NelsonT - *Khyronkt* how will dragon's houses look? cave or something else?
DavidBowman - We are working on both subterranean and "floating sky" versions. It is proving to be the trickiest part of community building and we want to make it right. So, we'll keep working on it until we are very happy with it. The floating part works now, the subterranean is the remaining challenge.

NelsonT - *Anonymous* I work in the Polaris program for eve-online, do you plan a guide program if so what will it be composed of etc?
DavidBowman - Unfortunately for the entire industry, the volunteer programs of the past have resulted in law suits that went unfavorably for the developers. So we will explore how to utilize the fantastic energy of the players to help build a strong community, but a structured program at launch will not happen. All will be paid employees for launch.

NelsonT - -[ Spectural ]- Will you ever impliment a system of decay for weapons?
DavidBowman - We will not be doing a simple decay system as done in other products. We do have plans that we believe will deal with the item inflation that exists as part of these games. We will announce these systems in the future, but are not discussing them yet.

NelsonT - *Gaelley* how will the structure for guilds be setup? Will there be different set option such as a council or one man head option, or will there be a dynamic system where the founding member can set different ranks and power levels?
DavidBowman - It is possible to structure your guild as you choose. You can set ranks (with your own naming convention) and then assign responsibilities and abilities tot he ranks.

NelsonT - *John* Will entire guilds be able to recieve quests? Such as "Remove the undead from this town".
DavidBowman - Heh, that's a very good suggestion. We'll take a look at that. We do intend for group quests so it could fit nicely with that intent.

NelsonT - *Abomination* Will there be limits to the sizes of guilds and what races/classes they can contain?
Steve_Snow - Right now we do not have a limit to the total size of a guild. The races and class restrictions are defined by the guild not by us. It’s merely up to them to not allow those that don’t fit with their role-play desires.

NelsonT - *Khyronkt* Is there a limit to how far we can push the undead? can we push them all the way out?
DavidBowman - The Withered Aegis can strike anywhere in Istaria. There forces are generally found in organized forces near the Frontier but the Blight Maelstroms can occur behind "the front lines" as it were. You can defeat these advances and push back their controlled areas, but they will respond. It might be possible to ultimately totally destroy their influence in Istaria, but it would take a long time of coordinated effort.

NelsonT - *DurinIX* On average, how many plots of land are there per player town?
Steve_Snow - Right now a single player can own only one plot of land. The total number of plots in the game space right now is about one plot for every two players. We will be growing that number based on beta feedback. The bigger concern today is that we create more plots in locations that fit with where players want property...such as an ocean view.

NelsonT - *Raven_Estiu* I understand there will not be any form of PVP at launch, but have you and your dev team come to any further conclusion on how possibly implementing a form of guild war?
DavidBowman - We continue to look at arena implementation for this edition of Horizons, but an open guild war does not look likely. Within the arenas guild conflict will be a possibility. This will not be available at launch.

NelsonT - *DurinIX* Since guilds cannot collectively own plots, will it be possible for a player to forgo their right to own a plot and give that right to another player? also If a resource or money exploit is found to have been used in the purchasing of a plot or building of a structure, will any action be taken to remove the structure or put the plot back up for sale?
Steve_Snow - While guilds can’t collectively own a plot right now that does not mean it will be that way forever. As far as players passing on their property rights that is an interesting concept, but something we do not support right now. As far as in game exploits to garner further power we will deal with each case appropriately within the circumstances that the exploit impacted the gamespace.

NelsonT - -[ Kyreth ]- Will there be events/enemies that will require an entire guild to work together to complete/destroy [raiding opportunities]?
DavidBowman - There will be events/enemies that require the coordinated efforts of much of the population of the shard. Many communities will require large groups to defend them successfully. I believe guilds will be a major part of this effort. In addition, there will be single, difficult to defeat enemies that need destroying.

NelsonT - *Hally* will belonging to a strong guild give you tecnical bonuses as in fex skill bonus using guild smith or similar?
Steve_Snow - Yes, but not the way you’re pointing out. Eventually after release we will roll out Artifacts that will allow large groups of players in a collaborative effort construct world objects that give them a bonus. The only way to obtain this bonus is to be a member of a community that hosts the Artifact.
Steve_Snow - Given that a guild entity can’t own a community that does not mean that a community can not consist exclusively of players. So the only question after that is do you build the Artifact that helps with armorcrafting or mage skills.

