17. BUILDINGS
Will this actually be a three dimensional game or a two dimensional POS with a pretty façade?
In the beginning of the game there will be no buildings. In fact, there won't be much of anything aside from natural resources. If a player builds a three story building, however, rest assured that not only can you get up to the third story and look out the window (jump out if you want) but that you can swoop down on the building with a flying carpet and land on it. After, that is, the players discover how to make flying carpets. And yes, I want stairs to work. All ramps is really stretching it.
Will the buildings all look the same? Will all buildings of one type look the same?
Not necessarily. There will be various minimum sizes for different types of buildings. A tailor shop needs to be able to hold at least two tables (a 'secured repair bench' and a 'work bench'). Whether or not the player chooses to have in both of these is up to the player. I'd also have the 'work bench' in a back room with a locked door to allow the player to leave stuff on the 'work bench'. Tailor shops are not required to have a large plaque with a needle and thread hung on them (unless the city rulers - PC's - require it) but it makes getting customers a whole lot easier. Not everyone who plays this game will speak English but everyone understands a needle and thread. The style of building will be determined by the architect. If they specialize in the 'Greek look' you will get Greek style buildings. If they specialize in 13th century European, you get that style. If you have lots of different types of builders, you get a mishmash of buildings in the town.
Can larger structures be built on or over the water?
Yes. That would depend on the skills of the builders, etc. I'd hate to be on one during a storm though - I want to have big waves available. I'd also like to have weather patterns random, yet somewhat predictable - like in real life.
How does building destruction work?
To destroy any building requires some sort of siege equipment, troops to move and protect the siege equipment and double the amount of money the building costs. Keep in mind that destruction of buildings should take quite awhile to keep people from blowing them all up whilst the defenders are off line sleeping. Is requiring double the money to build a structure to be required to destroy it? Not at all - however it keeps griefers at bay and adds a large financial burden upon the aggressor.
I have a lot of valuable stuff in my building! How do I protect it?
Take your valuable stuff out of your crappy shack and build a really nice and expensive building. You can have builders add more stuff to the building later to make it even more expensive. We recommend attempting to get a large lot as well. The larger the lot, the more rent is paid on the lot itself. If the building is totally destroyed, the lot is lost until a new building is put on it. One may decorate their building with lots of different stuff - vases, tapestries, etc. All of these things increase the value of the building (making it harder to destroy). Should the building be destroyed, most of these things will be as well - players may be able to salvage some things out of it (see 'salvage' skill). There are secure chests in the building as well. Should they be destroyed, the items will respawn in another building a character has (or bank or respawn when a new chest is made - in that order). If the bad guy (or anyone else) builds a building over the area (or within 1 mile of it) then the chest will go inactive and just take up room. The items will still respawn. Is this realistic? No - but losing all of your items sucks.
So if I wanted to destroy a bunch of buildings what do I do?
I'd recommend declaring war upon them. If they declare war on you, neither side takes reputation hits, etc. It is all out war. If they fail to declare war on you, the instigator of the attack (you) will still take faction hits. But the chances are good they would take faction hits as well. Example: You are beating up on an enemy. One of your enemies guild-members jumps in to help. The guild-member then takes a negative hit to his PK status (see below). A lot of people could become 'demonized' in a war from both sides unless the offer of war is accepted. After declaring war, you want to move in your siege equipment and troops. Have a LOT of money. Knocking over buildings costs double what the building cost to build. If you knock over a building, the stuff inside is usually destroyed. Stuff in banks is not destroyed but 'respawns' in the next allied cities bank (or respawns in this city if a bank is built by the same side that had it knocked over). If an enemy builds a bank, the person with the account has the option of having their stuff respawn in the enemy city bank or the next non-hostile city bank.
Are there any restrictions on where we build a city?
One of the main 'restrictions' will be the resources. If you attempt to set up a city in a place with too little adventurer traffic and too little natural resources it may well fail. Cities that don't have enough adventurers spending enough time in them will have buildings that cease working - their benefits will no longer be provided. The building does not immediately fall into ruin from this - it merely goes inactive. If the players wish to continue paying rent on an inactive building, good for them. Keeping a building 'active' requires that a certain number of adventurers are spending a certain amount of time within the city/town. Merely leaving certain people logged in 24/7 won't do it for the town. PC rulers must find ways of attracting adventurers to want to stay in their town.
Are you afraid the entire world will fill up with houses?
