Are Land Claims Bad for Illy?

On Land Claims in Illy.

What is a land claim?  It is a individual, alliance, or group of alliances, claiming sovereignty over an area of Illy outside the bounds of the built in sovereignty mechanism and/or the accepted 10square rule.  As such, at this point is may be defined as extra-legal at this point, with some players honoring the rule and some not yet doing so.

The problems I have with all this are three:  How it was done, what it means in the future, and how it does not align with the general values of the Illy community as historically expressed.

The process by which this process was adopted by those alliances adopting it, was unilateral.  There was little to no discussion in the larger forums or GC, and the adoption by those alliances was done as a "fait acompli" with the expectation that there would be little to no resistance, or if there was a determination to war over the right.  Thus, we are faced with a situation in which we must "undo" what has been done if we decide that the new rule is not acceptable, rather than to have avoided this situation by having a good conversation and open discussion before it was done.

In addition, I do not think this new development will bring a greater level of health to the Illy community.

Let us imagine what this may lead to in the future.  Let us say that each of the largest 50 alliances decide to claim some portion of Illy for themselves.  Let us further suppose that they claim an area approximately the same size of the current crop of claims.  In the end this will mean that fifty alliances will hold sovereignty over 95% of Illy, and perhaps the entire thing.  How will this effect the game?   I think in several ways.

First, it will mean that any new players will have a very restricted road to growth and prosperity as they will have to get permission to found cities or join one of those alliances, if they are allowed.

Second, it will mean that ultimately the gathering of resources, the founding of cities, the harvesting of NPC's and all of the various things we can do in an area can be easily restricted by the alliance claiming that area.  There is no half-way for sovereignty...if you are in charge you are in charge.

Third, the area claimed will make the alliance holding that area both a target by larger alliances wanting the area and a "premier" alliance into which most players will wish to move. These "premier" alliances will increasingly dominate the game and make it so that smaller alliances and individuals will need to at least align themselves with them just to survive.  With this the larger "premier" alliances will make having a small or independent alliance meaningless and, should war break out, it will be on a very large scale indeed as these larger alliances drag individuals and smaller ones into the fray as "tribute" for allowing them to settle in the claimed area.  In other words, even if these alliances allow others to settle in "their area" they will soon demand some kind of payment or support.

In summary of my second point I must say that allowing land claims by alliances changes the basic nature of the game from sandbox to a series of kingdoms fighting it out in which no player is exempt and thus no player is truly free to play as he or she desires.  This leads me to my final reason for resisting these claims.

This basic change in the nature of the game effects the attractiveness of Illyriad.

What is the most attractive thing about Illy to new players?  If you said the friendly players, especially the vets, you would, I think, be correct.  And why are the vets so friendly?  Because they have learned that if you want to keep new players you must allow them the freedom to seek their own course and even help them along the way.  This help isn't restricted to resources.  In fact, from what I've read and heard about the beginning of Illy, it entailed real battles to stop other players from raiding new players.  In other words, Illy collectively made war against a philosophy of "might makes right" by exercising their collective might to stop the larger players from attacking the smaller ones.

This attitude of protecting the small from the large so that the smaller can grow and develop as he or she desires is what is at stake.  Illyites decided long before I arrived that they needed to resist the domination of the small by the big on an individual level.  They did so because it was something they envisioned as a unique opportunity to make OUR game what it is....a place were new players are very welcome.  The developers make the mechanics, but in the end, we players make the game. 

Now we are faced with the same problem on a larger scale.  There are alliances who which to take away the sandbox from the smaller alliances and players.  Do not fool yourself into believing that once the land is claimed you will be allowed to play as you wish.  In a war all resources are claimed...including those of "neutral parties." Once the sandbox becomes so small that there is no room for new players or new alliances to play as they wish and where they wish, as all the land is claimed, the very openness and freedom of the game will be lost and it will change into a large alliance dominated war game like so many out there already.  I suspect most of us do not wish to be like those and value the freedom of Illy to settle where  you wish, associate with whom you wish to associate and, in general to be left alone to follow your own path to "victory" as you define it.

There are those who wish to make Illy into something they want it to be.  The sad part is that they are already free to do so within the scope of the game mechanics.  They can "claim" all the land they wish using the 10 square rule and the sovereignty mechanism.  They can make war against any willing individual or alliance they wish.  They don't need this new strategy, so why are they attempting to foist it upon us?  I my opinion the reason they are doing this is because they can't accomplish what they wish to aaccomplish by using the mechanisms already in place.  They are in a hurry and are too disorganized or lazy to simply plant the towns, 19 squares apart fast enough to cover the entire area they wish to "claim." 

So here's what I now suggest you do in response to this presentation.  Answer the points made.  Was there a long and involved discussion about claims by all of Illy before the claims were made?  Will the claims lead to more opportunities for individuals and alliances to grow freely and without control, coercion or intimidation?  Is this new method in keeping with the historic desires of the players?  These are the points made, not that I'm qualified or unqualified to have an opinion, that I'm ignorant or not ignorant, or that you can attack me and do me harm or not.  So please respond to the points made and we'll all learn something.

Thanks

 AJ

we need to change the playing style to meet the new demands of gaining more active players in the game. as anyone can tell by numbers online the old playing style does not meet the expectations of the available playing groups out there nor does it come close to the numbers of players the new system can have playing,,,we got to attract and give what the mmo playing world wants and progress to a more competitive game or waldow in the past which in the new word is failure....if land claims cause tension and competition and increases numbers of active player i am all for it....its best the devs make a non-pvp zone for players that disagree

You seem to be equating land claims with a burning desire to bully and oppress new players. This is not the case. Neither is it the case that the larger alliances will have a sudden change of heart and begin slicing up the map in the name of tyrannical rule. The fact is they don't need to; as you said yourself, land claims are just a different means to the same end: creating areas where large numbers of alliance members can concentrate together.

This is a huge boon for any alliance regardless of its focus. Shorter travel times between members means more and faster trading, quicker army movement times, and so on. It is simply the case that the Broken Lands folks that this topic relates to, many of whom enjoy conflict and the military side of the game, would prefer to take a more direct approach to safeguarding future expansion sites, and perhaps ruffling feathers for the sake of it.

As some folks have been clamouring for a more 'hostile' or PvP-centric area, making these bold claims sends out a signal: if you don't want to get hurt then don't pitch your tent on a potential battlefield. At least we have the decency to take a stand and outline our intentions; I wonder how many unfortunate players have been diplo'd and hassled until they move from certain areas because no land claims or statements of intent were previously made by nearby alliances for fear of provoking massive overreactions. A quick look through some pre-BL land-claim threads certainly makes it look like this would be a concern.

Every player in Illyriad has the right to play the game how they wish; this is how we wish it, and so it is. By imposing your vision of peace and freedom on the world you would ironically destroy the freedom of choice you seem to espouse. We 'ne'er-do-wells' are in the minority, and I am sure the prevailing community spirit will easily withstand, or even exist alongside of, whatever mischief we get up to in our corner of the world. Illyria is a big place, and I'm certain there's room for all of us.

Some people seem to be missing a couple of basic points: