Storage Barn/Stockpiles: Will only the closest one be used?

[NordicWildheart2]

What the topics say; will the producers only use the closest storage barn? Same question about the stockpiles.

I would want to expand my society by starting a new node but because of the map terrain I fear my new storage barn would start "stealing" the resources I need in my first and so far only node.

[Vrayna]

Yes and No.
They tend to use the closest from where they are, with a few exceptions. For example, a tailor that needs more leather is likely to drop off the clothes he just made in the barn that has the leather he needs, even if it's not the closest to his workplace. A farmer that needs to go home to eat might drop off some of his harvest in the barn closest to his house instead of the one near the field.
Workers that get their job switched by the AI will also go to the place closest to where they are when they get their new job and want to get rid of whatever they were holding.
In general though, they're well behaved and will not cross the whole map to find that one stockpile that''s in the middle of nowhere.

If you need to expand your town to another "node", my advice would be to start with a stockpile, and then some clearing of the local stuff in order to have wood/stones right where you need them. Then start on the work/housing buildings you need, and once you have people working/living there, a barn before you neep expanding that node.

If you feel that the new node is pulling too many resources from the original one, a good solution is to have a marketplace in the area that you chose to be the "main town", as the vendors will take care of bringing stuff from any barn on the map back to the market. The danger with that is accidentaly forcing people in far-away houses to travel wuite a bit in order to find their supplies at the market if their local barn got emptied. I tend to balance that issue and make sure all barns still have stuff in them by keeping only 1 vendor at the market or even firing him if needed.

[OhhJim]

Barns don't steal resources from other barns. They have no workers to do so. Markets will take resources from barns, even ones that aren't very close. When I set up a new node, I try to get a market fairly early, so it can gather the stuff it needs. Try putting the new barn as far from the old node as possible, but still close enough to service the new node. That way, old citizens will be less likely to take stuff from it. And markets don't need to be fully staffed; 1 worker is fine early, maybe more later on when there are more houses to supply.