I honestly see this as a new grief mechanic. Said person could build a giant tower next to a settlement and essentially block a huge portion of a settlement from developing.
Would be nice to know that the sky above and the groun below my build are protected so I can expand up or down when I have enough plots
1 Like
All sounds like great ideas and well thought through. And with a simple “disable the perimeter” option i cant see any reason why not, cause you could just turn it off if it bothered you.
Always. The plots above and below your beacon are reserved only for you 
I suggested something very similar a while back;
I believe @Havok40k, @Stretchious and @Dzchan94 also had similar ideas before this was a problem.
I definitely want a system like this, but not yet. There’s a huge problem with the Prestige values right now, and if you’re going to introduce a system that exacerbates the Prestige issues, you first need to sort out the block values.
8 Likes
I say yes because somebody build right next to my house and blocked me seaside view! 
So I say yes
I love the possibility of everything mentioned about protected zones, but also separately I love this idea commented here about transferring their prestige at will to effectively as a community ‘elect’ the mayor by majority prestige. It would help communities that are building for looks rather than prestige.
4 Likes
Yes! No brainer.
However, I think a permission option for our beacons (which should be set as ‘Allow’ as default) such as - “Allow settlement warden to plot within perimeter” should be implemented with this system.
This permission would allow the warden to freely plot “Roads” without having to gain permissions from each and every resident individually. Because, like we know, not all players will have unlimited game time in their lives and then we have world timezone differences. Simply put, it can be difficult at times to be online at the same time as some players due to the above mentioned restrictions.
But anyway yeah, it’s a great idea and it gets a big thumbs up from me.
1 Like
I really like the idea and think it has a lot of merit. I do have one small concern, however…
As the depth of the beacon Protection Area (BPA) grows with prestige, it could automatically and inadvertently block another nearby player from expanding potentially in any direction (if they are encompassed by the BPA).
This could potentially cause more issues than it solves.
A question off the back of that concern… would permission to a BPA be granted on a plot by plot basis? If not, and it applies to the whole protected zone, ithis may also cause issues, as you may not want that land locked player to be able to have free reign on where they can build within your BPA.
4 Likes
I would think you would cut the amount of reports in half if the Settlement system was cleaned up a bit. Regarding the bridges multiple settlements and such. Settlement/City controls or whatever you have planned. I know you are working on something =P.
This option just seems like another thing some new players are going to get frustrated by. “Why can’t I build next to my friend?”
If anything, I would say OFF by default. something players have to opt in to with a popup (Like delete character) that way they fully understand that no one will be able to build next to their road, unless they “allow” it in the beacon menu.
I know you are trying different options, and I am glad you are trying! It just seems like a band-aid for the problem, when what you need is a transplant (Settlement Controls)
2 Likes
Hi James,
About this, I think it can be somewhat covered in the sense that the protected plots should not count to the settlement merge mechanic. Meaning if someone doesn’t want to merge, they have the protected plots online and that’s it.
The other thing, when someone wants to merge and also have the protected plots to maybe expand outwards, the rule could be to friend the Mayor of the city and give permissions either to the Mayor character or to have the city detected itself.
Hope it helps. 
With respect,
Lion
If a Beacon control area would surround an existing plot, they might have to allow one side to remain outside of the Beacon control area to allow access for growth. Otherwise they will have to decide of this counts the same as surrounding someone’s plot with our plots, which is against the CoC.
I agree this could be an issue.
I was curious about this also. Does the beacon control area count as plots and if two of these areas touch, do the settlements merge or do non-beacon control, regular plots have to touch in order to merge?
Hi @Kal-El,
Just few days ago I started a new project with a friend and it seems that you need a minimum of 3-4 pots to touch in order to be in the same settlement. (you need the appropriate prestige also).
What happened with us was that we had only 2 plots in contact between the beacons and it didn’t work. For my friend the beacon became a settlement and on mine it said that it can’t “evolve” because there are 2 or more neighboring beacons connected. Don’t remember the text 100%, but after we connected 4 plots it all worked out (we simply have a bridge between us with full permissions to each of our chars)
Best,
Lion
Yeah I do understand that mechanic, but I was curious about how the Beacon control plots acted in the merging mechanic. Do they block a merge or allow a merge?
Yes vote from me. I put boundaries up as it is, so the system doing it for me would be great.
With the addition that I’d like to be able to select two of my own beacons, and click join together. This would make things so much easier. Also DELETE All from my own beacon, to remove all plots. These two things would make life a lot easier.
I think the problem a lot of people are seeing is that we dont have the money for endless plots, so having a buffer system would be nice for players without disposable income.
May not solve everything, but I think it’s right so people are not suddenly taken over by others just because we have a plot system with a currency not readily and endlessly available to those without a lot of time to level alts or money.
Makes it hard on those who want to enjoy the game and not be taken over due to a new comer.
At least with barriers I’ll have a buffer for my build and I wont be hidden by someone else’s monstrosity just because they have millions of coin to buy resources or actual money for plots.
2 Likes
If I may offer some perspective on this, seeing as you mentioned that you’re unaware of what’s been tried (and discussed) in early access…
This particular point, while a seemingly simple solution, would not fit with the developers ‘view’ for the game. Basically, the way that the Warden position can go back and forth between people in a settlement is intentional, among other things to avoid having cities run by players that stopped playing entirely (or, in a parallel with other games, a guild leader that no longer plays and so the guild has to disband and reform).
You could add a time factor to your suggestion, say, if the settlement founder stops logging in for X time (a month perhaps) then the position goes to the next person in seniority order, however. That could make it more in line with previous discussions on this subject.
That is already the case. Everything vertical in relation to claimed plots is reserved to the plot owner and no one else can claim those plots.
Good idea bliss
Rather than automatic protection zones, I’d love a system where increasing beacon prestige gives a pool of available ‘reservation plots’ that can be plotted manually.
6 Likes