Suggestion for the addition of an alternative source of lumber

[The_new_Soren]

As most of you already know, right now the most important item/resource (excluding the already famed legendary gear and armor) is wood.

Introduction, skip ahead if you're bored

It's ironic, since wood is one of the most common resources in vanilla minecraft. Right now, there are dozens of us looking for people willing to sell or trade wood. It's gold, since it's needed for upgrading bases and maintaining them. The current pricetag is 4-6K a stack in the marketplace, but the actual value is double or triple, since there are practically none selling it and the demand is huge. The only two ways are scrapping rare wooden items for trace ammounts of 2-6 wood, and slowly farming it (3-4 seconds of mining per log). I'm sure the staff of Havoc have noticed of the huge demand, if it wasn't planned. It makes for a good obstacle, because if there was an easy way to farm this, most bases would be fully maxed out in 2-3 days.

Suggestion
I suggest that a new feature be added, one requiring a small ammount of capital and pre-acquired gear, which provides lumber to the people that use it.

Description
Imagine a tier 1-2 industrial camp, full of mechanized equipment, deep inside one of the forests north west of the map, and a giant machine that is cutting a sizable and thick tree.

How it would work

A mechanism could be created, where players have to provide some fuel, or do a puzzle with levers and buttons, which is needed to operate the huge machine. After being activated, the huge tree-cuter will start cutting the tree, slowly providing lumber.

Possible extra features

For an extra bit of realism, all nearby zombies (and possibly bandits) are attracted to the vicinity of the camp. That way, supplies and gear is required to operate the machine. It would also provide an extra PvP zone for the PvP servers, where one can go to liberate some loot from people, along with the lumber.


For staff to

The enjoyability of the base update is being curbed by the endless farming required for the procurement of lumber. It is my belief that the core of TMD is looting and climbing up the food chain by exploring and finding treasures. As such, endless farming should not be a part of the game's aesthetic.


TL, DR : We should add a giant machine that cuts wood using fuel, and it'd be a great place to PvP

 

[minerpro205]

I rather enjoy the thought of this idea, it would be a big project for the developers, though I believe people would like this new addition.​

 

[DerKaempfer_HD]

While this could potentially somewhat smoothen the problem of gaining wood, for most new players this wouldn't be an option.

Thats due to 2 facts 1 of which you already stated (if you happen to think further):
》too densely populated by players

While it could potentially make the whole area a pvp magnet, the problem would soon arise that one group could easily claim all surrounding bases within up to medium proximity and thus claim said region. They could easily travel around and quickly come back to a fight and kill looters, or cut off the area with wire and barricades. There wouldn't be an easy fix to that.

》too high requirements for new players

Especially if such a machine/mechanism would require fuel (which it should instead of an easy puzzle), this would make it practically impossible to use for new and unexperienced players since they only have limited access and surplus of gas cans. It would probably still be more optional for those to just loot t2 areas for wooden parts.

I think there is way easier ways to make the chopping more worth while by simply increasing the amount you get from logs, maybe even up to 5 per. Otherwise maybe just increase the chances for certain items instead of metal scrap ones.