This is a combination of everybody's ideas. 1. Beacons don't affect reach as far or as high/low as we want them to. The AOE (area of affect) is increasing in 1.5: 1 layer: 41 block diameter (previously 33) 2 layers: 61 block diameter (previously 49) 3 layers: 81 block diameter (previously 65) 4 layers: 101 block diameter (previously 81) To settle the arguments on this part (the arguments ONLY for the AOE range), I think we should keep the x-z AOE range the same (keep in mind it increases in 1.5) but increase the range of the 'y' coordinates (up and down right?) throughout our whole plots. 2. Beacons' AOE reach out of our plots and into other people's plots. Just make the edges of our plots boundries. 3. Beacons are laggy. If you actually want an effect, make it- don't do it just because you can. You can place a beacon down having the light shine into the sky without having to create an effect. Tips Even after you leave the beacon's AOE, its effect will still last for a couple of seconds. Think of it like a potion- it has to wear away. You can place non-opaque blocks on top of a beacon without the beacon deactivating. The actual beam does not lag the server; it is being loaded on your client. The minecraft wiki page: http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Beacon
I voted Bacon, and in 1.5 the beacon effect covers distance going up with the beam. So a beacon at level 10 provides effects at level 250 still.
It does take care of vertical coverage, but that won't solve the horizontal AOE problems. I think it's a great idea.
