Mod to automatically destroy structures after inactivity?

[Enel]

Hello,

Is there a mod that automatically destroys all possessions of a player who has changed to the status Abandoned? Currently, as an admin, I have to fly around every few days and remove the abandoned rubbish of others.... I'm sure it also works automatically, similar to other games, with an expiration timer, for example.

[SLG-Dennis]

Eco doesn't have that and I also don't know a mod for it. I personally also don't think that Eco should have that, it's quite a different game to Ark or Conan, I personally don't unclaim inactive stuff either if it's not just basic buildings, prefering to preserve peoples work that abandoned and getting the stuff that is really ugly cleaned up by government and auctioned off.

[Enel]

Originally posted by SLG-Dennis:

Eco doesn't have that and I also don't know a mod for it. I personally also don't think that Eco should have that, it's quite a different game to Ark or Conan, I personally don't unclaim inactive stuff either if it's not just basic buildings, prefering to preserve peoples work that abandoned and getting the stuff that is really ugly cleaned up by government and auctioned off.

A timer that automatically destroys all structures after period x would be helpful. The server's performance decreases the more structures have to be built and loaded, so I keep the world clean. With an increasing number of abandoned buildings, this only becomes more and more difficult and exhausting. Hence the question.

[SLG-Dennis]

I get that, but I think the actual problem is the degrading performance to begin with, though I have not noticed any such degradation - the problems come from storage objects, not normal world objects as far as our investigations go. It's not out of question, but at least for now such a setting is not planned. (I noted it as suggestion, though)

[Rathelm]

On my wish list for Eco is building decay in general where you have to funnel resources into the plot otherwise the buildings on the plot eventually decay away. Bonus points for blocks to show visual decay as they become less maintained.

[SLG-Dennis]

That is something that is much more likely to happen and being investigated. The big problem with stuff just 'vanishing' after a while is also that it goes very much against of the Eco design goal of 'nothing simply vanishes' and it could be abused for a multitude of things. On the other hand, decay if we implement it will likely never cause something to 'vanish' either - even the last state of the object will still be in the world, just no longer giving any benefits and potentially the opposite, but not 'break down into nothing'.

[Rathelm]

Yeah. I imagine that if it decays completely it just converts into rubble blocks or garbage blocks depending on the item.

[Enel]

Be that as it may, I think it's a shame that more prudent thinking wasn't done here. Because in practice, after weeks, months (depending on your patience) you lose motivation to remove the garbage and abandoned structures of other players. Large houses, which was built over weeks if not months and then the players leave the server because they do not like something, tear down is troublesome. There are some who don't want to do that and just say to themselves "the server is so cluttered with structures that it's losing significant performance by now". Last possibility: wipe" and everything is gone. Would be much simpler and easier and also not so annoying, if there would be a mod etc., which deletes after e.g. 10 days of inactivity all structures, which were connected with these persons. That would certainly welcome many server owners and it would keep many servers clean as well as performant.

[Rathelm]

For that Enel, I just think the crane needs a wrecking ball attachment.

[Enel]

Originally posted by Rathelm:

For that Enel, I just think the crane needs a wrecking ball attachment.

Interesting :D

[SLG-Dennis]

The thing is that we don't see a reason to remove those to begin with (as I said, performance implications come from stockpiles and physics objects - for the latter there is a removal command, not from structures) - we do not recommend you to remove structures due to owners no longer playing, this is not Ark or Conan Exiles. And if you want to nontheless, we would want you to actually need to use work to do so and respect the laws of 'nothing simply vanishes'.

Adding a cheap option that makes stuff just erase itself not only violates the idea of everything in Eco being part of economy and needing labour and effort that can be paid it also makes stuff on that plot simply vanish and be removed from the economy. That not only affects buildings, but also things with negative environmentally impact.

Not to state that Rathelm's idea of decay and a abandoned plot looking ugly after a while without care by the state or it being repurposed or auctioned off could have implications on ecology as well that would be interesting to explore - especially for abandoned factories.

So, this has nothing to do with missing prudent thinking, we have specific reasons on why we don't do that. Of course anyone is free to make a mod for this option (and nid made one to automatically remove rubble), but there really isn't any kind of actual applicability at the moment, as it is very normal for Eco that servers have cycles that reset after a while where the problem you state is none and that the long term servers I know typically have the institutions that would allow for buildings to be removed by government OR the server not having a desire to remove such buildings, because one of the goals on long-term servers often is building cool buildings - and why would you remove great buildings just because the player left?

So you're presenting a very big edge case that even as itself doesn't really need such a feature as solution, there is other ways, we'd rather recommend and find to be within Eco's goals.

[Enel]

Originally posted by SLG-Dennis:

The thing is that we don't see a reason to remove those to begin with (as I said, performance implications come from stockpiles and physics objects - for the latter there is a removal command, not from structures) - we do not recommend you to remove structures due to owners no longer playing, this is not Ark or Conan Exiles. And if you want to nontheless, we would want you to actually need to use work to do so and respect the laws of 'nothing simply vanishes'.

