Options for Portals in future revs

[TheNightsKing]

As I'm sure everyone knows, whenever there is a new rev we have a mad rush to find the portals (except for Unce!), followed by some of them being wasted or at least remaining poorly developed. With the size of the map over the last couple of revs this really handicaps the ability to get around without it getting tedious.

 

I'd like to see if there is a better way we could use portals.

 

To me, the portal system should ideally serve a number of purposes, including:

• Encouraging early exploration
• Aiding long-distance travel around the world
• Providing an incentive to continue to play throughout the rev

The first couple are satisfied to a degree now, but not the last one.

 

How about instead of finding the sign posts in pre determined positions, you have to build something worthy of a portal first? Something worthy of a /place, at least 1024 blocks from the nearest portal for example. That way people would actually get to make towns later on and have the possibility of nether access. I'm no expert, but I assume this would still avoid slowing down the map compared to allowing free for all portal building? It would also allow towns to build in their preferred biomes instead of making do with the area around the portal that they find.

 

Does anyone else have better ideas, or something else that the portals could help achieve?

[buzzie71]

Word of warning - this has been proposed in the past (eg. here), and has not been implemented then for a few reasons, some listed here:

• Building something up to a certain level of development for a portal is easier said than executed - criteria would ideally have to be a lot more clear-cut for a (gameplay-wise) advantageous resource to be given out to avoid accusations of unfair play.  
• Additionally, portal placement during the rev (placing a corresponding portal in the Nether/overworld, whether by staff or by game) would need to be handled somehow.  Knowledge of how this is done could also be used to intentionally block someone from getting the portal placed.  The potential for drama due to this process is estimated to be high.

TL;DR is that a method of portal distribution more desirable than our current system has remained elusive even now.  Not trying to shut down discussion, but this has historically been a difficult problem to crack.

[Difficult1]

Word of warning - this has been proposed in the past (eg. here), and has not been implemented then for a few reasons, some listed here:

• Building something up to a certain level of development for a portal is easier said than executed - criteria would ideally have to be a lot more clear-cut for a (gameplay-wise) advantageous resource to be given out to avoid accusations of unfair play.  
• Additionally, portal placement during the rev (placing a corresponding portal in the Nether/overworld, whether by staff or by game) would need to be handled somehow.  Knowledge of how this is done could also be used to intentionally block someone from getting the portal placed.  The potential for drama due to this process is estimated to be high.

TL;DR is that a method of portal distribution more desirable than our current system has remained elusive even now.  Not trying to shut down discussion, but this has historically been a difficult problem to crack.

 

 

Heres another suggestion, would it be possible to change the distance limit the portal can be placed when its discovered?

I believe its 100 blocks currently, but if it could be ramped up to 500 it would make it easier for towns to find ideal locations. Im sure ramping it up a tad won't matter like it has in the past due to the map being significantly larger then past revs.

[Trooprm32]

Heres another suggestion, would it be possible to change the distance limit the portal can be placed when its discovered?

I believe its 100 blocks currently, but if it could be ramped up to 500 it would make it easier for towns to find ideal locations. Im sure ramping it up a tad won't matter like it has in the past due to the map being significantly larger then past revs.

 

It is 500.

[TheNightsKing]

Word of warning - this has been proposed in the past (eg. here), and has not been implemented then for a few reasons, some listed here:

• Building something up to a certain level of development for a portal is easier said than executed - criteria would ideally have to be a lot more clear-cut for a (gameplay-wise) advantageous resource to be given out to avoid accusations of unfair play.  
• Additionally, portal placement during the rev (placing a corresponding portal in the Nether/overworld, whether by staff or by game) would need to be handled somehow.  Knowledge of how this is done could also be used to intentionally block someone from getting the portal placed.  The potential for drama due to this process is estimated to be high.

TL;DR is that a method of portal distribution more desirable than our current system has remained elusive even now.  Not trying to shut down discussion, but this has historically been a difficult problem to crack.

