Plot reclamations - would like clarification

[awdz]

Hiyas - someone mentioned that after the billing stuff is all worked out, plot reclamations will happen. This overall is a very much needed thing.

I would like to understand the details of how it will work, particularly with respect to guild plots. Someone said a WM indicated all structures would be deleted when plots were reclaimed. <Please pardon me while I freak out>

We have had members leave for a variety of reasons over the past year, and I do not have any way to contact them to find out if they are resubscribing or not. In some cases, it was too sudden for them to set the plot for sale before they left, despite their desire to keep things in guild as best as possible.

Many guild members pitched in to build the structures; especially those structures set as community resources (shops, silos, general storage). We would like to be able to keep as many of them as we can. Do these truly have to be deleted??

Will the guild have any opportunity to have newer members purchase the plots to save the structures? Barring that, can we at least have notice of what we are going to lose, so that we can clear the storage areas? Silos do take a bit of effort to fill... And it would be nice to get started replacing those higher level shops sooner rather than later.

I understand the desire to prevent novian farmers from stripping the land for premade resources. I think that would be better done by limiting plot purchases to 1/month for those allowed to own one, to prevent the plot hopping/stripping while still allowing for a change of plots periodically.

Please, can a WM give me some information about what to expect?

[Salis]

Maybe they could do the following.

For normal plots, any structure on it, gets turned into novians, for the full amount it took to build (not like the normal process at 80% or so). Anything within those structures be it guildhouse, silos or normal houses, is put in the vault aswell as all the novians. Finally the value of the plot: actually what was paid for it. Not community value, so if after merger your bid was 250 gold, you get 250 gold back and not the community value.

why all of this, cause well maybe someday the former owner may indeed resubscribe and all that he will have lost is his/her plot, but all the rest is still there.

Now how to handle Guild plots.
First and foremost we need to have a guild leader for a guild owning plots.
Maybe we give people a forthnight or something to have elections or whatever about who the guildleader should become in case he/she is no longer subscribed.
Any guildplot belonging to a guild which is no longer owned follows the same process as described above, with the exception that all that stuff is put into the vault of the guildleader. In that way, nothing is really lost. Upon regaining the same plots actually part of the guild, which I hope is only possible for guild members, any structures lost can be rebuild without extra effort, anything in the silos can be put back.

The only inconvenience, the guildleader may very well end up with a very overstuffed vault. Unless there can be something arranged as having a guild vault or something, tied to a plot instead of a player.

Anyone other ideas or suggestions?

Salis

[Ramaj]

There is a link on the login/character page: Plot Reclamations (on the left)
This takes you to:
Plot ReclamationInterested in knowing more about plot reclamation, then read on: What is Plot Reclamation?Plot reclamation is the process by which we will reclaim plots from inactive subscriptions and auction them back to the active community. Why do we have Plot Reclamation?We are doing this because there are many plots that the community worked hard to build and now they lay unused or inaccessible. We want to give all of our active players a chance to claim a piece of Istaria and continue to build their community. Who is affected by Plot Reclamation?Plot reclamation will affect inactive subscriptions or those active players with more plots then subscriptions. Each player's Horizons account can have one or more subscriptions and each subscription entitles a player to plot ownership in Horizons – multiple subscriptions does entitle multiple plot ownership. Any subscription that becomes inactive reduces the number of plots that can be owned and an email will be sent to the owner of the accounts who own more plots than their number of subscriptions allows. This email explains that the number of plots exceeds the number of active subscriptions. The player needs to either add or reactivate a subscription, or sell off their extra plots. The email provides a time frame for this action. If nothing is done, plots will be randomly selected and auctioned back to the community so that the number of plots owned by an account matches the number of subscriptions. How is the Plot Reclamation process done?Each community across Istaria will start plot auctions one or more times per month immediately following a scheduled maintenance. Once a plot has been reclaimed, it will be put up for auction to the community. Each auction will last for about 4-5 days. We will announce which communities are coming up for auction with the date and time for the beginning of the auction on the community forums. The Message of the Day for each shard will also include announcements pertinent to the auctions. All structures will be left intact and the plot will be sold exactly as it is seen now in the community. Bids can only be made if the bidding character is within the boundaries of the community where the plot is located.
PLEASE NOTE:Guild plots are handled separately: We reclaim primary guild plots that are associated with inactive accounts by contacting the guild in question to make arrangements for retaining guild property with the current and active guild leader. If you are in a situation where you have a plot that will be reclaimed, there are several things you can do:
1) You may add one or more subscriptions to your account so that the number of subscriptions is equal to the number of plots you currently have. 2) You may add one or more subscriptions to your account until the number of subscriptions you have is equal to the number of plots you wish to keep and sell the remaining plots. 3) You may keep your current number of subscriptions and sell the remaining plots.
Here are a few examples: Scenario #1:
You previously had one subscription and that subscription is inactive.
You had one plot.
Re-subscribe before the auctions take place and you will retain that plot. Do nothing and that plot will be automatically auctioned.
Scenario #2:
You previously had two subscriptions but only one subscription is active at this time.
You have one plot.
Since you have one active subscription, you are entitled to own one plot. Your plot will not be auctioned.
Scenario #3:
You previously had two subscriptions but only one subscription is active at this time.
You have two plots.
Since you only have one active subscription, you are only entitled to own one plot. You must sell one of your plots prior to the auction and the other plot will be left intact.
If you own more plots than your account has subscriptions, Plot Reclamation Maintenance will automatically select the appropriate number of plots and put them up for auction. The plots selected for auction is random. If you wish to add a subscription to your account, please log into your account at horizons.istaria.com and click the Billing link on the left panel of your screen If you have any questions regarding any of this information, please send an email with Baela in the subject line to [email protected]