NelsonT - *DurinIX* If a plot is owned by a player, but there has been no activity on it for x amount of time, will it automatically be sold back to the Empire?
DavidBowman - If an account that possesses a plot becomes deactivated, then the plot will revert to Empire ownership. If a player chooses to not develop a plot, that is within their rights as owner of the plot, but don't be surprised if the Empire begins a tax as a result ;-)

NelsonT - -[ Atma ]- me and my friends really like pie. does the guild system support pie-related activities, such as eating and/or lighting them on fire? if so, when can we expect support for recipes such as rhubarb and coconut? are there any ways for the player to prevent the undead from stealing his or her pies when hes not looking?
Steve_Snow - Pie is a very tricky thing in Istaria. The undead are always on the rampage for pie and most likely it will be impossible to keep them away from your pie. Especially Rhubarb pie, but not limited to pie subsets such as kelime pie or a cheesecake of sorts.
Steve_Snow - As far as guild activities relating to pie we have embedded a point award system that can be officiated by the guild master. Therefore pie confectioners can easily award one another for their fantastic exploits in pie creation.

NelsonT - *EdgeX* Will guilds have a overall rating system ''guild rating'' like adv and trade class's do?
DavidBowman - If I understand the question correctly, it will be possible for guilds overall size, average adventure and crafting ratings to be known.

NelsonT - *IG_tyBones* Hi, Mr. Bowman. Can you tell us how many people will be require to belong to a guild before it can have a name at launch?
DavidBowman - It is planned for five players to join for a named guild. We reserve the right to change that number right up until launch, but not after.

NelsonT - *Raven_Estiu* Will the undead horde construct towns of their own in the WA and use these as larger staging areas for attacks on communitties built close to the edge of the WA?
DavidBowman - It now looks like the ability for them to build structures and benefit from those structures will be achievable. Not all raids or invasions will come from these camps though, they will also come from the Blight Maelstroms in the world.

NelsonT - *DurinIX* Will guild vaults be implemented for release?
Steve_Snow - The short answer is no. The long answer is that this is a sub feature of the guild community system that we will be implementing post launch. We actually want the vault to have more controls than simple storage of objects and actually allow access based on rank and other means. But it’s still on the drawing board so look for it later.

NelsonT - *Beowulf* How are the issues with lag coming along and can we hope to see large events for communities and guilds that address the lag.
DavidBowman - As I've stated in the most recent developer journal, we are working through each of the issues that produce the player perceived "lag". We play the game constantly and experience the same issues as the participants. We are very confident that the game will run smoothly at launch and we'll get to evaluate our success between now and launch.

NelsonT - *Khyronkt* Will you be able to lock items into your house?
DavidBowman - The owner of a plot has total control over the structures, machines and items on the property. They can set permissions for who can and cannot access those things. If you are referring to the AC1 style system of having limited slots that you lock items into, then no, we won't be doing it that way.

NelsonT - *John* To what extent are the players able to re-form the world? Will some cooperation and high level magic allow for a player to take his plot of land and raise it into his own floating island?
Steve_Snow - Not for release but we believe that players will want and need the ability to customize their plots of land in the future. As far as separating their plot from the ground, we have a what you see is what you get system. You’d actually need to purchase a floating plot of land for that. But that’s how things are today and that may change in the future.

NelsonT - *Gaelley* Will it be possible for towns to be reclaimed back from the WA to be in a semi-completed state so more resources can be reclaimed from them or added to them to complete those structures?
DavidBowman - Yes, the Elvish and Gnomian cities, if they are successfully reclaimed from the Withered Aegis, will have structures that can be rebuilt from more than just the foundations.

NelsonT - *Spectural* How will new plots of land be introduced into the game? Will there be a high class that will be able to mark land for sale so people can build on it?
DavidBowman - The Empire will continue to make new plots available for sale on a regular basis. Any plots sold back to the Empire will immediately be reavailable to the general players population. There are no current plans for players to be able to mark random areas of the world for sale.

NelsonT - *DurinIX* Are structures on community plots subject to damage by NPCs?
Steve_Snow - Structures on community plots can be damaged by raiding monsters. But your personal plot can only be occupied. We are not interested in taking away the things you’ve worked hard to get in Horizons.

