Player farming is an integral part of the game. Much of the success of each guild, race, and player will depend on their ability to control and distribute food and other necessary resources. They must clear the area of interfering objects (such as buildings, rocks, trees, and weeds) and then till the earth, seed it, water it, etc. It grows over a much shorter period of time than in real life. Players can also raise livestock on their farms, including cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, and goats.
One of the most important aspects of owning a farm is protecting it. Players can hire guards, or choose to build their farm near a city, or even within the city walls for maximum protection. When many farms are in a single area, NPCs are frequently attracted to come build walls there and offer services for guarding. In this way, new cities and new farming establishments can spring up based on where players have built.
Players can hire others to harvest for them, in exchange for a percentage of the harvest. When crops are ready to be harvested, a player may set up their farm to be able to be harvested by other players. This includes choosing who can harvest (All, friends only, All except blacklist, or none) and what percent of the harvest a helper may keep (1-50%). Players who harvest for another player must take all that they harvest and place it in the silo or storehouse. They choose how much to put in, but if they keep more than the amount they are allowed by the farm's owner, they are automatically added to that owner's blacklist. Farm owners can also choose to manually add players to their personal "Manual Blacklist." Players can choose to share and participate in the global blacklist, which will incorporate other farmers automatic blacklists when the two meet. This creates a system of "sharing and spreading a player's bad name."
Special Resources
Cotton can be grown and picked. Chinese (and eventually other races, as trade spreads) can raise silk worms on farms to create silk. Many resources will be race specific like this to encourage trade, such as corn, potatos, rice, beans, and silk worms.
Effects of Food and the Elements
All players must have food. The management and distribution of food will make and break cities, nations, and armies. This opens up previously unseen tactics in MMO warfare, including destruction of supply lines and "starving out" cities. Food consumption is not meant to be a chore, something that the player must remember to buy some food from the merchant as a money sink. Food is something that must be created, stored, and carried and is always in limited amounts. In many places, the price of food may massively fluctuate in response to increased demand or supply.
Players who do not eat food will slowly succumb to hunger, depending on their Constitution (including negative debuffs and eventual life drain. A player cannot die of hunger, but will eventually be reduced to near immobility and combat ineffectiveness. Players who do not wear adequate clothing in Weather will similarly begin to succumb, dependent also on Constitution. Penalties from this are similar to hunger, but can eventually result in death.