Girrrrl, or guyyyyyy, that is a lot! lol
More storage is always a welcome thing. I think it could be a strain if players across the board are allowed to cram more contents into all size housing by way of additional lock-downs and secures. Perhaps offering players more storage in a way that functions like your bank box might be a better solution.
I'm not saying allowing for more containers and lock-downs in houses would necessarily put a strain on servers. That said, I think it could put a crimp in how players enjoy looking at their game world landscape. I wouldn't want to be forced to click the button to not allow house contents to load because running through heavily populated areas has become a lag-fest. I enjoy looking at players home builds and decorating ideas too much to not see houses load with their contents. I don't have a great computer, Grim! 😂
Regarding moongates and shard hopping. I've pressed hard in posts about allowing players to move around more freely. I pressed for allowing all players to go to all shards any time they want. It's a double edged sword for reasons I didn't really always understand, but see more clearly now.
I think there's a happy medium. I think solutions for allowing players to move around more freely, opening up opportunities for spontaneous game play, while not negatively impacting established player communities, is to find ways to make farming less appealing. Reduce the need some segments of the population, myself included at times, have in needing what other players farm.
I do think 14 years for shard shields is too restrictive. I think the age requirement should be lowered. More importantly, allow players to turn their shard bound items into account bound items. This still wouldn't make gold farming go away but really? Who cares? It would almost certainly reduce the number of players farming drops on multiple shards during these ToT type events. Why should we depend on power gamers farming drops on multiple shards in order to rebuild suits on other shards we want to visit?
Let us earn our drops and prizes and let us keep our prizes when we want to go visit another shard. This sounds so much better to me than trying to move a gimped character around because you had to leave your suit behind. Now you're dependent on players who farmed enough that they're selling these sought after items on the shard you want to move to or visit. This not only seems unnecessary to me, it seems unfair and punitive. I'm being redundant here, I'm to tired to fix it. Read it twice! lol
The clustered shards thing? I don't see that making players happy. Telling east and west coast players they can't play together? That sounds terrible to me.
Housing and IDOCs
Instanced housing sounds intriguing. It wouldn't be to my liking because I really like to decorate my houses. But I can see how for those not interested in playing around with house building and decorating it could be fun to go to your "apartment" so to speak in a city. Maybe something like this could be tied into an extra storage idea. Pledge to a particular town and you have access to your storage unit. 😂
Regarding IDOC and raffles etc. At this point you hate to see houses with anything in them fall because it means another player is gone. With how changed the IDOC scene is now, resources go poof, vet rewards go poof, the biggest interest has to be the available land for housing that'll be created.
If devs gave us more land for housing it really pulls the teeth out of those who cheat to place, no? Wouldn't a moongate leading to a large housing area pretty much put them out of business? I don't think additional housing space it something needed only for Atlantic. Though they surely need it most.
There are other shards with a lot less population that have players who have so many accounts they've managed over the years to snap up pretty much all the castle and keep spots. There's no opportunity for others to place any of the bigger homes. Most players want an opportunity to set down a keep or castle. There has to be a limit even for those folks, no? If we're given more land are these folks going to buy even more accounts and snap up the new lands? I don't think so.
So far it seems the solutions devs are rolling out, to curb scripters, ends up being punishing to average players. The timer on the house placement tool for instance. Everyone has been telling devs for ages that this isn't stopping the cheaters it's only hurting honest players.
Why not come at this from the other side and see if it works out any better? Instead of placing restrictions on housing, shard travel, and access to the items we've earned, why not expand access to these things for all players? Give us more land for housing until competing with cheaters placing houses becomes a non issue. Let us keep our shard bound items on our accounts and we won't need what the farmers of drops and shard bound items have to offer.
