Me and a friend were excited for the multiplayer beta, and during our brief session I noticed something. As the Farming skill isn't shared between players, despite gold being shared, this will inevitably cause one or more players to fall behind in that particular area, especially if you and your friends share crops, as my friend and I did. The only reason why I think this is a big problem is that the Farming skill unlocks significant benefits to the player, like fertilizer recipes, etc. Ultimately, the farming aspect, as a result of the shared gold, is a team effort, and the Farming skill that comes along with progress in that aspect should be rewarded as a group, or at the very least the option should be made available. I understand wanting to keep skills separate among players is important toward the balance and overall performance of the multiplayer experience, but this is something that both of us felt during the time that we tested it out. The only other option that I could see working would be to make the players have individual gold, rather than a collective. Please feel free to discuss this, as I would love to see if anyone else has had similar issues, or if anyone can give some insight.
One player will fall behind in that area, but they might be the one fishing, mining, or doing anything else. I think part of the challenge of MP will be figuring out how best to divide the work, so everyone can have fun and no one's left with only tedious, boring tasks. One workaround which I'm considering for my MP farm is to have only one person harvest the crops, which is what you get farming XP for, if I remember correctly. That way, they'll level up farming quickly and you'll have access to the recipes as a group. Besides, you'll need materials to craft the recipes, and while they're busy harvesting, it gives someone else time to go out and collect what you need.
