Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 47

Thread: Upcoming Server Enhancements

  1. #1

    Icon1 Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Upcoming Server Enhancements!

    The purpose of this thread is to reveal and discuss several upcoming projects that Server Staff have working on as part of a massive changeup in how the server has operated the past almost 6 years. If you would like to take part in and help with any of these projects, please contact myself, TheEliteDwarf, or Fortesgt and we can figure out how best you can be of assistance.




    Embracing the Multiverse: The server will be switching to a multiverse plugin, that will allow for the loading of multiple game worlds at one time. In the center of this Multiverse will be the new safezone, with it being completely replaced and overhauled with new safezone services and teleports to function as an activity hub for the server. The new safezone will include a bank, rentable shops, possible rentable apartments, the server tutorial, and several other services such as salesmen for xp, horses, and possibly even a blacksmith to repair damaged items. In addition to the safezone, the server will also be running additional worlds for the PvP Map, Faction HQs (which we will go over later), and any additional worlds loaded for events (bringing back the siege server!).

    New PvP Map: Staff has recently chosen the incoming PvP Map (credited to Sabbas Aperus), and we have generated the Dynmap and begun working on adding several RPG additions to the map. The new map is custom painted, and full of grandiose landscapes and hidden content to explore. If this wasn't enough, we have almost completed rolling out of the new Capture Point system, which I will cover in more detail shortly. Feel free to check out the new map's dynmap here, and don't forget to view it out in 3d!

    Capture Point System: Via scripts, we have created an automated Capture Point system where factions can fight for control over money giving structures in real-time (no wars required). Each Capture Point is manned by a host of custom skinned (credit to Aanker for skins) NPCs, that will defend the Point from all players other than the current owning faction. Once a NPC of any Capture Point is attacked, a server-wide notification is sent out informing all players of the attack on that CP. Upon fighting you way to the CP's Lord, you will be able to start the process of capturing the CP, and in the process send out another server-wide notification. After 5 minutes (could change due to balancing), if the player who initiated the capture is within 7 blocks of the CP Lord, the CP will be captured by his/her faction, and all NPC defenders will change ownership. If you would like to see these NPCs in action, feel free to contact me if I am on steam and we can see about a 'demonstration' at our test CP (Shiverkeep).

    You may see the Capture Point names/locations via the tower icons on the PvP Map dynmap, and some screenshots of the specific points here.

    Server Tutorial: It has been decided that if we are to retain new players, our server is solely lacking in any sort of tutorial to explain our many different nuances and unique setups. While at the first we considered death by sign, we have now come to the conclusion that the best way to handle large amounts of information and links is through the use of NPCs. NPCs allow us to make use of interactive dialogue and scripts, which run through chat allowing for things like server links to be clicked on instead of just read across 3-4 signs. Using the before mentioned scripts, we can control the dialogue and tutorials in nearly endless ways to create incredible results.

    PVP Customization: While we are still testing the various potion effects/balancing, every indication seems to be showing that we now have a viable armor plugin that recreates the Map 2 armor plugin, and will soon be ready for launch. Other examples of the things we have done are adding TNT shellshock through 10 seconds of blindness (as if you're near bedrock), and add in headshot mechanics for bows resulting in increased damage on a successful head hit.

    Money Changes: In terms of economy mechanics, many aspects of the original server have also been changed. All mining and NPC mission rewards on the PvP Map will now be issued to you in an alternate currency (aka Credits). Credits can then be converted into dollars at the safezone Banker. Until converted into dollars, if you are killed by another player that player will take all of the Credits on your person. Once converted, your wallet will continue to be in dollars and will work in the exact same manner as before. When executing the /money command, the command will also now display how many credits you have (if you have any). This change allows players to maintain their own secure money accounts (as opposed to mandatory faction depositing), whilst still having the risk of losing unconverted earnings on the PvP map.

    In order to make money you currently have five options: 1. Mine the traditional way, 2. Kill people to take their credits, 3. Perform missions/quests starting at NPCs in the safezone, 4. Sell Resources in Shops, and 5. Declare War (see Faction HQs). You should note that mining can only be done on the PvP Map, as doing it in your Faction HQ world will result in no money gained or ore dropped. As a boon to encourage activity and minimize grind, we have added in two Mining Bonus Hours. Between the hours of 1400-1500 GMT and 2000-2100 GMT anything you mine will give you twice the payout as it normally would.

