I know this is a hot topic and certainly not easy to explain… There have been a lot of discussions on how to manage the look and feel of places. Obviously it is all complicated on how to balance multiple people (working together and alone), world regen, building, look and feel, public/private worlds, etc.
We all have found that nice area we want to live in and start to build a house. For many of us there are certain parts of that area that we want to keep as the natural generation made it look (e.g. trees, planets, area of lake, etc.) But, we are always short plots and never seem to have enough.
In some cases you are far from others and maybe you get lucky that people don’t come often to adjust the terrain in your area. But in others, someone comes through and removes the trees close to you, strip mines the land, messes up the lake/lava or something else happens like floating pieces of dirt. Because of the regen rules and traffic the spot never regens or that person took the plot as a griefer or someone that didn’t care about the beauty of the landscape.
So I was thinking about this problem and if I had “landscape plots” (yes is a lot smaller numbers than I get compared to normal plots - maybe 1-2 per level only) I could apply them around my area and still possibly save some of the natural landscape look and feel. In these plots there could be NO block placement or building allowed - it is a landscape area only. Basically it just helps me save a tree or nice rolling hill, cliff face, etc. Also, it would still be reserved like your normal blocks from removal. Maybe because of terrain height this block is taller or even wider so it is easier to cover trees, etc.
If that isn’t liked then maybe these plots allow regen outside of “traffic” so things could return to the way they look. Many of use enjoy the beauty of the area around us but have seen people move in and remove trees RIGHT BESIDE your house that will never return because of traffic.
Yes I know this isn’t a perfect system and open to a bunch of issues. But, I am trying to find a way to cover the gap between private worlds and public worlds and the destruction of landscape over limited plot amounts that we get. This was just an idea I wanted the developers to see if they hadn’t thought of anything like this…
I support finding some solution to the problem you have brought up. In Krackendown we have this issue. I have spent hours removing the tops of trees where the trunk is removed or trying to replace the trunk in order to keep the area green. Finally I have given up and it will look how it looks. Landscape plots seem like a possible solution. I agree that you should not be able to place or remove any blocks on these plots. If someone places a block or removes a block and then places a landscape plot, it should regen to the natural state. This will stop people from using these blocks for their builds or roads. As far as the number, it needs to be enough to protect a decent amount of space. I think it should be less than the number of buildable plots. If they are bigger than the current plots then maybe a few per level would be sufficient.
I am Maria in Kraken. I have noticed that in a few areas near me…it bothers me also so I only gather wood from wild areas so it will grow back later. It also bothers me how some nearby plots have that problem and I can’t fix it because of permission.
Oh, and if anything in my area looks a little weird, I am clearing out where I have beaconed plots to make floors.
There is also this guy who has plots with nothing built going right up to my house so I have weird angles of grass against my house…never seen him on and I reaaaaallly want to remove this stuff.
I consider the smaller plots a no go, considering the current plot system (each plot is somewhere along a grid. Changing the plot size, will mean that the plot won’t be fitting the grid anymore.
As for landscape plots, as much as I like to terraform and make nature coexist with a city, town, etc. I think the only viable solution in public worlds is to plan ahead. See how many plots you’ll want to claim, and claim them all in one fell swoop.
That can consume alot of plots. If there are tall trees, you need to not only plot the base but the entire tree all the way up and out to encompass all the leaves. If you do not them you get a stump that goes up 8 and then is cut off or you get a floating bunch of leaves when someone harvests the timber. That is what is happening near Krackendown.
they do not have to be smaller plots. They need to be identical in size or a multiple of the existing plots.
I don’t see how an additional plot type isn’t viable in a public space… Plus when you get 10 or so plots and are trying to build a small village or something you have to choose what plots for a house, road, etc. So landscape is not covered and then the issue others have raised comes in with people removing things that destroy the look and feel of what you are trying to do.
In any event, those that have had what was happening to me understand the need for a plot type like this and supported the idea. All I wanted was to see if there was some type of support for the developers to see it as a possible thing to consider…
It’s an issue of plot management. If everyone got extra plots for landscape. Then many more people won’t be able to claim any land. Meaning more planets just for the sake of it.
When I have a limited resource (plots are not really limited, but harder to get after a certain plot) one has to manage then how they see fit.
I’ve built and founded Pixel Gate, I have my fair share of experience with landscape destruction and the sort. But still don’t believe an extra plot system is necessary. The system is there for us to protect and manage the landscape as we see fit, we already have the tools available for us to do so, no need for an added plot system.
If I want to build a 10 plot house, with preserving the greenery around. I may have to spend 30 plots total, but I can achieve that look I want. Public worlds are meant for players to coexist and play, rented servers lend them self better for themed and controlled builds. If you didn’t want to spend the plots to preserve the landscape, then is it really worth it?
I believe if we want a themed city with landscape and all the bells and whistles in a public world we need to plan ahead and invest accordingly, be it plots, time and resources.
