Why Cactus County got so big. Also I'm asking how can I stop its expansion?

dogforcerecon

I don't like confrontation but I feel I need to explain how Cactus County got to be its size. First of all it isn't just me that builds there in fact most of it is built by other players who I let build on my plot and that is why it started growing so big in the first place. There is at least five people that contributed but people come and go so you can see the changes over time. Most of the large buildings were built by them. I built Mojave City on the southern half of the ring road. Not even that area is just my build as it was worked on by three people. Not a single one of these areas is really one person but more of a community. The area was built away from everyone and I figured I don't really care what people build here so why would you guys care since it is faraway from the mainland and I couldn't dare douse creativity from the builders here. I just figured let people build creatively. I designed many of the towns I will admit but the reason they sprawl so much was because of you guys. You wanted denser builds so we put density laws up but I'm not going to force all our old builds to adhere to them since people were building the old way first so I sort of tried my best to refurbish these older buildings to fit your needs and pushed newer buildings north and west where there could be more density since the older buildings could no longer fit that.
These areas are the main problem now a days. If you guys would have set a land cap earlier and if you guys would have given instruction on how much interior a house needed we would not have been in this mess. I take responsibility for my actions but I had no idea about your rules on this despite having searched the forums and wiki for hours. Also it's not like I intend to force new players off of this land actually quite the contrary I like to build cooperatively and despise that idea. In fact the reason it go so big was because of that, when you have many people on one build you have a large amount of land. You may have one person build Oranjestad so the build has a lot more ease and regulation to it while also taking a lot less area. We have 5 people and many contributors so not everything is agreed upon on what is expected. Please give me more direction next time and if this comes off as rude I don't intend it to be.

Hay

Hi, dogforce
It's unfortunate you feel like staff wasn't clear with you on the amount of space you are allowed to claim on the Shire. The first step we take to making sure people are using a fair amount and only the amount of space they intend to fill, is by asking each new Yeoman to outline the border of the land they intend to claim with glowstone before building. This way, a staff member can look at the area and then let the member know to either go ahead and start building or change the size of their claimed land.
Were you not asked to do this when you joined us in the main world? If not, I do apologize for the miscommunication. As there were many many new Yeoman joining us, a few may have slipped through the cracks when land-claiming was happening.

As far as adding builders is concerned, we think it's wonderful that you are collaborating with others to add to Cactus County. I think I can see where another miscommunication is here, as well.
When someone adds builders to their land, they do not extend the land. They give them space in the land they have already claimed. What you've been doing is extending the land every time someone else joins your build.
Perhaps you can think of the Shire building space as an all-you-can-eat buffet for a moment. We want you to have your fill and be happy with as much land as you want to build on, but please, fill the land you claim before moving on to claiming more. It would not be fair to other customers at a buffet and it would be wasteful to stack a plate full of food, only eat a third of it, then take another large plate of food and do the same thing.

It's understandable you would feel unjustly confronted because we didn't tell you, very specifically, just how much land you can claim and just how much should be done with your building. Again, it's unfortunate you feel that way. What I'd like for you to begin considering for your time here on the Shire is that we are accustomed to members using a sense of common knowledge when making decisions about their builds and lands. We are not the type to micro-manage, so we do not want to have a ton of rules posted about what to do and what not to do. We understand that there are many exceptions to every rule so we try to keep things light and fun in that department.
If you are unable to make decisions about your land by following the same ideals of using reasoning and a sense of common knowledge, then I will be happy to write up a set of extremely specific and strict rules for you to abide by with regards to your builds.

Please let me know how I can help. And again, it is so unfortunate you feel this way. We do appreciate your perspective and hope you can understand ours.

nebbers

dogforce - we have many cities on the Shire that are much bigger than Cactus County.  We don't mind sprawl but we value quality over quantity.  Focus on completing your existing buildings and making them great! Make Cactus County a quality place deserving of preservation. I'd encourage you to look at the many cities on the server and draw inspiration from them to make Cactus County a well-detailed area that everyone wants to visit.

I know you can do it!!  I hope some day Cactus County will be so awesome that it will deserve its very own featured youtube video on our channel!!! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChy3LLXvE7kq2CScGnaVNqg

dogforcerecon

Thx for the advice. Sorry if I came off as pushy

Hay

[quote="dogforcerecon;6851"]Thx for the advice. Sorry if I came off as pushy[/quote]

No need to apologize. Thank you for reaching out to get it all cleared up.  

Just like Nebbers said, we are looking forward to seeing Cactus County becoming a thriving city!