Staking claim in the game world

[Excommunicator]

How does one become an ex-rape victim? :D

I'm all for the town-thingy as well, sounds good!

These kinds of property/settlement management systems have a lot of untapped potential. I have always been a fan, and have always wanted to see them done more comprehensively than what most games offer. The one that comes to memory that I perhaps enjoyed the most was Raven Rock in Bloodmoon but even that was not nearly as deep as I hoped it to be, plus the expansion itself did not have enough hours of play time to make me feel like I exhausted my enjoyment, leaving me wanting.

The problem is, a system like this is really of no benefit to the game overall unless it is made a core mechanic. Attaching it on to game as an after thought because it seems awesome or "adds a little" to the game, IMO, is not only a waste of developer time but is provoking the player into feeling disappointed or let down by something they perhaps enjoyed more than even core parts of the game. I would say these management systems are widely popular (and would be more so with better examples available) so you would certainly see the proper return in investing in such a system but only if you spent significant time and effort on it.

To give such a mechanic proper justice I would say it needs to really be the core of the game. Unfortunately games that do this tend to escape the realm of role-playing which to me is a significant loss, because there is a naturally synergistic relationship between building a character and using that authored character to build a town or settlement of his or her own design.

In summary, for a small indie game I would leave the idea out until a sequel or expansion so that the follow up can almost completely focus on such an idea. Don't waste time on tacking something on that isn't going to mesh deeply with the rest of the game.

Large commercial enterprises however need to learn a thing or two about the importance of a sub-system like property management because it is very loyal to the concept of emergent gameplay, and its relative lack of use so far would separate the game from the masses without much effort.