    New ChestShop Plugin/Safezone Shops: The old chestshop plugin was very janky and threw a lot of minor errors in the console, so I changed it out. Besides, the new one has holograms! Regarding shops, the SafeZone at present has 14 rent-able stalls, and 9 rent-able shops, each of which shall be furnished with a NPC Merchant to manage the process of buying them. Upon finding a cozy Shop or Market stall, you can interact with the governing NPC and if you are pleased with the upfront cost and monthly upkeep, buy it through that NPC. Upon doing so, you will immediately gain worldguard rights to that shop/stall for your faction (subsequent faction officers/leaders will need to briefly speak with the NPC for rights), and can begin placing down chestshops or redecorating. As an added bonus, after purchasing the shop you can even speak with the NPC and change his character skin/name, and even set the NPC to shout at nearby players/players who enter your store. This means Dwarven shops can have Dwarven NPCs, with Dwarven themed messages to bring in customers. Finally, once you have had enough of your Safezone shop you will be able to sell it through the NPC and return it back to the market. This process is automated through the NPC without the need for staff intervention.

    Rent: Now that we've talked about Safezone Shops, rent shall be automatically withdrawn on the first of the month from the faction wallet for all services it has. For example, if the Dwarves have two stalls at $2000 each, and an HQ World (assuming we go for HQ World upkeep, its not a sure thing yet) at $5000, on the first of the month $9000 will be withdrawn automatically. Any faction member at any time will be able to consult with a Faction Services NPC, that will provide him/her the full list of services currently subscribed to (w/ their individual rent amounts), and the total monthly cost. This NPC may be located in either the SZ, each Faction's HQ world, or perhaps both (most likely) pending decision. In a nutshell the entire rent payment system will be automated, except for ensuring your faction bank has money in it.

    Faction HQs: Perhaps the biggest change of them all is the introduction of the Faction HQ into the multi-world setup. Using the multiverse we have gained the unique ability to embrace the benefits of periodic fresh starts of the pvp map, and be able to keep our factions’ favorite builds. Any faction will have the ability to purchase their own world, made from any other minecraft world (some restrictions apply). To grossly simplify, if you wish to use a build from the current map or a previous map that is available to us you may elect to have those regions cut out and used to create a new world for your faction. Another possibility, is you may explore countless other minecraft maps to find the perfect locale, and then provide the seed and location to staff for your new world, the choice is yours. Whilst Faction HQs are attackable in wars, they will no longer be annexable themselves with those mechanics now solely being restricted to claims on the PvP Map. Replacing Annexation is a new system where upon defeat a Faction can potentially lose the contents of their otherwise secure Faction Bank to their enemies.

    On a related note, claiming chunks is now script blocked on worlds other than the PvP Map, and your faction's HQ World.

    Spawn Protection: I have created a script that provides players limited invulnerability from damage upon player respawn. Players will now be notified upon receiving Spawn Protection, and upon losing it or attempting to attack a player with said protection. This invulnerability lasts until the player: A. Damages another player, B. Opens a chest or furnace, or C. Moves more than 3 times (jumping counts). This script is designed to take steps towards the automatic prevention of Spawn Killing cases, however does have some limitations. At the present there is no way for the script to tell the difference between the player moving of his own volition, and an enemy player pushing him. This means any player found to be pushing a player in order for him to lose spawn protection, will still be subject to the existing spawn killing rules, and likely face harsher punishment. In a nut-shell this script prevents accidental spawn-killing only, and non-determined intentional ones.

    Factions Plugin - /F Neutral Fix: Using scripts I have now created a fix for the /f Neutral problem we have been faced with since the start of the map. Apart for some cosmetic changes (messages you receive during the process), both sides now have to confirm /f neutral status to end a war.

    Events and the Event Script: One of my side projects has reached completion, and so I am now happy to say that we will be making every effort to hold regular (ie weekly) events on the server. For those of you who played on my siege server in the past, we will be integrating a similar setup into the server to ensure everyone has the option to partake in a fun siege on the weekends. To greatly simplify the process over the old setup, I have created a script to automatically handle the joining and leaving of the event, and some aspects of the event itself. To give you an idea of how all of this works, here is a step by step guide of the process.



    1. Staff sets up an event, which broadcasts a server announcement letting all players know an event has been started, and asks them to do /join if they wish to participate.
    2. Players do /join, which then narrates back to Staff their request to join.
    3. Staff then assigns each player that did /join to the appropriate team (attackers/defenders)
    4. Upon being assigned a team, the event script saves the player's: inventory/equipment, manpower, and location. It then clears the player's inventory, and teleports them to the team's spawn.
    5. Whilst in the event, players may now execute the command /kit [diamond,iron,chain,leather] once every 3 minutes. This gives them a full kit of the chosen type.
    6. If a player dies whilst in the event, their respawn will automatically be redirected back to their team's spawn.
    7. Upon the event's ending (or whenever the player wants), the players do /leave. This clears their inventory of event items, teleports them back to their original location, and restores their original items and manpower.



