[suggestion] spawn res locations (maybe more of a question/conversation)

So as we've already stated, we won't be just adding spawn residences. I wanted to go ahead and clear up any of the misconceptions regarding spawn residences and issues/limits that we may have and players may not understand fully.

The derelict protection is not permanent and is put in place with a timer attached when requested, such as for summer vacation. The permanent protection that you are seeing on accounts that are not Staff or Supporters is due to that player purchasing that derelict protection. This is an option in the upgrade forum tab.

While some players are not active at this time, they may plan to come back in the future. For a player that poured 3+ years into EMC and timed it out or planned to optain that spawn residence, they may not want to just give it up due to taking a little break. It's like we always tell players when they rage quit. It's never advised to give away everything you own because you may want to come back one day and you won't want to start from scratch.

The inherent value of a spawn residence is only what the players decide it is. As an owner of the majority of SMP2 spawn (not selling so please don't spam my inbox), I've had my fair share of people upset with me that they are just Doctor Who statues/builds and not 'as pretty' as they could make with their giant mega mall, etc in that spot. To that I say great, but they aren't yours to decide what should be there and if I think that a dirt shack (or a giant blue box) is pretty, then it's within my right to make one on my plot, regardless of if it's next to spawn, a special event residence, or a corner residence in the middle of nowhere. I've had those spawn residences since I owned a shop, before I was even Senior Staff. Many of the current owners of spawn residences have had them for just as long as I have. It's EMC history at this point. In the past, when players would spawn at /town when they exited the tutorial, it actually mattered if your residence was the first one that the new player saw. These days the new players spawn on their new residence and the first thing that they see are their neighbors' plots around them instead. The only difference is when you have a player from another smp that is visiting for the first time. Even then, some of the better numbers, like 1234 on smp1 are smarter for advertising.

On the subject of voting. I agree that it's flawed and it leads to the awkward voting for other players' plots. However, there is no true way to fix this without changing it back to derelict protection only when logging in (I'd love to see THAT reaction). The voting system merely looks to see if the account was voted for and applies protection. In order to make it where only the owner can do so, there would need to be an IP confirmation through the votifier system. That's asking for multiple external sites (all voting ones) to share with us the IP that logs a vote, and then cross referencing those IPs to a members registered IP (which changes sometimes by the way). It's a near impossible ability that we won't have anytime soon.

So to wrap up what I've said above (with some fancy hashtags added):

• Derelict protection put in place by staff is temporary (will auto-remove at end of period) and if you see a non-staff or a non-supporter with permanent protection, they likely purchased/won it. If you want your residences protected in the same manner, purchase a derelict protection voucher on the supporter tab. #themoreyouknow
• Not all people that are 'gone' are truly gone. Some players have alts and others just can't play right now, or they are burned out. That doesn't mean they have to give up their stuff to take a break. We'll be here to welcome them back with open arms when they return. #theywillbeback
• Spawn residences really aren't as special as players make them out to be. In the past they were, but they aren't anymore. Try looking for neat numbers instead if you are wanting an advertising leg-up on the competition. #numbersaremagic
• Voting is flawed, but there is no fixing it. We could remove it, but I'm pretty sure that more players would be upset about that. If we ever announce that, I'm on an extended vacation and unable to answer inbox messages until the lynch mob dissipates. (not planning to, so that's a joke) #alltheinfosfromalltheplaces
• Forcibly moving and re-assigning res numbers to players is NOT going to happen. It's logistically a nightmare and would result in a riot of upset players (seriously not craving krysyy on a pitchfork atm) #letsnotandsaywenevertried

I hope this helps to clear up some of the issues from the staff's view (and possibly gave you a chuckle to lighten the mood).