[Kathryn]

So as you may (or may not) know, this Saturday the whole of the elven area is going to be reloaded. We're going to have a clean canvas to work with. Lots of building is going to get done, I'm sure, so I think that we should set down a few "building codes" to avoid inconveniencing each other, since we never seem to get on at the same time! Just post up ideas that you have, things you absolutely don't want, issues you have with codes already up, etc. I'll be updating this as new suggestions come in and are agreed upon by either admin or a majority. In addition, if you can think of any community builds you want/think our city needs, let me know and I'll add it to this list! Similarly, if you want to claim a specific project as your own, let me know! This way you can claim it as 'yours' and we won't end up with 12 inaccessible farms again. I'll be keeping this list so that we always have a list of what we have/need, and I'll but ☑ (complete), ☒ (in progress), or ☐ (unstated) next to it so that we know what's done, what isn't, and what needs to be done.

COMMUNITY BUILDS

• ☐ Farms
• ☑ Crops (KATHRYN)
• ☐ Animals (KATHRYN)
• ☐ Chocobos (who's doing it?)
• ☐ Community Centre
• ☐ Potion making location/shop + Community storage area (who's doing it?)
• ☐ Bank + Post Office [NEAR POTION/STORAGE] (KATHRYN)
• ☐ Inn/guest area (necessary? who's doing it?)
• ☐ Shop area/stalls (necessary? who's doing it?)
• ☒ Jail (DIGI)
• ☐ Library (who's doing it?)
• ☒ Portal Area (KATHRYN)
• ☑ Council area (ANK)
• ☐

BUILDING CODE

• Before substantially changing the landscape (carving out cliffs, cutting down a huge area of trees, planting a zillion gargantuan trees, etc.) you HAVE to run it past the other elves. This is everybody's city, lets agree to keep it beautiful for everybody.
• Do not screw with somebody else's build without permission. At all. I'm 90% sure this is one of the original rules (I know, I need a refresher, but later) but I'm going to restate it. This is especially true with private builds. If it's a community building, there's a little leeway — but don't go tearing down somebody else's stuff because you have a better idea without at least asking first. Lets work with each other, not against each other.
• Every elf gets their own tree. I don't care if you like their tree, or want their tree, go find another one. Unless you get express permission from that elf, that's their plot and leave it alone. The same applies to if their build goes out to 2-4 trees; we've got an entire bloody forest, there are more than enough trees to go around.
• In regards to 3., please respect that we do have to share the forest with one another. It's understandable if your build spreads out from one tree, especially if it's a jungle as opposed to a robust twilight or redwood, but don't eat up a quarter of the forest with your house.
• All community builds are to be done in redwood, or predominantly redwood. You can use whatever you like for personal builds.

[Kathryn]

In addition to what I thought were fairly obvious regulations, here are some more suggestions that I've got (that are partially informed by VTA's preference for elf, admittedly). I think that the portal to the twilight should be in/near the council area, and should be difficult for non-elves to access without help from another elf. From what I understand, they're supposed to be pretty protective of their homeland. Also, I'm happy to take on the council area+the portal area (Toki, help me  ?) to start!

• Roads in trees: lets scrap this? Or at least, really limit it? If you want a path between your house and your buddy's, cool! Build a little rope-bridge-like-thing. But to be honest? The sky-roads were ugly. And kind of... unrealistic. I've heard that the very first elves did their travelling on the forest floor and then had pathways up to the main trees from ground level. I think that this is not only really, really cool (not to mention, it could be fun to play with ways to design 'paths' — maybe use podsel or something to make certain walkways look more travelled, etc.) but it will also be a lot easier. It was really inconvenient to get around before and if you fell off the road, you were SOL. It also makes it easier to play with redstone-secret entryways for private builds/key race points for when we don't want to let other races in so easily. Additionally, Tslat confirmed that we could build our farms on ground level (which definitely makes the whole "getting the chocobos out of the city without killing them" thing much easier) so long as they look elf-like still. I don't think that's impossible.
• So, my proposal: 'Sky roads'/roads between the trees above ground level are limited if not altogether illegal. Stick to travelling at ground level or on tree-tops
• Private farms. Please respect them and leave them alone? We'll be setting up community farming areas, but if somebody takes the time to go through breeding up to gold/black chocobos, that doesn't mean you can just go into their farm and breed because it's easier. I think we should definitely have a communal chocobo farm/pen that is accessible to everybody, but really? Going in and taking advantage of somebody else's effort is like saying "you spent hours farming that diamond but I like it, so I'm gonna 'borrow' it." Not really good when put like that, huh?
• Proposal: When using community areas, respect them. Re-breed animals you kill off, replant crops, etc. Unless it's your private farm, or you have permission from the owner, don't touch it.