    Server Jail: As opposed to temp bans, the server will be returning to the use of a server jail. Via a new jail script, players will be hauled off to the server jail for minor infractions that do not warrant a full ban. Whilst in jail you may or may not be allowed to chat (depending on the command used to jail you), but can still execute commands such as '/jailtime' (checks how much time remains on your jailing). Like the event script, the jail script saves your location/inventory at the time of your jailing, and restores them on its expiration. Attempts to escape via /kill will redirect your spawning back into the jail, and your manpower will not be restored upon its expiration. In the event you are offline when the jail command is executed, the script will not commence until your next login.

    Safezone Quests: With the help of Clarky and Aanker, the very first Safezone NPCs are underway. Some of these NPCs are being created as part of specific Quests for player's to enjoy, and others just to add life into the Safezone. More to come on this as it develops further.

    Spawn Mechanics: Due to incompatibility between the event script, and our previous bed spawn plugin, we have removed the plugin and created our own scripts to handle the setting of one's spawn. Now players will be able to set their spawn at will inside claims owned by their faction, by doing the /setspawn command. Players not in a faction, or in factions without land claims, will be the only ones able to set their spawn in the wilderness on the PvP Map only. In the event a player dies without a set spawn, they will return to the Safezone Tutorial area spawn.

    Environmental/Situational Effects: We have created scripts for, and have begun testing various new environmental/situational effects for the server. Barring any sudden issues arising, the server will now include temperature mechanics that can cause rapid hunger loss and increased starvation damage in various situations (with methods to counteract them).

    High Altitude Cold
    : Upon reaching an altitude of 180 blocks (140 in cold biomes/204 in the Safezone world), a player will fall under the cold effects for high altitude cold. Upon reaching the applicable altitude, the player will begin to lose hunger at the rate of half a drumstick every two seconds. This effect can be counteracted through the following means: donning leather armor, moving near a heat source (torches and lava), or seeking shelter (ie have any block other than air/leaves between your head and the height limit).

    Snowstorm Cold
    : This effect is very similar in function to the High Altitude Coldness, however is brought about in a different way. Instead of being controlled by altitude, this cold effect is controlled by weather. Should the player be located in a snow (aka not rain) weather biome and it begins to snow, that player will fall under the Snowstorm cold effect. As before, this effect may be countered in the same manner as Altitude Cold.

    Overheating
    : Overheating is an effect solely targeting leather armor wearers in hot biomes (Mesa/Desert). Foolishly wearing leather in these hot environments will reduce a player's movement speed to a crawl, and bring about the above hunger drain/faster starvation. This effect may be countered by removing said leather armor, and I will likely add in a similar shelter mechanic at a later time.

    Sinking
    : Sinking is another effect solely targeting a specific armor, in this case to simulate iron armor's weight. If an iron armor wearer decides to go scuba diving, his oxygen bar will be immediately depleted and will thus shortly thereafter begin taking normal drowning damage. This effect may be countered by not jumping into a lake wearing an iron suit. A similar effect for chainmail or diamond is being considered.


    Additional ideas we are working through at various stages of progress:

    • Assassin Guild
    • Explorer Guild
    • Safezone Town Crier that can be paid to shout custom player messages
    • Hireable NPC Guards for your faction
    • Faster mining times on HQ Worlds (to assist with base building)
    • Hostile NPC areas on the PvP Map with various quest arcs.
    • Safezone Casino


    As stated in the introduction, we are well aware this is completely changing large aspects of the Server, and understand if some of these changes are not of interest to you. Whilst bringing back old players is always great, the greater priority is bringing on new ones. We are not looking for a slightly altered server experience that we have stuck with for the past six years, as I think that has been played to death. In its place our goals are to try and introduce more RPG like elements, additional play styles other than Faction A declares War on Faction B (will still be a thing), and reducing the grind of having to build a new base every time activity drops to the point a reset is needed.

    These projects are very far a long, and we are at a point where additional ideas for plugins can be considered and implemented. If you have ideas for fun, RPG like mechanics, feel free to mention them here.
    Last edited by Ditronian; December 13, 2016 at 10:16 PM.

  2. #2
    Nerva's Avatar Ordinarius
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Cali, Colombia
    Posts
    797

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    This is great Dit!

  3. #3

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Original Post edited to reflect the massive list of upcoming changes that we have been working on, and are largely close to completion.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    To be honest with you,I personally don't like most of these new upcoming changes.I do however approve of the addition of a tutorial and the PVP enhancements.I nonetheless dislike the money changes and the multiverse concept.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Change is usually not popular with the current base, however since 99% of that base abandoned the server in the first couple of months, heavy changes are going to happen. Again this is more heavily focused on attracting new players, rather than focusing on the old guard which doesn't stick around anymore. Aside from wars which require tons of activity to get any fun out of, our server at present has virtually nothing to do on it but build in the hopes of one day having the activity for a war that never comes.

