In the sandbox MMO Landmark, there are slight issues with the respawn. It works as intended, but players don’t perceive it that way.
“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it – does it make a sound?” This is a topic often debated by bar philosophers after a few drinks. In the sandbox MMO Landmark (and essentially in its parent project Everquest Next), there’s a similar problem: The more trees are cut down in an area or the more mobs die in a specific region, the less frequently they appear. “It makes some sense,” you might think. But not for MMO players. There, we have the “respawn,” the reappearance of enemies and resources.
And that doesn’t seem to be working as expected in Landmark.
Landmark has a respawn problem: The forestry is tipping
On Friday, a developer spoke out and explained the issue: When a tree is cut down, a new tree is supposed to grow somewhere else. However, Landmark aimed not to have a “nebulous, magical tree replaces magical tree in the same spot” mechanic, but rather the tree can reappear somewhere else on this island in a “biome,” a suitable climate zone.
But if, for example, lumberjacks are active on the east coast while there are none on the west coast, there’s an imbalance that is tipping more and more: More and more trees remain uncut in the west, while fewer are standing in the east, and those are being cut down faster.
The respawn mechanic was intended as such and works as planned, but it’s understood that players have an issue with this concept, and something will be devised. Until then, they simply restart the servers at night every now and then.
