I think Ashlynn makes some very valid points here. I extend a little more on this topic, I wanted to put some of my own ideas, as well as others I had found out last night, on the board.
While I was hosting the new show "The Sosarian" on Whispering Rose Radio last night, DJ Sandman and I had a very interesting conversation near the end of the show. It ties in directly, in my opinion, as to what we all have been discussing here, however will go off topic a little as well.
In spirit of the Producers coming out with these "Boosters" why dont we try to implement the ideas for this mage tower, into something everyone on every shard can benefit from.
We all want the towns of Trammel and Felucca populated once again. Even if they got to be close to their former glory. The best way to bring players back into these towns, is to rent them out. I realized after mentioning this last night, that others have done the same in the past, such as Phoenix of Dragons Watch. The buildings can be rented out by players. If you had the magery skill for example, you could rent out the mage building for a certain fee, lasting a certain amount of time.
In Felucca there could be a little twist. Whichever town was owned by a faction, perhaps that town could also get a monster or npc spawn inside the town, which would be associated with that town. There are many mobiles that could easily be associated with a certain faction. This would signify that not only does your faction own that town, but the denizens of Sosaria (npcs) also have a place to call home. These npcs would not attack the faction members who own the town, but would attack everyone else. This could also get players involved who arent even in the faction wars. It could bring people back to Felucca towns and not worry about being pked, as they would be in guard zones.
Again I was a bit off topic, but wanted to throw it out there. As for Gareth's idea of a Mage Tower in Britain, I think that building you chose is sound.
"However I am not an idiot. I know things that I propose will always be shot down by the same people. To be honest I knew this thread would turn into a PaxLair Mage tower debate and I already know its about to get tared and feathered. But what I am not asking is for the EMs or Mesanna to come over and special bless our buildings or towns. As for the PaxLair Mage tower the responses make it sound like were getting rid of it. The PaxLair Mage tower will be used the same way. By Pax and Aryslan and the Shard Mage tower can be used by everyone and anyone."
I dont see anyone shooting your idea down entirely here, as we are all having a good discussion about it. I realize that the 10 year anniversary of the Tower of Souls must have brought up this topic. I do not see it as a debate about the Paxlair Tower at all, it has simply been mentioned, as many other places have. Paxlair's Tower is no different in this discussion as any place else.
In the end as Dudley mentioned, we do not want any more empty buildings to run around in. Your idea about getting the EM's storyline involved into the building is sound. But for how long will it last, before it turns out like all the rest of the NPC buildings? If there was a booster that incorporated the ideas put on this board with player involvement, there would be no more empty, barren buildings in the old towns. In fact, it could bring an entirely new aspect to the economy of UO.