    To add in more mechanics, events, etc to the server will require a multiverse to handle them.

  6. #6
    Benz282's Avatar Vicarius
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    East Coast, US
    Posts
    2,955

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    The main weakness I see with the proposed changes is that the addition of Faction HQ's (where players can store all of their materials, free from annexation) renders map restarts rather pointless. Map restarts are necessary because they reset everyone back to the same level, removing the post-scarcity status achieved by factions that have been around long enough. While restarting maps is nice for getting a new environment in which to construct new builds and such, ultimately without the removal of materials, map restarts wont succeed in shaking up the political landscape of the server.

    I do have a few suggestions which should be possible to implement in multiverse that will address this issue while also incentivizing PvP, which I request to be taken under consideration:


    1. Create separate inventories for Faction HQ shards.
    2. Give each Faction HQ an ender chest, which remain uncraftable for players.
    3. Each week, have an ender chest spawn in the PvP shard at a pre-determined, PvP-enabled location.
    4. Finally, wipe the contents of all ender chests, regular chests, and player inventories when maps reset (but not the builds within the faction HQs themselves, of course).


    This limits the resources that can be brought into or out of Faction HQs to one chest per active player, per week, making the decision to store materials in the unconquerable Faction HQs a tough one, since they can't be accessed in the PvP world again for at least one week. Furthermore, as you can't bring war gear into a Faction HQ, sieges on enemy HQs will require a faction to store war materials in the ender chest at some point. This ensures that some valuable goods will be present at the ender chest spawn each week, encouraging PvP. Warring factions will be encouraged to be present at the weekly ender chest spawn to both prevent their enemies from preparing for a siege on their HQ and to capture any valuable war gear they bring to the spawn event.

    The limit on bringing items out of the Faction HQ is in place so that factions can't stash all of their valuables in their HQ without weakening their position in the PvP map. For example, if a faction places all of their diamonds into their ender chests in preparation for a siege, they will be left without diamonds during the following week and will be at a severe disadvantage during the next ender chest spawn (potentially locking them out of accessing their war materials again if they don't mine more during the ensuing week).

    While my suggestions are indeed limiting to player freedom, I feel that they are necessary to ensure the server doesn't become stale due to Faction HQs creating eternally post-scarcity factions, while also making the act of building up one's HQ an interesting one which requires factions to risk engaging in PvP. The limitations to sieging enemy HQs created by my suggestions could be made worthwhile by adding a sufficient reward for successfully sieging an enemy's HQ during wartime (such as looting their money storage, as suggested in the OP).



    As separate suggestions:


    1. Small PvP maps.
    2. Regular PvP map resets.


    Since factions will be able to carry on the construction of their faction builds in Faction HQs across multiple restarts, I don't see much reason for the server to continue launching with large PvP maps that last for 3+ months. I don't mean to advocate for a 1000x1000 map which resets every week, but something on the order of 25% or 50% of the current map would be sufficient for a ~2-3 month long PvP "season" given the current server's initial population, in my opinion. The idea is to force factions to settle closer together, encouraging the creation of regional alliances (when diplomatic efforts succeed) and the outbreak of border conflicts (when diplomacy fails or isn't undertaken). Furthermore, the establishment of short, regular seasons would ensure that players are encouraged to actually fight during each map, rather than building up for a few months and then waiting for war to break out at some undetermined point in the future.

    Again, this suggestion is somewhat limiting compared to the maps the MCC community is used to, but ultimately I don't think that large maps that last 3-6 months or longer have been successful in encouraging continuing activity over their entire lifetime. Short, "small" maps would encourage warfare and activity, while large maps with an indefinite duration allow factions to settle in extreme isolation and without any pressure to go to war.



    As a final note: I don't intend to take an active role in the development of the server, nor will I be getting in the current administration's hair should they reject my suggestions. Overall, I think that the changes being proposed in the OP are good, and they largely address the same concerns Remlap and I had when we were preparing the Towny map, however these are far more realistic for the server to accomplish. My suggestions in this post are simply intended to combat the problem of post-scarcity factions, which isn't already addressed in the OP.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Generally think the changes will be good. However there are a few suggestions that would take the server too far away from survival/pvp. 1) no food, you need food to live. its a part of survival MC that should stay. 2) flying when at peace, unless I have grown wings or invented a fast flying machine then no. again too far away from survival. 3) resource points, they have been tried before and don't work. it penalises those who can't be on all the time too much and gives far too much to those that can be.

    Otherwise I either think the changes are good or don't have any opinion till they are experienced.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    I was never one of writing big texts so I'll just point out what I don't agree with.