Learning About HorizonsAre you looking for information about HORIZONS: Empire of Istaria? Please visit our product website at www.istaria.com to find recent News posts about the game, Screenshots, Downloads, Event information and more! Learning About VirtriumAre you looking for information about Virtrium, the developers of HORIZONS? If you would like to learn more about the company, view recent job postings, or learn more about our technology, please visit our corporate website at www.virtrium.com

[Salis]

To prevent an new Novian Rush the better turn everything to Novians and put those in the owners vault. Novian abuse will run rampant otherwise.

Salis

[Tryagain]

To prevent an new Novian Rush the better turn everything to Novians and put those in the owners vault. Novian abuse will run rampant otherwise.

Salis

that seems like common sense to me.

as to guild plots well thats a sticky situation. Really I think they should leave guild plot management totally up to the GM of said guild. Let them control how plots are sold and what happens to the structures on them afterwards.


Personally I think vitrium ought to wipe and start over everything. As it is right now everything that can be built has been and everything that was destroyed and had to be rebuilt has been as well. Of course they could always make a new server.... but thats not going to happen .

sorry but a gnome freaking out is now stuck in my mind ....

[awdz]

novians in the guild master plot owners' vault could work i suppose, though you'd then have to make it so that that person could apply novians to any of the guild properties. also, that person may never be able to use their vault for personal storage again.

perhaps a different kind of storage, for guild novians that could only be used on guild plots? and any time a structure is taken down from a guild plot, the novians go to that guild pool of novians, that any guild member may take out and apply to a guild plot?

i dunno, the whole situation is sticky. i'm not keen on a single person controlling all the guild plots too much. i hope we can come to a good resolution.

i'm sorry about causing that image in your mind tryagain.

[Aaelefein]

Well...I think wiping clean all unclaimed/unowned plots is extremely drastic just to try and stop thieves out just for novians.

I can think of a few plots in the land that were that to happen, either wiped clean by thieves or do to reclaimation...would put a serious damper on crafters. Yes, it is sad that some plot owners will not return because they currently hold perfectly situated plots with shops and structures that aid ALL Istarians. It is even sadder that there are some out there that would tear down these plots for the novians, regardless of how it affects the rest of the population.

What would work best in my opinion, though would not preclude hard-core thieves out just for novians. If it is possible, code it into the system so that any plot with built structures, preferably only those entered into the auction/reclaimation system, have to be owned for a minimum amount of time, thus tying up a potential abusers plot-slot for say...3, 5 or 7 days?

No...it wouldn't stop a potential thief from deconning said plot, but it would stop these people hopping from plot-to-plot, raping the land of novians for their own greedy self.

Another idea is maybe for key plots that have more or less become "Community Crafting Centers"...they are instead 'locked' or turned into world complexes so they are always there for the good of ALL Istarians. Of course this would only be the case for a few rare plots, and ONLY if the owners didn't return/resub by the time plot reclaimation starts.

Just my thoughts of the moment on this subject,

Aaelefein

[Salis]

Are how about:
Plots are reclaimed in the pool. Anything on them stays in the state it is, until somebody bids on it, buys it, ...
At the moment the reclamed plot gets an new owner, anything on it is turned into novians.
Prevents novian abuse and still keeps the situation status quo until a new owner pops up. Whatever the plans of the new owner, that's his/her decision. Even on those long community servicing plots.

And as proposed a timer on how frequently you can purchase a new plot will prevent the instant wiping of plots if not for novians but purely for harassment reasons.

