Vetronia City and Regional Planning | VeteranCraft General Discussion | Forum

Preface

Part of this thread will probably parallel the MVPP thread, but this will be fairly extensive and I don't want to hijack Ryan's thread.  Please try and separate the discussions.  Also keep in mind that everything I discuss here is merely an interpretation of Planning practice and theory as it could relate to VeteranCraft, and like all Planning even IRL is NOT set in stone.  Comment, question, critique, and criticize, but do so constructively.

Background

I am LightWarriorK.  Most of you regulars know me by now, and I'd like to think that after a month of playing on VeteranCraft I have started to integrate with the society on this server.  IRL, I have my Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning, my certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners, and 7 years of experience with a county and regional government.  Outside reality, I am well-versed in videogame planning, being experienced with both the SimCity and RollercoastTycoon series, both of which have emphasis on placement location and people-moving.  I have been playing Minecraft since September 2009, and have been staff (moderator and admin) of the official MC forums since March of 2010.

Introduction

Recently, there have been some discussions in-game regarding laments on how Vetronia has grown, dissatisfaction on how it currently exists, and concerns on how it will grow in the future.  None of these arguments are strange to me, I hear them all the time, however Minecraft is not the real world.  Still, this thread is my solution to those discussions.

Several of the points that were made are as follows (with their IRL equivalent issue):

• Vetropolis being underused and (while pretty) mostly vacant (Urban Blight)
• Sprawl across the world map (Suburban Spawl)
• Unused and abandoned structures/cities (Greyfields)
• New players being confused and unsure of where to go (Wayfinding)
• New and non-dotating players left at a disadvantage (Economic Disparity)

There are other issues, I'm sure, which I might touch on as I go.  

Caveats

Realize, before I get into this, that in all aspects the core principles of Minecraft must be preserved.  In no way should anything I say below be used as reasons to control, restrict, prohibit, or even "strongly encourage" users (new or otherwise) to build in certain places or build in a certain way (outside of Residence, of course).  Minecraft is about freedom, and that must not be harmed.

In addition, in some of these discussions I have heard rumblings of resetting the Vetronia map and "starting fresh."  This, to me, sounds a lot like "Springfield, Plan B" as noted here.  Basically, when the town is trashed the residents pick up the whole town and move 5-miles down the road.  This, as I have noted in the conversations leading up to this thread, is something I'm completely against.  You don't "throw the baby out with the bathwater."  None of the problems that Vetronia has, or is perceived to have, can't be fixed with the proper attention.

Lastly, remember that I am just one guy.  A true planning process is open and collaborative, requiring the input of everyone who is interested.  No person, despite their tenure in an city/server, has more of a say than anyone else.  With Residence, it becomes a bit of a different beast, and naturally areas within a Res are under full control of their owners.  But outside, in the public land, everyone needs to have a say.

Planning

Full education in City and Regional Planning requires much more room, time, and effort than I can go into here, but there are some highlights I'd like to start out with.  Namely, types of plans which might be effective for helping Vetronia.

