[TEO]

This is not really a suggestion for Hometown, because the rules are well established and people seem pretty happy with them. So this is more a hypothetical if one were to setup a new server.

It seems like staff spends a lot of time dealing with theft and grief issues, and I think that is because you can claim an area by building, but your builds aren't safe unless you use claim blocks.

It is also sad to see partial builds that have been abandoned for over a year. They can't be demolished, and they can't even be added on to or completed without being called a griefer.

So, for this hypothetical server, what if:

1. Builds are only secured by claim blocks.
   
2. Anything built outside of a claim block can be added to, modified, or even destroyed by anyone without consequence.
   
3. Claim blocks expire 1 year after the player's last login, rendering their builds available for others to plunder or claim for themselves. Or maybe the claim reverts to the server and is then auctioned off? 
   

It seems like this would make administering the server easier,  would allow players to clear out noob huts interfering with their builds, would allow players to complete abandoned structures. The biggest problem I see is the difficulty of securing large areas for epic builds because of the number of claim blocks required. But the player can vote until they have enough blocks, or perhaps purchase them from a shop.

Is this workable, or is there some disadvantage I am missing?

TEO

[Penguin]

I like this idea for a sort of anarchy styled server, but I agree that this is unlikely to ever happen on hometown.

People wanting to make big builds would need a load of claim blocks, meaning they would need to save up for ages to start their build. This problem could perhaps be fixed by allowing players to "apply" for more claim blocks for a specific large build.

We also award claim blocks for voting. This system would make it seem that you have to "pay" for protection of your builds by voting for the server.


Many new players would build without knowledge of the plugin, and could come back after a day to discover that they'd built near to another player who has removed their build.

Currently existing builds that are not already protected and belong to inactive players would be open to greif without consequence, meaning that old players may come back to destroyed homes and builds. This is not an incentive to carry on playing and many would give up and leave for good.

And finally, modifying other's builds without their permission or knowledge goes against the core values of hometown itself. If you want to build together, the claim plugin has /trust. If you don't want to build together, you can report another player's greif to staff with the trust in the staff team that they will roll it back to how it was before. Having grief be unpunished removes that security and trust in the staff team, and along with it the sense of community.

[AmbularD]

Since we're talking a hypothetical new server, there's no real reason claim blocks have to be as limited or expensive as they currently are on HT, or tied to voting, or cost anything at all really. Staff could devise any means for distributing them they see fit (subject to technical limitations; I'm not sure how the plugin works, but a casual Googling suggests it looks pretty customizable.) You could automatically get so many free claim blocks per login, a standard allotment to use from day one that could only be added to on occasion, or players could apply to staff for claim blocks on a per-build basis, or any number of other arrangements.

I think I'd go with eighteen months to expiration rather than a year, just to be on the safe side. Maybe make it shorter for banned players.

I've also thought on occasion that there should be some sort of 'eminent domain' provision for public-resource type builds. If the destruction of a build would constitute a significant loss to the community, the server staff ought to be able to take over management in the event its owner fails to log on until their claim blocks are in danger of expiring.

[TEO]

There is an almost completed lighthouse near my base. It is an impressive build. It appears the builder has been offline for over a year and a half but if I add to it and someone complains I'll be banned. Just seems a shame.

TEO

[Geckorian]

Part of the reason for our current grief and 100 block radius rule is because we have members who often have to take a leave of absence, sometimes for many months. Hypothetically, it would suck to spend days or even months building something, then get deployed for a year and come back to find your stuff taken over by someone else, destroyed, or changed in a way you did not want.

[Cil]

I claimed a village a long time ago, logs cleared, and someone came to the warp I had set up and claimed the chests I unlocked to change to my old acc, and claimed the house the warp was in. Was completely aggravating, Person hasn't been online in 6 months so I can reclaim the build now XD