    Heavily against flying and no food, this is still a survival server and add those two changes basically mean playing in creative. Food is a game-play feature, if you don't eat you die, plus that removes the need to keep an eye out on your farm, which most players like to do, I see no reason at all to remove that feature. Flying also has no place in a survival server, I'd accept that change however if it was limited for like 30 minutes two times per month? But I suppose that would be a bit hard to keep a track on so I'd just remove it fully.

    I'm also partially against the banking idea, I say partially because I do support the idea of having a banking system and of adding the danger of losing money, I just don't agree on how it is being done. I'd rather have a bank on the safe zone where each player can have it's own safe account rather than just having it on the faction's wallet, a lot of players such as my self like to keep money for them-selves, if I had to donate all my money to faction to keep it safe I'd lose access to it, since default factions perms only allow for leaders to withdraw money, plus players would lose track of what's theirs and what isn't.
    I'd suggest the player wallet on two separate account if possible,
    Wallet: where the money that you earn goes to and isn't safe
    Bank account: where the money goes after depositing it on the safe zone, and where it should be safe, although I'd still add a bit of danger to that, mainly through out events.


    As for the rest I agree with most, I'll post any further insight that I might come on with latter on.
    Last edited by ForteS; October 30, 2016 at 11:55 AM.

    UNDER THE MOST HONORABLE PATRONAGE OF: Legio!
    PATRON OF: Wangrin, ♔Sir Digby Chicken Caesar♔, Geronimo2006 and Narf!

  9. #9

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    On Banking: Unfortunately a player can't have two different accounts with the economy plugin. Now theoretically a script could keep track of the money in a flag, allowing you to deposit/withdraw from it, but the viability of that would have to be looked into down the road. Another option is I can probably have the banker convert the money into a game item, that you could then stash somewhere until you wish to convert it back. This would prove more reliable than storing the amount in a flag in my opinion.

    Food/Flying: These suggestions if implemented would only apply to the HQ worlds, which strictly speaking aren't survival worlds since you won't be gathering resources there. The PVP map where you gather your resources, in that sense is the survival world. Flying however would be difficult to implement anyway, (since its world specific AND peace specific) so its unlikely to be included for that reason alone.

    Ender Chests: If a script was made to do this, I think it would make it quite difficult to actually build your HQ. As for your building materials being safe from annexation, its far easier for them to be stolen whilst still at war. Chest looting while at war is still a thing, even in Faction HQs. Regarding resource buildup, I'm sure there are ways to reset chest items or even specific 'pvp affecting' chest items. Before endorsing any of that though I'd like to bounce the idea off others.

    Smaller PvP Maps: The biggest PvP map of the two we have in the line-up right now is 4500 x 2500, with the smaller one being 3400 x 3100. The current one is 16k x 16k if I'm not mistaken, so we are definitely moving in favor of much smaller maps.

    Resource Points: They were tried before and worked just fine as I remember, not that we would be setting them up in the same way (for a starter they would only give out money). Their purpose (to bring more people onto the pvp map) is only served if they fluidly change hands, so no one would be holding them forever, least of all less active players. Not having a resource point doesn't result in your bank account decreasing so its not a penalty, those who choose to spend time fighting over them gain a reward (we want to reward activity and pvp). Just to be clear, the one thing for certain we will not be doing is have resource points that require a war to change ownership. They should be 'I've got a hour to kill, lets go capture a resource point'.

    Guilds: It's becoming more apparent that we will be implementing nonfaction activities into the server, so that a ton of players aren't required to have fun pvp/pve experiences. Currently the Bounty Hunter system has been tabled due to having too many ways to abuse it, and has been replaced with an Assassin Guild, where any player can request a randomly picked target from the players online (yourself or a faction member can't be the target obviously). Upon killing the player, you receive a set amount of money as a reward.

    Other Guilds are in the books such as an Explorer's Guild (where you are tasked with going to different locations on the pvp map to collect various items/fight monsters). If you have any suggestions for additional content like this, please feel free to share.

    Skeleton Horse Spawn blocking: I discovered a way to block this via a script, theoretically I could just nerf the spawn rate instead. All the same to me, so if you have input on this please feel free to share.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Quote Originally Posted by Ditro
    Money Changes: In terms of economy mechanics, many aspects of the original server have also been changed.
    I'd like to make a few points here. You don't have to respond, but I hope you consider them.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Personal wallets now function exactly the same as the resources carried on your person when it comes to PvP. If killed by another player, the killing player will be able to take the contents of your wallet. To protect your money, you will now need to make use of the services of the Faction Banker located in the safezone to deposit your money into the Faction Bank account (no more /f money d).
    Why? People will still deposit their money, only it will require extra work. The only putative benefit is more incentive to raid, but I'm not sure that frequent raiding is something that encourages activity in the long-run.