Adding a cheap option that makes stuff just erase itself not only violates the idea of everything in Eco being part of economy and needing labour and effort that can be paid it also makes stuff on that plot simply vanish and be removed from the economy. That not only affects buildings, but also things with negative environmentally impact.

Not to state that Rathelm's idea of decay and a abandoned plot looking ugly after a while without care by the state or it being repurposed or auctioned off could have implications on ecology as well that would be interesting to explore - especially for abandoned factories.

So, this has nothing to do with missing prudent thinking, we have specific reasons on why we don't do that. Of course anyone is free to make a mod for this option (and nid made one to automatically remove rubble), but there really isn't any kind of actual applicability at the moment, as it is very normal for Eco that servers have cycles that reset after a while where the problem you state is none and that the long term servers I know typically have the institutions that would allow for buildings to be removed by government OR the server not having a desire to remove such buildings, because one of the goals on long-term servers often is building cool buildings - and why would you remove great buildings just because the player left?

So you're presenting a very big edge case that even as itself doesn't really need such a feature as solution, there is other ways, we'd rather recommend and find to be within Eco's goals.

Thank you Dennis for your detailed explanation. I now understand a little better the reasons why people close their minds to such things or do not push them forward. My point was not to attack your philosophy and ideas and goals with the game, but I am desperately looking for a solution to keep the servers performant and "clean" and not always have the wipe as the only solution, because the server runs at some point only with 30 fps.

At this point the (confirmation) question that storage objects have the most influence on performance?

Then you would have to find other ways, such as a demolition company or something similar. I understand your point and I hope you understand mine: there are cases of players who are on the server for several weeks. Some of them build huge buildings with complex structures. Then there is a dispute with another player, a jointly agreed law doesn't suit this player or something is stuck in his throat. He leaves the server and doesn't come back. It's completely ridiculous, but that's how some players react on the anonymous internet. There are enough servers out there. The risk of simply leaving is rather low. So what do they do with the rubbish they leave behind?

That is the question.

[Rathelm]

Originally posted by Enel:

Thank you Dennis for your detailed explanation. I now understand a little better the reasons why people close their minds to such things or do not push them forward. My point was not to attack your philosophy and ideas and goals with the game, but I am desperately looking for a solution to keep the servers performant and "clean" and not always have the wipe as the only solution, because the server runs at some point only with 30 fps.

On Dad Speed we have a government position who's job it is to break down properties of players who no longer login. To help the economy when plots are broken down all the material is put into a dump so as to not reflood the market.

With building materials it would be nice if the game kept track of how long they've been placed. So if you try to pick something up that's been there for a week, admin settable setting, then the material that's picked up is garbage or rubble and not the actual building block.

[Logan21113]

Originally posted by Rathelm:

Originally posted by Enel:

Thank you Dennis for your detailed explanation. I now understand a little better the reasons why people close their minds to such things or do not push them forward. My point was not to attack your philosophy and ideas and goals with the game, but I am desperately looking for a solution to keep the servers performant and "clean" and not always have the wipe as the only solution, because the server runs at some point only with 30 fps.

On Dad Speed we have a government position who's job it is to break down properties of players who no longer login. To help the economy when plots are broken down all the material is put into a dump so as to not reflood the market.

With building materials it would be nice if the game kept track of how long they've been placed. So if you try to pick something up that's been there for a week, admin settable setting, then the material that's picked up is garbage or rubble and not the actual building block.

I think this would cause issues within the recyclability of building materials, most materials used in eco and in the real world can be recycled, and it wouldn't
t make sense if you pickup a block and it's instantly junk. what happens when your renovating your building, would every block you pickup be trash. I liked the suggestion for the wreaking ball and depending on how it's designed, I think it would be really good. I don't think it should destroy blocks but maybe it can be used to knock buildings down and the impact of the ball would turn the blocks to rubble, crushed stone and metal items could turn into a scrap of some sort.

[Rathelm]

Building materials ARE NOT recycled at all. Have you ever seen a show on HGTV? Things are destroyed and thrown away. Regardless, on long run servers the biggest issue is that there's too much production. So anything that consumes resources is healthier for the economy. For example on Dad Speed, only the government has wind and solar power (some exceptions where private buyers bought them for extremely high prices) because those devices destroy the power economy. The vast majority of power generation is with government ran biodiesel plants.

[Cragfury]

Originally posted by Rathelm:

Building materials ARE NOT recycled at all. Have you ever seen a show on HGTV? Things are destroyed and thrown away.

I would argue thats quite a modern angle to take and in a game where sustainability is key, we may look more to the past, where ruins, (old churches, villas etc.) often became quarries for newer buildings once abandoned, after all why mine and cut stone bricks for a new building, when some old, abandoned house has perfectly good bricks leftover.