 

All good points - especially about the nether portal placement. It had already occurred to me that it would have to be handled by mods or admins, but as the nether side can be anywhere within 128 blocks of the theoretical location it shouldn't be insurmountable. The drama is something I can see coming though whatever!

 

I think I'd be happy enough if there was a basic level of infrastructure around the overworld side which would be expected - horse accessible roads to the edge of any protections for example, and some sort of railway station that you could ask to connect to. When I see something like Long Lake (which I'm not a part of but which seems productive) appearing mid rev, it's a shame that they're hamstrung by being so far out.

 

Perhaps keep the existing system of claimable portals, but then give the opportunity for later builds further out from spawn to qualify for a portal? This may serve to encourage wider spread builds, rather than clustering around spawn and the other portals.

 

Hopefully it doesn't seem like I'm moaning - I'm just musing over how the server could be even more fun!

[Difficult1]

It is 500.

 

I was told it was 100 when we made ours... :/

[tobylane]

How about you put a potential portal in every 1km^2 of the map then when a player claims it a mod rolls a dice in public (commandhelper?). D6 creates a portal. Maybe after two months let new towns roll the dice again where someone was unlucky first time around. That would create roughly 13 portals on the current world first time around, exactly what the rev actually started with. Another 6 later.

[WyndySascha]

I'd like to resurrect an old idea I had once / flog a dead horse: https://nerd.nu/forums/topic/682-pve-a-thought-question-on-portals-and-their-number/

 

My idea was, in a nutshell: one portal.  Only one.  Plonk it down somewhere on the map and - I think - there would be some very interesting knock-on effects in terms of overworld infrastructure development, resource gathering, trade, and so on.

 

I've always thought that P's infrastructure engineering is one of the best things about the server: I love the occasional "world border to world border" run along the roads; and experts would probably infer weird freakish things about our collective mind from how our rail networks grow.  The nether's speedy travel is, I think, it's great attraction but I'm curious to see what would happen when that wasn't available.

 

(The original post, whose link I've provided above, had some good perspectives on this).

[Difficult1]

I'd like to resurrect an old idea I had once / flog a dead horse: https://nerd.nu/forums/topic/682-pve-a-thought-question-on-portals-and-their-number/

 

My idea was, in a nutshell: one portal.  Only one.  Plonk it down somewhere on the map and - I think - there would be some very interesting knock-on effects in terms of overworld infrastructure development, resource gathering, trade, and so on.

 

I've always thought that P's infrastructure engineering is one of the best things about the server: I love the occasional "world border to world border" run along the roads; and experts would probably infer weird freakish things about our collective mind from how our rail networks grow.  The nether's speedy travel is, I think, it's great attraction but I'm curious to see what would happen when that wasn't available.

 

(The original post, whose link I've provided above, had some good perspectives on this).

 

I feel like this would be a complete pain in the ass...but interesting as hell. Maybe not 1 portal, but 4 on the world borders of N-E-S-W

[Narissis]

Not having a spawn portal is an interesting thought. I mean, it kind of makes sense from a travel perspective - getting to anywhere from spawn via overworld travel isn't too big an obstacle because our spawn is always in the centre of the world. But going between cities at the extreme ends of the map would definitely benefit from portal travel.

[Forever_A_Steve]

I was told it was 100 when we made ours... :/

 

I remember being told 100, too.

[Difficult1]

Not having a spawn portal is an interesting thought. I mean, it kind of makes sense from a travel perspective - getting to anywhere from spawn via overworld travel isn't too big an obstacle because our spawn is always in the centre of the world. But going between cities at the extreme ends of the map would definitely benefit from portal travel.

 

Sorry i made a mistake there, i meant to say 1 in the middle and one at N-E-S-W. The middle one shouldn't open until all portals are found though,

[Narissis]

Isn't that what we've had in all prior revisions except this one? Is the idea basically just to scale back down from the expanded number of portals in this particular rev, then?