qeltar]

 

Well here's one of your ten -- when I get a huge slayer assignment, e.g., kill a zillion fire giants, I've been known to take a couple baskets of strawberries. You can pack lots of healing into little inventory space. But they're no good against things like metal dragons, where you need lots of healing in one bite.

 

 

Here's another one. They are also excellent for agility training, because they are small bites and weigh next to nothing.

 

 

 

~q

[Greedom1]

Duh.

 

 

 

In a pragmatic point of view, farming is useless. Sure you could make a little money growing herbs, making super compost, getting magic tree roots: but other money making methods are far better at making money than farming. So pragmatically talking (yay I invented a word) it's a waste of time.

 

 

 

 

 

Sure you could say skills like FM are useless and people still do it.. They do it for the achievement cape. But an achievement cape in farming, that's (example) 2 months for a very rich no-lifer (80m), 4 months for a poor no lifer (20m), 8 months for a no-money no-lifer, then 4 months for a rich lifer (80m), etc you get the idea. So why should people like it? Useless, and long; that's what I would call a waste of time.

 

 

 

 

 

It's not everyone's cup of tea (I readily admit). But personally it fits in well with how I play RS: with consistent frequent breaks. Normally, I simply do about 2 farm runs a day (all herbs, bushes, trees that are ready), and the rest of the time I'm logging in/out at the My Arm herb plot. For no-lifers who spend 10+ hours on constantly, there are of course more productive ways to level/train. However, I have a real life with real life demands and this works for me.

 

 

 

That being said, farming is best like it is right now: only for the supremely dedicated (or slightly dedicated, but rich) players.

[Celestrana]

Duh.

 

 

 

In a pragmatic point of view, farming is useless. Sure you could make a little money growing herbs, making super compost, getting magic tree roots: but other money making methods are far better at making money than farming. So pragmatically talking (yay I invented a word) it's a waste of time.

 

 

 

 

 

Sure you could say skills like FM are useless and people still do it.. They do it for the achievement cape. But an achievement cape in farming, that's (example) 2 months for a very rich no-lifer (80m), 4 months for a poor no lifer (20m), 8 months for a no-money no-lifer, then 4 months for a rich lifer (80m), etc you get the idea. So why should people like it? Useless, and long; that's what I would call a waste of time.

 

 

 

So would farming become useful if you can grow flax? In my opinion, farming is an excellent skill that supports the needs of other skills such as cooking, crafting, herblore, fletching, woodcutting, firemaking and the three forms of combat.

 

 

 

No skill is ever useless if you consider the synergetic relations between all the skills and how one skill can be used to further the training of another skill.

[povifaith]

its all becouse of the seeds its hard to get em :?

[highlanders]

That's why I added the word pragmatically. Because lots of things can be considered useful subjectively, but not pragmatically ;)

 

But like Greendom said, it could be considered useful pragmatically when used simultaneously with other skills.

[Greedom1]

That's why I added the word pragmatically. Because lots of things can be considered useful subjectively, but not pragmatically ;)

 

But like Greendom said, it could be considered useful pragmatically when used simultaneously with other skills.

 

 

 

I think it was Celestrana, but I agree with him, so anyways. :)

 

 

 

Let's get this thread back on topic and to ways farming can be improved (if at all).

[hyjack01]

=The good thing is that the short-sightedness of most RS players is part of what makes farming lucrative to those who do it.

 

 

 

~q

 

 

 

So, maybe we shouldnt get this thread back on topic and just keep it like this :wink:

[Japlin Chev]

Farming is such an underrated skill, its only the first 15 levels which are hard, from then on its one of the easiest IMO

[daigotsu]

I'm going to claim the #4 spot as "user of strawberries." Those baskets are the difference between banking and not banking on missions like "190 Nechyraels" or "199 Greater Demons" or "188 Fire Giants." Anything that keeps me on-mission until the mission is over is a good thing.

 

 

 

As for the person who wanted a lower failure rate for calquat trees: when I was pushing to 99 Farming earlier this year, I used my nature amulet exclusively for calquats, and it worked very well -- I only lost one, during a long weekend when I had little to no internet access.

