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Says the pharmer charging peeps an arm and a leg for the mats they need to skill up on.
I have herbalism/Alchemy on my main and mining/engineering on my second race to 70. Just because I encourage duel gathering professions for other people looking solely to make gold, it doesn't mean I'm doing anything wrong. In the end, they help me by supplying me with mats I don't feel like taking the time to go get myself.
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Without the pharmers there'd be less competition in the field and peeps could easily harvest the herbs they needed.
Harvesting mats isn't that hard already. Sure, you'll miss out on some of the more valuable herbs at 70, but for the most part the road to lvling alchemy isn't very hard.
Again though, your perception of "pharmers" is skewed. Without them, the opportunity cost of leveling alchemy would be much, much higher than it is now. As the supply of herbs on the market would drop to 0, the price would skyrocket. Crafters would be subject to either leveling their profession or making much more gold by selling the raw materials.
That's how you have to look at it. Without "pharmers" herbs would be much more pricey and there would be much less of them around. Sure, there might be a few more in the fields and forests(though debatable, since all the "pharmers" would pick up gathering/crafting professions themselves AND the fact that they don't just grow wild and more numerous if nobody picks them... there is the problem of respawn time), but there would be a lot less in the AH and open market.
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And that's bad how?
According to you, a glut of tradeskillers is what drives up the cost of mats and down the cost of finished goods, therefore it would be a good thing having no power levelers ruining the market - you want the skill, you earn it.
What makes you think the powerlevelers haven't earned their right to do so? They are buying herbs on an open and free market with gold they have obtained through playing the game(with the exception of RMT). Whether they gather enough money through doing dailies or outright pick up the herbs themselves, it makes no difference. They aren't some thieves in the night that are taking away your opportunities. They worked for their gold and had the same chances you do while playing the game.
Again, let me re-iterate one last time. If the prices are higher for raw materials than they are for finished goods, there is more demand for the mats than the finished goods. This doesn't mean powerlevelers are to blame any more than the person who picks up his/her own mats. Both are using the same amount and making the decision to use said mats rather than selling them. Powerlevelers are no more at fault than you. The fact that prices remain high for raw materials on your server means there are NOT enough "pharmers". Increased supply of materials will eventually drive down the costs. As it stands, "pharmers" are only selling at the best price they can for the low supply. Individuals should not be blamed for taking part in the market. The market is healthy and working as it should.