Over the past few weeks a very large change in the server has happened, and it has affected some people while others have been completely unaware.
Block Gravity has been disabled.
This is one of the biggest problems we’ve had since coreprotect, and it is a complete mistake in my view, and is harming the way many people build.
Let me explain why we can not disable block gravity.
For over a year now gravity has been enabled on TF, and it has had relatively 0 consequences.
I don’t recall a single crash in the past year, or a single lag machine I’ve seen that used Block Gravity to lag the server. I’m sure there have been atleast a few incidents, but they have been extreme rarities and have not at all been a major cause of crashes.
Why we need it to be enabled
Gravel has been enabled, and the whole player base has been aware of this, and it shocked me to hear that Ryan didn’t know. He told me gravel being enabled was a “bug” and I say thank god for that bug for terraforming everything i’ve ever built on TF.
Gravel has been enabled for a year, and it has almost never caused any issues, and it has been a beneficial tool for terraforming.
I have used this on a daily basis all of last year and this year, and have used it to make mountains, plateaus, landscapes, valleys.
The method I have used has been making a brush with //sphere 5 or 6 and making piles of gravel, the gravity that affects the block makes it fall in a natural looking way, and afterwards i turn it all to grass blocks, and then turn the dirt that formed under the grass to stone.
This has given me some incredible looking landscapes and incredible plateaus for builds to be placed on.
It would be remarkably devastating for me, and for many other builders who use this method of terraforming, to lose such a great great tool that is block gravity.
The benefits have been very worth it, and the consequences are near none.
I am currently putting a map I am working on for the ECM on hold, because I’m unable to terraform the land for it, and I don’t know how I am going to be able to complete it. I will resume work building once I have access to terraforming tools.
Here are some options we could choose from on solutions to the block gravity debate.
What are our options
Option 1. The way it’s been
Option 1 is going back to the way it’s been for the past year which is block gravity has been enabled, and so has gravel, builders are able to utilise gravel, and crashes from it are relatively rare.
Ryan has said that gravel being enabled is a bug, but to me and builders who’ve always used it it’s a bug we cannot stand to lose.
With this option gravel will remain enabled.
Option 2. The way it’s been made
Currently with option 2 it is that block gravity has been disabled, and builders like myself who have used it for a year in order to build practically everything, are cut off from it, and terraforming is made near impossible on a large scale.
While some argue that this is in order to enable gravity affected blocks such as sand, concrete powder, and others, it is a trade off which in my opinion is absolutely not worth it.
And enabling those blocks in my opinion would not even cause much of a problem with block gravity being the way it is.
Which leads me to option 3.
Option 3. We do an experiment.
I suggest we enable block gravity like how it has been enabled, and along it enable all gravity affected blocks. We test it for a week or a month, or however long is necessary to see if the server is in shambles from lag, and crashes.
If it isn’t going terribly wrong in that amount of time, we can conclude that the problem this whole ideal is based off of may not have existed in the first place.
If these ideas seems problematic to you why don’t we go to option 4.
Option 4. A Compromise
If the risk in having gravity affected blocks is true, which I highly doubt, we should make it the way it was a couple days ago, where block gravity is toggled off by default, but can be toggled on by a command done by an admin.
This option will allow builders to use gravity when they need it, and for the admins not deal with these supposed issues when it isn’t in use.
I do not think there is any issue with having it that way, with a compromise.
and I’m curious to hear the community’s views on it.
Griefing
One common issue that has been brought up is griefing with block gravity.
Overall I would say that this is a rarity. It isn’t common that people grief things with falling blocks, but in the isolated incidents when it does happen, here is what can be done.
An admin can fly above the place the gravel or the gravity affect block has fallen, and use /ins to find who did it.
Falling blocks do not create untraceable griefs, they just need to be traced above the spot it’s fallen at.
If the gravel has made a giant mess and is not able to be rolled back, an admin or the builder can use //replace gravel with air to fix it.
I would also like to point out that there are other ways to make hard to trace, or hard to fix griefs.
Such as flying machines.
As an off topic I need to point out we don’t straight up ban redstone because it could theoretically be used to cause griefs, and I ask we apply that same logic to block gravity, and deal with the incidents that do happen, instead of banning of the method of griefing all together.
This problem would also be nearly impossible to exist with option 4.
Conclusion
I once again must state that losing gravity is an absolute devastating blow to me and to the building community as a whole, and is not worth it for a couple new block choices.
This is one of the most passionate posts I have ever made, and I make this for the sake of all builders on the server, and for the future of terraforming.
I urge you all to read all of my points before you give your opinion, and you take this as seriously as it needs to be, because the wrong decision for this will and has already had major consequences for the builders who relied on gravity.
The importance of this cannot be understated.
Thank you