 

 

 

The "My Arm" quest had a book on farming in adverse environments -- I would really like to see them add a few of those "harsh conditions" patches where the soil has to be treated. I also agree with the notion of additional scattered patches. The allotment on Harmony was a nice addition; more like that please.

[qeltar]

=The good thing is that the short-sightedness of most RS players is part of what makes farming lucrative to those who do it.

 

 

 

~q

 

 

 

So, maybe we shouldnt get this thread back on topic and just keep it like this :wink:

 

 

 

Well, the original poster was pointing out that farming is unpopular and asking what Jagex can do about it.

 

 

 

The answer is really "nothing", because it is unpopular due to the types of people towards whom Jagex markets its game.

 

 

 

~q

[meb]

About the strawberries: Am I the only one that uses Guthans for slayer? I've never used them for anythign tbh...

 

 

 

The thing that can be done to improve farming is make herb seeds and high level allotment seeds more common. You can't change the way some people think about farming, but consistently being able to plant 5 Snapdragon seeds and at least 5 allotment patches would be a very nice addition.

 

 

 

Off topic: 2 of my snap plants died :( .

[Made0f12une]

the people that think farmin is boring sit there and wait for their plants to grow... Lol Farming is an easy skill i don't see why people dislike it so much

 

 

 

I personally don't mind farming. I think it's entertaining for the most part. I hate getting seeds though ` :

[o_knames]

Only 1% of the players choses farming as their favorite skill. Statisticly shown, farming is the least favorite skill. A fact. But people do not want it to change. They do not wish to see 'improvements' to let it be more popular. That is.. odd.

 

 

 

Actually, all we know is that 99% of people didn't list it as their favorite skill. It could be that 99% consider it their 2nd favorite skill. Unlikely, yes, but the poll just doesn't tell us that much. Even using high scores as a proxy doesn't tell us that it's least favorite, because it does take time to train.

[Olbritishchap]

i think one of the main reasons people dont like it that much is cause it takes way too long. i think it would be alot more popular if they lower the time it took to grow. this would take away a little realism but it would make the skill more enjoyable

[Bard_Bow_Man]

I think there should be more ways to level. Just dont make a farming minigame. *shudders*

 

 

 

Too late, the thieving minigame where you steel the fruit for Osman gives farming exp when you pick the fruit.

[12pure34]

=The good thing is that the short-sightedness of most RS players is part of what makes farming lucrative to those who do it.

 

 

 

~q

 

 

 

So, maybe we shouldnt get this thread back on topic and just keep it like this :wink:

 

 

 

Well, the original poster was pointing out that farming is unpopular and asking what Jagex can do about it.

 

 

 

The answer is really "nothing", because it is unpopular due to the types of people towards whom Jagex markets its game.

 

 

 

~q

 

 

 

Auch didnt see that one coming :-w :wink:

 

Although, well said. Many have stated it on posts above, farming requires thinking. Requires ''time'' although time doesn't have to mean, staring at your crops. It is multifunctional time. I'll edit some responds in the first spot.

 

-Life stock (not great, but possible)

 

-New allotments/farming patches

 

-Seeds back from growing

 

-More (higher) seed drops

 

-New things to grow

 

-New uses for what we grow (usefull uses ;))

 

 

 

But above all, keep the skill as being hard and respected. Do not dumb it down. I couldn't agree more with you guys on that point. I got 56 farming myself today (Yay, kwaurm \ ) starting at 54 just 2 days ago. No trees used, but made some lovely irits and watermelons. (dirty expensive seeds..)

 

 

 

I have to say, farming, respect! But it is hard. I bought a batch of watermelon seeds. 500k (down the drain?!). I am already at 2/3th of what I originaly bought. I have used more watermelon seeds in 2 farming levels, then I ever gathered from any monster etc. in my Runescape Carreer.. just to give an example.

 

 

 

Keep those comments, tips, suggestions coming!