Plots

What are plots?

Plots are predefined areas in the game world where structures can be automatically built out of a pre-built template.

Plots allow players and towns to own a piece of the world and decide which buildings are built within them. Although players are unable to actually place blocks within plots, they instead choose which building they want in their plot. Imagine opening a catalog of buildings and saying “I want building number 3 in my plot” - this is the exact system implemented and will allow players to shape the world around them.

Ownership

Plots can either be owned by a player, or a town. In most cases, players will need to pay an upkeep fee to maintain ownership of their plot. If a player fails to pay upkeep on time, they lose ownership of the plot. Towns usually own a set amount of plots by default and do not pay upkeep for the plots themselves. This means a town will always retain the ownership of their plots. Instead, the town pays upkeep on the buildings within the plots - meaning that failing to pay upkeep by a town means keeping the plot, but losing the building.

Function

“Player plots” and “town plots” both serve a very different function in the game. Player plots are mainly a display of a player’s progression - they do not offer much functionality besides some convenience to the players (e.g. storage). Town plots are very different. They offer gameplay progressing elements that give players access to new content. Town plots are much more expensive and the upkeep on them is considerably higher, often requiring many players to contribute in order to finance the building in a town plot.

Player Plot Variation

To give players more variety, each house design will have several variations. The Small Plot (13x13) might have 8 house designs, with 3 variations each.

A house design is often a very unique build - the designs will fit the same theme, but differ from one another quite a bit. Some houses may be “block-like”, some may be U shaped, some will have towers, some large gardens, other designs may be large defensive forts (these are all examples of different designs).

A variation is a slight change to the house design. You might have one house design (a small U shaped villa with a garden), but it will be available in three variations. One variation might have oak furniture, while another will have slightly darker color palette. One variation might have red roses, while the other will have yellow flowers in a different pattern. One variation may have slightly different furniture layout than the other.

House designs will take much more planning and effort - both from the builders and the Lore writers. Variations will simply mean taking an already finished building and changing the decorations around a little.