I read through the 2.0 planning thread, and there were some ideas I found interesting, even though I wasn't here for 2.0. It sounds like the dynamic system added some nice flexibility to where the realm will be centered, but the wasted space between nearby realms and the fact that you can't really control the direction of expansion when your realm grows both sound like serious problems.
Here's an idea (I use "plot" here to refer to the discrete areas of land which can be purchased, to avoid confusion with cities/settlements a.k.a. "realms" containing many such areas of land):
- Drastically decrease the size of plots--say 10x10 surface area
- When a new realm is created, it consists of a small square array of plots. A 5x5 array would yield a 50x50 surface area, like in the current system; it could, however, be smaller (3x3, perhaps). The realm would include the plot the player was standing on, as well as those surrounding it to form the 3x3 or 5x5 array.
- When a realm wishes to expand, plots are purchased one at a time rather than in the square arrangement of several plots used in the initial purchase.
- The first one (or several) plots added onto a realm have a flat cost that's proportional to the cost of the initial 3x3 or 5x5 realm. i.e. The first one or several additions have the same per-square-meter cost as the initial realm purchase. Further plots begin to increase in cost, with either no cap or a very high cap on the maximum price per plot.
- Each player may only own one realm (of as many plots as they can afford).
A few notes on the above idea:
--Having the map divided into discrete 10x10 pieces would allow more flexibility in expansions, since you could expand only as far as you really need for your planned structures. At the same time, it imposes a bit of order on the organization of the map, preventing the "crapton of wasted space" mitchie described as resulting from the dynamic system in 2.0.
--Making the initial realm consist of multiple plots was intended to raise the bar on how much effort (i.e. how many credits) it takes to first create a realm. This part could, I suppose, be scrapped, making it possible to buy any 10x10 plot and start expanding from there... but my concern is that we would have new players who join, get to the point of owning their first 10x10 realm/plot, then leave the server while the land remains tied up for 30 days.
--Allowing the first expansions to be bought at a flat rate is intended to encourage quick expansion beyond the square-shaped original realm, leading to more variation in realm shape than we have in the current system (where many buildings have a now-familiar 50x50 or 100x100 size and simple quadrilateral shape).
--Scaling up the cost of subsequent expansions is intended to discourage thoughtless overexpansion of realms. When your realm gets to the point that any expansion is very expensive, you'll think carefully about how much space you really need for your next project.
--Preventing players from owning more than one realm is intended to prevent exploitation of the cost-scaling system for expansions. i.e. players should be unable to buy large amounts of land cheaply by setting up a bunch of adjacent separate realms instead of paying for expansions.
The Greymarch has ended.