• Comprehensive Planning
  • Comp Plans are required of every municipality in the United States.  You can go on to any website and find them. Smaller cities have very simple and brief plans, while larger cities can have plans hundreds of pages thick.  These plans are "non-binding," which means that they are not laws unto themselves, but guidelines from which laws and codes can be made from.  There are eight elements required of a Comp Plan, and I will go through them and show some examples of how they can be applied to Vetronia:
    • Population - a look at who is joining.  More importantly, who is staying.  Differentiation between those who set up a Res and those who just come to watch a build-off or spleef.  Also includes demographic information, whether there is economic disparity among the players.
    • Economic Development - Where the shops are.  More importantly, where the shopping districts are.  Are people congregating where the shopping takes place?  Can they get to those areas easily?
    • Natural Resources - What areas are being preserved as natural?  The replanting rules and no-strip mining rules help, but what about areas that are flattened for cities and then abandoned?  Are there ways to encourage more environmentally-friendly development?
    • Cultural Resources - The locations of the arenas, the plazas, recreational facilities, etc.  Are they out of the way, or are they accessible to those who would wish to use them?
    • Community Facilities - The Visitor's Center, the Mall, the Bank, the Embassies, etc.  Are they in locations where people will find them?  Is the spawn of sufficient size, and do it and the Visitor's Center have enough information, and clear enough to help new users find what they need?
    • Housing - Where are plots available?  Few, if any , users will want to buy a pre-fabricated housing.  Minecraft is about building.  Are there sufficient areas where people want to build?  Are those areas accessible to other areas, via transit systems?  If a person wants to build near cities, are there places where he's allowed to do so?  If a person wants to build in the middle of nowhere, can he get there?
    • Land Use - How is the land being used?  Is it being used effectively?  Are abandoned or vacant areas being reclaimed and reused effectively?  Are there areas that should be incentivized for development?
    • Transportation - Where are the transit systems?  Are they effective?  Do they go where people want to go?  Or only into places where people have completely Res'd the whole area?  Are there opportunities to improve the connectivity between cities? Are roads in place to help new players find places to build?  Are the transportation hubs accessible to those who need to use them?  Is there a way to incentivize their use by those who really don't need them?
  • In addition, Comp Plans deal with:
    • Vision - Where Vetronia wants to go in the future.  What it wants to be.
    • Goals - Specific benchmarks for each element.  Example: "To make Vetropolis the greatest Minecraft city in existence."
    • Objectives - How the plan can achieve the Goals.  Example: "Increase the number of structures in Vetropolis by 10x."
    • Strategies - Detailed recommendations on how to achieve the Goals and Objectives.  Example: "Open up additional areas for purchase within Vetropolis for player projects."
• "SWOT" Analysis
  • A detailed look at the functioning of a community.  Very useful when determining the potential benefits and impacts of a project
    • Strengths - Vetropolis, Portal Ships, 10k x 10k world map, Mature user base, etc.
    • Weaknesses - Minecraft isn't society-friendly, Spread out cities, Confusing to new members, Numerous abandoned areas, etc.
    • Opportunities - Lots of unused areas to build in, players willing to solve problems, a good base of active cities to start from
    • Threats - Griefers, Increasing numbers of abandoned areas, larger number of disconnected cities
  • Due to the nature of Minecraft, it may not always be possible to improve upon the positives or mitigate the negatives, but it's important to identify what they are, and what might be done about them.
• Zoning Regulations and Building Codes
  • For Residenced areas, it is possible through good planning and documentation to allow for users to have greater freedom with their buildings, while maintaining the look and feel of the city.  These ARE laws, those who agree to build by them are subject to penalties if they are violated.  
  • Some of the things these codes (set by each Res'd City) could control would be
    • Types of Materials used
    • Roof type and shape
    • Landscaping
    • Requirement for Interior Detail.
    • Ingress/Egress requirements (how to access the property)
  • These should not be applicable outside Res'd areas in any way.
• Mapping and Future Land Use
  • A visual collaboration on the future of Vetronia, most notably in Vetropolis.  Identification of additional districts, transportation routes (streets, minecart lines, portal ship/airship docks, etc.), municipal features, civic areas, etc., all mapped out to allow Meat, Frell, and the rest of the staff to 1) construct the new areas, and 2) subzone plots so that members can buy and build on them.  As with IRL cities, those plots would be subject to the highest of prices and the strictest of regulation, depending on what the owner wants to see.

Work Session

I don't want to overwhelm you all too much, so I won't go deeper into planning theory at this point.  Most of it is irrelevant, since Minecraft =/= Reality.  I do have some ideas to put out there to try and solve some of the issues identified at the top of this post, and I will attempt to tie it back into the above planning concepts I DO consider to be relevant.

