Stargate Mod

[Dio Profile]

Since this was discussed again during the last town hall meeting, I thought I would give my opinion. I really hope stargates or any form of instant public transportation is never implemented into the server. It is very anti-vanilla, and would greatly hurt property value around Leoville (example: Nfair's post above this one). It seems like a lot of the people wanting stargates have towns extremely far from spawn, but that was their choice to build them so far out.

I just don't think it's fair to the people who have purchased land or been on the server long enough to have land near Leoville, to make it so someone could be at spawn then instantly at the edge of the map.

[asim0v Profile]

Dio, I understand that concern, but we've already gone so far from vanilla with security features on the server and things to make the game easier. Here's just a small list of the non-vanilla things on the server:

• TNT is disabled to stop griefers (probably Bukkit)
• Fire spread is disabled, also because of griefers (probably Bukkit)
• Endermen don't move or place blocks
• Creepers explode but there is no environmental damage
• Protected regions via WorldGuard
• Shops via SignShop
• Elevators via CraftBook
• The entire economy via iConomy
• Locking doors, doors, signs, etc. via LWC
• Multiverse
• Having a resource world that resets so the overworld doesn't get strip mined
• Tracking player changes to make finding griefers possible via LogBook and other mod tools
• Silkier Touch allowing for spawners to be taken (turned off now, but there are still quite a few out there)
• Silkier Touch allowing for ice to be taken into the Nether, thus bringing water in
• The /home command to teleport you home (I believe this is part of Bukkit, actually)
• Using /mvs to get to spawn

There are quite a bit more. That's all I can think of real quick off the top of my head. My point is, there are already things in place to negate the distance and time factor, but they are limited. We already have so much that isn't included in vanilla Minecraft that I don't see stargates hurting literally anything. And no, it's not only people extremely far from spawn that want stargates. I want a stargate for Sky5, and I'm not that far from spawn. Having a quick method of travel would take some pressure of DoT and Rob (who works tirelessly on our transportation infrastructure) and allow for players to spread out further. Part of the reason settlements far from spawn don't gain traction is simply because they aren't easy to access.

[t2t2]

• Silkier Touch allowing for ice to be taken into the Nether, thus bringing water in

Silk touch on ice is vanilla since ~1.4, when they also fixed ice melting in nether turning to water.

[opusnut Profile]

One idea to keep it closer to the vanilla side of the line would be to place the gates at the four Rail hubs (North, East, South, West) and one at Grand central. This way, your rail trip would most likely at least get cut in half, speeding travel, however not linking you directly to your destination which i agree would break the vanilla feel. I know any gates breaks the Vanilla feel, but i think something should be done to get to around a little quicker. This would also help people to visit other cities and increase foot traffic, and maybe help them choose to build in an established city rather than building in the middle of nowhere...


my two cents...

[asim0v Profile]

Silk touch on ice is vanilla since ~1.4, when they also fixed ice melting in nether turning to water.

*shrug* My point still stands: we are pretty far from a vanilla server to begin with, so stargates don't break the "feel" of the server IMO.

[Robrotheram Profile]

I endup sitting on the fence on this topic. One the one hand I love to have some other way of teleporting on the map. But on the other hand I would hate for the star gates to make the rail system obsolete Since I have put a lot of time and effort in improving the rail system. I get that this server is far from a actual vanilla server with the many plugins we have. But that should not stop us striving on keeping the server feel as vanilla as posible. If we stop with the notion of it is a vanilla we all might as well go the whole hog and play on the FTB server where we have all the plugins and changes we want.

I do want some new teleportation thing to happen. I be happy for a /setwork command along with the /sethome. myself but I do understand how city portals would make travel to places faster.

[Dio Profile]

*shrug* My point still stands: we are pretty far from a vanilla server to begin with, so stargates don't break the "feel" of the server IMO.

The majority of what you listed are necessary things any non-whitelisted server needs to protect itself.

With the exception of a few things (sethome, elevators, and iconomy) the server is very vanilla. I think there is a major jump from those few plugins to one that allows instant teleportation all over the map.

