I have an interesting thought for a pvp system in the game. What if, on pvp servers, there was a system allowing players to band together and create large zones of pvp-safe territory?
Bundled with this is an idea for beacons, and how to make them more flexible - easily protecting areas that are not round. We’d need a mini-beacon of sorts. In my head they are multi-colored lamps made with lamps and gleam - so for this illustration, we’ll call it a gleam lamp! Gleam lamps would be super simple, just a block in game that registers an owner, and a small radius (5-10 blocks), and no one except the owner can modify blocks within that radius.
Beacons would protect a larger radius, but the cooler thing they would do is “power” any gleam lamp within (ex) 100 blocks. A powered gleam lamp would protect 20 blocks instead. A beacon would also have more options, and anything selected would extend to the powered gleam lamps within the beacon’s radius. Options for build collaborators of course, other permissions, and options for PVP could also be contained within beacons. Allow PVP, allow duels only, or safe.
The lamps would allow you to beacon an irregular shape without using crazy resources. Roads, or super tall and narrow builds, bridges, etc.
Fuel:
“Fueling” a beacon (adding consumable fuel to a slot within) could unlock a “territory” tab. It wouldn’t increase protected blocks - but it would allow you to declare a radius around your beaconed land as your “territory”. There could be different grades of fuel - that each provide a larger radius, but larger radius means higher level fuel.
Territory would have everything to do with PVP, or PVE if you prefer. If you are in your territory, or your guild’s territory, or territory of a friend, you are safe. You can’t be attacked by other players. If you’re in neutral territory (which would be default for guilds unrelated to yours or people you don’t know), you can be attacked, but the attacker gets a “pvp” flag allowing them to be attacked, even in friendly territory, which persists for a bit. If you’re in enemy territory, you can be attacked, with no penalties.
We’d have to have a foes list (which I think would need more discussion to prevent exploits) in addition to our friends list, and guilds would need to be able to add other guilds as allies. Guilds would become enemies via a feuding system. One guild declares war, and if the other accepts, they are feuding. All guild territories are then hostile for the opposite guild’s members. Each guild’s allies could opt in or out depending on preference.
Beacons can’t overlap for obvious reasons, but territories could overlap - with a warning message if you are placing a beacon close to someone else’s territory. Overlapping territories would be contested. Two PVP guilds might want to build with overlapping territories on purpose - and have epic battles to try to overtake the contested area.
I think the idea would need to be tweaked to prevent people creating death traps for new players, but what does everyone think? I think it could be fun to have PVP vs PVE completely in the hands of the players on some servers.
