- Proposal
- The Proposal: A Minimum Proximity Rule
To ensure a diverse and "playable" map for everyone, I propose the implementation of a Minimum Proximity Requirement for any city seeking a Rank 4 upgrade or current rank 4+ city
- The Rule: A city may only upgrade to Rank 4 if its center is at least 2500 meters away from an existing Rank 4/5 city.
- The Goal: This ensures that the available Rank 4 slots are distributed across the planet's surface, rather than being concentrated together.
- Justification
- Benefits to the Server Health
- Improved Accessibility: Spreading out shuttleports ensures that players can travel to various parts of a planet more efficiently, making it easier to reach remote POIs and player-run shops.
- Sustainable Growth: This policy prevents "dead zones" on the map. It encourages new player associations to settle in under-utilised areas, knowing they won't be permanently "locked out" of Rank 4 status by a neighboring mega-hub.
- Reduced Server Congestion: By spreading out high-traffic player hubs, we potentially reduce localised lag and "clutter" in any one specific region
- Motivation
- The Current Challenge: Utility Redundancy
Currently, Rank 4+ slots can get clustered in very small geographic areas. In some cases, multiple shuttleports exist within a short distance of one another. While these "Mega-Hubs" are impressive community achievements, they create a "Utility Redundancy" where:
- Finite slots are used for overlapping services: One shuttleport can effectively serve a large region. Having a second or third Rank 4 slot in the same spot provides diminishing returns for the player base.
- Geographic Bottlenecks: When a planet hits its city cap, and several of those slots are clustered together, large portions of the map (and the POIs within them) are left without travel access, stifling growth in those regions.
Introduction
As our server continues to grow, the management of finite resources—specifically Rank 4+ city slots—becomes vital for long-term server health. Rank 4 status is more than just a city tier; it represents the primary travel infrastructure for an entire planet. To ensure that every planet remains accessible, vibrant, and fair for all player associations, I am proposing a refinement to how Rank 4 upgrades are allocated.
As our server continues to grow, the management of finite resources—specifically Rank 4+ city slots—becomes vital for long-term server health. Rank 4 status is more than just a city tier; it represents the primary travel infrastructure for an entire planet. To ensure that every planet remains accessible, vibrant, and fair for all player associations, I am proposing a refinement to how Rank 4 upgrades are allocated.
