panthers17nfl wrote:You guys are acting like without a realm, you are completely defenseless against griefers. This couldn't be further from the truth.
Back in the old days, we would do this thing called STFAFS, which translates to Stay The Flapjack Away From Spawn. The further you are from spawn, the much less likely you are to be victim of a griefing incident. There are many ways to protect your belongings without having a realm. In example: I dealt with a player on Creative who built her house 30 blocks away from spawn, and was freaking out when 10 people were dancing on her patio. Do you think the same thing would have happened had she built her house 1,000-2,000 blocks from spawn? Probably not.
I'll be honest: Those of you that are opposed to the 60 diamond, 6 player thing, are obviously those 3 player realms that like to have fun. I get that. But understand that the direction realms are going in is for more of a legitimate, organized conglomeration of players. One reason for this is to greatly, and I mean GREATLY, maybe as much as 90%, reduce the amount of realms we see in game. Why are so many realms a problem? Because they are everywhere, a plague to the world map. Realms, in my opinion, should be special places of grandeur, such as cities. In 3.0, the very fact that you own a realm is a symbol of great prestige.
Not everybody will have the privelege to own a realm. Those who are rich and friends of the community will find it easy to establish realms. Those who are hermits and do nothing but tend to their Wheat crops may have more difficulty. Don't be upset about the 60 diamond thing, please. It is put in place to keep from jamokes building these nothing 50x50 realms (no offense if there are any awesome 50x50's out there >>) that serve no purpose other than to clog up the map. The changes put in place will make realms a special thing, which is definitely the direction I'd like to see it go in.
And for the record: You don't need 60 diamonds to BE in the realm, just to create it. I'm pretty sure some of the trusted, friendly players on this server will find it easy nestling their poor, freeloading as- I MEAN UM- their great personalities into other player's realms.
In regards to staying away from spawn. I played on a server that didn't have realms. There was only one city, one, that could consider itself secure. It was 4,000 blocks away from spawn, at the border of the map, at bedrock, under a lake. I resent the notion that that's how far you have to go to feel like you're secure from griefing. I've played plenty without realms, and I don't want to go back to the days where half my playing time is spent fixing things that were broken by other players.
I am not a member of a 3 person realm. My realm right now has enough people to meet the 6 man quota. Its 150x150 and still growing. I still don't think this is a good idea. What's the point of cramming everyone into a few mega-cities? What is the net benefit? Obviously, if players wanted to play like this they would have already. There was nothing stopping them. So what if you have a couple of tiny realms scattered around the wilderness. Think of it as plots of property staked out by pioneers searching for new land. Yah, many of them won't go anywhere. Some of them will. What's the huge deal? Is it that annoying. I certainly don't think so.
And my biggest problem is, yes, only the privileged will have realms. Only people who have the time to devote hours to the game, will be able to found a realm. The rest, who play this game as a hobby (instead of a lifestyle) will have to choose between building their towns with no means of defending it, or joining a bigger realm and being forced to put their efforts into building a 10x10 building in the middle of cramped, walled city. To me, this is starting to come off as a sinister attempt by larger realms to to coerce new players into building their cities and digging mines for them.
+ 
= BOOM!!!