    In order to make money you currently have four options: 1. Mine the traditional way, 2. Kill people to take their wallet, and 3. Sell Resources in Shops, 4. Declare War (more to come).
    So, I'm very happy that y'all are thinking about ways to promote shops. I want to point out that in the first GED server:

    • SZ commerce was only possible due to quick portal access from faction bases to the SZ.
    • SZ commerce was initially hampered by a convoluted rental system. Shop owners had to keep track of monthly rent payments. Rent was fixed, and not linked to either profitability or the demand for shops.
    • SZ commerce was later hampered by a too-simplistic rental system. IIRC, monthly payments were abandoned. The best shop locations were often held by inactive users.
    • Trade really flourished when public portals were introduced and factions had their own, private marketplaces. These were easy to keep well-stocked because they were close to where you built/mined and everyone in the faction could contribute (not just one shop owner). Because they were well-stocked, it was easier to advertise and reliably find customers.

    Generally, server commerce is a very fragile thing. There are limited gains to trade (it's not hard to find everything you need by yourself), so everything about trading has to be really easy if it's going to happen at all.

    You should note that mining can only be done on the PvP Map, as doing it in your Faction HQ world will result in no money gained or ore dropped.
    Please reconsider. It's already more time-consuming to build underground. Under these conditions, I would never build in my faction HQ.

    As a boon to encourage activity, and minimize grind we have added in two Mining Bonus Hours. Between the hours of 1400-1500 GMT and 2000-2100 GMT anything you mine will give you twice the payout as it normally would.
    It's not clear to me that this would encourage activity. Sure, there are real benefits to getting everyone online at (roughly) the same time. But it could easily dissuade mining (and for Dwarves, even building) in off-hours.

    For the rest... you know, it's not really my place to comment. It could be that the place for a shakeup isn't in the server mechanics but rather in the norms that people have settled into over time. From what I've seen in the past two weeks, there's little reason to have dozens of spread-out factions, each with some ambitious construction project. Why not just, say, the Kingdom of the East and the Western Federation?
    Developer of The Great War | Leader of WW2: Sandstorm | Under the Woolen Patronage of Mitch | King of All

    Quote Originally Posted by Admiral Van Tromp View Post
    History has always been a bit of the State's slut.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Why? People will still deposit their money, only it will require extra work. The only putative benefit is more incentive to raid, but I'm not sure that frequent raiding is something that encourages activity in the long-run.
    We know people will still deposit their money (and want them to deposit their money). The point is now you can kill players and take that money before this can be accomplished, thus increasing risk and reward on the server. Buffing smaller forms of PvP (ie not faction vs faction) is a major aim of the server changes, and thus things like banditry are gaining buffs like this one. We do not want the current situation where you need two fully active factions to have any sort of PvP experience on a PvP server. Wars will still exist, but PvP will also now have more pickup and play options.

    So, I'm very happy that y'all are thinking about ways to promote shops. I want to point out that in the first GED server:

    • SZ commerce was only possible due to quick portal access from faction bases to the SZ.
    • SZ commerce was initially hampered by a convoluted rental system. Shop owners had to keep track of monthly rent payments. Rent was fixed, and not linked to either profitability or the demand for shops.
    • SZ commerce was later hampered by a too-simplistic rental system. IIRC, monthly payments were abandoned. The best shop locations were often held by inactive users.
    • Trade really flourished when public portals were introduced and factions had their own, private marketplaces. These were easy to keep well-stocked because they were close to where you built/mined and everyone in the faction could contribute (not just one shop owner). Because they were well-stocked, it was easier to advertise and reliably find customers.

    Generally, server commerce is a very fragile thing. There are limited gains to trade (it's not hard to find everything you need by yourself), so everything about trading has to be really easy if it's going to happen at all.

    • The safezone is the Hub of the multiverse structure, with players passing through it on their way between their HQs and the PvP Map, this means its not only quick portal access but almost assured that you pass through it regularly.
    • I'm not a huge fan of manually doing these type of things, thankfully with our new script engine the sky is the limit with most ideas (its truly incredible). Making a script that automatically handles the charging of rent is probably a lot easier than my Assassins Guild script. To do this automatically though would mean pulling the money from the faction wallet.
    • Again with the safezone as the multiverse hub, this should make it even more convenient than it was at its height on Map 1. The miners returning from mining, and the PvPers on their way to PvP all pass through the safezone making for very easy buying/selling.


    Whilst its true mining isn't hard to do, with many other alternative forms of money making available people will no doubt be looking to the market to find those items they would have obtain via mining. I know personally, if I could make my money from say Explorer missions instead, I'd gladly do those and spend my earned money on buying PvP gear in the safezone instead.


