[Prodigy9]

In light of the ongoing dispute over country systems, I propose the following changes to make the system "opt-in" rather than "opt-out." In other words, the current system (in which it may sometimes be necessary to take action to remain outside of the system) will be changed to a system in which players must actively choose to become participants in the country system.

• In order become a participant in the country system, a player must either willingly join a country or create a new country (thus "opting in" to participate). All players are non-participants to begin with, but becoming a participant is irreversible.
• When participants /sethome in a country-controlled realm, they become citizens of that country, as in the current system.
• When non-participants /sethome in a country-controlled realm, they do not become citizens of that country; they remain non-participants.
• Non-participants may choose to become participants by using a new, separate command (something along the lines of /country join) while inside a realm owned by a country. The command would remove the player's "non-participant" status, make the player a citizen of the country who owns the realm, and set the players home to the current location.

A pro/con breakdown of the idea:

Pro:

• Players who do not wish to participate in the countries system are not affected by the system in any way, including taxes.
• Players who wish to participate are not prevented from doing so; countries can still expand through non-participants' realms
• Common concerns about the country system--large alliances will conquer the entire map, there's no reliable way to opt-out, etc--are resolved by switching to an opt-in system.

Con:

• Additional coding required to distinguish between participants and non-participants, and to add a /country join command.
• More aggressive countries may dislike the loss of ability to force non-participants to become citizens.

[zequawn]

I find this idea pleasing. I have no real issue with the country system, but I think being able to opt-in when I am ready to participate fully would be nice.

[Lineant]

I do not like it how NTC came to my realms and made them, " NTC" country. I don't like the whole country system and don't want to be apart of it. So I would like a /join country command.

[FlannyFlan]

I do not like it how NTC came to my realms and made them, " NTC" country. I don't like the whole country system and don't want to be apart of it. So I would like a /join country command.

^This

While i didnt mind being apart of Canada, I do not want to be apart of the factions.. i asked them not to come to my realms, they said they wouldnt, and 5 minutes later BAM im apart of NTC... Either the taking over of realms needs to be tweaked abit or idk.. give the realm owners a say in this too, rather than the power hungry/Wealthy Country leaders.

[schmidtbochum]

I think this would be the end of the current country-system. But i support the idea, because I don't want "NTC!", "USA" or "Canada" on my realms.

The main problem of the system is that it is linked with sethome and server taxes.

[fritterdonut]

I do not like it how NTC came to my realms and made them, " NTC" country. I don't like the whole country system and don't want to be apart of it. So I would like a /join country command.

^This

While i didnt mind being apart of Canada, I do not want to be apart of the factions.. i asked them not to come to my realms, they said they wouldnt, and 5 minutes later BAM im apart of NTC... Either the taking over of realms needs to be tweaked abit or idk.. give the realm owners a say in this too, rather than the power hungry/Wealthy Country leaders.

This.

I have a feeling I'll be annexed by Australia some time soon, and I don't like it.

[Prodigy9]

Thanks for the feedback to everyone who posted so far. At this point, there's a 2/3 majority saying that it would make things better. And nobody who dislikes the current system thinks that this would make it even worse, so that's encouraging

To those who like the current system but think it would be worse with my proposal--would anyone care to explain why? Is it mainly because of the concerns I listed in the "Cons" section, or is there something else you dislike about this idea?

[jeniansmom]

I think this has the potential to be a good compromise with 2 changes.

1) If you set home in a country-owned realm, you automatically opt in. If you don't want to be part of the country system, set home in a non-par realm.

2) Your base tax rate should be higher if you are not opting in. A minimum of 10% but maybe as high as 15%.

Just my $.02

[eah]

I think the taxes give it a more of a real life feel. They always say, the two things inevitable in life are death and taxes.

The major disadvantage of an opt-in feature is that ALMOST EVERYONE will remain opt out, making the fun and unique country system useless and practically non-existent.

[Falconis]

My suggestion, similar to this one, is to claim "soverign nation" status. By declaring this, you are separating yours realms from the country system, and no one can overtake you... but likewise you cannot overtake anyone else!