Overcoming Problems
Paying for the land
The guild itself will take up a large amount of land due to needing lands to farm on as well as a good chunk of mountain to hollow out. Being in the guild does not cost you anything, and increases your skill set extremely rapidly... you'll also be benefiting from our research, perks/buffs from the Guild and facilities you would othewise have to buy yourself. As a result, the Guild is planning to retain a degree of what you develop, until we're able to pay our taxes.
Another way we're paying for the land is through mass producing crops. Some crops maybe pure food, and that would only be because they're more profitable than the alchemical ingredient options. Other than that the crops will be almost purely for leveling alchemy. This is a way to pay for the Guilds needs as well as giving you the chance to grind farming levels, which in turn compliments your profession as an alchemist. Though there are other ways to pay your contribution, especially as a Hunter. Each individual players contributions are measured, so that one hard working player doesn't end up paying for the entire guild (unless they choose to do that).
Paying for the facilities, glass, ingredients and other basics
You'll be constantly using and consuming finite resources. In the open world, you will often have to trade or build up glass containers yourself. Those struggles will cause you to develop your alchemy skill extremely slowly. In MM we provide all these for you, so you can go flat out on developing and experimenting with alchemy. To do this, we need each member to be okay with some degree of income to become the GUILD'S property and not just yours as an individual, because that would be like giving a lot of people a heap of free stuff, down to herbs, glass and facilities. There is simply no other way if we all want to increase our alchemy at a high rate of speed. Collaboration and contribution is key here, just as in any viable guild. In the end, you're not actually losing anything at all. You generate everything for free, the facilities and perks are free. The Guild acquiring some of the finished product that you've used to level up with is how we keep the glass and herbs rolling in for you.
Once the basic needs are met (which will include vials, equipment, payment for the land, ingredients and other things) we fully intend on each member keeping their produce so they can develop their own currency... instead of the guild itself trying to accumulate large degrees of profit.
Number of 'branches' (guild locations)
This guild is intended to be a singular facility. However, the higher tier members may wish to create their own branch in other locations. During these periods of expansion, the guild members will be polled on whether they like the concept. After that, we will send requests to nobles and other ally guilds for an assistance in funding.
The main idea of this guild is to allow members to develop their characters currency, fame and soul skill ramps as much as we can get away with, rather than filtering all the profits to the leaders of the guild. Due to this concept, we will always seek creative and social ideas to lessen the load on the guildmates if there is a desire to expand into other areas. To go full circle; expansion is driven by the members and NOT the leaders. If you take the initiative once you reach a higher tier member, we will assist your goals.
Obtaining glass
Glass is a big one in alchemy. A lack of glass in alchemy is sort of like trying to be a lumberjack with no trees. As a result, we will be constantly seeking out trades for glass, preferably for alchemical resources that don't use vials themselves, or just raw food from our farms. This is another huge reason why farms are a core part of this guild. We NEED to pay for that glass, and farms provide a form of currency from thin air.
Getting back our glass vials
Distributing alchemical products also means we may have to constantly pay for glassware. That is EXTREMELY inefficient and expensive. The Guild's plan is to be able to pay for this, but there is also a creative solution to this problem.
First of all, it comes down to who we distribute potions to. The aim of the Guild is to sell mostly to Brudvir. Part of our Hunters job will be to do periodic rounds throughout the dispersed Brudvir settlements. Any vials they collect can then be filled with interesting contents if they're found in the wild. This means while coming back from the Hunt, they will be selling hide to the Brudvir (while collecting empty glassware such as vials), meat to the Hrothi (also collecting vials as they go) and arriving back to the Guild with a wagon filled with not only ingredients, but enough vials that save the guild a significant chunk of currency. In this way, the Hunters can pay off their contribution for potentially months ahead from a single load. The non-hunting members who like to frequent the town and climb in fame will focus a lot of their efforts on collecting the glassware around town and cutting generous deals to help you gain personal contacts (the Guild will support these acts, within reason). All in all, we really want to try and limit sales to the local regions so the glass doesn't move out of our kingdom.
Second of all, we have to discover ways to make people keep their glassware instead of dropping it while avoiding giving them another vial filled with potion as compensation. We can outright pay for the vials, or we can pay extra in food. The Brudvir AND Hrothi are both food-hungry tribes. This may all we need to incentivise a large audience into keeping their vials and saving us in costs.
Finally, if we want to broaden our market and sell outside of the local regions and make sales that will transfer the glassware out of biome, then we need to make the glass trade of equal. What this means is that if we sell potions, they are trading us something else that is usable glass, or glass sand that can be forged... instead of currency. The reason we need to do this is because selling for the sake of currency, and then finding ourselves in a glass deficit, means peoples production will slow down or out right close down. Our motivation is not profit, it's to increase YOUR skill. This makes the currency completely counter productive, even if we can buy more glass later on. We want your experience to be stable and consistent. This is the way it has to be if our guild members truly want to make the most of their alchemy. There is still a lot of profit to be made, and we can still sell out of biome if needed.
The importance of farming
People may be worried that this Guild has a large farming element to it. As an alchemist, this should make you happy more than concerned. If you're planning on running your own shop, then even a small alchemical farm will increase your profits massively. If you're planning on running around the world cutting things up with a poison blade and having limitless 'potions' to help you heal, then its worth pointing out that farming has been said to develop your physical skills. Whether you agree with farming or not, in the Hrothi and Brudvir Kingdom you won't be able to deny its ability to generate profit and make alchemy much easier.
So farms generate money, alchemical ingredients and help the entire Guild's system perpetuate. But what happens if we get a bad yield? This is yet another huge reason for choosing the Hrothi. Besides the more alchemical fungus they can grow inside the safety of the tunnels, they can also cultivate edible mushrooms. In case of these situations, and to help promote a specific 'theme' for our guild, our Fungi cultivation caves will be very large.
Another way to deal with bad yields, bad weather and the like is to maintain contact with Astronomers. This will also create a theme within the guild that will connect you to the overall story in Elyria as you immerse yourself in this busy trade. As long as we keep paying the Astronomers, and they keep developing their skill, they may one day get a clue in the stars on more than just the weather. Our Guild may very well be one of the first to get some key bits of lore. The astronomers we pay for readings will help protect our stability, and keep the Guild's culture very immersive and interesting.
