A C E D L

Projects & Policy

Green Growth: A Plan for Sustainable Development in Asheron's Call

What are the goals for the Green Growth plan?

The Mission: To advocate a proactive plan of action for the Turbine development team that supports sustainable development in Asheron's Call.

The mission of this plan is advocacy. The ACEDL obviously does not directly develop game play policy, nor does ACEDL receive any preferential treatment. Our best resource is raising awareness of issues through all available channels, and this plan is one example. It is proactive, in that it addresses a potential problem in its infancy. It outlines a suggested course of action in a clear and discrete manner. And it provides for growth, recognizing that a strong push towards development and land ownership of some sort will likely occur.

The Vision: A balanced, fulfilling environment in which all guilds and players will want to continue playing.

The two features most touted about Asheron's Call have been the ability to explore a breathtaking environment and the unique social nature of the interactive allegiance system. Balance between these two ideals will be necessary. Guilds must be free to grow, and this growth may one day include land ownership. But this growth must not be allowed to degrade the game play environment.

What are the problems with unchecked growth?

Just as in the real world, growth can prove detrimental to the environment if it is unplanned, unchecked, and unmanaged. While it is a virtual environment, the landscape of Asheron's Call is not immune to some of these dangers.

Aesthetics. Obviously, the most visible sign of unchecked growth will be blights on the landscape itself. Our ever-expanding cities will reach into the wilderness, leaving less and less room in which to hunt creatures. Imagine the whining from new home owners about the monster spawns near their residence, and you can begin to see why new houses means fewer creatures farther from civilization. Perhaps worse, the beautiful pristine views from the mountaintops, wooded hills, flowing rivers, and sprawling falls will be forever besmirched with houses of wood and stone.

Inequity. New players, some from overseas markets, will constantly be joining the game. They will find themselves locked out of the housing market, all the prime sites taken, all the good real estate deals done. Take the current complaining about hoary mattekar robes or other resource limited aspects of the game and multiply it by a thousand. The same inequity holds true for the individual player who does not belong to a wealthy guild, or who belongs to a small guild that chooses to remain small to keep a sense of family.

Playability. Unchecked growth can lead to some game play issues as well. Portal storms in the larger, more popular cities will only get worse. Popular hunting sites will become overrun with housing developments. Housing located near "power leveling" areas will give unfair game play advantages to guilds who build first, an especially important topic on the player versus player scene.

Why should growth be permitted at all?

While we applaud the amazing variety of continuous change and marvel at the depth of the unfolding story in Asheron's Call, we recognize that the development team will not always be able to maintain the current level of activity. Staff will move on to other projects, resources will always be limited, and (put bluntly) providing some sort of permanent, persistant object will provide an incentive for players to continue paying their monthly subscription fee. We certainly recognize the real world pressures that may drive these decisions.

The ACEDL is not opposed to growth; indeed, we feel that it could add a refreshing, welcome addition to an already impressive game, especially considering the amount of innovation Turbine has shown implementing the other features of Asheron's Call. But we are advocating for growth that will bring the community together, not drive it apart.

What are the particulars of the plan?

1. BANKS : Create community banks in each of the major cities.

Many players who are advocating for player-owned housing are really just looking for a place to store their stuff. The excessive tariffs imposed by the current trade note system (10 to 30 percent) make trade notes a less than appealing method of transporting wealth, but the system is certainly adequate. The real issue is storing accumulated weapons, armor, and magic items.

The Green Growth plan calls for one bank per town, with one chest per player account, preferably in the town of the player's choosing. Having such a chest provides a safe means of transferring items between a player's characters. It also opens up more game play options by doing away with the need to create "mules" with one or more of the character slots; many players would like to try out a mage or archer or melee fighter, but cannot because their slots are full of mules. And the additional storage room fosters the allegiance system by allowing patrons to keep lower-level items handy for new recruits.

We envision banks similar to the meeting halls, a modest structure surrounding a portal to a larger room containing the chests. This is in keeping with community centered development and follows precedents already set by Turbine in the creation of the meeting halls.

2. HOUSES : Provide for housing, but keep the landscapes open.

The Green Growth plan assumes that players do not to spend their on-line time sitting around inside a virtual house. Probably ninety percent of the players advocating for housing are looking for item storage (see Bank) or status recognition. The remaining players doubtlessly would like private meeting facilities to host weddings, to hold guild meetings, or to have parties without being interrupted by rude, uninvited guests.

We envision one or two portals per town that lead to an underground space or unpopulated area (perhaps on an uncharted island). From here, a series of portals lead to the actual houses. These doorway portals are behind locked doors, the keys to which respawn in a player's bank chest.

The nature of houses as status symbol is maintained through location and appearance. The houses closer to the master entrance and exit portals will be more valuable. And the structure surrounding the doorway portals can be more elaborate on the more expensive houses. Not to mention that the houses themselves (on the other side of the doorway portals) can range in size from a small two room bungalow to the cavernous meeting halls.

While obviously resource intensive, this approach to housing seems to be consistent with the developments Turbine has made to date. It helps move player gatherings away from the shops and markets, relieving portal storm stress. The plan uses tools that have already been developed. And once the foundation has been laid (designing four or five floor plans and the main housing area), future development should proceed easily.

Conclusion

The models for banks and houses presented in the Green Growth plan stress two major themes. One is building community. The other is protecting the environment.

Are they practical suggestions, from a software design standpoint? Probably not. Can they be implemented without excessive time and effort from the Turbine staff? Definitely not.

But consider...

Players will come together in banks and in housing areas, free to trade without disturbing others and without causing portal storms. Rivalry between guilds will be fostered without the competition spilling over into the natural landscape. Unchecked growth will not be allowed to clutter the scenery and drive wedges between players, new versus old, player-killer versus non-player-killer, loner versus monarch.

Green Growth is planned and managed; it is directed towards the goal of sustainable development. Green Growth means change, but a focused change, with a continued emphasis on all the reasons why we all started playing Asheron's Call in the first place.