Hello again, today we talk about land. You can now buy land for 100 HIVE each and if you buy more than 100 plots you get... well no, if you don't know by now, this is not this kind of game. But with the campaign to settle the outskirts about to start, it is time to talk about land and buildings. After all, what is the point of helping the campaign to settle the lands, if you can't settle there as well, right?
So first things first. Apart from land being part of leaderboard prizes for the campaign you will eventually be able to buy land plots later on, most likely through auctions. Note that in order to buy land you need to reach certain prestige levels, because keep in mind, land is sparse and there is a finite number of land plots in each zone.
Generally, land is only available in settlements, so only when a campaign to settle the lands in one way or another was successful. The other thing about land plots is that they differ in what I call land properties. These land properties allow for additional building options. For example, in order to build a farm on a land plot it needs the "fertile" property. On the other hand a workshop can be built pretty much anywhere, so you could build a workshop on a land plot with the "fertile" property if you really want a workshop instead of a farm.
Since land plots are quite individual due to location and properties they are not traded on the normal market. There will be a land market later to trade land, however, this market requires a minimum amount of prestige to access. Basically, the idea is to prevent the possibility of an investor, who doesn't want to play, from coming in, buying all the land a second after it is available and then scalping it off or worse, make the real players rent and leech away from the ecosystem. You know, the blackrock approach.
But enough about acquiring land, what can you do with it once you have it? Well, typically you want to build on it. Buildings could be farms, workshops, housing, forges, etc. The list of available buildings will be extended as the economy grows. But before you can build anything you need the blueprint, which is a one-time unlock, again gated by prestige. Very special buildings will require high prestige to get the blueprints.
Such a blueprint defines how big a building is, as in how many land plots (in the same zone) you need and which properties these land plots must have, like "fertile" for farms for example. If you have the right land plots, you can start construction. The next step is to acquire the required materials, wood and stone for simple buildings, but you will need more advanced materials for later buildings. For example a forge will likely need some bricks, a distillery some copper. If you manage to get all the materials together it is time to build. Yes building regulations require you to have all the materials before you start work, we don't want any half constructed buildings here!
So, building. The blueprint for a building defines how much work of each type is required. Yes, different types of work. Basic building is something everyone can do, but more advanced buildings will require specialized workforce to construct them (which you can supply by forging the respective memories). The type of work defines how much energy and TDP (time distortion power) is required for each "building point". So theoretically you can construct buildings all by yourself, but it might take you a very, very long time.
Good news, you don't have to construct your buildings all by yourself, you can always hire some workers. Similar to production, you can set your construction site to public and offer a salary. Your construction job will then show up in the labor market and other players can contribute with !work by choosing the corresponding building job. And if all building jobs are done, the building is completed and will serve its purpose.
But what is that purpose. Well, some buildings may be meant for player housing where you can unlock housing related features and upgrades, others may be production facilities. For example the farm will allow you to set up farm production, see ROA(M)D episode 4 for production details. The short story is, you will have the means of production, either to use yourself or employ other players. You can also rent out production for a fee if you prefer a more passive approach.
And that's it. Secure yourself some land plot, decide what you want to build, get the materials and construct it. Of course you will be able to demolish existing buildings to make space for new ones. Land is really your share of the game. So don't forget, Monday 28.10.2024 starts the second campaign which includes land prizes. If you don't make it up the leaderboard to win the land outright, you can at the very least secure yourself some prestige through active participation, which will allow you to access land related features later, among other useful things.
BR
thatclaimgamedev
P.S: Don't forget about the airdrop and the token creation mentioned in the last ROA(M)D episode.