Zakar Tazak

From Discord chat on the subject:

"With the switch to PvP style island claiming in PvE just doesn't make sense. It reduces the total number of claims available and from what I've seen about what people do on lawless servers... they put down scattered floors or fencing post to make sure no one can build near their base... effectively making their own claiming system. That is what is going to happen with the lawless-esq style plan unless something is done to prevent this "claiming by structure" methodology. "

I have a different take on the PVE claiming issue... 

Hi @microphobe, I'd be curious to know your take on the latest PVE changes from Captains Log 23? 

I've posted my thoughts on the PVE claims here if you're interested (

).

I typed up my take on this problem and posted some solutions here: 

TL;DR - The solution of bringing claims back to PVE by just copying PVP claiming is horrible. Don't do it. Implement a proper PVE claiming solution or go back to lawless-esq until then. Some ideas for solutions listed in bold below. Please brainstorm ideas in this thread.

For Context here's a quote about PVE Claim Changes from Captains Log 23 (skip if you've already read it):

Quote

With the Mega March update, the claim systems on PvE will change from being lawless-esque servers to the following:

Use the same claim system as PvP, but remove the raidable hours and war aspect. This means that players will be able to claim islands, and anyone can build on those settlements. Each settlement will have an upkeep cost which is based on a variety of factors such as the islands ranking, the number of settlements that company has, and how many different companies are building on the settlement. Settlement owners will be able to set a tax rate, and also players will be able to place their player run shops on the claimed land.

However, we are planning some PvE specific changes

• We’ll be imposing a hard limit of Claim Points equivalent to one small island for single players. 
• Companies will be able to own multiple settlements, but there will be a hard limit (lower than PvP) and it will be based on Island Points and the number of players who are currently in that company. This means that larger companies will have access to more ‘Claim Points’ and are therefore able to settle on more islands with higher rankings, however, we will still be imposing a relatively low cap.
• Company alliances will no longer be enabled on PvE servers. We understand that there are some legitimate use cases, however, in this sandbox environment, we believe they will primarily be used to game the system and get past company rules/limitations. We recognize that this may impact how trading communication takes place on PvE servers and we are looking into an alternative option for players.

 

 

My stepdaughter and I have been playing Atlas on the PVE server since the first week the game launched. We managed to find 1 small place to claim and enjoyed having our little piece of land. When it was announced that everything was going to be lawless-esq type building everywhere, it was a little sad that we wouldn't have our own little plot of land for our 2 person company, but it would make building little outposts a lot easier, so we thought we'd adapt and be okay with the changes.

With the switch to PVP style island claiming in PVE just doesn't make sense. It reduces the total number of claims available and from what I've seen about what people do on lawless servers... they put down scattered floors or fencing post to make sure no one can build near their base... effectively making their own claiming system. That is what is going to happen with the lawless-esq style plan unless something is done to prevent this "claiming by structure" methodology. 

What people want: 

1. A slice of land big enough to build a home/ships and call their own without interference from others.
2. The ability to take time away from the game (i.e. 2 weeks) for vacation, death in the family, or medical reasons), without losing everything.

Problems with Whole Island claims on PVE:

• Only those who rush to claim islands will ever own an island.
  • No mechanism has been stated about how island ownership on PVE will ever switch hands
• We don't want to beholden to island owners who will likely want to:
  • Set high taxes to have the whole island to themselves
  • Destroy structures in the first 12-hours to prevent new people from settling on the island
  • Spam "claiming by structure" floors and fence posts to prevent settlements on their island
• Effectively Whole Island claims on PVE will make the whole situation worse.

Problems with Lawless-esq style on PVE:

• "claiming by structure" placement of floors or fence posts allow blocking others from building.
  • I've seen people claim larger chunks of the land of lawless islands than our single claim flag using this method.

Solution 1 - Lawless-esq style on PVE w/o "claiming by structure"

• Prevent "claiming by structure" by some mechanism. Ideas:
  • Have structures below a certain piece count decay within hours.
  • Limit the number of independent structures per island to be something like 5-10.
  • Set a maximum area per island an individual or company can hold

Solution 2 - PVE Style Claims - Small island per Player

• Have a "find a home island quest" where players pick a server (say B5) and have to sail to a GPS point where a small island appears and becomes their permanent home until they've stopped playing for a month, and then it goes away.
• The island would be small, like the size of a current PVE style flag claim.
• Lawless-esq or current PVE flag claiming could be used on normal islands

Solution 3 - PVE Style Claims - Current Style Claims but more limited

1. Calculate the number of beach claims available in the game:
   1. If this is smaller than the number of players, then do the following:
      1. Set the number of claims per person to 1
      2. Set the number of claims per company to be something like:
         1. 1-5 person company: 1 claim per person
         2. 6-11 person company: 5 claims + 0.5 claims per member
         3. 11+ person company: 8 claims + 1/3 claims per member
   2. If it's bigger than the number of players:
      1. Set the number of claims per person to 1
      2. Set the number of claims per company to 1 per member

Solution 4 - PVE Style Claims - Smaller Current Style Flag claims

• Decrease the size of PVE flag claims to be big enough for
  • large shipyard
  • small shipyard
  • large house
  • animal pen
  • animal trap
• 1 claim per person
• Lawless-esq in all non claim areas with no "claim by structure" setups.

Other thoughts:

• Balance building maintenance cost (assuming new feature I read about) to allow for enough resources to be put in to keep the structure from despawning for up to two weeks (allow for vacation and life events)

I'll probably have more ideas, but I'll add them later.

Please let me know if you agree and please brainstorm more ideas in this thread.