Salis

[Laneth]

I agree that buying a plot for the sole purpose of deconning for novians is just wrong. I really don't like the idea of locking some of those plots out of the reclamation. I do think that if you have a time limit between the time that you can purchase plots, say 2 weeks or so, that would be a deterant for people to do that. Asheron's Call, my first MMO, had a time limit between when you could buy housing. it was like 30 days or so if i remember right. its been a while so i really don't remember. 30 days would be way too long tho. 15 should be good. it just means that you have to select/bid carefully on which plots you want.
but this would have to be coded right so that people who have mulitple plots on thier account don't get messed up by having to wait to buy thier second plot. but that would still leave people with a way around that. say i know people with 3 or 4 accounts, what stops them from buying 3 or 4 plots and collecting novians from all but 1 of those?
would be unfair to people to make novians to only be able to used on the plot they come from. because down the road, someone might find a plot they like better and then wouldn't be able to take novians from one plot to the other. so it would probly be better to just return novians to the owner of the inactive account and leave the plot empty.
We are not actually merging relms here, so why have an auction? say if the account goes inactive for more than say 30 days or 60 days, the plot goes back to the community and goes up for sale at the original price. The novians go the account that was inactive.
You say, "What about the plots that are so usefull to the community?" Well, there are enough high level crafters here in the game, that it shouldn't take long to rebuild those plots. Lets face it, they won't stay empty for long. and its not gonna take long for people to plan them because they know people will want to hurry up and get them built to start using them again. I know there are a couple of plots around the mithril and marble that i would help to get rebuilt quickly.

[Tryagain]

Laneth unfortunately raises a good point.

However if the game is to get going again it needs to be booted out of stagnation. if that means the community has to bind together to rebuild a useful situated plot again then I guess thats what needs to be done.

[Kerech]

There are many old-timers with high skills. A good team of 6-8 people could rebuild a structure in a matter of hours.

The problem will be getting someone who buys the plot to allow the structure there... for example, if someone buys the plots next to the sandstone quarry at Nuthala and pillages the very useful structures there, what reason would they have for putting the structures back up to be rebuilt?

[Veshta Shaltir]

I, also am very much interested in knowing how exactly guild site reclamations will be handled. As Awdz pointed out, guild members leave for various reasons, some too quickly to do anything about their plot, and some leave them so as not to damage or take away guild supplies and resources.

Long ago, guild plots were not set up under reclamation at all because of the possible loss of structures and needed storage for the guild. To get a plot back from a guild member that had presumably left the game, the guild leader sent in a ticket with the plot information. I assume the status of the person holding that plot was then checked out, and if the account was found inactive, the plot was then put up for sale, structures intact. It was a relatively simple process, and I am hoping that it will be something similar to that once again. An official word from customer service or someone who knows exactly how these will be handled would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

[Screech]

What about those of us who are still trying to even log on to see what remains?
I had a ton of stuff built in a part T5 lair, silos full etc. I also had a second subscription that also had a plot which was half built but which I could never renew because the billing on the EI stuff never worked.
I've been trying for days to get my account sorted but I have yet even to hear back.
TBH if I lose everything? No real point for me to start again.

[Laneth]

The problem will be getting someone who buys the plot to allow the structure there... for example, if someone buys the plots next to the sandstone quarry at Nuthala and pillages the very useful structures there, what reason would they have for putting the structures back up to be rebuilt?

Kerech, what i was saying is that the plots that get reclaimed, not be left in tact. what i was saying is that plots that are reclaimed be wiped clean with the novians going to the inactive account that just lost the plot. That would keep people from buying the plot to wipe it clean. that would then give them the motivation to get the plot planned and open it up. Not give them the motivation to wipe it clean and leave it to grow grass.

[Steelclaw]

Eh. I'm not too keen on the idea of wiping plots to be reclaimed. This means:
- The buyer must rebuild the plot. If the plot is otherwise acceptable to the buyer, why should they have to re-plan and rebuild it?
- The items in storage on the plot may be lost. What about items in a structure being razed? Do they go to the items' previous owner? Do they go to the plot's previous owner? Do they just disappear?
- There is no guarantee that the new owner will do anything with the plot. Go look for owned but unplanned lairs and plots. There are a few of them.
- It does not fix the underlying problem it is supposed to address.

... Huh?

Consider:
Why would you want to decon the plot when it is reclaimed?
So novian harvesters don't buy the plot and decon it for novians.

Why do you care if novian harvesters decon the plot?
Because we would lose the use of the structures on an otherwise useful plot.

What happens when the plot is deconned when it is reclaimed?
We lose the use of the structures on an otherwise useful plot.



IF anything is going to be done differently from the 'way things used to be', the focus should be on mitigating the damage caused by novian farmers, not making sure that the effect of novian farmers is applied equally across all the reclaimed plots.

