Fencing noob worlds
From Toadwater Guide
A controversial issue in Toadwater.
Some players build fencing at the boundary between noob worlds and the adjoining world because it was the first place they found for a base. Others do it because they like new players to PM them for assistance, sometimes the fencers' motives are good and sometimes not. Yet others do it to help defend the world they live in from raiders.
Arguments In Favor of Fencing in Noob Worlds
- Discourages repeat attacks from a raider, particularly after the raider has been BVd into the noob world
- Acts as a "time out" in a jail, albeit a large one, for a player who has wronged you
- Protects new players from being assumed to be a raider and probably getting fenced into a single square in the "real" world
- Helps to police the borders to know who is entering the world
- Enables an unofficial local government with the border fence owner(s) acting as mayor or real estate agent (works best if a border fence owner responds promptly to PMs at all times of the day)
- Encourages multiplayer interaction and compromise ("Welcome to the neighborhood -- build anywhere but please leave at least 3 squares between your stuff and existing fencing...")
- Creates a selective, gated community
Arguments In Opposition to Fencing in Noob Worlds
- Makes being a new player even more difficult than it already is
- Punishes players who just want to find some land for a base, or who want to get back to their base after being BVd, by adding extra hassles to the process
- Slows down playing the game for both the fencing owner and the player trapped in the noob world during the exchange of PMs, arranging to get the trapped player through the fencing, etc.
- Annoys the fencing owner who will regularly have their border fencing chopped at by new players, and possibly by raiders
- Encourages elitist "housing" discrimination on public property