It would negatively affect the value of property in and around Leoville, the economy (people buying gold and iron), and public transportation (DOT) would become pretty much useless.

[TehRage Profile]

I think that if a stargates are added we should make all of them charge a default $5 per use or something. This will keep the vanilla aspects available and needed for those players not wanting to spend the money on it, and give the option for fast instant travel for those who have enough money. I've been wanting to have stargates for as long as I can remember, but I'd be just as happy with a second /sethome.

[SkyerCorp Profile]

I believe people using the server are far more important than the property value anywhere on the server. It important people both new and old build beautiful things all around the server where ever there is room and have other people be able to visit them and take inspiration. Legida's Fairy Tail area, Sheep's Port, and the Airfield are wonderful places but both new and older users don't make the trip to these places if they don't have to.

I propose a 2-4 week trial of instant teleportation and multi-home settings using the features available on the already implemented plugins used on the server. The people in charge can then study the effect on the community and economy for a decision on permanent implementation. Perhaps, the map could be divided into 16 square sections (4 across and 4 down) with the Essentials /warp command taking a person to a hub in the center of each square.

I'd like to acknowledge and thank the hard work and effort put in by Robrotheram, the members and volunteers of DOT, SkyTram and asim0v (Sky5 rail specifically) for the existing rail system. I use them all the time and enjoy it.

[Robrotheram Profile]

I believe the best approach is a city size /purchest value for the placement of the Stargate in the city and have then for public places. I also do like the sound of to use then a fee of around 30 coins but that value was picket out of the air. That way we can limit the stargates to popular areas such as the sheep port and not someone's private storage way out. The users fee would make some distigish between the free rail and instant travel

[SWChris Profile Website]

As for the server "feeling" vanilla, maintaining that feel seems far more important with building and mining than it is with transportation. People tend to get annoyed when they have to learn new mechanics that change the way they build and gather resources (Gregtech *cough*), but they tend to welcome changes that enhance that vanilla building experience, which is what stargates in some capacity would do, IMHO.

What they get annoyed at on the transportation side of things is being frustrated at not being able to get where they want to go as easily as other places are. For example: The End Stronghold. I was really frustrated that there wasn't (and still isn't) and obvious sign to the entrance. Took me hours to find the place, even with the help of people on the server. At that time it wasn't clearly marked at the rail system stations.

[nfair Profile]

I see three possible choices
1) No additional instant transportation.
2) Per person additional "home" locations
3) City based gateways

The first choice is not a valid option if the server population is expected to continue to grow and welcome new players, especially if you want them to experience anything like a "vanilla" minecraft experience. The space required to survive on your own in Minecraft is very hard to find within a minecraft day's walk from spawn. The economy plugin and starting money does allow a player to equip themselves to survive their travel and first few days but that means their first introduction to TWiTCraft is already non vanilla.

Additional individual "home" locations will most benefit established players who need to tend to multiple shops plus their true home, or otherwise travel around the server to their specific locations on the server. New players don't even have a first home and have to figure out how to find a home in an existing area or find space to build their own. Only after they have equiped themselves to survive will they even begin to worry about a "work" location or anything like it. Honestly as someone who is not a new player to the server, but not a big time player either this option is the most enticing to me.

The option of having gateways to major cities/outposts around the world is the most balanced choice for both the established player and the new player who wishes to have a vanilla minecraft experience while also experiencing the wonders of TWiTCraft. By setting up city gateways from spawn either to the existing North/South/West/East rail hubs or to other established cities such as Hyrule, or the Air Station existing players will be rewarded by having more player traffic to their distant outposts and new players will be able to travel through these gateways and walk a shorter distance to find land to start their gameplay on.

By keeping spawn as the central point to access these gateways, and also the other existing services near spawn the players who have land near spawn will still see enough player traffic to keep that land valuable. If the gateways are placed near the middle of each Leoville plot region (A,B,C,D) that will generate additional traffic that may not otherwise move through each region, increasing their value. For example Spawn to North is in A, Spawn to South is in B, Spawn to West in C and Spawn to East in D.

