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Tear Down the Walls! (Update on Pre-Placed Keep & Castle Lot Walls)

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by DarkStarr, Aug 10, 2017.

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  1. DarkStarr

    DarkStarr Executive Producer SOTA Developer

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    Greetings Avatars,

    When we originally created the Duke and Lord of the Manor pledges, we provided descriptions and screenshots that described keeps with castle walls. At first, these walls were pre-placed in the world and therefore offered no option for the owners of these lots to change the walls to other types, nor remove them. Later, we created wall kits that could be placed by players in pieces as decorations. These allowed players to place walls in any configuration they chose and to pick from different types. Once we had created these wall kits, we added a complete set to each Duke and Lord of the Manor pledge, and then removed the pre-placed walls from all scenes where they were before.

    Our belief at that time was that everyone would be quite happy with this change because now they had the option to choose whether they wanted the walls or not (or even pick different wall types through purchase or crafting). However, we were surprised to find out that there were many Dukes and Lords of the Manor who were quite displeased with this change and demanded that we place the walls back. Reluctantly, we relented and put the walls back (except in Dynamic Player Owned Towns, where Keep and Castle lots were kept “wall free”).

    Fast forward to earlier this year, Dukes and Lords of the Manor demanded that we revisit this conversation and held a poll in the forums which overwhelmingly supported the removal of the walls (again). We were happily surprised at the outcome of this poll and so we are once again removing the pre-placed walls. This change will occur as soon as Release 45 (but might slip to R46).

    In support of this change, we will also address a long standing issue with walls and fences so that they now cull at the same distance as houses. This means they will no longer disappear off-screen before the house itself does!

    NOTE: If any Duke or Lord of the Manor requires assistance with placing walls around his or her lot, there are several players who offer decoration services, and we will be glad to direct you to them. Feel free to contact us at support@portalarium.com and we can assist you!
     
  2. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    YAY!
     
  3. Arlin

    Arlin Avatar

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    I can't express how happy I am about this change. Thank you.
     
  4. Spoon

    Spoon Avatar

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    Oh this will be interesting. Is the third time the charm?
     
  5. Mad Hatter

    Mad Hatter Avatar

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    Just returning from a full week of Travel and has been a great week... to come home and see this... this is the icing on the CAKE!!!!

    THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

    I pledge to offer my assistance to ANYONE needing help :)

    -Mad Hatter

     
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  6. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    LoL. My, my, my aren't we a fickle community ^^
    I always suspected it but it's nice to see it proven ^^
     
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  7. nonaware

    nonaware Avatar

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    lol @people

    grats on staying sane this long devs
     
  8. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    I do think one complaint about walls was no decoration could be placed on them, but I could be wrong on that.
     
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  9. Daxxe Diggler

    Daxxe Diggler Avatar

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    I think this is a great change! Not only will it give those with those pledges the option to have or have not (and which type they want)... but it should also slightly help LOD performance in any/all cases where the walls are not used.
     
  10. Arlin

    Arlin Avatar

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    You can't place decos on the pre-placed walls. I believe you can place decos on normal walls.
     
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  11. smack

    smack Avatar

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    Awesome! And glad to see the cull distance being fixed finally!

    Are Fencing/Wall Tools still on the schedule or has this been dropped? From the Final Wipe post:

    I think it was said during some telethon that you might not be able to do the "complete set" thing, but is snapping pieces together still planned?
     
  12. Lazarus Long

    Lazarus Long Avatar

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    OMG! REALLY?

    I gotta say I never thought I would see the day that this change would EVER happen!

    WOOT!!! :)

    Laz
     
  13. Odin BloodBayne

    Odin BloodBayne Avatar

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    If this happens I will be a lot more pleased. That is what really bothered me with the wall kits. Not seeing the walls from a distance.
     
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  14. Alley Oop

    Alley Oop Bug Hunter Bug Moderator

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    nope. someone will complain about the loss of acreage on lots where the walls have to be placed on the lot itself rather than in the town.
     
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  15. Waxillium

    Waxillium Avatar

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    Sweet. Your fix gives everyone fences at a distance! Tired of running into fences I can't see.
     
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  16. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    Fixed that for you ;-)

    (i admit i suspect you talk about the culling distance, but i can't let go of this bad joke, sorry ^^)
     
  17. redfish

    redfish Avatar

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    Hedges might make sense to include, too, because people may use hedges as fencing -- there is the a hedge fence, but just like there are non-fence walls, you got the non-fence hedges.

    I'm not aware of all the current culling rules, but I'm guessing large trees and large statues might make sense to include if they're not already included.
     
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  18. Mad Hatter

    Mad Hatter Avatar

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    Hello Alley,
    Assuming you're referring to the current Duke walls... The current walls are already on individuals lots and not part of the town.
    If I am reading your post wrong, then I'm sorry (Jet Lag) :)

    -MH
     
  19. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    Sweet! I'm super happy to utilize that extra space.
     
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  20. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    Nope.
     
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