Alright, so I said I would come back with a more detailed explanation on what I was suggesting above. (@stelagel )
Activity point system
The suggestion is to use the same mechanic that calculates your purge score to handle your “decay score” as well.
It does not have to be tied to the purge itself unless they want to do that… but the purge could remain as it is, this would not affect that - it would merely piggyback on the same activity measuring system which already exists in the game.
Why? Because it’s already there and as such makes this much easier to implement than if it wasn’t the case.
This would essentially measure player activity as best as it is possible to measure in a game like this, the purge score already registers pretty much anything you do whether it’s crafting items, harvesting, killing, building etc.
This part of the system would ensure that base refreshers can’t just log in for 2 seconds and call it a day, however we still need to make sure we’re giving them options of maintaining a presence relatively pain-free which is what the next part deals with.
How the decay system would use these points
My suggestion is to make the significance of these points relative to the amount of property a player/clan has with a non-linear equation.
For example an accumulated decay score of 4000 would count as a much longer decay timer for someone who only has 1k blocks on the serer than for someone who has 5k blocks, essentially creating a type of “upkeep” system, but the upkeep here would be player activity instead of resources.
Essentially the system would try to encourage the concept that if you want a large presence on the server with massive and multiple bases, then you need to be equally active and actually playing on the server
And yes, this would also passively result in the fact that larger clans might be able to have and maintain a bigger building, however it’s not like a fixed block limit and if a single player is dedicated enough they can do it just as well, just requires them to be more active.
On the other hand if a player is casual and only logs on occasionally, they would be encouraged to reduce their footprint on the server and possibly be able to maintain a tiny base for even longer than the current decay timer if they build up enough score and then go on a bit of a holiday.
The Decay
This is where the hard part comes, because no matter how we put it, it’s not going to be entirely perfect.
So far we “solved” in theory the issue of “base refreshers” and also massive builders, but we haven’t yet solved the potential issue of satellite bases…
I would like it if the system could actively discourage way too many satellite bases, however I also want them to expire sooner than the main base, to prevent every asset of the player crumbling at the same time when the decay timer runs out. In order to do that we would need to collapse the satellite bases first, however our solution needs to make sure that satellite bases cannot be used as a “buffer” for their main base decay.
To solve that I would suggest a “Fill all glasses in a sequence, but drain them at the same time”.
What do I mean by that?
- Each of your bases would have a score (by base I mean collection of building blocks that the purge system already uses to target you and the decay system already uses to “bundle” together) based on how large it is
- The largest of them would be considered your main base
- As you accumulate “decay score” through activity ONLY your main bases timer would extend at first
- Once your main base reaches the cap set by Funcom, your activity would start increasing the second largest / second in distance to your main base (depending on what people prefer).
- After the second satellite base has its decay timer full as well, only then you would start filling up the third one etc. etc.
- However, ALL decay timers would tick down simultaneously and your smaller satellite bases having a smaller “capacity” would be the first to crumble in case you become inactive.
This would solve the issue of too many satellite bases, there also would be no need to physically visit ANY of your bases, if you wanted to gain all your scores by running dungeons from a “shack” as your base of operations, that would still refresh your decay properly. It would also make sure to get rid of satellite bases first. Discouraging too many satellite bases in the first place was already handled by the previous step since these additional blocks also make your accumulated decay score less effective.
Overall I could see a system like this working way better than what we have currently and potentially solving the issue of base refreshers and overbuilding for no reason. It might sound complicated in theory, but a lot of it is already present in the game and it’s a matter of hooking these systems up to one-another and balancing it (which is the harder part). There is also no need to set a 1 week hard-cap decay timer with this and it can be more relaxed / dynamic based on building size, bases, activity and everything.
In theory if balanced and implemented well, this should also suit most playstyles. If you want to play on multiple servers you would be able to maintain a smaller base easily on multiple servers. If you’re an active clan and you play a lot anyway then you wouldn’t even notice the system change.
So I’m not talking about some super difficult amounts here that would require you to grind excessively… but something that feels “natural” and obtainable through regular play… while at the same time also making people admit the truth… that if they’re inactive and don’t actually want to play this game, maybe they shouldn’t be taking up a lot of server space.
Hope that explains better what I was trying to say in my first post, obviously this is just a random thought, but I see it as a potential good base to start off and others to brainstorm on… I’ll just leave it at this for now and leave the brainstorming to you guys and Funcom 
Cheers