That being said, I (re-) propose making a requirement that any new plot owner wait a week after acquiring the plot before they are allowed to decon any completed structures. It won't prevent novian farming, though it really slows it down. It does affect legitimate owners, however, a single week seems to be a bearable time to wait, especially considering that in return for waiting, the owner is entitled to the items and novians on the plot.

Of course, this takes time to implement. If time is in short supply, doing nothing to the existing reclamation mechanism is a better use of it than setting it to wipe the reclaimed plots.

[velveeta]

Eh. I'm not too keen on the idea of wiping plots to be reclaimed. This means:
- The buyer must rebuild the plot. If the plot is otherwise acceptable to the buyer, why should they have to re-plan and rebuild it?
- The items in storage on the plot may be lost. What about items in a structure being razed? Do they go to the items' previous owner? Do they go to the plot's previous owner? Do they just disappear?
- There is no guarantee that the new owner will do anything with the plot. Go look for owned but unplanned lairs and plots. There are a few of them.
- It does not fix the underlying problem it is supposed to address.

... Huh?

Consider:
Why would you want to decon the plot when it is reclaimed?
So novian harvesters don't buy the plot and decon it for novians.

Why do you care if novian harvesters decon the plot?
Because we would lose the use of the structures on an otherwise useful plot.

What happens when the plot is deconned when it is reclaimed?
We lose the use of the structures on an otherwise useful plot.



IF anything is going to be done differently from the 'way things used to be', the focus should be on mitigating the damage caused by novian farmers, not making sure that the effect of novian farmers is applied equally across all the reclaimed plots.

That being said, I (re-) propose making a requirement that any new plot owner wait a week after acquiring the plot before they are allowed to decon any completed structures. It won't prevent novian farming, though it really slows it down. It does affect legitimate owners, however, a single week seems to be a bearable time to wait, especially considering that in return for waiting, the owner is entitled to the items and novians on the plot.

Of course, this takes time to implement. If time is in short supply, doing nothing to the existing reclamation mechanism is a better use of it than setting it to wipe the reclaimed plots.

is there any way that someone who owns a plot they want to keep but can't get into the game to play (for whatever reason) or update or whatever, can make their desires known? i have the perfect plot that i may not be able to have rebuilt, due to the lack of the expert players, and i do not want to lose it if there is a chance to come back to the game.
until i can get in without the fear of it being a 'one time thing', i want to know that my plot will still be there when i get back. i would very much appreciate knowing if there is a status on vista patches and/or how this will relate to grandfathered account and plot reclamation.

[Tryagain]

sounds like vitrium needs to chime in here.

[Steelclaw]

Probably! I'm sure most of them were taking time off and have queue full of billing problems to take care of first.

[Deth]

Or they are holding off till they are ready to do plot reclaiming to answer the questions as they have not sat down yet and thought about that as their first concern was billing?

[Kerech]

Or they are holding off till they are ready to do plot reclaiming to answer the questions as they have not sat down yet and thought about that as their first concern was billing?

That would be my guess. They are focused on billing at this point, and making good progress it appears, but plot reclamation is a "down the road" thing.

Discussion threads like this would be good for them to review at some point before they undertake the process at least

I don't like the idea of automatically dropping reclaimed plots to Novians. If a plot doesn't sell after reclamation, it should stay as is - eventually it will sell if the plot is valuable enough for someone to want to purchase. What I think should happen is this:

1 - send an email and notify all former account holders who currently own plots that their plot is in danger of reclamation if they don't reactivate their account. Set a deadline 15, 20, 30 days, whatever (not longer than 30 days I should think).

2 - during that deadline period anyone with a plot who cannot get access to the game for a valid reason (Vista problems, Unity account, etc.) should submit a ticket and their plot could be exempted from the reclamation if the problem cannot be resolved by the deadline date.

3 - run the reclamation. Anyone who loses a plot had fair warning. Plots are sold "as is" with all structures intact and all structures going to the new owner.

4 - prevent the re-claimed plot from being resold within 30 days of the reclamation. Novians are already non-tradable and non-sellable and can only be re-applied to your own plot, so "novian harvesters" will at most get one plot's worth of novians that they could only re-apply to the same plot. This won't prevent the harvesting, but will slow it down drastically and prevent entire communities from being harvested, which it sounds like happened the last time.

5 - guild plots... tough situation here. I know in my guild there are some extremely useful structures that I would hate to lose, but since guild plots can only be purchased by someone in the guild, as long as the guild is active it should be ok. Active guilds where the control plot is owned by someone who is inactive should be able to put in a support ticket to get control passed to another active individual before the sale. If the entire guild is inactive, then the control plot should be up for sale to the public, making the entire town up for sale to a guild wanting to buy it - with the same rules applying as in #4.

I don't know the final answer to this, but these are my 2c