POLL: Hammering out the server details...

[SgtSpike]

CLARIFICATIONS ON POLL OPTIONS:

Griefing means griefing - do anything you want to anything you want outside of the safezones. Whatever you need to do to make it harder for your enemy to survive. Make a canyon around their safezone and put lava in it. Booby trap the house they stupidly built outside of the safezone. Place TNT "surprises" at the end of the tunnel they are currently working on mining out. Note that anything done still needs to be done legitimately. If you vote that griefing is disallowed outside of safezones, then the only thing you would be allowed to do to someone else's building is "find" a way in.

Vote for "Spawn stays where it is" if you want a new spawn location, or want spawn to stay where it is. Only vote for spawn to be moved near lost city if that is indeed what you want to happen.


The popular vote has been for a server with PvP that also has safezones, so we are going to go forward with this. That said, we still need to figure out the details of it.

Vote! There's vote options for most of these bullet points. Note that the options are numbered, so that you should only pick one of each number. In other words, don't select both options that start with "1", only select one or the other.

Also, please note that these votes will aid me in making a final decision! Just because one vote gets majority does not mean that is how the server will be implemented!

Here's what we are planning on so far...
- 4-8 safezones (probably 4 to start) set up in "guild" format. Safezones would have health disabled, so a player could not die within one. Each guild would have a guild leader, and players could apply to be a part of the guild, thus a part of the safe city and a part of whatever PvP activities the guild takes part in. Guild leaders could be any age, but would have to have demonstrated a good deal of server activity (far beyond just being a "regular).
- Anything outside of these safezones is fair game for beast or foe.
- Griefing/stealing would be allowed outside of the safezones, but would not be allowed within the safezones.
- Player inventories would be dropped upon death.
- Mobs/animals would be turned on.
- Probably create some side missions for GvG activities (such as each guild having a tower to defend, and last tower standing wins, or some sort of CTF, etc). This would come later on.
- Warps could be enabled or disabled (haven't decided yet).
- Home and spawn would still be enabled. At first, I wanted them disabled to prevent people from jumping out of battle just before dying, but then decided that they could do the same thing by logging out. Home would be handy for tping back to your guild's city too.
- Map would be the current "build server" map that started on Oct 30th.
- Some guilds would likely be based out of existing areas (New Rome, for instance).
- Spawn could be moved to near lostcity, to allow some of the previously VIP-only buildings or towns to be used for guild areas. All guild areas should be reachable for public players on foot.
- Spawn area would be protected for all players, so no spawn killings could take place. Probably a 100x100 radius area or so.

 

[Hurune]

Quick question concerning the plans, biggest concern being the issue with Shambala and other cities that are not located near lost city, can we cuboid the cities within a days walk of each other on a new map? I feel like most cities resources are thoroughly tapped already and transferring all cities to a new map would be a good idea. I realize this is a lot of work, but it should be either everyones work or no ones work being transferred. People living in lost city shouldn't have that advantage.
2nd concern: I like safe zones, I like clans, but there should be guidelines on how big clans should be etc. because I feel like all of the mods/hardcore vips (not sure if I fall into this category) would pile onto a single mega guild and the server would be kinda pointless... I was thinking we shud have it be more dynamic than that. I don't know what it would be but...
3rd concern: non VIP's are not being included very well, were low on new blood. Spike you want donations right? well... making it very hard for new players to feel included isn't helping things.

Other than that I love what you've come up with! keep up the good work.

 

[the_actual_God]

EDIT:

Umm... guys. "Total votes : 80"? 80/12 = 6,66_

........................

Here's how I voted and the main reasons why:

1 My feeling is that the automatic assignment of a plot would not always be to the player's satisfaction. Also, some might not even want one. Also, the guild situation might make battles more meaningful. It wouldn't be the "Are you gonna attack me?" paranoia all over, there would be a bit more brain involved. Also, when you're not sure if your target is part of your own guild, you'd rather not attack. By the way, what consequences are intended if someone attacks their own guild mates? ... Also, this would be cities rather than individual houses, so the defense mechanisms (obsidian city wall etc.) could be worked on together, could be more efficient.

2 I assume that "Griefing" refers to stuff like pouring lava into people's living rooms and other blind acts of stupid. I vote no for that. I assume that reasonable breaking-and-entering grief is still allowed.

3 Stealing: Well. The chestprotect mod did not work for a while, or it is still not working (but the server has not been restarted to reveal that). Anyway: I think it is a bad idea to rely on it, and so I'd hide my stuff if I were you. Also, people cannot be on 24/7, and taking their stuff when they are out there working or caring about their newborn, that's just wrong, ok. No stealing.