    @No Ore/Money Mining in HQ Worlds:Please reconsider. It's already more time-consuming to build underground. Under these conditions, I would never build in my faction HQ.
    That's impossible, if you could do everything you need in your safe HQ world, you'd never have any reason or desire to leave it. Whilst it's true as a Dwarf you will no longer be paid to build your base, the Dwarves were essentially the only faction ever getting paid to do that. Mining is ultimately going to be just one of several ways to make money on the new setup, and since it is in my opinion the most grindy and least exciting, I suspect it will not be the most popular. When you consider however that much fewer miners mining = more resource scarcity, it means those dedicated miners have the potential to make more money than before. Now a miner can make money from the mining itself, whilst trading those resources in the safezone on his way back from mining them in the PvP world.

    Regarding not wanting to build on the HQ world due to not getting paid to do it, nothing forces you to build off of the PvP Map, but it will get wiped regularly and lacks a lot of the customization capability the HQ worlds will have.


    It's not clear to me that this would encourage activity. Sure, there are real benefits to getting everyone online at (roughly) the same time. But it could easily dissuade mining (and for Dwarves, even building) in off-hours.
    The reasoning for this is two fold, for one it encourage activities during the primetime of each respective time-zone, and two to reduce the grind of mining solely for money. We want players to spend the bulk of their time building, killing, and having fun with all the new stuff we are adding. We do not want them to spend 2/3rds of their time mining just to make the money so they can build. Again I understand for the Dwarves those two things are commonly the same thing, but that is not the case for most if not all other factions. If people don't want to mine during off-hours, that's great since it means they are free to spend those hours doing more enjoyable things, be it building, capturing resource points on the pvp map, or even running NPC missions (2 out of 3 of which pay you money).



    I really appreciate your thoughts, especially on the topic of SZ Commerce (I was a regular customer in your store Map 1!). Because of them, I'm rethinking aspects like specific portal locations in the safezone, and the proposed purchasable portal that skips past the safezone. In its place I now think we should go with a buyable portal from the safezone to an owned location on the PvP Map, so as to not reduce safezone traffic.
    Last edited by Ditronian; November 01, 2016 at 10:29 PM.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Honestly I dont mind most of these changes, so long as its easy for the old timers like myself to adapt
    My own real concern is if we have two many worlds it'd spread the playerbase out too much. And are we keeping the main faction's pvp map? With all the builds? Because I saw a few mentions of pvp resets and I'm not eager to build a whole huge ass base all over again

  13. #13

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Honestly I dont mind most of these changes, so long as its easy for the old timers like myself to adapt
    No worries, Fortesgt (no pressure) is currently making the best tutorial ever to grace Serveria! I can at least guarantee the tutorial area has a nice view whilst you spawn in

    Quote Originally Posted by Ditronian
    @FactionHQs: To grossly simplify, if you wish to use a build from the current map or a previous map that is available to us you may elect to have those regions cut out and used to create a new world for your faction. Another possibility, is you may explore countless other minecraft maps to find the perfect locale, and then provide the seed and location to staff for your new world, the choice is yours.
    The current PvP map will be going away as part of these changes, to be replaced by a much smaller map which periodically gets replaced. As stated above, the regions comprising your current base can be used to form your Faction HQ world, as the Dwarves intend to do. If they also wanted however, they could use Ervingur as their HQ World or start fresh with some epic mountain they found on a random minecraft seed.

    This issue of spreading out the player base is why the PvP Maps will be smaller, and all the NPC missions, sources of money/resources, etc are linked to the PvP map. Apart from there, all you essentially have left are our bases on our HQ Worlds (where you will mostly just be building), and the safezone which connects the two. There is also the possibility of weekend events and such hosted on tiny worlds (ie sieges on forts cutout from map 2), but they won't hold players outside those select times.
    Last edited by Ditronian; October 30, 2016 at 11:55 PM.

  14. #14

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    So essentially everyone has a home territory and they're vying for control of far off, unrelated map claims (and what I fear, inconsequential, if it's gonna be periodically wiped). I don't know how to feel about this, since on the one hand there's no risk of losing your favorite builds, but on the other that means there's going to be no real history or faction legacies on the world for people to see and puzzle over.

    I'll hold my breath before judging, seeing as I definitely agree something has to be done to kickstart this server, but I'm not totally sold on the idea yet.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    I've only skimmed over posts and may reply again later. But...
    Quote Originally Posted by The Guy With No Imagination View Post
    So essentially everyone has a home territory and they're vying for control of far off, unrelated map claims (and what I fear, inconsequential, if it's gonna be periodically wiped). I don't know how to feel about this, since on the one hand there's no risk of losing your favorite builds, but on the other that means there's going to be no real history or faction legacies on the world for people to see and puzzle over.
    Huh. When you put it that way, it makes me think AoE3-style colonial warfare. You have a home world that (usually) rises above the fray, but have land grabs and wars for resources in the new world. Colonial wars are less risky, and therefore more frequent. And it's a natural next-step for well-established factions that are fighting the same old wars.

