Jump to content

Land Ownership


Recommended Posts

So I was contemplating player housing in other MMOs. Most other games that include housing have them instanced in other private worlds. The only exception I can think of is the recently released ArcheAge. Honestly, that open-world land plot system was a nightmare, having only resulted in a massive land grab. There's virtually no more land to be owned. But if DU were to maintain its single-shard concept with an open plot based housing/land ownership system, it is very likely that the same scenario could happen. 

 

Possible solutions:

  • Build vertically: takes up less surface area
  • Multiple person buildings: hotels, apartments, condominiums, etc.
  • Space plots: A small island in space, apart from the main planets. Or asteroid settlement.
  • Mortgage loans or rent
  • Fluctuating real estate economy: More densely populated areas have higher land costs.

There should also be a limit on the area that can be converted to housing as we don't want entire planets full of little space huts.

 

Any other thoughts, suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm really hoping for a throwback to an older idea where players can put down structures, almost anywhere.

Many games aren't designed with much player freedom in mind. Like archeage, it had some, but all the player housing is in specially marked areas, so that there isnt any way for it to interfere with the quests and whatnot. And in this sense, Archeage was not a sandbox, another problem the game had with allowing real player housing, is that in terms of world space the world was rather small with lots of abnormal terrain.

 

I dont believe we will have any problems like quests getting in the way of player freedom. However, some things that arent clear yet...
How big will the universe be.

Will we be able to go to every planet, or only specific ones the devs specify.

How big will planets be.

Can we terraform planets

 

Tried to find some data on how big maps were in Star Wars Galaxies, but I was unable to find a reliable answer on the spot. As I remember it took about an hour to walk from one side of the planet to another. and there were 5 major planets to put buildings and cities on.

 

I would be fine with it, if the devs hand craft some really big planets, yeah theyre mostly empty space with random stuff and mobs strewn about, however you can really make them feel like home by building on them.

 

I believe they're going to allow us major freedoms though. I suppose its possible that there will be some planets that end up looking like coruscant - a city planet with no vegetation zones, and all atmosphere is either imported in, or processed and filtered industrially. I think most people and guilds will spread out and that planets will be big enough to support multiple cities and hundreds of houses, that doesnt even consider the possibility of creating large space stations to inhabit.

 

Im going to go out on a limb with a hypothetical, based on what what theyve said about the game so far, the game vision, and whats possible with technology, and that what an indie company might be capable of.

 

400 solar systems that players cannot build in

100 solar systems, that players can build in

75 planets you can physically land on, planet size 25 square kilometers about 15 square miles. 7.5 wide by  7.5 tall. if you are fairly healthy and can do an 8 minute mile that will still take about 60 minutes to get from one side to another. (that would make planets a little bit smaller than the entire game world of oblivion)

1,125 sq miles of space, 720,000 acres, of course things would be scaled down by our perspective in game, making smaller things seem larger.

and just for reference, a reasonable luxury home can be built on less than 1 acre of space.

 

The game could be explosively popular, especially at launch, Voxel building, land and space combat, market sim, political sim. Things might become fairly crowded if the  game populations stays steady at over 500,000 players. but even then people will spread constructions out between planets and space. and planets might be hotly contested and dangerous to build on, because of guild wars and battles over resources.

 

Also, I believe that guilds and players will manage these systems in clever ways like building apartments, skyscrapers, ect, and thanks to the tags, players could make contracts. or even guilds could to manage land plots. Not only that, but we players will have to consider to negative effects of destroying planets. crops might not grow / might have to wear a breathing apparatus to go outside, might have to pay alot of maintenance on the unit because of radiation / pollution damage

 

These thoughts about land management, I think it would be disappointing to have any specific caps on how much or what you can build. Unfortunately, in the scheme of fairness, players will probaby have either a set limit, or a scaling system of expense like Archeage on land zones.

Which might play into skills or classes. IE Politician, Merchant...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't think it should be a problem in DU. And even if it is in the long run players will have the ability to make space stations, city ships, etc. Allowing for more housing.

Another option I can think of is something along the matrix lines, plug in the body to the machine and let it create a world for you, in housing terms that is. But then again I'm not sure if that would break away from the single shard concept of dual.

But as stated, I don't believe it should be a problem here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi everyone,

 

Here are a few answers related to Land ownership :)

 

  • What do you plan to do in the case of a massive "landgrab" at the game launch?
 
The possibility of a massive landgrab right from the start is a concern we are working on. 
This is indeed a recurrent problem for any Open World MMO giving the opportunity for a player to own some land.
We are currently thinking about limitating (at least at the beginning) the area size owned by each player (or each account).
That combined to the total surface of the starting planet (see below for the planet size) should be enough to start with.
 
  • Do you plan to limit surface for housing on planets?
 
We don't see why there should be a limit to housing. Look at Coruscant in Star Wars: it's an example of a planet entirely covered with buildings. Beside that, it's important to keep in mind that outside the Arkship Secure Area, there will be possibilities of building destruction, even if you will be able to set a small "indestructible" area to have a safe haven somewhere.
 
  • How big the universe will be?
 
It's a procedurally generated universe, so expanding the universe will be faster than creating planets one by one:
- During the Alpha, it will probably a few planets (to be able to test space travel)
- At the release: probably a few hundreds of planets to a few thousands (difficult to say exactly right now)
 
  • How big planets will be?
 
It may still be subject to change but we plan the following:
- Around 100km diameter for the starting planet (which is equal to a bit more than 30000 km2. Even with oceans and seas, the remaining surface for land will still be incredibly huge!)
- Probably around 50km diameter for others (even if we are aiming for an average 100km for a planet on the long term)
 
  • Will we be able to go to every planet, or only specific ones the devs specify?
 
If you're weren't able to go explore each planet or asteroid belt we put in this universe, this wouldn't be a true sandbox in our opinion. 
So yes, you will be able to explore every single planet existing in the game. No limitation for exploration. 
 
Best Regards,
Nyzaltar.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was under the impression that the Arkship Secure zone would be the only place that "indestructibles" could exist. I remember reading in one of the dev blogs that players could set up safe zones outside but that a concentrated effort by determined players could bring it down. Have I not understood this correctly? Maybe I should go back and read that again...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Klatu Satori,

 

It's true we only talked about the Arkship Secure Area being indestructible last year, in the DevBlog.

But in the mean time, we have also considered that a fixed size for this area can be an issue as the player population grow and new players become unable to find any available land in the secure area on the long term. We cannot consider to enlarge the size of the secure area after the launch, because some players might have built things at the frontier of the secure area. What would happen then if we enlarge the ASA? That's why we might onsider empowering each player to have a unique (one time use) device enabling him/her to create a small area much like the ASA. We are aware this direction could cause balance issues, so it's possible we put some additional restrictions compared to the ASA.

 

Anyway, it's a bit soon to discuss about this subject as it will be part of the subject in the next DevBlog (subject: Territory Management!)

And once it will have been presented in details, you will have time to give your opinion and/or concerns. All the design on this part is not set into stone yet, and we will seek community feedback before finalizing it :)

 

Best Regards,

Nyzalatar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...