Agreed. I think it may have worked earlier on, but now, maybe not so much.
Now I’m wondering…If I turn the buffer zone on at my place in Ultima on Eresho - which is a city with high density, and the person next to me (or the road owner) goes MIA, I then become the owner or keeper of those plots and no one can plot it without my permission? I dunno about this.
Adding complexity to the game is not what is needed.
I can drop a kid in front of most other voxel games, and viola, they can play without issue. These changes just add complexity.
Now kids gonna have to learn beacon buffer zone rules, guild rules, district rules, naming rules, beacon rules, how to use the Forge, how to optimize farming. Why does this game continue to get HARDER?
Some people just want to plop down in front of a game and play it, not spread sheet it.
Did james actually say buffer zones are being worked on? Did I miss a post? How do we know the whole concept was not already canned for these exact reasons? Either I am missing something or this is much ado over nothing.
He mentioned it yesterday I think. Lemme look real quick…found it
Interesting. Thanks.
“Theres just minority of the player population here and they share their thoughts… usually this ends up being minority gets to vote and wins… majority on the other hand is casual players and those should be listen more i mean… a lot.”
I just leave this here.
I’ll test it when it’s ready and not before!
Buffer zones…
Ok sometimes it could be useful.
But only sometimes.
If it’s meant to be to keep a settlement losing its name. Make a guild align your beacons and as owner your name is guaranteed.
Just because you don’t want people building around your settlement…
Wow they don’t touch but still they are close…
Advantage if you are plotting a new (massive) location and keep space between your plots you can plot less and have more space…
But it also could be very annoying to come across.
On that not these buffer plots do they then also get a X on natural regen… then you have more plots to use.
It’s not just a name. If I do not want to be part of your settlement then should I have no say in it? Why should I contribute my prestige to your build just because you want to be the viceroy of the planet without any recourse? Still complaints about this even after the guilds allowed the name to be kept, so probably why it has been worked on and will be released.
While I understand some of the concerns, I would think they would have to start off with the option set to off. Otherwise you end up with issues on existing builds such as malls. I also agree that until it reaches test and we have a chance to try it out, we might be over reacting. For farming they did change seed drops after we raised the issue in test so I think it is important to remember that they are taking our feedback seriously.
From what I recall, the protected plots are like reserved and do regen, so it allows room for expansion, but if you build on it, your build will regen.
Agreed😉
But would be funny if it happens.
You would end up with more plots to spent😄
Some considerations for buffers that would potentially accommodate settlements…
Option 1- warden sets settlement wide buffer zone rules. Single owner settlements can protect their sovereignty, and collaborative settlements can activate and deactivate the buffer at will.
Option 2- gap detection where the server detects when buffer zones would create a bubble of wilderness in a settlement and simply does not buffer there. A surrounded beacon expiring in a city would not generate a buffer zone in its negative space.
Option 3- settlement members (similar to guild members, you must apply and be approved by the warden) may plot within a settlements buffer zone.
All three of these options would resolve most of these issues fairly well, but I’m not sure they should all be applied at once. I prefer to keep the system simple and streamlined. No complex mechanics.
I don’t think I agree with this, but I am also not 100% sure if I understand what you are trying to say,
I am going to give you an example at the risk of causing Terror and/or Panic into a select group of people if they were to read this. 
My main base is quite close to a modestly large and active city, and I have some plots that are already connected to the side of this city, in this situation, even if the buffer zone is put in, I can connect my main build to the main city by connecting the two sets of plots I own together, because the buffer zone cannot stop me from connecting my two sets of plots together
This would then merge the city and my build into one settlement (The non-guild related type that is shown on the leader boards ), and this would indeed give me Warden, Then I am in control of the buffer zone configuration of a City that I had no or extremely little part in building, This will create a problem for them. As I am 100% sure they do not want an outsider to have control over this, and If I was a toxic player i could then use this to create a problem for them
Who has control over the buffer zone config either cannot be based on the Warden, or the way Warden is given/taken to a player or guild needs to be changed. Because right now I think this opens up the door to abuse in select situations.
The more I think about buffer zones in general, The more I think the buffer zones will only serve to create more of a different type of problem, then the smaller amount of current problems it might resolve.
Re option 1: Except there are existing cities/towns/markets. If wardens are allowed to change plotting restrictions, it will affect everyone and force existing places to move or be abandoned. This would almost be like the warden has become the default owner of a public planet and all things within. Maybe this should be applied to rental planets or new public planets only, instead of existing planets.
Re option 3: This sounds very restrictive and not very fun. Especially if applied to existing towns on a public planet. 
I don’t think buffer zones being toggled on & off is a solution either. What if the owner of the main road beacon in your city toggled the buffer zone on, against your wishes? What if your neighbor did it? Then their buffer zone affects/restricts you/others? Which is what’s intended, but this is possibly going to nightmare for existing places.
What we have now:
If one plot buffer zones are applied:
If three-plot wide buffer zones are applied: (I accidentally gave the road just a two-plot-buffer instead of 3)
I dont think this is an accurate representation of what would occur. Buffer zones would not overlap existing plots. A buffer zone would instead go around the perimeter, buffering unclaimed plots. Nobody would be forced to move or lose their plots, if two plots are side by side, a buffer zone can not apply.
If a warden activates the buffer zone on their settlement, a player would not be able to establish their beacon within that zone unless the warden lowered the protection and allowed them to merge with the settlement. Upon reactivating the buffer, the new beacon would have the buffer protection around its exposed sides, expanding the settlement.
Buffer zones would only apply to wilderness, much like the reserved space above and below a plot.
the thing with that tho is unless that new person can then build in that buffer zone even that kind of sounds like a forum of plot blocking. its like great i got my home in this town/city but now i need to contact the worden anytime i want to expand it. i know that part of the CoC has always been kind of a grey area when it comes to settlements but i feel like it would hard push i re defining of the rule there
Yeah expanding the plots on the edge of a settlement seems like a sticking point. I’m assuming that the owner of a plot would not be restricted from extending their plots outward into a buffer zone, even if the zone is activated by a settlements warden. Where two beacons or settlements have overlapping buffer zones, I assume you would not be able to expand unless both settlements deactivate the buffer zone.
I didn’t create this to say it’s what is going to happen, cuz we dunno. I created it to show how much a 1-3 buffer could affect neighbors. I don’t know how it’s going to be implemented or affect existing establishments. We will have to see. I still have huge reservations.
A senario:
I am in an existing city. My friend Jimmy wants to plot next to me.
So I unplot 6+ plots for him.
My neighbor activated their buffer zone.
3 of those plots are now in my neighbor’s buffer zone.
Jimmy can’t plot those plots.
I can’t plot them back unless my neighbor says I can. I lose plots.
Yes, if specific special precautions are not made to the system, this would be the case. If my suggested option 1 is used, then the warden would have to drop the buffer to allow repotting. Coordinating with the warden is required to solve the issue.
Option 2 would detect that a gap exists in the middle of a settlement and not set a buffer. No extra efforts are required.
Option 3 would have both players join the settlement to be able to plot in its buffered zone. After this, no further efforts are required.