Thanks for explaining what you meant as viable… I understand the points and do agree in planning forward. But, that will never solve some of the challenges. I don’t agree, though, that a few more plots that isn’t designed for building will take much space away from other people especially with multiple worlds, etc.
Of course I am a beginner with only a few plots each level and don’t have the luxury of having as much as the advanced people get. So planning is a much bigger issue and since there is no plot type that forces regen I get disappointed when I see destroyed landscapes by people not understanding regen.
I agree with you. With 50 plus public worlds and the developers ability to add more, I do not think providing a different plot type is going to make a major difference in available space for people. I believe you will reduce the frustration if you can find a way to let people protect landscape.
The issue is how many plots does that really take. To protect one tree near my home, It would take 8 plots. You can’t protect the base of the tree only, we did that at krackendown and ended up with stumps. If I want to protect a grove of 8 trees that is 64 plots. That significantly reduces the plots available to build. Since I am playing this game mostly to build, it is worth it to have a way to keep my build looking good and not having the landscape change.
If they increase XP as stated that should actually solve your problem. If you play daily you could get about 40 additional plots per week then - which should be enough to protect your resources?
For the landscape plots I was hoping maybe it would be configured different like maybe 2 high or something… I don’t know. Ultimately my goal here was to show a challenge users have, get confirmation from experienced players, and hopefully allow the devs to come up with some ideas that meet more the direction they want to take the game but includes solutions to the issues brought up here…
What about approaching the problem from the other direction? By which I mean, instead of trying to prevent a negative behavior (especially one that isn’t necessarily malicious), maybe we could try to gently herd people into farming somewhere else. So maybe something like this:
find a suitable location on a starter planet that has abundant resources (well, at least trees & dirt, I guess)
claim a ring of plots all around it
build a fence around the inner area of that ring
inside the ring, claim plots in the sky, above any land/trees – so the resources become “reserved” but not claimed
And then the most important part:
Tell everyone this is a designated farming area, and advertise this place to the skies. Make portals to it that are SUPER OBVIOUS and connect up to all the popular landmarks, and then make a big deal of it to new players – so, post here and on Steam forums and discord and wherever else a new player might look. The goal is to make it automatic for people to go farming at the farm, and not on somebody’s doorstep.
And then move the farm (and its portals!) periodically so things regen.
The only issue with this is, you will have to wait until you are a pretty high level to accumulate enough plots to protect the area. That means you do not want to start any kind of significant build until then or you risk having the area around your build disturbed.
That might be the only way to do it. Build something small so you do not use your plots and store resources until you have enough plots, then look for a place to build.
This is one reason I would like to rent a planet. If I can limit who can gather resource, then I can control the environment around my build or town without wasting plots.
I think landscape plots would add a bit of an unnecessary complexity to the system. What I would do if I was in your shoes, I would claim the base of the tree. It will greatly discourage players from chopping it and even if they do, it won’t look weird and remain realistic since the base is there (just a little bald though )
Reserving cliffs, hills, etc. might be too powerful without expending one’s precious plots. If you really want it to look that way, be ready to invest some resources (plots). It’s a little unfair for others who also looks at it as prime location and wanted to build something on top of it.
If I may want to change something to address this, it is to increase regen rate on settlements or on “Reserved” areas. Probably 1-2 hours of vacancy will trigger the regeneration and in a faster rate?
The way it was set up you would never have enough plots to reserve big areas with the landscape plots. It was only a small number to help create some space around the house or area…
Also, I was thinking about a different post in that instead of the landscape plot being locked from building that instead it had a mandatory regen in the normal cycle but not linked to traffic. That way at least those areas would be regenerated if someone touched them. Even that would solve some of the challenges of messed up landscape.
I agree that adding the landscape plots would probably be complex. It might be realistic to have a stump with no leaves but what we have gotten in some cases are leaves with no stumps. That does not look realistic and it has been that way for several weeks now.
The suggestions on changing the regen rates, that might be a better solution. I am concerned that once 1.0 comes out and there are more people playing, that once they reach levels where they are moving between planets, it will be rare for areas near any settlement to have no traffic for 8 hours. I am not sure that the faster regen should be limited to reserved areas or settlements. Wouldn’t a settlement actually be plots anyway so it would not regen and could not be harvested? Or I am misunderstanding what you mean by settlement.
Well if we can at least get a lowering of the “traffic” impact that is felt on unclaimed plots surrounding a claimed plot I would be happy. I see how traffic might be needed to slow regeneration but really feel that if that didn’t exist at least we could solve some of the issues that this landscape plot thread brings to light…
One reason to measure traffic is to make sure someone is not trapped. If you go down a tunnel dug by someone else, you do not want the entrance to close up before you are back out. I have done this when mining on a planet. Followed an old tunnel dug by someone else and then mined for a few hours. It would be bad if I was caught because the regen did not account for my traffic down the tunnel.
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