Topic

New House SIGNPOST Opinion Thread

I guess I'm trying to figure them out. Who knows if the way that they are is the way they will remain.

Nevertheless...

Old Glitch - streets (housing blocks) are public to everyone.

New Glitch - streets are semi-public to everyone. You can get anywhere, but only by traversing a confusing web of streets if your friends know the right people, and have added those friends to their signpost. I suppose that a teleport also works, if you bring up a person's profile and get to their street...but that makes it even more confusing, not to mention the TP cost.

So what do you prefer?

1 - Only being able to get to the streets that you are explicitly given permission to? This makes streets private.

2 - Being able to get to the streets of your friends, even without explicit permission? Kinda semi private, but with some control. Non transitive (I can't get to a friend's friend's street, unless I am directly friends with him).

3 - The way things are?

4 - Other?

Part of me thinks that signposts (or maybe street traversal) should be tied in to your keychain. If you have a key, you have a way to get to their street. Whether that maps to a signpost slot or not I'm not sure, but I don't think there should be a energy/token cost to TP to a friend anymore (assuming I have a key). I'd be penalized for an inefficient web of signpost confusion if there was a cost.

I'm still trying to think through the possibilities, so I'm looking for someone smarter than me to tell me the right answer. We all know that there's only one of those :)

Posted 10 months ago by Joe Blow Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • How they are is fine by me. On Grand Circuit we've got 45 continuous streets now, all connected that form a line (or a circle when a certain gap gets closed ;).

    Also, don't imagine it as thousands of dead ends - it's just how you're tied in that makes it funky. For instance, Grand Circuit looks more like this, if you imagine each person's street is actually a driveway of sorts:

    S----My driveway
    T----Neighbor 1 driveway
    R---Neighbor 2 driveway
    E---Neighbor 3 driveway 
    E---Neighbor 4 driveway
    T---Neighbor 5 driveway
    ...
    !---Neighbor 45 driveway

    Ideally neighbor 45 usually leads back to me, forming a circle :). Until we add more members, and then the road grows.

    There's a lot of other routes forming like this and people leave gnomes to guide you along the path. And it only uses up 1 signpost for most people; 2 signposts for trailheads that are connected. I can get around quite easily this way and can often do bigger harvests here in less time than I can in Ur.

    Edit - I've also met a TON of people I'd never have met at all otherwise ;) Good times!
    Posted 9 months ago by Moehr Ossum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I hate the dead ends that I come across, and the lack of being unable my decisions, lol. When on a housing run for cherry tree harvests, etc., I have to be really lucky in order to go onto a wrong street that links to a nearby street.
    Posted 9 months ago by Rook Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like how the streets are semi-public; they're fun to explore and I think it's cool that random people can come and explore "my" street. I think the way things are, the good outweighs the bad. The only thing that would make it better would be getting rid of dead ends and being able to put items down for decoration that can't be taken. Even if things remain the way they are though, I still love it!
    Posted 9 months ago by Omnika Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I definitely need more than 5 slots on the signpost. Joe's idea of a 6th slot on the signpost where you can access your whole friendlist might be a good compromise, but I also like the idea of being able to add an extra signpost (or two).
    Posted 9 months ago by Violet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Signposts all need a permanent "back" slot.
    Posted 9 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just want to pipe in that I would be very sad if our personal streets were made private.  It would seem to be a blow against Glitchiness, and take away many of the things I've come to truly enjoy about the new land.
    Posted 9 months ago by Carl Projectorinski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Let me start with an apology, this comment is long, and covers more than just signposts per-se (I feel that we cannot intelligently discuss sign posts without talking about the broader structure of how residential streets are linked), it is also a disorganized mess… it is a cut and paste from notes I’ve scribbled to myself   
    I have been mulling this over since TS let us start playing around with the new homes.  At first I did not see a problem with the street signs as currently implemented, but now that I’ve had plenty of time to use them I realize that I do not like them one bit, and find that, with the exception of player created resource loops and ---- and links to a very few friends, I just don’t bother visiting residential streets at all anymore.

    The problems, as I see them:  
    -The sign posts are counter intuitive… the idea that I can walk to my neighbors house, but cannot necessarily walk back just seems wrong, and frustrating when you find yourself on a dead-end street with no street sign links.   
    -It is currently impossible to deterministically navigate residential streets, with the exception of the resource loops.   
    -Current system lends itself to only random exploration.   
    -Current system does not allow any sort of mapping or use of the auto navigation system.   

    Ideas:   Signposts should be bi-directional.  That is, adding a street to your sign post automatically creates a reciprocal addition to the sign post of the target street.  Assuming 5 signs can be assigned by each home owner, then there would be 10 signs on each street.  Players would need to be unable to set up a sign to a street that has no open connections.  (optional: allow target home owner to accept or decline street sign connection)  This would eventually results in all home streets either being connected to each other (and navigable) or isolated (some players may prefer this)

    A new street added to each region that acts as an anchor for residential streets (there is a practical limit to the number of streets that can directly connect) a sign post exists on this street that can be linked to from a home street (up to available sign post slots)     

    Hubs… 1 or more public streets in the residential “region” that allow large(er) number of residential streets to be linked to it.  Similar to anchor streets, players would be allowed to create links from a home street up to the available number of sign post slots.   

    Group streets (assuming that, when group halls are added, they will each have a street) could act like hubs.  The group hall itself could be locked to only allow group members entrance while the street remains public, but only linkable by group members, again, up to the number of available sign post slots. 
      
    Picture the residential streets as a layer either above or below Ur.  A street connected to an anchor in one region, Groddle Meadow for instance, isn’t IN Groddle Meadow, it’s just connected to it, however, players may decide to maintain an aesthetic similar to the closest anchor street to give the feel of having a house in that region.  I might have my home street linked (directly or several streets removed) to the Aranna anchor street.   I might also have a link to my friends street, which in turn is linked to the Callopee anchor street.  (rules could be put in place to control minimum number of streets between anchor points to prevent use of residential streets as shortcuts)  You end up with a web of residential streets that link to each region anchor street,  these webs may be interconnected either directly (home street to home street signpost links) or indirectly through links to hub streets or group streets.  Additionally some residential street webs may be isolated, containing only signpost links to residential streets within that web and with no navigable link back to Ur… such streets would only be reachable via teleport.  I would also propose a currant cost (or time lock) for changing residential street signs to encourage some (limited) stability while still allowing players to dictate the structure of the residential game space.     

    Limit on links between a single residential street and anchor, hub, or group streets: A given residential street could have a limited number of non residential street links available, so that a player could not create one link to an anchor street, another to a hub street and a third to a group hall street.   This would create a web of residential streets that is interspersed with hub and group hall streets and accessible from specific locations in Ur. (note, I would not suggest removing the ability of a player to go directly to their /home as we can now)
    Posted 9 months ago by Syruss Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like the way you're thinking Syruss. I whole-heartedly agree that the current implementation is problematic, and that it sacrifices both a sense of place and a feeling of neighborliness that were available previously.

    I think regionally anchored hubs are a good idea.
    Posted 9 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I quite like how they are actually. We will have huge extensible yards so why would we need a private front yard as well?

    I do like the idea of the house having a some sort of link to a real street. Just one real street you can call your neighborhood.

    I think there should always be a link back to your own house when you are on other people's streets. You probably got there from your own street so you should be able to walk back again without much fuss.
    Posted 9 months ago by Melting Sky Subscriber! | Permalink
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