Wider access to sand [must read! ;)]

Discussion in 'Server Gameplay Suggestions Archive' started by athyrix, Nov 2, 2019.

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  1. athyrix
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    athyrix Senior Member Premium

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    This is going to be a long suggestion, so for all those lazy readers out there read below:

    Either of the following should be done:

    • Add concrete powder (or sand) in /warp grass
    • Legalise normal sand trading
    Please read the bottom paragraph in red before deciding!

    Now the more in-depth parts:

    Legalising normal sand for trading
    Probably getting a lot of "are u crazy" comments right now through your head, but I'm sure I'll change your mind once I explain the reasoning behind this. First off, why is normal sand banned? The answer is because of island farming, likewise with the other illegal items like dirt, buckets and of course, the sand. It's illegal because people can restart their island constantly to get those items to then use on their island or to sell off to the "black market". If you think about it, an island has a maximum 3 pieces of sand, no matter what island type you pick. Island farming looks like a lot of work, so why not make it harder for them? If we had a cool down, it would be a lot harder, and for 3 pieces of sand? No one's going to bother (credit to those who bother). In conclusion, if we had an island restart cooldown of around a few days - if you're seriously making that many large mistakes that require frequent restarts... well that's tough, it's literally impossible - it would theoretically decrease the number of island farmers, and we can legalise normal sand, but I think it's a good idea to leave the rest of the items illegal as they are easier to get and have larger quantities. In perspective of this suggestion, wider access to sand means that concrete is easier to make, and sand builds are just a bit easier to achieve too.

    Sell sand at /warp grass
    For the lazier people, converting normal sand to red sand to sell is just a bit inconvenient, a waste of red dye, lots of work, and difficult in larger quantities. This part could be either with or without the first paragraph - legalising sand. If sand was sold at /warp grass, anyone would be able to access the sand. We already know that donors get sand in their kits, blah blah, but it's a very small amount - especially for the skytitans! It's very difficult to build without a stable way of getting sand, and /warp grass would be the perfect place for it. If we could have red sand at /warp donor in the classic server, it surely can't harm the server by having it for everyone at /warp grass. It could even still be red sand at the warp, not even white sand if people wish to have it remained illegal.

    Sell concrete powder at /warp grass
    Or, if you oppose all of the options above, another alternative is to sell concrete powder at /warp grass. Yes, notice I said concrete powder and not concrete. If we have, say white powder, it means any player can buy it and then change it to any colour they like using a machine before it turns to concrete. However, if we had normal concrete... it would have to be the colour sold at. Yes, it means that you would need to add water to make it concrete, but don't be lazy. Pile up the powder blocks then place water and break downwards! I've actually been campaigning for this since the server opened... guilty as charged. Concrete is a very lovely block but sand is just challenging to get and gravel can only be obtained from the nether and... that's... effort.

    So tl;dr
    Can we have a more sustainable way to get sand // concrete?
    Cheers.

    HOW TO VOTE (PLEASE READ)
    I've kind of done multiple suggestions here so I would appreciate if you voted in the way I've suggested so it's easier to see who supports what and who doesn't.

    Support button - I fully support any or every one of these ideas and want to see them added!
    Neutral button - Some of these ideas I support, but others I don't. (Please state which you support and which ones you don't support and your reasons in a reply!)
    No support button - I really don't like any of these ideas at all and are strongly unnecessary to the server. I have much better ideas than your awful ones. (Please state your reasons & any improvements in a reply!)

    Thank you so much!! :heart:
     
    • Support Support x 15
    • Neutral Neutral x 3
  2. Adriansop
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    Adriansop Moderator Moderator

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    The only thing I can really agree on is that sand trading has been quite difficult for the longest time for the sheer reason of preventing island farming, not due to any specific usage the block has. Having several days as a cooldown to restart island is a bit much though. You a couple suggestions in your thread, but it might not even be necessary to implement them all to make sand more available, which is why I support making normal sand trade legal, but not your other suggestion. And producing concrete is part of what gives it value in the economy, it's just the sand that is the problem or even a factor in the 'general price'.
     
