POT Templates

Yeah, I was asking a lot of the questions.

 

if you knew you needed a giant area, im not sure that choosing an island was the best idea, but im sure it can be done currently as a static town. Im not in any way involve din PoT stuff tho, so it's pending what kind of options you have as a static town.

 

i was posting for people who didnt see it

 

I see what you're saying now. Yes, that might be one way to go, request a static town and then flatten all that land out. That might work.

The changes for the island template haven't gone into R25, so we should see those in R26, and maybe that will help. I'll certainly test it out to see if it's a viable option now.

 

wait and see what the grasslands looks like. If terrain elevation is simple, it might be easy to just lower the terrain all around the outside of the scene, put water in it and call it an island.

 

The problem, Spoon, is that no *dev* ever said that if we wanted to have serious input, we needed to make all of Paxlair's PoT meetings. We asked over and over for dev feedback on PoT issues, but very little was given. We were basically all told to wait patiently as they worked out how it would all be done - and being the patient group that we are [and by and large, the PoT owners are tremendously long on patience], we all waited.

Further, we *did* do a lot of research. And I did attend one Paxlair PoT meeting on behalf of ODE. We quickly determined that what we wanted was different than how Paxlair would be built, and thus, we had nothing to offer at those meetings and nothing to be gained by attending them - no disrespect meant to Winfield or the PoT meetings which he held. No one ever said that Winfield was the "official go between" for the PoT owners and Portalarium. In fact, I believe the dlmb was invoked to say that Winfield was *not* the official go between.

The bottom line is that most PoT owners feel as though they have been pulled into what is commonly called a "Bait and Switch" scheme - tell someone they are getting "x" and then, in the end, give them "y." The end result is a lot of PoT owners who feel that they have somehow been cheated, which is not Portalarium's style.

Now, I know that Portalarium did not do this intentionally. I understand they have their budgetary constraints, a small team, etc. But they have done the "duck and weave" on answering PoT questions for a *very* long time. And now they are implying [because it has never been articulated clearly and concisely] that whatever we happen to have when the game goes live is *it* - that's it, folks, you have what you have.

What I (personally) would like to see is this:
- Port needs to step up and have a deep dive that is on *nothing* but PoTs;
- Port needs to work out some mechanism so that a PoT's template may be changed after the game goes live;

btw, I hate this thing of calling a biome a template - it is not the same thing!​

- Port needs to be more clear about the costs involved.

Yes, dev time is costly - we get that. But what the hell was the $5,000 for? Can't $5,000 buy a template which is based on some pre-existing NPC town template? At one point they strongly hinted that it would be "okay" to base a PoT template on a pre-existing NPC template - now all of a sudden they won't allow it? Even if an NPC template is "too small" - can't they take that template and stick it in the middle of a large flat metro-sized biome? And yes, there might be perfectly valid answers to my questions which explain why this or that cannot be done - but it needs to be explained by Port.​

- We were also told that "elements" of other scenes could be incorporated into a PoT. Whatever happened to that?

We need Portalarium to face the growing number of PoT owners who are carrying pitchforks. I am certain that with enough back and forth and communication, we will either find a better path to dealing with these issues, or we will have an in-depth understanding of what the challenges are. PoT owners need that and PoT owners deserve that.

So. That is how I feel about it. imho.

 

@Raven Swiftbow

I'm hoping we get a better set of answers from this.

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...s/heres-what-i-need-to-know-about-pots.43700/

 

In the telethon, Darkstarr said they will be looking at some of the NPC towns that are big enough to allow for all size towns (i.e. including Metros) to have the space they need. The one he mentioned by name was Owlshead, but I am sure there are others that fit that criteria. He said he thought it was a great idea and would allow them to get some templates out quickly to the POT owners.

 

@Raven Swiftbow
???
Before I respond in full. What do you expect in my reply? And why direct it visavi me? I'm more than willing to answer with the stuff I know, but most seem as if it would be better directed at a Portalarium representative, as such I'd advice the BDF approach and start a feedback topic on it. Especially since I am in almost complete agreement with your conclusion while not necessarily with all the details leading to that conclusion.

 

10,000 times yes

 

Yes, there's been way too much "He said/she said" and precious little "We say" from Port.
But DS has now said that more is to come... So...........

 

I asked for a flat template surrounded by mountains when it had become apparent that there wasn't going to be a Blackstone Bluff (promise, delay, excuse, repeat for 1.5 years). Seemed like a pretty reasonable and simple request. The answer was a typical delay. This thread reminds me of the other 50 threads on the subject that have been discussed to nausea.

I honestly believe POT owners should settle for the Paxlair(drawn on a napkin town) Template and let them finish the rest of the game. POT owners are a small minority of backers and Port has a ton of other stuff to do. I do believe they will make a pass on towns after launch but if you look at it from a different angle, it is better to have individual players happy or there will be no one to live in the towns.

I know I have "quit" but I still have a monetary interest in this game.

 

It seems reasonable to me that we can squeeze in a few non-Pax Lair templates that can support larger towns before EP1.

If I have to work off a template, I think it's fair that there's a choice that clearly supports a large sprawling area. Not just for me, but for other POT owners that share my interest in that model. I think it's also important to keep in mind that I don't plan to be the only person living in my 525 lot town (though it's a possibility that I've planned for). So it's not like this is only for me, it has the potential to impact a lot of people that might appreciate what Rats Nest has to offer. We really won't know unless I have that opportunity though. That opportunity doesn't exist in the current templates as of R25.

 

Oh! Absolutely no offense/attack meant, Spoon! (hugs) I just wanted to point out issues as I see them with how things have been handled. It wasn't aimed at you - but it was a good jumping off point. I was reading along and by the time I got to your reply I thought - I do need to jump into this conversation! Sorry!

 

I asked during the telethon if we would be able to change our template later... If they came out with more. Since I don't plan on building out my pot on day one Im patient to wait for more choices. I just don't want to be locked into the choices we have right now.

 

If more is to come we just have to wait. There are so many issues to solve and things to add. This 2016 will be huge for Portalarium . Just wait few months. Huge things

 

Great post.

 

Blake, if Port comes back and officially tells us that, I would be happy. I am pretty much the 'eternal optimist' (trust me, my friends all accuse me of that) and am very patient to boot. But being such an optimist does, on occasion, bite when what I am hopeful for does not come to pass, in part, because I've waited patiently for too long, lol. So yeah, I am 'poking the bear' a little on this topic. I trust that Portalarium will take this poke in the manner I intend - frustrated, but affectionate. But then, I was misunderstood by Spoon (understandable - I shouldn't have springboarded off of his post) . . . .

 

I remember you from the POT hangout and could tell you were a positive optimist! I am completely with you on the "being patient for too long" stance. What I think Port fails to realize is all they have to do is give a solid timeline to backers and a lot of the frustration would be squelched. I think a lot of people here understand the situation but if there is a fire, you go put it out and dont let it turn into something that gets out of hand. Starr is stretched thin and I think it would be a community manager's job to recognize where the community is frustrated and handle those situations instead of the core team having to keep up with it. Anyway, I tried every which way to foster a healthy POT community to no avail(not just Blackstone Bluff) because it is uber important. I really hope they listen to you guys and simply tell people what and when to expect things.

 

did you get an answer?
is there a way for those of us who WANT to wait for something more to our liking and are willing to 'settle for now', to get put on some sort of list they look at later - so they CAN get on with getting on?

in case you did not:
@Hutch @DarkStarr @RichardGarriott @Lum