• Vetropolis being underused and (while pretty) mostly vacant (Urban Blight)
  • Discourse: Too much of Vetropolis is just unnecessary.  While it looks good, and serves as a nice spawn, there are really only a few highly-used areas.  The spawn, the free-to-take/leave chest, the mall, and the harbor.  How often are the Embassies visited?  The stand-alone shops?  The University?  City Hall?
  • Proposed Goal: To make Vetropolis a vibrant and useful city
    • Possible Objective: Get people passing through the city more frequently
      • Possible Strategy: Remove non-party teleporting from all but staff, so that the Vetropolis as a transportation hub becomes more widely utilized.
      • Possible Strategy: Improve the transit systems to encourage more convenient visits
    • Possible Objective: Improve everyday activity within the city
      • Possible Strategy: Increase the number of districts in Vetropolis, both for commercial and residential uses, and provide lots for sale
      • Possible Strategy: Encourage public works projects to enhance beautification and open space of the city.  People love hanging around pleasant areas.
      • Possible Strategy: Include a "Freebuild District," for unrestricted, griefing-allowed building.  A Minecraft "playground," if you will.  Materials not provided.
      • Possible Strategy: A "Mini-Hunger Games" Arena, specifically sized for in-city.
    • Possible Objective: To increase population within the city
      • Possible Strategy: Give all new members, upon request, a free apartment within Vetropolis, complete with bed and protected chest.  Valid for 1 week only, while they figure out where they will live.
      • Possible Strategy: Create a list of Residents, continuing, proven members, and provide them with one small subzone for free.
• Sprawl across the world map (Suburban Spawl)
  • Discourse: This can be a tricky issue, even IRL, to stop sprawl.  Without regulating where people build, which wouldn't be good, the best course is to provide encouragements for not spawling.
  • Proposed Goal: To encourage players to build in or close to existing cities
    • Possible Objective: Make access to portal ships a little easier.  Currently most ships are contained completely within a city, surrounded by Res'd areas which cannot be built on.  Thus, players are forced further out into the wild, with the hope of creating their own ship someday.
      • Possible Strategy: Encourage the placement of city harbors and portal ships to be located so that it is easy for travelers to enter the wilds just outside the city, without encroaching on it.
      • Possible Strategy: Fund, through communal donations or server resources, one or more "unbound" Waystation portal ships which will dump players into wild areas, unowned by a city.  Much like the Outer Reaches portals.  Server-owned Res at the portal site would provide minimal infrastructure to get a player started.
      • Possible Strategy: Wayfinding to and from portal ships, so that players can find areas to build easier.
    • Possible Objective: Replace or reuse old structures.  (See Below)
    • Possible Objective: Improve the effectiveness of cities as places that people will want to live in.  With the possibilities of Minecraft, a 15x15 lot isn't very appealing to new players, until they've established their own homes elsewhere.
      • Possible Strategy: Encourage city owners to develop free proto-districts outside their Res border to entice new players to build there.
      • Possible Strategy: Discourage the use of flat, small-lot districts within cities on grids.  They're not very appealing.
  • Proposed Goal: To keep cities that build further out from becoming too discontiguous from the society
    • Possible Objective: Improve transportation options between cities.
      • Possible Strategy: Require that a "city" must have lots available for sale or sufficient access to free areas before they can qualify for a major portal ship. Private portal ships must be minor, so as to not attract attention.
      • Possible Strategy: Connect all cities on the map with both roads and minecart rail lines.
    • Possible Objective: Provide adequate information about each active city so that players can be informed about the areas of Vetronia
      • Possible Strategy: Require all cities to create and maintain a page on the VeteranCraft wiki highlighting the location, features, and available building opportunities.
      • Possible Strategy: Improve and maintain wayfinding so that all players can find their way to the various destinations
      • Possible Strategy: Create a series of thematic maps to inform and enlighten the players on the makeup of Vetronia
    • Possible Objective: Make the cities more inviting to newcomers, visitors, and prospective landowners
      • Possible Strategy: Prohibit the general use of Move and Use flags within the city, exempting sensitive subzones, of course.
      • Encourage proper signage and wayfinding throughout the city
• Unused and abandoned structures/cities (Greyfields)
  • Discourse:  The rules state that after 30 days of not being signed on, a players Res and structures will be removed.  However this doesn't seem to happen, at least not all the time.  Thus the map is starting to feel cluttered in some places by abandoned buildings.  There are also buildings by current players that are unused and taking up valuable space for no real reason.  These locations can lead to the map feeling "messy."
  • Proposed Goal: To clean up Vetronia
    • Possible Objective: To improve the removal of old structures and reuse the land.