In fact the Leoville Plot bidding system could be used to place the gateways, on either end. If the admins decide to they could designate a lot in each ABCD region that will host a gateway to the destination of the winning players choice. So if FreonKnight decided he wanted a gateway to the Air Field he could bid on a plot designated for a gateway and if he wins he could designate the destination.

For those of you looking for a travel analogy - the rail system is for medium scale travel and the instant gateway system could be the airport system of TWiTCraft. Rail can get you there but the airport gets you near there quicker. Yes it's not vanilla but it will allow a new player to get to a vanilla minecraft experience if they want to.

[PosterAnonymous Profile]

I think I mentioned this at the town hall, but here are my thoughts:

I want Stargates. I think it would encourage "tourism" and construction in areas further away from spawn. I also want to continue encouraging D.O.T. projects and to possibly expand new roads and railways throughout the server well into the future. To this end I think Stargates should be allowed, but prohibitively expensive for the player population to establish.

How would we accomplish this?

There should be a rental fee, similar to the Leoville plots, for a portal. Something like 20,000 coins to establish a portal and then 5,000 coins a month to keep it open. This sounds extremely high to most, I know, but that's the point. It forces players to really commit to opening a portal and keeping it in-use. If they don't use it, they'll stop paying the rent and the portal will be removed. It removes excess funds from the economy. It also encourages some of the lower income players to band together to afford a portal in their group project areas, thus building a community that works together.

I also feel that D.O.T. or some construction group should have a say in how the portal stations appear/are maintained. Portals should be special and thus contained inside of easily recognized buildings that any foreign visitor could easily recognize from a distance.

[Goobler Profile]

Bad PA! I do agree that it should be a high start up but rent on stargates? seem a little excessive, and you cut out the commoners with an application process as well with the money. That being said, I'd settle for multiple homes.
-A user eagerly awaiting the chance to do a map wide pub crawl.

[TehRage Profile]

Bad PA! I do agree that it should be a high start up but rent on stargates? seem a little excessive, and you cut out the commoners with an application process as well with the money.

with those costs you could have active communities recruiting people to keep the cost down and keeping their areas actively building. I think all costs for stargates should be high. This should not be something that everyone should get or get for cheap. It should be expensive for those who are serious about making their area available to people and to keep down overuse.

[asim0v Profile]

While I don't have a problem with a high initial cost or even a modest monthly fee, I think 5000 a month in rent is on the high side. Everything in Sky5 is currently free (though there will be a small fee for commercial lots in the not-too-distant future). Between work, moderating, and building, I don't know that there would be time for me to farm the resources to keep up with the rent. Now there's a case to make that Sky5 doesn't need a stargate due to its relatively close proximity to spawn and having major stops on the two main rail lines, but it's a feature I would want for the city.

[edwin Profile]

i like the idea for stargates ... my town (sandale) is 12-15 minutes from spawn and it gets monotonous going back and forth to show people out there

[SWChris Profile Website]

My friends and I build primarily for the art and fun of it, and we would not be able to afford 5000 a month between the six or seven of us just to keep a portal open. We'd love a stargate, but we'd rather spend our time on the server building, not harvesting resources to sell to feed such a high rent. We would probably even have to do the bulk of that selling closer to spawn because that's where everyone congregates, which defeats the purpose of having a stargate. So for what it's worth, we'd probably opt out of such a system even though our area (Sheep Port) is in the far north.

We're already skipping out on Leoville plots for that very reason.

Stargates aren't just status symbols. With good documentation they will also help noobs survive the first night, like nfair said. High rents won't encourage town mayors to get stargates, so that concept actually works at odds with the goal of making Twitcraft attractive to new players.

It's also a little odd to want to preserve the vanilla feel of the server while at the same time requiring players to play the server's economy game in order to get some of this endgame content for their vanilla towns.

The simplest solution? If you have an established town, you can apply. Mods get final decision. If you're turned down, you can reapply in three-six months. Fixed.