[Ankommon]

I'm gonna start by saying how I am glad there is finally going to be some change happening in elf... that isn't all on one or two people to do... hopefully.
I will help where I can. I have a couple suggestions. One would be a public brewing area for potion makers to, obviously, brew potions as well as to trade and sell potions/ingredients they made with one another. Simply because it would make this less complicated, it would possibly be best to make this area the same as the storage area, and mix that with the bank. There isn't really a big reason why these things should be separate, especially considering the community storage would have potion ingredients in them. Make it one big community area... which would, of course, be NOWHERE near the capitol building/twilight portal, which I have some suggestions for.
One, it should be hidden, like mentioned in the main post here.
Two, it should consist of narrow hallways, which are easy to defend.
And three, should be built so that the counsel area and the portal aren't close together, so that any possible invaders couldn't easily locate both (our counsel area being the most important to hide as other races will be allowed in the portal on occasion).
That's all I have. Again, I will help where I can when I'm on in rebuilding.

[Kathryn]

Awesome Ank, I totally love your points! I definitely think that the brewing area and the storage area should be close if not a merged build. Would you be interested in putting that together? I can update the list and set you up as the leading party on that, if you'd like?

Also, Toki had a suggestion (THAT I WISH HE WOULD POST DAMNIT TOKI) that we do all community builds in predominantly the same wood, that way they look uniform without being identical? I thought it was a pretty cool idea, if you didn't disagree. I also want to make sure you agree with the rule suggestions that I put in my last post before adding them into the rules, as well as ask if there were any building rules you wanted to suggest?

Edit:: Also I think I agree with your idea about the portal. Maybe putting it in like... a closed off garden, then? I don't know redstone well, but Toki does — maybe he could help me set up a sort of 'key' system, where you need a specific item that only elves would have to get in?

[Tslat]

I feel like narrow hallways would possibly hinder the elves, given that theyd be going up against melee if required
Perhaps some longer viewing platforms or something

I don't know if a public brewing area would work either, seems to me like thered just be constant reports of missing supplies cus someone else used it

[Tokilin]

   Perhaps maybe a colour scheme, or even just a wood restraint on community project so they at least look unified. They all obviously have their quirks because of varying build styles, but at least the colour would bring it together.

[Ankommon]

Perhaps instead of narrow hallways, a bridge funneling traffic to a single, narrow stretch, that way we could defend with a phalanx the entrance to the council area and have archers ready to knock off the intruders into a pit of spikes. Just a thought, because we have so few people who would be able to defend the council area, this would make our numbers and the enemy's skill meaningless.
Also, I like the rules, the only thing as that there needs to be some improvement in leadership. Only because, when I joined the Elves, I had no clue what to do or where to go. It isn't very clear, and a new player would be even worse than I was. We should focus on rebuilding Elf first, but then, once we have settled a bit back in, we need to discuss how to improve our governing system. Perhaps by making a "Elf Council" thread on this forum.
Lastly, I am not that great at building, most of what I try and build comes out ugly, but I will definitely do my best at making the community center. And for Tslat's concern about the community brewing area, I don't see much of a problem. It would be like how the humans have an armory. I think security is an overall theme we need to work on for the New Elf City, and I am more than willing to help out where I can. Such as helping with a lock to the twilight portal.
I think, to keep everything looking like a similar culture, we can simply say that houses should be built with redwood, and with a green wool flag. This should help with keeping things uniform. Again, Elf needs more of an identity, and I will be happy to come up with as many ideas towards that end as you need.

[Kathryn]

Okay, this feedback is awesome!

The thing with the council building is, if we do go with my suggestion of having the pathways be at ground level with ways to get up the tree, we could set up a redstone entryway at the base of the tree to prevent unwanted entry? That's one idea we could play with.

I also agree with the thing on leadership, but I also prefer the idea of elf being a communally run, well, community. A sort of 'majority rules' sort of thing as opposed to one designated leader? I've found that, for the purposes of rp especially, having one leader becomes problematic when real life happens and suddenly your monarch/leader goes MIA for weeks. Your point on needing clearer instructions is very valid, though; once elf is organized I can begin work on a book that we can mass-produce and store in a chest by the entryway that explains the city, the race/building rules, and give a few general suggestions for getting started (having a map there might also be wise) in case there is nobody on when new members join. Forum communication can totally help with this a lot and for major decisions we could even stage discussions in that thread, just in case not everybody can be online at the time but we want everybody's opinions.

For identity, I love the idea of having a flag/banner sort of thing. I find that using wool can be difficult, though, because you either need to be really big or they look bulky and kinda ugly. This is the alternative I came up with (not necessary the post wood, but like... the idea)


I agree that a communal potion area with the storage area shouldn't be a problem, as it's community storage anyways. As for the bank, having it close but separate is what I'd personally prefer to see — otherwise it just gets too cluttered? But throwing an enderchest in there would be another way to do fast transfer from a-b (especially if you have one at your home base)

Finally, I love redwood. I have absolutely no complaints about using that for community builds, though I'll probably use autumn wood for my own home. Additionally, I'm thinking about setting up a tree farm in the twilight (that way we don't have to worry about having to plant all the saplings we pick up) but help with that would be AWESOME.

