LVS Pro Masons

KhasOrn’s LVS Pro Masons

There are 5 factors that deter player interest & participation

1) A district with abandoned unfinished builds. This creates an air of stagnation any player can instantly feel.
2) A district where there are no other players in sight for many days at a time - most players, unlike me, are not hermits.
3) No incentive to collaborate.
4) No progress.
5) No help.

The Problem: Stagnation

Stagnation is a problem every mayor or district faces, and in many cases a mayor and/or the Council may have great plans for a district and can’t think how to begin to deal with the volume or logistics. The LVS Pro Masons is an organization intended to supply a service in the form of renovations, official builds, landscaping and demolition to the Council, a Mayor or even possibly an individual in a non-official capacity. This group is Pro - as in funded by donation, and Masons well, because Minecraft. Just to be clear, since someone has already suggested we vote on the name, the intent of this organisation is to facilitate action and thus will be sub-contracted or affiliated, not Council-run. I, KhasOrn, will be running the Pro-Masons personally.

The council, a mayor, or designated committee, can survey and mark certain builds within a district for 2 week observation, demolition or renovation and then call in the Masons. The Masons can then report to mayors or the council informing them when one project is completed and they are ready to move onto the next.

Adressing Each Factor

To address factor 1)

If a player has an unfinished build in an official district (Warp Accessed Town) and is inactive for six months or greater it may be assessed and assigned for renovation/completion or demolition. This does not apply to personal builds outside of an official LVS district. This will open up new plots in existing districts where new players can have an opportunity to build in developed surroundings, possibly collaborate with ‘that fellow down the street’ who just moved in as well, and add to the overall beautification of the server.

To address factor 2)

Pro Mason presence, simply going about their business, will spread that sense of community and activity.

To address factor 3)

Pro Masons will show, by example, the collaborative nature of the server to new players encouraging them to make LVS their home.

To address factors 4 & 5)

These affect us all, not just new players. There will be constant progress! And should you ever want to a be part of it, the channels will already be there for any veteran or freshie alike to ‘jump in’ and volunteer, have some community building and server beautifying fun, and go back to their personal project whenever they like.

No pressure - no fuss.

Any potential disputes between private clients and The Pro Masons will be judged in accordance with Council and Server Law.

A small note: I was originally thinking of naming the organisation the LVS Free Masons or Freemasons, but due to some recent IRL advice from the family member of a high ranking Freemason, despite my reluctance to ever bow to possible superstition, I reason it may be best to avoid aligning myself or others with the title merely for the sake of a game albeit a game I love.

Internal Business Model

I will act as GM (General Manager) and personally organise Architects, approve builds on creative test maps, and allocate Masons for specific jobs based on their requirements so no job gets lost in red tape. The Architect I assign to any given project will provide screenshots & or a creative map-save to the client (Mayor, Council or Individual) for approval. Once approval is attained a full list of materials necessary will be provided to the client. This list can then be openly displayed in an item frame on (or beside) an appropriate array of chests and a request for donations of materials can be announced. Once I, or my appointed architect, have confirmed the materials on said list have been collected, regardless of method, construction will begin within 7 days. When the project is completed the Masons will rest until another donations oriented project has acquired all necessary materials, or a private client hires us outright.

Architects

These will be the individuals I’ve vetted to handle the design phase and manage the Mason's & or volunteers working on the execution.

Architects can work purely in creative and hand off the approved design to Masons on LVS or act as a Mason (Builder) as well. The design phase can go one of three ways:

1. Concept pictures provided
2. Creative map with proposed build provided
3. General renovation, or outright build, contract…

…in which case the Client will choose, for the time being, between A) Minimalistic B) Decorative C) Medieval and D) Sci-Fi. More styles will be offered as I add more Architects, and thus design diversity, to the Masons.

Masons

Masons are the meat and bones of the Pro-Masons. They will be given screenshots of the build, a copy of the creative map, or guidance from an architect to aid in execution.

Volunteers

After the design, costing, donation, and Mason assignment phases, some people may want to join in on the build. These individuals will be absolutely welcome, once they can accept direction from an Architect (in the case of unofficial Masons) in the form of screenshots and such, but due to the fixed prices of Pro-Masons builds they do so with the understanding that their compensation comes in the form of collaborative bliss only.

The Mason Jar

A fee to legitimise the job (Spending a lot of time designing and building the pre-LVS build in creative if the client is indecisive or disingenuous is a huge waste of time. An investment by the client negates this as a problem as any effort in this regard is already paid for).

The Mason Bank

A repository of any rubble from demolition contracts and any leftover donated material from an official build.

Cost/Donations

Time is diamonds! Masons will need incentives to continue working on projects since they will be building when they could be out with EC mining and finding diamonds, and Masons are bound to break an axe or two along the way, even the occasional 'fall into lava' losing everything. Plus there’s insurance, transportation, rent and more. The LVS Pro Masons will have an Embassy in every warp town eventually (with approval) where anyone can donate (anything from building materials to diamonds) or fill out a contract for a job. The odd donations chest (A Mason Jar - if you will) may be placed in front of build sites or in any shop wishing to support.

A guideline for cost, separate to the prerequisite design phase, is: 1DB ≤ 5000 blocks and 1DB per 5000 blocks thereafter.

Contracts

Private Contracts

All private contracts begin with 1DB Downpayment for The Mason Jar.
After the design Phase is complete, a list of required materials is given to the client & construction begins upon fulfilling said list. 1DB upon completion of a small job - 1DB per every 5,000 blocks for larger projects. Private contractors enter into this arrangement with the understanding that defaulting on final payment will result in automatic demolition and reclamation of all materials used as compensation. As a general rule: Tis better to have it before you spend it.

Mayor or Council (Official) Contract

Post design approval all materials will be donated & or acquired via fundraising. X amount of agreed upon diamonds will be added to the materials list for fundraising for Masons (Supply list in the form of a book on an item frame for all to see what’s needed).
The Pro Masons do not work for free, but they do work for ‘cheap’. I will personally keep the prices fixed. There will be a set price on any build so the more people working on it the less pay for all working. This will keep it from becoming a situation where people try to take advantage of donations on any given project.

Demolition Contract

Demolition contracts are free, the rubble will be added to the Mason Bank unless a request is made for the rubble in which case a donation to the Mason Jar is required.

Personal (Khas) pre-designed builds

Redstone & or Secret Door = 1DB plus materials

- Footnote: It will be so much fun going around the server and renovating, beautifying, and even demolishing old unfinished builds to allow new players to use the plots, revitalising those areas with fresh player interest.