  3. Monster_Sparklez
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    Monster_Sparklez Yee yee Bubba Premium Premium

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    I support all of them but the sell sand at warp trade adding onto what south said there already is a cool down on restart islands for 5 minutes I believe.
    Although skytitans get 8 sand per kit instead of 5 (thank me later) I still believe that 8 isn’t enough for skytitans and let alone non ranked players which is impossible for them to get sand without having to buy it and convert it which many don’t know.
    Overall this is a great suggestion and there are no flaws and can only improve the game
     
  4. athyrix
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    athyrix Senior Member Premium

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    Thank you for your feedback. Yes I agree not all of them should be added, there should only be one or two added, the point was to see which one was favoured the most. :)
    Regarding the cooldown being multiple days, in a few days it’s hard to believe that people - especially newer players - have built so much that they can’t break it to start over. But again, thanks for the comment!
    Thanks for saying it’s 8 now! I didn’t notice the change! Also yeah... 5 minutes is very little time. You could restart, farm it and then the time will be up so it’s a continuous cycle...

     
  5. lilCupcakeFreak
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    lilCupcakeFreak Well-Known Member Discord Moderator

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    Maybe, yes and yes!
    I dont think normal sand trading is needed, there is not much effort in dying sand. But maybe just make it so you can also dye 3 pieces of sand instead of 8. Just to make it easier if you dont have large amounts.

    Sell sand at warp grass.
    Yes. Because i was convinced it was for sale there, wich is why i started building out of sandstone. To then find out you can't buy it there and i got heartbroken. (Can't buy sandstone either)

    Sell concrete powder at warp grass
    Yes! I really don't understand why it's not for sale.

    As for another suggestion, since it's made out of sand.
    Maybe add dyeable sandstone to this? Or allow people to un-craft sandstone. You can win red sandstone from ma j but I feel like it's just a chestfiller instead of a buildingblock. Being able to un-craft or dye might help with the sand/sandstone market aswell.
     
  6. FatalDisaster
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    FatalDisaster Hollywood's Bleeding

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    I think the legalisation of sand should be considered. If the 'island reset' timer was increased to 24 hours (a few days is a little excessive) then island farming will become less of an issue. However, when new players create an island and they make a mistake, the countdown should not exist for their first reset. They could possibly be given a warning in the chat letting them know that the next time they won't be allowed to reset their island the second time for another 24 hours.

    The addition of concrete at /warp grass should definitely be added. Only the first suggestion or second suggestion should be added, not both (I really hope the first one does!).
     
  7. NorthYYY
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    NorthYYY Active Member

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    Lol i had the dame idea about sand being at warp grass i think this would be nice to someone legalize sand or completely legalize it because i need to build with it a lot and sand is hard to get from island farming
     
  8. Hugos
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    Hugos Active Member

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    genius :thumbsup::thumbsup:
     
  9. W4ste_Gam3r
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    W4ste_Gam3r Active Member

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    Why not make sand tradeable BUT only in large quantities (imagine how long it takes to island farm a stack of sand)
     
  10. Tog
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    Tog atpoaim Discord Moderator Premium Premium Premium Premium

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    Legalising Sand for Trading
    For starters, island farming is usually used for buckets and dirt - often used for terraforming. Currently, I believe that there is a small cool down on /new island but it is far too short of a cool down. Anyways, island farming for a maximum of 3 sand per time requires some crazy dedication. I don’t agree that the island cool down should be a few days due to the fact that new players commonly mess up their island and need to restart. I recon it should be a maximum of 2 restarts per day and players would have to contact a high up member of staff if they would like to restart for a legitimate reason once they have used their 2 restarts.

    Sell sand at warp grass
    Although I personally do not use warp grass much at all - not only due to the fact that it is very overpriced - but because I much rather prefer to use people’s trade shops or trade freely with other players. I am convinced that this would be useful for sand trades though and might force me into using the warp if sand trade doesn’t become legal. I also believe that this warp would be extremely helpful to other players that need to purchase sand to make glass, a cacti farm, etc.

    Sell concrete powder at warp grass
    Again, I may not use this feature myself very often but I know it would be extremely beneficial especially to people who are going for a modern look or recreating cloudshop like yourself, Southwark. In addition to this, currently concrete and concrete powder is extremely overpriced if buying from other players and can be as expensive as 1grass:4concrete.

    For this thread, I’m going to go for full support for legalising sand trades and selling sand at warp grass, and I’m going to go neutral leaning towards support for the selling concrete powder and warp grass section of this post.