4 No inventory drop. I am really not a fan of PvP (and I know that this is not a widely shared view), but maybe it will work nicely one day (at least if your ping isn't 180ms as it is for me (Germany)). Anyway: The Internet weather and other possible conditions make me believe that getting killed should not have too harsh consequences. And losing all your stuff due to the fact that Monsters and players have a 900 km reach in SMP (Maybe ping-related.), I don't like that. And if you invested 24 game hours making a diamond armor which is then lost in 10 seconds, that's just wrong. And with all this, I did not even think of myself. But when I now add myself to the calculation: This will be the only SgtSpike Minecraft SMP server, right? There will not be two. Well, when I payed the 15$ for VIP and later added 10$ because of how nice the server and the admins are, I did not expect that it would turn into something completely different one day. And the technical situation tells me: PvP is not for me. So, either I go away - which I would hate to do, I really don't say this as some stupid kind of threat or something. Or I vote in a way that's best for me personally.

5 Creepers in SMP just ******* suck. Once SMP is proper, they'd probably still suck for high-ping players like me. And they are the perfect means for accidental (and also "accidental") grief. In SinglePlayer, they are controllable and I am OK with Notch's decision there. In SMP, there are just too many factors making them just an annoying hazard instead of a fun challenge.

6 I was not sure how to read the side-missions. Sounded a bit like loss of freedom of decision. I mean, if "no side missions" means that the guild members still can decide themselves to go on a mission (Which I assume it does.), then what does the other option mean? Sounds like homework to me. No.

7 Warping enabled. Definitely. It's just a vital feature. Also, it allows to add ideas to the map that are impossible to add without. Ideas which could later become a normal part of the player community's life. No warping = no such possibility. Also, it's the most important VIP perk, as I see it (reserved slot doesn't count even though it's technically important). Keep inventory for next map? That's just a nice gimmick to me.

8 Home/spawn yes. For the VIPs and the others. Does not need an explanation, I think.

9 No need to change the map: If we'd change it, the buildings could be considered to be lost since we wouldn't get to see them again on the server. So, even if they get damaged because of PvP and all, that would still be the better option. Also, whatever people wish to achieve with a new map (other than using less HD space and using less saving time (though I don't believe in that theory)), they can also have by just walking a while. Or the spawn could be moved. A third option that I missed at point 11.

10 The PvP and Monsters situation (and the guild bond of several players) calls for new ways to make cities, so I thought it to be best if the guilds would be made from the ground up. Also, see 11.

11 Spawn should stay where it is or be moved to a nice place that would make it seem as if a new map was started. But it should not go near Lost City. Funny. About a week ago I decided that I would leave Lost City because I felt that my stuff was not safe there any more (mostly because of the unreliable chestprotect), also why have a half-assed house in Lost City when you have a nice house in Brickville? And I started a new project somewhere else, was too many fronts, so I decided to leave. And if the spawn would now go near Lost City, that would probably bring havoc. Thinking of the other players that still live there, I chose to not have the spawn near.

12 Spawn area should be protected so players don't get killed there. And if this option referred instead to build protection: Also fine. People could otherwise make a shaft down to a lava pool. And with a protected spawn, we could have a central neutral zone for all players and guilds to exchange stuff. An environment built by moderators (or maybe also VIPs). Which could by the way look a bit like this. Offices, stores, whatever. I mean, you could sell bread and bacon there in fixed stores, for example.

 

[Kiwinz]

Yes this is what i wanted

Stealing and 'breaking in' should be allowed but not straight off grief

Invent drop must be on!
This is a huge part of pvp, atm theres not much skill involved in combat :S

We need this (maybe soc could make one so we don't have any issues?? <3 )

http://forum.hey0.net/showthread.php?tid=1223

Spawn would be cool as the marketplace/place where people can meet without risk of death

We should sort out the 'guilds' on forums first before diving in, give guild leaders training and stuff.
Maybe do a post to apply for leader of one of the 'guilds'

Keep the map but maybe cuboid stuff closer together

 

[Marine05]

I think we need to redefine griefing. I voted to not allow griefing in the way of pointless destruction, pouring lava/ water, starting forest fires, anything that does not have a point other than to make gameplay difficult.
Taking down walls or doors to gain access should NOT be labeled as griefing. once again, if you say that griefing is allowed, I can see this taken advantage of and the server becoming unplayable.
Also, I would consider killing the same player over and over unprovoked in a short period without giving them a chance to leave an area griefing, unless you want to call that harassment and enforce it as a separate rule. Ive already seen several instances of this and with no rules to enforce it, there is nothing to prevent it.

Id also like to know why there are so many votes to move spawn near lost city. I thought the whole reason of lost was to be far from spawn, and i have used surrounding areas for my big projects. If we move spawn to lost, wouldn't that privacy be lost? The whole point of this is to combine both maps, allowing pvp for those who want and Creative build for others, so why make the creative section of the old map the central areas for pvp? I believe that if the old map will be retained, why not start in a whole new area far away to preserve the other areas. For the record, really against spawn near lost city..

