Very good idea!

Terraforming does need a rebalancing look or ten tho.

Anni just no, stop talking and go back to your hole.  Zortarg I think this is freaking brilliant and a great idea. +1 from me.

+1 if that will be long enough to prevent exploits.

Players eroding terraforming could be ok i think but balancing this would be very hard.

Having "Decay" of TFing being done by the server would be an even bigger mistake than the current modular wall system is.

Decay or erosion call it what you may doesnt actually address the real issue: 
Terra forming needs balancing! And just introducing a new module wouldnt fix that. The way it fundamentally works needs to be changed.

Terraforming needs to do 2 things:
1. A way to allow the building of PBS by flattening out the land.
2. To provide basic defense to a base (aka take away the ability for mechs to walk into a base wheres the defenders dont want them = Walls).

Lets ask this Question, Why do Designers use  terraform  to build walls around bases & TPs among other things? Because its the best way. Until this changes no new modules or erosion will fix the core design problems that TFing have.

How can this situation be changed?

1. Change the way TFing works. For instance: If you "pull up" 1 tile then the surounding tiles will be effected, The higher you go the higher the surrounding tiles will go to & increase the radius of tiles that are effected.
Doing this will still allow the creation of impassable Terrain But not as harsh as we currently can do. Second it will not bring the terrain rendering that we  see now, TBH this alone makes me question the Devs, I dont get why they would allow such an ugly Mechanic into a game that doesnt look to bad graphics wise.

2. Remove the Current modular Walls. They are badly designed mechanic that doesnt fit properly into this game. And should never have been allowed to be used on Beta! Beta isnt for Siege Warfare Gamma is.
Walls need to be rethought & made into a proper & real Modular system that base builders will use to defend their Structures.
The possibilities for what walls can do & how they could be used would be awesome. 

3. GATES. God really we need to be able to build gates That operate on standings. i mean all it needs to be is a shield that either lets you pass thru it or not. That can be Destroyed if undefended.

Terraforming needs more love & im saddend its a year later & it still hasnt gotten that love the devs need to give it.
But Heres the really Big problem. Gamma In conjunction with Terra Forming lays open one of the biggest flaws this game has: Movement & access to & from a Gamma island.

If i had the will to & money isnt a problem for a player as old as me in this game, I can make a design for a gamma island defense that is impossible for ANY enemy to defeat No matter their Numbers. & this could be built in a few weeks. Giving me a 100% safe island that i could AFK mine in & only ever die to NPCs ALL this is due to the way TFing works & because an enemy can only access my Island at a few Set points Teleports.
Untill we can move between islands with out the need for teleports Gamma Islands will always be the single most unbalanced game play this game has.

No new (land traveling) Mechs, bots or Modules will change that. Even the addition of Artillery wouldn't bring Balance to Gamma. Remember Balance is need for both attacker & defender.

I have more i could say but :effort: tho ide be happy to chat about this on TS any time

True Pros make a Podcast to influence the Devs minds, 
The rest of you guys are Hacks

PS. I got my Highways & stopped playing b4 they came in & have never used them! ...... Irony much ?

How about only allowing a certain height change from original terrain, say 150m in either direction.

Solves a few issues players have mentioned re terraforming and presents some new challenges.

Actually Sim City is awesome.

Current terraform mechanic is *** overpowered, nevermind ridiculous how terrain loads up out of nowhere with graphical lag involved.

At this point I'd say just reimburse NIC for charges & reset terrain & remove terraforming from the game until you fix it properly.

Hint on fix-it-properly:
Step 1: Test server, test forum, listen to feedback.
Step 2: Revoke Annihilators and Inda's privileges to post in said forum for obvious reasons.

You guys and your reimbursements

Also read the original feedback threads to see how clueless people were / are about what would happen with Terra Forming (Not everyone, there were some who called exactly what would happen), why you think anyone will give more intelligent feedback this time is beyond me.

Hi. I am an important player. Because I currently don't have any invesment into Gamma, nor do I play on Beta, or mine, or run missions, I am happy to call for nerfs to all of these because none of them affect me right now.

But hey, I just care about myself, not the game.  The game should cater to me, I shouldn't have to play it.

^^ Seems to be a popular theme lately on these forums, more than usual.

i am back when the game has PvE content, is rebalanced to be focused on multiplayer instead multi-account, and well, gets new robots (real ones, not only different color)

and yeah, when terraforming went through the third engine remake

*edit* last but not least - when PvP player stop talking about PvE mechanics, since its not their playing field

Not strictly true, follow bots are prevalent because there is so little involved in repping / energy transferring people, that dedicated logistics is a pointless job and much better done on an alt.

If you need to build com relay before beeing able to terraform within range would make creation of a base a pain in the ***, as you need to terraform in a lot cases before beeing able to build base. This would mean first build on the next appropriate place some buildings to start terraforming from there until your able to even start on your intended place.

And with the rule, that you can't terraform near buildings terraforming  250 m near any build should not vanish after any time, else you would need to restart your fortress every few weeks. No sane would build large base with that rules.
As it is today with the given population and its side effect that even large alliances have times, where they could not field 5 player for defense, no actual corp or alliance would be able to build base, thats not leveled by large attacking fleet during their weak time if your unable to terraform in advance before placing buildings and be sure a design will hold.

For the walls sealing of tp you should take into account, that every really sealed of tp has a base there at tp sealing, else you would not stop attacker, as it is no big deal to terraform your way in an island if there are no turrets. Only small roaming gangs without the real intention to do anything for a kill are stopped by pure terraforming without turrets.