My ign is BFat328 and I have a concern about the rule "Overclaiming abandoned towns or unclaimed builds are not permitted. If you alter, sell, or claim a build that is not yours without the owners permission it will be considered grief." I did not get banned, this is not an appeal, the purpose of this thread is not to undermine a mod or the server I am just bringing up the issue I have found myself in today. My friend and I began playing on your server a little over a month and a half ago. I had read the rules at spawn, met up with my friend, and we began to build our new base. About a week in we had stumbled upon an abandoned base that was hidden in the mountain beside us. Because this was a Towny server and, at least I thought, the primary function of the mod was anti-griefing, we began to explore and use this abandoned base. I had assumed the upkeep charge for a town was so abandoned builds could be re-purposed and not take up space if they were not being used. There were chests in the base that we could not touch because of /lock and both myself and my friend had contacted a mod at least once a piece when we were very new to the server to see if we could get the chests unlocked/removed, at that time both of us had received help from a mod and were told "let me see what I can do" and I was told from the mod I had dealt with at that time, that the build was abandoned and we could do what we wanted with it, (I don't know who the mod was however I had texted my friend about it and I know that interaction with that mod took place between 9PM and 12:15 AM EST on July 12 - July 13). We were not contacted so we went to other projects. Today (Sept 1 around 3PM EST) I had once again contacted a mod about the chests (this time was through a ticket from the /faq section, the first mod I had contacted through chat and he teleported by himself into the base). This time Phiffan had come to help me, I explained the situation and was then informed, for the first time, that I had committed mass grief. I was upset that all the work I had put in was unknowingly illegal, and that I have to spend all my saved resources to rebuild something which I don't remember what it looked like because this had happened over a month ago. My point is, I wish this rule was stated at spawn with all the other rules, because this is a huge one that myself my friend and at least one mod was not aware of. I did not come on to this server to cause any grief, I have enjoyed my time playing on this server, however I have apparently unknowingly committed a bannable offence. I don't want anyone else to make the same mistake over a rule that is only on the website, which I had only been on to vote until today, in a rules section that you either have to search for or is hidden at the bottom of the page and buried in a bylaw under griefing & raiding, two things that I would not look up myself because I was not planning to do either of those things and we had protected our land with towny plots. I'm sorry this happened, and I'm sorry for the damage I caused.
Please don't completely blame yourself for this, I believe this was an honest mistake. Whatever mod told you to do whatever you wanted to it was obviously in the wrong. The reason this rule is put into place is because we do have a large amount of players who take breaks over a period of time and then return. I do agree that the rules at spawn are not very detailed and need to be updated and I thank you for pointing this out as the website is the main place to get in depth explanations of the rules.
I don't have much more to add to this - Drea summarised my thoughts perfectly. I'll see if I can find out who it was so we can clarify things with them regarding the rule. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for posting about an unfortunate situation in such a mature manner.
Thank you, I appreciate the replies. I completely understand if there is no way for me to acquire it, however I would be lying if I said I wouldn't like that land I would be willing to work something out with the owner if possible, though I know of no way to set that up. If there is anything I can do please let me know, if not I will begin repairs to the best of my ability. Thanks again.
If you are able to obtain permission from the original owner, we would be okay with you using the land. Perhaps contact me next time you see me in game and I'll see if I recognise who it is and have a way of contacting them.
Update: This rule has been clarified both in the rules and amongst current staff. For any future members who are unsure - please don't hesitate to contact a staff member about overclaiming/editing abandoned towns and builds, or any other rule for that matter.