    This would be extremely hard to implement compared to just legalising a single item.
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2019
  11. Metal
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    Metal Active Member

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    I would say: yes, yes, and neutral.

    I support the idea of island restarts having a daily limit, since in my experience, most new server players who want to restart their island usually do it because of something like converting their lava into obsidian, or accidentally dying. I think having a daily limit would also significantly slow down island farming, another issue on the server.

    I'm supportive of the idea of selling sand at /warp grass, as it might also give the warp a unique feature from the multiple player shops. My only suggestion would to have it at a relatively expensive price, so that it doesn't instantly become extremely easy to get lots of it. having sand sold only at /warp grass would also keep the economy consistent on this block, so no opportunity for profitable reselling is expected.

    I'm neutral on selling concrete powder, simply because obtaining gravel is still a fairly laborious task that would still uphold the general expense of concrete. In my opinion, concrete has always been a "luxury block" due to the effort to obtain it, and I feel it should probably stay this way. However I can completely understand if some people disagree with me on this.

    I'm interested to see where this thread goes!
     
  12. iQuestionLogic
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    iQuestionLogic Active Member Premium

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    Neutral, Neutral, Support

    Legalising normal sand for trading - Neutral
    Yes it would take a lot of dedication to island farm for sand given it is 3 per island and the ni cooldown. Having sand illegal makes this task even more gruelling as you now have to farm three islands to sell 8 red sand. However most people island farm for the dirt not sand or buckets.

    Sell sand at /warp grass - Neutral
    Wouldn't strictly be opposed to this on the condition that - like everything in /warp grass - it would be overpriced. Something like 1:2 purely so it doesn't impact the player economy.

    Sell concrete powder at /warp grass - Support
    Concete is a nice building block, this would encourage more builds with it!
     
  13. Adriansop
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    Adriansop Moderator Moderator

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    I take back the comment I made. Making sand illegal while keeping the rest of the starter items illegal doesn't make sense. And saying it's only 3 sand an island is like saying lying to your parents is only tolerable if it's a small lie: that doesn't make sense. Even if it did becone legal, theres only a bigger chance players have reason to island farm.

    So instead, I want to compare this with the current quartz block shop at warp grass, because it takes diamonds as payment. The neat thing is that diamonds are barely renewable. The most efficient way to get them is paying money for ranks and all. Getting them from crates or warp grass is impractical and relatively expensive. You want wider access to sand? Try suggesting /kit sand.
    Else, the only thing I could ever envision for sand having wider access is trading in diamonds for it at warp grass.

    I realized that it's a difficult subject. For now the implementations for sand all make sense. Lee won't make quick, if ever, decisions on this subject.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2019
  14. W4ste_Gam3r
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    W4ste_Gam3r Active Member

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    Dont forget alt farming. If u have 200 alts u can get huge amounts of sand per day, even with a half day cooldown of island restarting
     
  15. Monster_Sparklez
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    Monster_Sparklez Yee yee Bubba Premium Premium

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    Many few people could be able to even program a bit to island farm after all is typing a few commands and breaking a few blocks
     
  16. LadyAnkie
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    LadyAnkie Active Member

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    i support this :)
     
  17. GAMER1232012
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    GAMER1232012 Well-Known Member

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    Is this because you need concrete for Cloudshop lol Southwark

    Adriansop your suggestion of having a villager shop that takes diamonds in exchange for sand could be an effective way of dealing with both the sand access issue as well as diamond inflation, which you commented on in another post, I believe. Lots of people very much want to build with concrete and sand, and those who can afford to do so on a large scale are often the very same people with a buttload of diamonds in their hoard.
     
  18. athyrix
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    athyrix Senior Member Premium

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    Final verdict
    I am happy to announce that normal sand is no longer illegal to trade or give on the economy and skyblock server with immediate effect. We hope that this will encourage and ease the trade of sand, now that it is more obtainable to get, as well as allowing other players who may not require sand to sell it to others who do.
    Thank you for everyone who supported the thread and posted your views, this thread will now be locked and archived.

    Happy New Year! :)

    Official statement from Leeeroieee:
    • Sand has been removed from the forbidden trades list
      • It is now possible to make trade chests that buy or sell sand
      • Sand can now be dropped normally, and will no longer be removed from player inventories upon death, and can no longer be recovered using/lostandfound (/lnf)
     
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