    In that light, what Ditro et al. are proposing seems like a really clever, insightful idea. There are some points I disagree with, but if those are addressed then I can certainly see myself getting excited about the changes. And I don't think it's necessarily unappealing to old players, or inconsistent with factions-style PvP.

  16. #16

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    SZ commerce was initially hampered by a convoluted rental system. Shop owners had to keep track of monthly rent payments. Rent was fixed, and not linked to either profitability or the demand for shops.
    To add further to this note, I've begun working on the Rent system and have finished making an easy to interact with NPC that can give anyone his/her faction's current list of services (with how much each costs), and total monthly rent payment. Next up I'll create the script that auto-withdraws the money (assuming Elite finishes making a command for factions that does this) on the first of the month. I'll likely create a line that says if the faction doesn't have enough money, to notify staff whenever they login so they can deal with the lack of payment manually.

    Edit: I've start delving into the whole process, and can now determine that the process of buying safezone shops etc can also likely be handled automatically via scripts.

    There's going to be no real history or faction legacies on the world for people to see and puzzle over.
    On the PvP Map, this is largely true since they get reset periodically. That being said the existing setup where a map survives 6 months to a year , isn't all that different in my opinion. The difference is now we will have Faction HQs consisting of bases that do not get wiped overtime, thus preserving faction histories and legacy. It also allows for factions to spend more time and effort on their builds (since they have more time to work on them), and have peace of mind in that their work won't just disappear.

    Edit: New Chestshop Plugin: Our current chestshop plugin has been kind of janky and constantly throws errors, so I've decided to replace it with the following. I love the holographic pictures.
    Last edited by Ditronian; October 31, 2016 at 05:07 PM.

  17. #17

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Added more details regarding the Safezone shops and rent process in the OP, now that the majority of those scripts are now complete.

  18. #18
    Saayd's Avatar Foederatus
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    London
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    If it is the case as has been indicated to me, that we will receive no money for mining on HQ worlds, then I am strongly against this idea. Why would anyone mine on another map that wasn't there base?

    Also if there is some way to just incorporate current builds into the main map, rather than on 'multiverse' worlds, that would be highly preferable.
    Saayd ~ Grand Engineer of the Dwarven Empire

  19. #19

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    Quote Originally Posted by Saayd View Post
    If it is the case as has been indicated to me, that we will receive no money for mining on HQ worlds, then I am strongly against this idea. Why would anyone mine on another map that wasn't there base?
    You make the argument for me, if you could mine on your own HQ World in safety why would you go to the PvP Map? With risk comes reward, thus all forms of money making are tied to the PvP Map. Getting people to be active on the PvP Map is a hinge-pin of the server's survival. As mentioned before, if adapting to these changes isn't your cup of tea that is fine, as they geared towards appealing to a new player base, not the old guard which virtually never plays. While potentially losing a few old players is unfortunate, it's a better alternative to the server shutting down when it runs out of money.

    Quote Originally Posted by Saayd View Post
    Also if there is some way to just incorporate current builds into the main map, rather than on 'multiverse' worlds, that would be highly preferable.
    This isn't possible no, which is why MCC staff couldn't port Eldinghold onto a future map. You'd never be able to import the builds onto an existing map without it crashing, and even if you could it'd be a monumental effort to terraform them into place.
    Last edited by Ditronian; November 03, 2016 at 03:59 PM.

  20. #20

    Default Re: Upcoming Server Enhancements

    I reckon that I might as well express my strong feelings against these plans.By stabbing the old guard in the back based merely on the assumption that new players will come along,you are not only showing a disregard for the traditional playerbase but also taking a huge risk.Though I perfectly understand your concerns over the financial sustainability of the server,what you're proposing here seems to be very bad business.Instead of attracting new customers at the expense of old ones,you should be encouraging brand loyalty. You should give players greater incentives to come online more often and enforce harsher penalties for those who go offline for long periods of time.You aren't doing yourself or anybody else any favours by turning your back on the traditional playerbase.If anything,you're risking everything based on speculation.There's already dozens of servers that pride themselves on multiverses and cutting-edge plugins,so why would anybody choose this one over the rest? We should instead be placing a greater emphasis on the traditional foundations of this server; realism,roleplay,alliance-building and warfare.We need a renaissance,not a revolution.I hope that this appeal of mine won't fall on deaf hears.Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this,I sincerely hope that you consider the content of this post before making this all-important decision.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •