Land Claim Abuse on Official Servers: Feedback/Discussion

[ConanBoDk]

Oh for me I think it’s time to say good bey to officials

What I see on Screenshots tell me definitely that my current base is not OK.
Good to know. So I need to rebuild it. I hope I get the time to do this before I get banned.
But I don’t know how I can do this at all. The screenshots don’t tell me which one is OK.

So if I will try to build map room, animal pen one altar and all the stuff you need for crafting i don’t see any chance to do it in a nice looking way without breaking this rules.

So the best thing is to do a simple ugly square.
Also no more villages and castles from other players I can explore

I think I need to watch out for a private server or rent one to continue this game, else I don’t know for what do I need all these dlc’s
I don’t see any chance to build a castle that will be OK after this screenshots. That is one big main part for me that is gone now

For me It’s a game changer and I am totally sad about it but also its good that now there is an answer about what is not allowed anymore.

[JJDancer]

@biggcane55

Officials are meant as the gate to the game, not to be permanantly settled.

Really? Show me ANYWHERE that statement is written or SAID by ANY Funcom employee please.
Simply not true.

[JJDancer]

Walls and Villages
One of the joys of a sandbox survival game is creating large buildings. This is where a player’s creativity can really shine. Unfortunately, when it comes to ambitious castle or town designs, the resulting land claim can become a real problem on Official servers. For those of you who like to create these types of buildings, we recommend using single player mode or a private server to avoid action being taken against your clan.

Another ambiguous statement that only says they are a problem. Be specific please. Are they causing lag? Are they blocking resources? or are they just too big and people are inconvenienced by having to travel around them too much?

[Azmodeus]

Completely agree, official servers are meant to be played, not an entry point to move to an unofficial server.

Correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t see a reason to have official servers if they are not meant for anything else but stay and build communities around.

[erjoh]

@CodeMage

The only thing that I’m a bit concerned about are walls

Agreed but there is a difference between a defensive wall of a keep and a walled village or city. One or two small shacks next to a main building…that’s a keep and should be acceptable. 3-10 two story buildings…that’s a village and not acceptable.

[biggcane55]

That is what the bases of the new ToS is. It also saus it in yhe post. Read it. It, wothout exactly quoting says that if you want to build in that way (pics) then do it on SP or a private that allows it. Again, i believe that officials became more and more populated with artists and not gamers, thus the need to showcase thier builds. But the same can be done with video and pics without bogging down the officials.

[Apple1]

@Umborls wanna show us whats accepted or what you guys at funcom think is acceptable bases for officials?

As far as I can tell build a box in the open and thats it like huh?

[lanier67]

Sorry, but that is not a small village. I got deleted and banned for somethin 1/4th of that size

[speedice]

We have multiple bridges on our server. All are of varying styles, but all serve a purpose. They are not blocking anything, and are part of the player’s builds. Mostly, they are wide open with no gates, and allow players to get across the river and the lake near the Great Dam without swimming.

I guess our build on the river that extends into the water is land claim, since no one can build right on top of us. Oh wait, someone did. They built as close as possible to our base, and they did it with some truly terrible architecture. I do not have a picture of this thing, because they quit playing and we tore it down as soon as we could.

However, we specifically expanded the base into the water so we would not be claiming an area where other players would build.

Edit: I did find a picture of the build. It is truly the view that was missing

Under the rules, the bridge that is used to get to the base, which is also right beside the base, is considered land claim because it doesn’t allow trolls to build right on top of us. I mean, they could still build right up to the bridge.

All of the bases/outposts we have are out of the way, and do not block any resources. But, at least three of them would be considered land claim based on the subjective examples listed in the post. Our main base sits on a plateau that goes nowhere. There was nothing up there except two rocks. You can’t run across it and go anywhere other than off a cliff. People run by in the valley all the time, because there is nothing up there. But, there’s a small wall around the workshops and houses, and stairs up the cliff. Oh darn.

The rules need more refinement. I realize that bases aren’t going to come to the attention of the admins unless they are reported, since no one is roaming the servers looking for this stuff. But, if your base is not super large, and out of the way. what’s the problem? If your base is on the lake, and there’s a wide open bridge running through it connecting both sides of the lake, is that really an issue? Is a more ornate public maproom a nuisance, rather than a basic foundation pad?

[erjoh]

@biggcane55

officials became more and more populated with artists and not gamers

Welllll. My position is that you can be both.

However the main point of a sandbox is that it’s temporary and that is something that everyone seems to not understand. When you were a child and went to the park to play in the sandboxes there, you didn’t have the expectation of your sand castles still remaining…yet in a digital world, we have the expectation that it needs to be there forever because you have been going to the same sandbox for years. My position (and it appears to be far healthier both mentally and emotionally) is that if you have sat in the same position for years…it’s time to see what the next generation can do with that place and let yours decay.

Lets put it as a art analogy as well…in a public gallery, no one expects to have a painting showing for all of eternity on the gallery wall. It gets swapped out for another artist. Now if you want a museum, go private or SP but the officials are more akin to public galleries than museum.

[Barnes]

@speedice

The rules need more refinement. I realize that bases aren’t going to come to the attention of the admins unless they are reported, since no one is roaming the servers looking for this stuff. But, if your base is not super large, and out of the way. what’s the problem? If your base is on the lake, and there’s a wide open bridge running through it connecting both sides of the lake, is that really an issue? Is a more ornate public maproom a nuisance, rather than a basic foundation pad?

I’m really starting to become unglued here. This is just gorgeous. I mean isn’t this the POINT of PvE? Between you, and @JJDancer and several others who probably don’t want to be brought into this – I am willing to give up PvP as a game mode so that you players don’t have to deal with this. This is really becoming insulting and difficult to bear. I am very sorry a certain subset of players is ruining it for everyone.

[erjoh]

@Azmodeus

Correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t see a reason to have official servers if they are not meant for anything else but stay and build communities around.

You are wrong. You are wrong because you are missing that your call for permanence inhibits community growth. Sure you get along with the others in the server but the call for things to stay forever inhibits anyone new from coming in and trying their hand at it. Basically the servers have turned into walled gardens that claim to be inviting…as long as new players stick to that crap land over there to build your stuff in. In order to have a healthy environment, death and decay is necessary so that the new has room to grow. This is a factor in life as much as this game and one that I have seen being problematic with many folks as they refuse to sunset themselves to make way for the next generation. We should be encouraging the next generation to build in our spots that we parked in for years. Give them pointers but let them do their thing. You may learn something in the process for your next build.

[Rekt]

I’ve a PVP player on official server, and I love @JJDancer’s builds. This isn’t the first one of hers that I’ve seen, and they’re all beautiful. In a PVE setting, I can’t really say much, but in a PVP setting I can at least offer a different perspective.

I love artistic builds. To the point where it’s essentially a type of defense because I’m reluctant to destroy it. I’d probably shift them lower on my “watchlist” and only attack if they attack me first. Even then, I wouldn’t level the place. Just blow in the doors and raid the storage.

Onto the topic of the thread, I’ve dealt with all kinds of players on official pvp. There’s a HUGE difference between “large structures” and “Land Claim Spam” where they carpet the area in sandstone webs. And there’s also a huge difference between “large structures” and “cancerous structures.” Large structures are what I expect from 10-man Alphas, and artistic PVPers (we exist!), but if your base makes my Xbox weep for mercy just by looking in the direction that your base is built in, then it’s excessive and deserving of a wipe. NOTICE: I did not say admin wipe, and I also did not call for a ban. In a PVP setting, I don’t report anyone. For anything. If something offends me, I deal with it in my own way. Why play PVP if I’m not going to take advantage of the fact that the power is in my hands? I’d rather not rely on the admins to do my PVP for me.

[CodeMage]

@JJDancer

Another ambiguous statement that only says they are a problem. Be specific please. Are they causing lag? Are they blocking resources? or are they just too big and people are inconvenienced by having to travel around them too much?

My guess is that they can cause all of those problems and they just didn’t go into details about it. So now everyone who thinks that a wall is a natural part of their base design will either have to risk a ban or build without it, until they decide to clarify this, if they ever do.

@erjoh

Agreed but there is a difference between a defensive wall of a keep and a walled village or city. One or two small shacks next to a main building…that’s a keep and should be acceptable. 3-10 two story buildings…that’s a village and not acceptable.

There’s a difference, but we don’t know if that difference matters, and assumptions can end up being costly. For example, my Citadel of the Hierophants has been my main base on almost every official server where I played at one time or another. It takes a lot of work to build it, and if I ever start caring about Conan Exiles as much as I used to back then, I don’t think I would want to see it summarily wiped just because I guessed wrong.

It looks like this is going to be the next hot topic of discussions and ban complaints on these forums. Or maybe they’ll keep clarifying the rules, who knows

@biggcane55

Again, i believe that officials became more and more populated with artists and not gamers, thus the need to showcase thier builds.

I think your PVP bias is showing here. Just like I’m liable to make mistakes when talking about PVP balance because I don’t know how to PVP well, so you’re liable to make distinctions that don’t exist in PVE, such as the distinction between an “artist” and a “gamer”.

When you play a game in a non-competitive mode, that’s what it looks like and that’s how you have fun, by achieving non-competitive goals and sharing those achievements with your friends. And that encompasses all the game mechanics offered, from beating bosses to collecting loot to building bases, etc.

Conan Exiles playerbase is far from unique – or extreme – in that sense. Go look at what people have done in No Man’s Sky or Minecraft or Terraria.

And if you don’t like my saying all of that, @Barnes put it more succinctly:

@Barnes

I mean isn’t this the POINT of PvE?

Yes. Yes, it is. One of the important points, at least.

@erjoh

In order to have a healthy environment, death and decay is necessary so that the new has room to grow.

You hit the nail on the head there, with that whole post. Unfortunately, I strongly disagree with Funcom about who or what is supposed to bring that death and decay. I think the rules should be there to get rid of the malicious behavior, not to bring a counterforce to building. That counterbalance is something that should be a game mechanic, but I don’t want to derail everything by arguing about upkeep systems

[erjoh]

@speedice

But, at least three of them would be considered land claim based on the subjective examples listed in the post.

By letter of what was typed…maybe but definitely not the intent and the intent is very clear in the photos. A bridge like yours that is shown (please note this because if you have other things not pictured then I cannot comment on what you built on that server) that is connecting your island to the mainland isn’t the issue. A bridge that is connecting your island to Warmakers,Sepermeru, the Unnamed City, the Brimstone pits and the Slaveway…that’s an issue. Why is everyone insisting on binary pendelum swings? ‘Well they didn’t like the bridge spanning the entire noob river so my bridge is a no go because it’s clearly bridges that are the problem’…really? If you have that little faith in the administration of the server, why even play on said server?

[speedice]

@biggcane55

Again, i believe that officials became more and more populated with artists and not gamers, thus the need to showcase thier builds

And? In PvP, we build for stopping raids. There is nothing artistic about it. It is just for protection.

However, PvE is the place to build a nice looking base. Funcom evidently believed this since it’s right in the video trailer showing a large town being built. If not, why else would we have DLCs with decorative building styles? If the point was truly just a shelter, our building arsenal would have square foundations, walls, doors, doorframes, stairs, and ceilings. Placeables? What for? Why the need to decorate? Torches and a bed. that’s all we need.

[erjoh]

One thing that I recommend here. Can we get the land claim radius increased? There is a legit concern about building too close to eachtoher and the old landclaiming prohibited that. You have removed the ability to landclaim but the root issue of building right next to each other still exists. Heck I have seen in videos and have experienced personally this used as a raid mechanic as a tower is made next to the base and the raider is able to jump over the anti-climb and cling to a wall to prevent death. So can we get the root cause of why people landclaim on the radar of the dev team now?

[erjoh]

@speedice

If the point was truly just a shelter, our building arsenal would have square foundations, walls, doors, doorframes, stairs, and ceilings. Placeables? What for? Why the need to decorate? Torches and a bed. that’s all we need

Extreme pendelum swings there and the root mentality issue of many PVP players that makes the game unenjoyable on the PVP side.

[CodeMage]

@erjoh

Can we get the land claim radius increased?

Um, I don’t know what the correct terms here are, so excuse me for the clumsy phrasing, but here’s my concern about that: I don’t know if the cannot-build-here claim radius is sufficiently decoupled from the resources-do-not-respawn-here claim radius. If it isn’t, then I think increasing the claim radius is a problem.

[Ulyssi]

@Umborls

Please feel free to ask about any specific edge cases you have. This kind of feedback will be helpful to us.

I am surprised more people haven’t directly taken you up on this offer. Here are a few questions I have:

Foundation Web - These webs serve mostly as land claim, but also as a way to combat trebuchets. Is using the land claim system in any way as a defensive tool a violation of TOS? An example: If I build a base on the broken aqueduct on the Isle of Dusk(IOS), I have relative high ground to the area except a cliff to the western side. If I build a structure there to deny an easy trebuchet location, am I in violation of the rules? If any structure could be built there to serve this purpose, please describe it.

Bridges, Roads, Paths - To what extent is this point about scale vs intent? If I were to build a simple elevator on the cliff where the north zone overlooks The Black Galleon for ease of access am I in violation?

Decorate Land Claim - No further questions outside of the question posed earlier in foundation webs.

Walls and Villages - You use the word “ambitious” here which again leads me to wonder the degree to which this rule involves intent vs scale. You have provided examples of ambitious builds, and while I won’t ask for examples of acceptable villages/walls, can I ask that you confirm that a modest village/wall is not in violation? Or would you prefer we assume none to be acceptable, given that we have no line to avoid?

—————————

Miscellaneous - What is the position on QOL builds that exist outside of your “main base” location? If I build a thrall production base near Sepemaru and my base is in the volcano, am I in violation?

What is the position on multiple bases for clans with multiple members? Are clans restricted to a singular location?

Thank you @Umborls for taking the time to communicate with us and offer clarity. I look forward to any further information you able to provide.