Yes. To counteract this, we have various amounts of resources in different areas. Once those resources are used up, a certain amount of time must pass before the resources are replenished. The world will need to be HUGE. Bigger than anything currently out there. All buildings are rented monthly (with payments of raw materials for smaller towns, with cash in cities) - never can they be bought (ever). All buildings need monthly maintenance and monthly rent to continue existing. The more maintenance one misses, the more dilapidated the building looks. After missing 3 maintenance cycles, a wall of the building may collapse (allowing people to wander in and out at will - perhaps carting off valuable things unless it is your house - that will just turn into a hovel and stay that way till you build another). After missing 6 maintenance cycles the building becomes rubble (anyone with scavenge skill may cart off bits of the building for use elsewhere). After missing 9 maintenance cycles, it is a pile of rubble (unless all carted off). If rent is missed then this happens in weeks instead of in months. Example: Joe is practicing his 'make building' skill and sets up a building and wanders off, paying only the first months rent (to get it set up). After that month is off, week one - building looks dilapidated. Week two- building looks really bad. Week three- building looks like it should be condemned. Week four - a wall falls in. Week five shows various weeds and whatnot growing out of the building. By week six, people are carting off the building to resell. By week nine, there is part of a foundation left to show for all of that. So, by not paying rent you have essentially two months till you are sitting on a foundation of rubble. Naturally, people could have knocked this down at any time (prices for knocking down a building with a missing wall are much reduced) and built their own building in that space.
What do I need to do to build a building?
First, you must survey the land - put out four posts to mark out the territory. This stipulates the land is 'yours'. Then you pay rent on it. The rent covers one month. During the first month only, the land is yours. Then, you may need to clear the land. Afterward, you build the building. Hopefully, you have the manpower to get that all done within your 'safe' month. If you don't, you can pay double the rent to keep the land 'safe' till you get your building up. If the building is not constructed within the second month, the rent to keep the land 'safe' doubles again. And again, etc. Failure to pay the ever increasing rent causes the land to revert to 'unsold'. [Evil PC 'land snatchers' could - if they so desired - set up posts around your land. Should you be unable to pay the rent then they get the opportunity to do so. Hence, if you are going to build something, it is best to either build it very quickly (have a lot of PC workers) or build it remotely enough that nobody else knows of it or wants it and snatches it from under you.] Lets say you have the resources to get the building built within the first month. You will then hire PC's to build the structure. [It will not be possible for one PC to build a house in any reasonable length of time if ever - one PC will probably not possess all of the skills needed for anything greater than a small shack.] After your structure is built, nobody can build on the land until the structure is destroyed. Until the structure is destroyed, the PC pays rent on both the land and the structure every month. The reason PC's are paying rent on the land as well as the structure is to limit the amount of people who have huge amounts of land with very small structures, while allowing people to keep some space with their neighbors. I've always disliked the fact that in some worlds (UO) you can build a spectacular castle only to have an enemy build their house right outside of it. It is possible to allow someone to build on your land, but you must give them permission through the land surveyors building. For example: If you own a city and someone wants to pay rent within that city for a plot of land, they must go to the land surveyors building and rent out a parcel of land. The city owners specify the amount of the rent to the PC and this is paid automatically (monthly) to prevent micromanagement. The city owners are still paying rent on their entire plot of land but may end up making a tidy profit through subletting it. Example: The city has 100 squares of land (we'll call each square enough to build a house on) and decides to rent them out. The city is paying 10,000 per month for the land (100 per month per square). Because this is good land, within the city walls, near to merchants, etc, they decide to set the rent high. If they set the rent too high, nobody will want to build there - hence their city population may go down or not increase. If they set the rent to 200 per month per square, they will end up making a profit of 10,000 per month. In medieval times, building on top of other structures (or right up next to them) was very common- space, particularly within the city walls, was at a premium. The owner of one of the squares of land may sublet or just allow someone else to build within their area - say on their roof. [This could crush their building if they had used inferior materials, get a shoddy bunch of builders, etc.] This may create a 'rabbit warren' of homes - very medieval. The city may allow it or may jack up the rent of those living in the squares at their option.
Can players build a 3D casino?
I would love to have that. Don't know if we could legally do it. If we could (at the expense of saying 'no Ebay for you!') I'd be all over it. I'd love to have some player who is clever enough to make a casino able to make good money for it. If you think about how many different folks would be employed by the casino as well as how many crafts that would go in to making everything that a casino would use, it would be quite a project.
HOUSES
Can players build houses?
They can build custom houses. Building a house takes several people. Gathering and refining the resources for building a home takes several other people. Homes are only the beginning. Many, many types of buildings can be made and (for various in game bonuses) will need to be made. All homes (and land that the homes occupy) is merely rented monthly. Failure to pay rent results in the home being foreclosed. Rent may be paid several months in advance. The rent is high. Really high for larger buildings. All of the buildings that can give you or your city bonuses are either large buildings or buildings with prerequisites.
Can I design my own house?
If your character is good at architecture or if you are good at drawing, sure. Otherwise, hire a professional PC.
How many buildings does it take to become a town? How many buildings does it take to get other buildings?
Both answers are the same - depends on what kind of stress buildings put on the server. If having cities spring up everywhere doesn't really put much stress on the server, five PC homes could make a small town. If the stress is tremendous, it might take 100 PC homes to be able to start building town function buildings. Also, the number might start off low to encourage world growth and climb later to discourage it.