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Now, I am generally and fairly unabashedly one of the more conservative members of the Mercurian Empire. That said, this is an issue I do support, for a key reason: on some base level, we as a community have recognized a need for our world to make just a bit more sense.
The plain fact of the matter is that waterways in Hermertia are curiosities at best and useless at worst because there is no effective way to make use of them properly, to truly employ the natural and infrastructural benefits that waterways provide in any realistic world. Our world is of such a vast proportions that manual, physical navigation via Minecraft's boats is a doomed prospect for all but the very closest settlements. As for the lovely boats we build, there is simply no way to make use of them in practical terms, which has led to boats and ports and the whole concept of the importance of the waterways and maritime infrastructure as a whole being incredibly undervalued in our world. We live in a vast world where seas and lakes connect vast stretches of the Empire and are supposedly employed for trading yet carry little significance in our cultural consciousness.
And don't even get me started on how rivers were always historically significant, yet are almost always entirely useless due solely to Minecraft's cold, unfeeling rendering engine.
So, I do support the implementation of maritime fast travel points, one one condition that I believe many others share: that Maritime Travel Points are carefully regulated, remain wholly lore-compatible, and are subject to a case-by-case approval and review process.
To this end, I propose the creation of a Commission, a subsection of the Ministry for Surveyors and Civil Engineers, with the specific objective of reviewing all new applications for Maritime Travel Points and ensuring that they meet all agreed-upon guidelines and requirements before allowing the Council of the Crowned to vote on the implementation of the connection on a case-by-case basis.
The Commission for Maritime Navigation would be chaired by either the Minister for Surveyors and Civil Engineers themselves or a Deputy Minister if one was interested. The objective of the commission would be to review each application for the creation of a new Maritime Travel Point, and to ensure that an application meets all requirements before passing it on to the Council to vote on.
We will obviously refine these before drafting final legal language, but from communal discussion and general thoughts over the past couple of weeks I have condensed thoughts as to what would be required in a successful application for the creation of a Maritime Travel Point:
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a) Applications must be presented in tandem, with the players on either end of the prospective connection being involved in the application process.
b) It must be presented that the connection makes sense lore-wise; the connection must not be impractically short or unfeasibly long, and must connect two locations that would reasonably require a connection -for example, the settlement on one end should not be so small/new as to not require/be able to support or afford a dedicated connection with a large city. An illustrated map must be included, labelling the desired connection.
c) Both ends of the connection must be amply supported by infrastructure - both maritime and conventional:
- Maritime: The connection must be supported by a viable port, boats, docking infrastructure, etc on both ends. It must be readily apparent that this is a busy, international port, truly deserving of a connection - we would want to see many ships, not just a single vessel serving as the connection. The application must clearly illustrate which vessel is to be designated as the "connection" vessel on either end, and those vessels must clearly indicate their destination (through use of banners, flags, signs, realm colors, etc)
- Conventional: The settlement containing the port must be built up to a sufficient degree that a dedicated connection of this nature makes sense - there must be sufficient homes, businesses, etc. There must be indications that maritime trade/travel is actually affecting the city; for example, business should be strong, say, and perhaps include visible signs that other realms - particularly the connecting realm - are conducting business there.
d) The implementation of the connection would not go over the set limit to the number of connections allowed per realm/region. We need to discuss the idea of limits further, as it seems clear there should be one but quantifying it can be tricky. The proposed "one per realm per body of water bordered " makes some sense but could perhaps be unjustly limiting. In that scenario, for example, Perth would get a maximum of two connections as it borders bodies of water to the east and west, while Wysteria would only be eligible for one as it borders a single inland sea - yet I feel it could be both lore-appropriate and feasible for Gallen to host connections both to the Imperial Isle and to Ostlead (this is assuming a river was painted/lorified so as to permit maritime navigation, as has been discussed)
So we'll need further thought on limits, but whatever we decide will be part of the application process.
Thoughts on these proposed requirements?
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I encourage us all to consider this as more than a simple game mechanic fix. Something I dearly hope to see as a result of this change is a great growth in maritime culture: new fleets of ships, the emergence of regional shipbuilding aesthetics, and a new, deserved lore significance for ships and waterways. Let us view this as a change not just to make life easier, but to enable and to foster the growth of a vast new cultural consciousness across Hermertia.
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Wysterian Labourer's Council
Currently Holding Stewardship of Wysteria
Minister for Applications and Settlement
Forums Administrator
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