      • Possible Strategy: Sign the land as available for rehabilitation and reuse, and allow the applicant to take over ownership of the Res, free of normal Res charge, providing they remove the existing structure or rehabilitate it for their own purposes.
      • Possible Strategy: Declare a Res and structure to be derelict, and free to anyone for use of materials as needed.  Final cleanup, if needed, can be done or assigned by staff. 
    • Possible Objective: To improve and streamline non-Res'd areas in need
      • Possible Strategy: Discuss with active users, or staff, the possibility of relocating roads, features, or facilities that might not work as intended, or might work better if designed differently.
      • Possible Strategy: Inverse Terraforming - to rebuild natural areas that had been cleared and/or flattened for cities or projects.  Staff-approved, of course.
  • Proposed Goal: To keep Vetronia clean
    • Possible Objective: To increase community involvement with construction projects.
      • Possible Strategy: Incentivize neighboring players to keep in contact with players, and if a structure is abandoned, to speak with them and get them to remove said structure [which I think is in the rules...]
      • Possible Strategy: Vetronia Recycling Program - with staff approval, of course, allow players who clean up after recently abandoned structures to keep the materials they get from the cleanup.
• New players being confused and unsure of where to go (Wayfinding)
  • Discourse: It IS a big map, and Vetropolis is a relatively big island which cannot be built on.  There are two main questions new players ask: "Where can I build?" and "How do I Spleef?"
  • Proposed Goal: Streamline the process for indoctrinating new players into VeteranCraft and Vetronia.
    • Possible Objective: To quickly get new players up to speed
      • Possible Strategy: Develop a Starter's Guide for the wiki that can inform the new player faster and better than the Visitor's Center can.
      • Possible Strategy: Revamp the spawn and the signs therein to be crystal-clear and informative.  1) Visit the Starter's Guide.  2) Visit the Website/Wiki.  3)"If you steal or grief, we WILL catch you and ban you."  4) Read the full rules, ignorance not an excuse.  5) Explore: Ships, Boats, Minecarts, LiveMap.  6) Build: Res, McMMO, iConomy.  7) Play: How to join Spleef, PvP, Hunger Games.  8) READ THE RULES.
    • Possible Objective: To guide new players to where they want to go.
      • Possible Strategy: Improved Vetropolis Wayfinding.  Street names, guideposts, map walls, etc.
      • Possible Strategy: Vetropolis City Guide on the wiki, full of detailed maps and information on shops, portal ships, etc.
      • Possible Strategy: Provide more information at the Harbor and Airport about the locations the ships go to. [Several ships in the harbor don't have label signs, I think]
    • Possible Objective: Provide plenty of places for new members to build, free, if possible, if they want to build there. (See above)
  • Proposed Goal: Incentivize the integration of new players into Vetronian society
    • Possible Objective: Get the players to want to participate in iConomy and Residence
      • Possible Strategy: Set achievements for new players which result in Shilling payouts (small), such as buying from a store, selling to a store, etc.
      • Possible Strategies: See above, entice players to assume authority over an abandoned Res, free of charge.
    • Possible Objective: Get the players to participate in community projects
      • Possible Strategy:  Establish a "new worker" payout for new players who want to help existing members with their projects.
      • Possible Strategy:  Incentivize the player's work by providing subzones at reduced or free charge for areas they have done work in.
• New and non-dotating players left at a disadvantage (Economic Disparity)
  • Discourse: It has been noted by some, although I'm not sure to what extent it's true, that new members are squeezed and pressured out of the economy.  Not by being new and not having a chance to work for shills, but because the economy is skewed by the salaries and abilities of the donating players.
  • Proposed Goal:  To rebalance the economy by adjusting the benefits of donators.
    • Possible Objective:  To bring higher level donators back into the economy.  As it is, the two highest donator levels are almost removed from the everyday economy.
      • Possible Strategy: Limit /res tp command, so portal ships are utilized
      • Possible Strategy: Limit /spa command, so material use is more in line with non-donators
      • Possible Strategy: Limit /god command, so armor and food play a part again
    • Possible Objective:  Encourage greater collaboration among donators and non-donators.  Right now, the salaries of the higher levels are so high that they really never have to sell anything, and with /god they are buying a lot less.  Work and Res aside there are large disparities on the upper salaries.
      • Possible Strategy: Reduce the salary of the Bishop to 10k, the Ambassador to 18k and the Viceroy to 40k.  Variable, of course.
      • Possible Strategy:  Develop other non-skewing perks for donators to keep donations to the server high
  • Proposed Goal: To develop the pool of donators in a sustainable manner so as to not disparage non-donators
    • Possible Objective: To provide a taste to encourage players to donate
      • Possible Strategy: "Gift" temporary Knight ranks as rewards for service to the Server.

Anyways, that's I've got for now.  I know it's a lot, but I hope it was good reading.  Remember, all of these are just suggestions, and most of them unformed and not very good.  They're just ideas to think about and talk about, and maybe see if anything comes from them.  Enjoy!