Guardian Farm Rule Violations | Veterancraft Dedicated Server | Forum

This post is VERY belated.  My apologies.

When we updated to 1.8, it was initially unknown that Ocean Monuments (Temples) would pop up in Arda.  It was certainly a surprise to me.  But they did!  Or if they didn't, they at least saw Guardian spawning at the locations where they would have been.

The policy was that Temples in the OR could not be claimed, because they were a limited public resource in our resource world.  They must be maintained for all players.  But the Temples in Arda....those could be claimed, as Arda is for builds.

What staff failed to take into account, was that the "Guardian Farm" designs violate our Build Rules:

• Do not build structures in/on/across the ocean, natural lakes, or rivers unless the structure is properly supported, the structure you are building is submerged at least 5 blocks under the surface, and/or the shore is solid and looks natural. 

The basic design of these Farms is to have a cube or rectangular box from sea floor to sea level.  The walls of these boxes are sheer, and there is no water on top of them.

Which brings me back to the problem of now we have several Farms in Arda that are in violation with the Rules.

Since it is so belated, and since it is staff's (really my own) fault for not noting the violations or enforcing the rules right away, we're going to be very lenient on this, but we DO want them fixed.  While staff may not have noted that violations would be caused by these Farms, players on VC are expected to know the Rules and follow them without us having to catch you, and these ARE violations of the long-standing Build Rule regarding ocean structures.  So here is what we will do:

Players who CURRENTLY have finished Guardian Farms may either:

1. Layer as much water on top of the Farm as possible, between 1-5+ layers.  We will allow a Variance in the submerged depth requirement if you can't do 5+ layers without interfering with the function of the Farm.  But you must have at least 1 block of water at sea level, on top of your farm.  More if you can manage it.
2. Create an island around the Farm.  Maybe require those who use the Farm to put in some materials of sand or cobble or somesuch.  Make the island look natural.  Once you have solid and sloped island with natural contours, you'd be in compliance.  We will allow enough time for these islands to be made, but we do want to see progress.

Players wishing to make NEW Guardian Farms MUST follow the existing build rules, and either have the build submerged 5 or more blocks below the surface, or must build the natural/solid island at the same time that the Farm is built.  Failure to do so from here on out will have the build removed.

For those who currently have Guardian Farms, we need to know you exist so your Farm is accepted as existing.  Here is what I would like to see in the form of a response here:

1. Identification of your Farm.  Coords, Dynmap link, pics, etc.
2. Help with identifying other Farms you may know about, in case those owners don't see this thread.  Better yet, let them know so they can post here themselves.
3. A statement of which of the two methods of compliance you intend to do.  If the first one, we need to know if you're unable to submerge the full 5 blocks.
4. A timeframe for coming into compliance with the Rules.  For islands, we understand this will be longer, but we will need some timeframe.  But look at it this way....while you're working on compliance, the Farm can be active and getting you materials!

As I said, we'll be lenient and allow plenty of time for existing Farms to come into compliance, but if we don't see interest or movement in complying, the farms may (and will) eventually be removed.

Lastly, Farms in the OR (or the SR in future updates) will not be required to comply with the Build Rule, so long as the Farm is kept public and open.

This is the decision of VC Staff.  Please feel free to ask any questions if you need clarification, but any posts arguing about the decision itself will be deleted.  Thank you.