NelsonT - -[ Spectural ]- There was the statement that Monts will be in after launch. Will there be pack animals as well?
DavidBowman - When we introduce creatures that can be ridden and controlled, this will include pack animals. We are looking forward to implementing them in a manner that no other product has yet attempted.

NelsonT - *EdgeX* Will there be some kind of alart system, ''say your out on a adventure and your player town teleport or artifact gets attacked by the undead'' how would you know this is happening without being there? or do people have to stand guard?
DavidBowman - It is possible to build structures that include NPCs. While the NPCs do not currently provide you with alerts, it is a very interesting suggestion.

NelsonT - *Gaelley* How do you determine what structure is built on a community slot. Is it agreed upon of the owner of the plots of land within a certain radius or is there some other system?
Steve_Snow - Right now it works through a presiding owner of the community. Eventually we may move to an electoral system in terms of determining what structure gets built. But that won’t happen for a while yet.

NelsonT - *Raven_Estiu*- As old cities are reclaimed, IE the Elven capital, will new community structures become available?
DavidBowman - Yes

NelsonT - *DurinIX* How would a player go about constructing a castle?
DavidBowman - They would locate a community designated as a castle community (the keep plot is the key). They would buy the keep plot and build a keep. When the keep is finished the plots associated to the keep plot become available for sale to other players.

NelsonT - *Beowulf* If dragons increase in size over time, will there be special considerations regarding crafting areas that dragons can get too since they will be too big to fit in any public buildings?
Steve_Snow - There are several things we have in store for dragons as they mature. One of them is shape shifting which won’t be available until after launch. This will allow dragons to change into a more bipedal form for easier maneuvering around town. But it will not be accessible to juvenile dragons.

NelsonT - -[ DurinIX ]- Can a player own one plot per character or per account?
DavidBowman - Per CD key.

NelsonT - *Gaelley* Will there be some method of dealing with griefers within a guild? For example if a guild member gets upset at the guild and decides to take revenge against the guild by booting several of the members below themselves, what would be done to prevent something like that?
Steve_Snow - Yes and no. The first step to providing countermeasures for this problem is simply the hierarchy of the guild. The guildmaster defines what ranks have what privileges. Beyond that should such a thing occur, the guild could re-add those players that fell into a less than fortunate state during the mad-man’s spree.

NelsonT - *IG_tyBones* Will an in-game system exist to officiate allegiances or feality? If so then will we be able to select between feality or equal allianceships?
DavidBowman - The opportunity to role play this exists of course, but there is no system to facilitate this as a formal, game acknowledged relationship at this time. It is an interesting suggestion and one that we've gotten from beta participants as well. I think it is worth implementing in time.

NelsonT - *John* So I have a plot of land, and all the land around me has been bought, is it possible for those surrounding my land to build their structures in such a fashion as to prevent me from entering my own land?
DavidBowman - No

NelsonT - *DurinIX* What are all of the guild functions that will be available to guildmasters?
Steve_Snow - Point awards that can be allocated to guild members. We have a customizable command structure that you can create up to 15 ranks within.
Steve_Snow - We also have a calendar which converts the time to your local time so you don’t have to play time zone fun trying to figure out when the event is. As well as a few other things.

NelsonT - *John* If I had a reubarb pie, and this zombie has a coconut pie, would he trade me? If so, would he realize that inside the reubarb pie is a magical trap that destroys him whenever he eats the pie?
Steve_Snow - No, not unless you were in red offensive stance and using the pie theft ability, which is scout specific. Most likely you would need to get a confectioner to make you an apple pie which you could trade him for, or just buy a coconut pie from the consigner.
DavidBowman - In seriousness, the food system will allow for pies to be made. Food is already used for Death Point reduction and will become useful in other ways in the future.

NelsonT - That concludes tonight's House of Commons chat on the Community and Guild System. We'd like to thank you for joining us tonight and we look forward to hosting more House of Commons chats in the future
Steve_Snow - Thanks for everyone's time. We really apprecaite you guys coming out and listening to us yak on about Horizons.
NelsonT - Special thanks to both David Bowman and Steve Snow for their time
DavidBowman - Thanks everyone for coming, we need to get back to finishing the game now. Thanks Nelson et al.

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