From the lot of feedback that I have received, I came to a conclusion on the issue ofmap enlargement vs. earlier Lot resets. First of all, some info however.

The issue of lot resets is a lengthy one. I want to give some background so you understand how this works currently. There are 3 different methods to reset a lot currently:

1. The //regen command from Worldedit. This is creating working lots, broken trees and this command has a massive memory leak. So after using it 3-4 times, I have to restart the server. While I was now able to submit a proper bug report to the author, we would have to wait for a fix to get this to work, and that still leaves us with broken trees as that in return is a minecraft bug (which I also could submit now). So it will for a longer time a either broken or unusable method.
2. The regeneration by chunk. This is using the plugin azkedar wrote. The fact that we have this plugin also helped making 2 proper bug report for the above. Chunks are sections of 16×16 blocks from bedrock to sky. This method turned out to be even more broken than the first. It places a chunk over an old one, and then starts creating structures in the lower-right corner such as trees and underground stuff like mineshafts, and then stops a couple of blocks while it works through the chunk upwards and left. So a tree has its trunk in the lower right corner, the leaves further right and down are missing and the mineshafts that start there go for a couple of blocks and end in a wall. 8×8 chunks per lot of that mess. In my opinion that is not acceptable.
3. The copy-paste. I created another empire from scratch with lots (world “newemp”). I go to the right location in the new world, copy a whole lot, move to the empire and paste it over the existing lot. This creates a perfect world with all we need but has the disadvantage that this is quite slow.

From my perspective the 3rd method is the only really sustainable one. But also the slowest. Due to a bug however this cannot be a fluent process steered by a program. Otherwise I could write a program chain that does almost everything for the user including warping him through worlds, copy paste etc. If I try that, it crashes the server.

Enlarging the map would increase the amount of lots that have to be reset. Given the issues above this would not be a good way to go – as long as there is an alternative.

Shortening the reset time would therefore be the best alternative. If we assume that only a small group of those hat have not been here for one month will actually come back, then the actual work will not increase – except during the time I catch up with the suddenly expired lots.

Regarding the option of a reminder letter: I will not send a reminder for people to log back in before the lot expires. I want people who come here because they want to, not people who come here because they are told. We are finally not a library you have to go to to return a book.

Regarding the leave of absence, that can only work if we limit that to once a year and if we can automate it. I do not want this to be extra work for me and I do not want people to use it on a permanent base. I see this as a low priority.