[Tslat]

36 hours remaining until you can expect elf to be reset

Make sure everything is being moved

[Kathryn]

I know that Toki and I have both moved over all of our stuff, and Naga was helping Ank earlier. Do we know what's being done about vewdew?

[Tslat]

Yeah... I'm gonna attempt it

It's a big rebuild though

[Kathryn]

that's easier than just adjusting the code? Darn...

[Nagajolokia]

VTA ran through and moved everyones stuff and some elf community stuff that no one seemed to know about into the twilight forest. so everyones stuff should be there now thanks to VTA

[Kathryn]

Awesome. VTA you're amazing <3

[Kathryn]

I think that the community centre/shop area should be near the roadway to mid realm. I imagine that this area would be the one to get the most foot traffic from other races.

[VTA]

Made me laugh how much community stuff their was that no elf knew about but i did like whole hidden oreberry farms

[Kathryn]

Right!? I'm just wondering how many actual farms there were — I found at least four.

[Tslat]

 Many more

Either way, it was poorly laid out and designed

[Ankommon]

Okay,
So I started on the counsel building and I ran into a few areas that I need to clarify before I am able to continue.
First, our government system. I am thinking we will have a clear structure of command so there is no confusion but we still have law/order over everyone doing whatever (a republic system over a true democracy like we had before). For instance, I could be the (chief, senator, counselor, etc.) of security/military and Kat could be such and such for residential disputes or whatever. If so, then I will structure the counselor area for the counselor seats. If we going with a pure democracy, then I need to work around sort of a Greek-like democracy building with standing room for everyone, no matter how many elves are online.
Second, security. Due to the building limitations of both the elven race as well as my own skill level, the ideas that I had will ultimately not work like I had thought. I don't want to scrap the idea of having the counselor building secure, as such I have a few ideas. One is that I make the building huge, with a series of very large and varied trees being connected to form the massive structure, meaning it will take a lot longer to build and perhaps more than just me to build it; or, I could build it somewhere hidden in the Twilight and just making the portal hard to get to without being an elf; or, finally, we scrap the idea of making the building secure and just add guard towers on every side of the building and make it easier for archers to shoot into.
Lastly, I came up with a solution to any communication security issues we may have. In order to keep our counsel meetings secret, and perhaps making the twilight portal hidden within a code, I think we should come up with an elven language and teach it to elves who want to vote in the counsel. That way we can make votes in the chat and only elves could understand.

[Nagajolokia]

Or maybe Tslat has a way to set up a chat channel that only elves can see, instead of spamming chat with what will look like total gibberish to all non elves.

[Tslat]

Any player can create chat channels..

/channel create <channel name> <playerLimit> <password>

E.G. /channel create Elf 0 ElvesRule
putting 0 as a player limit just means no limit.

for a player to join your channel:
/channel join Elf ElvesRule

Switching between channel chat and public chat:
/channel toggle

[Ankommon]

Alrighty
I have finished (mostly) the council area/twilight portal. There is a lot that I had to make due with, like I mentioned in my last post, but I think we have something satisfactory for now. All that is left is to add some furniture as well as some flags for a spot of patriotism. After I am done with that, I will begin working on another project for reconstruction. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and I hope to see more elves online to help finish the work.
The last thing I want to mention is a "Research and Development Lab" for the military of elf to be constructed by me after the reconstruction is complete so that I have a space to conduct top secret research. Just a suggestion, but I think we could use and edge over the other races and this could help find and fine tune that edges into an effective weapon.
Thanks, and I hope to see more elves online.

[Kathryn]

Sorry about delays! Between exams and getting settled in at home, I haven't had much time on my hands to play.

Alright, I saw the council and the portal area a few days ago — the only thing I'm gonna mess with is the portal area, since it's not exactly... flowery, like it's supposed to be. Nothing too big; I'm going to build a garden around it with a tall hedge and fill the space with trees/flowers/clean it up so it looks half decent.

I liked the councillor building

If you wanted, your research and development lab is something you could start on now. Obviously it's a build that mostly pertains to rp stuff for your own character, and you're definitely entitled to working on your own builds during the course of construction! I've started on my own place before starting on the animal farm, for example. Though the crop farm is pretty much finished — just waiting on bushes to grow so I can finish the lines.

In response to the government thing... I agree that something needs to be worked out more finitely. I'm not entirely sure that I want a position of particular authority yet, though — really, I like to just do my thing and write >__>;;

I also think that we should set up an Elf channel (gods, just not elves rule — we can just call it "Elf") for in town role-play! That way we can do our own thing regardless of what's going on without disrupting other players/roleplay. That gets confusing really quickly, when two groups are trying to run separate private role-plays simultaneously.