 

[Socrates271]

Yes this is what i wanted

Stealing and 'breaking in' should be allowed but not straight off grief

Invent drop must be on!
This is a huge part of pvp, atm theres not much skill involved in combat :S

We need this (maybe soc could make one so we don't have any issues?? <3 )

http://forum.hey0.net/showthread.php?tid=1223

Spawn would be cool as the marketplace/place where people can meet without risk of death

We should sort out the 'guilds' on forums first before diving in, give guild leaders training and stuff.
Maybe do a post to apply for leader of one of the 'guilds'

Keep the map but maybe cuboid stuff closer together

If you meant a death delay, I can design something to teleport a person to an adminium-enclosed waiting room after respawn to wait a designated amt of time before they show up at spawn. If you meant a command delay such as mentioned in the forum, that is also very easy.

At this point, I want pvp not for the violence, but for the chance to bring the community together in these safe-cities. I envision the main city to be quite large and to host mods, guests, and vips under one zone. (Of course, there will be separate sections walled off by gates designed by 1337phreak's skills). From this main city other cities/guild forts (unprotected & a few protected) will arise.

If need be we can extend the city and create bridges to other protected city regions. We could even use minecarts or portals (once they work).

 

[oliverw92]

I take it that creepers won't do damage in safe zones?

 

[Kiwinz]

They don't spawn in the safe zones and I don't think they affect the zones if they explode in them
Nah soc I meant a delay on the /home command so you can't use it for instant escape from a fight

eg. Type /home
Msg: You will be teleported in 10 seconds
(10 secs later you get teleported)

 

[SgtSpike]

Hopefully I can answer a few questions here...

- Don't freak out! I appreciate each of you voicing your opinions, and VIP's opinions will be taken into special consideration. I will try my best to satisfy the wants of EVERY VIP - I don't want a single one of you to be leaving because of the changes (or lack there of) we are making.

- Griefing means breaking and entering, as well as whatever other destructive activities a player might want to undertake in order to make it harder for their enemy to recover that location. Basically, you'd be stupid to build something outside of a safezone that wasn't well hidden. This is the way PvP should be, IMO - if you build something outside of a safezone, it shouldn't be safe in any manner! Now if the votes are against that, then I'll probably go with the majority, but it just seems silly to me to think that a person should expect any buildings made out in the wild to survive. Griefing, of course, would be disallowed within the safezones. No griefing allowed would still allow people to break-and-enter into buildings not in a safezone - that's a given for PvP. (protip: if you really want to build outside of a safezone, make it out of obsidian)

- Consequences for attacking a guild mate would be up to the guild leader.

- I will likely still have an SMP build server running, but it will be moved to the secondary (23456) port. It will be a no-health server, for those who just want to build. I know most of you voted for only one server, but there are people who paid towards this server who don't like PvP, and I can't just leave them out. I feel that this is preventing people from leaving the community altogether, rather than a move to fragment it.

- Side missions would be used to increase the fun-factor. If the guilds did not want to participate, that would be up to them. The problem is, what missions COULD a guild undertake, if all other guilds are hidden within their own safezones? In my opinion, objectives would help make the guild vs guild activity more exciting, but that's just my opinion. I just don't see much else in the way of guilds fighting guilds, besides players randomly finding each other in the wilderness to fight.

- It would be impossible to transfer everyone's work to a new map, so no, that will not be an option. Too many buildings in too many places. A new map would be new, or we'll just use the current map and possibly move the spawn.

- Regulation of guild size, etc, would probably be required. I'm not sure what sort of requirements we could put on them, but I agree that one or more would probably become quite bloated without regulation.

 

[Vargess]

I think:

This is being over analyzed. More questions lead to even more questions, which leads to a downward spiral, which adds more stress than is neccessary.

Secondly, there is another update tomorrow which may change things somewhat. There are several bug fixes that are important and there may be some changes/additions as well.

Third, there are plugins that I am currently testing that can adjust or even change how we can approach this situation. Because there is another update I am waiting on that and plugin updates to continue further testing.

You guys just need to relax, take a breather, and just get Minecraft out of your head for 5 minutes. It works wonders when you can concentrate on something else for a little bit.

 

[SgtSpike]

Haha, good call Varg. I do want to be sure that most people are satisfied with the new server setup though. Looks like most things are pretty clear-cut among the crowd anyway.

Something else for you all to consider: Once we get this server up and running, I'm sure we'll find some things we want to adjust. We don't have to live with anything we choose longer than we want to.

 

[ThoseSneakyFrench]

These are the issues that I feel need to be addressed.

Inventory should be kept upon death. The "as-Notch-intended" argument doesn't work here, for two reasons. First are the glitches that encompass inventory loss. It can go either benefit or hurt you, depending on how minecraft feels about you getting blown to bits by that creeper. Sometimes, your inventory will dupe, and you get seconds of everything when you go to the scene of the crime. I have multiple diamond tools because of this. Sometimes, your inventory will disappear instantly, leaving you no chance to get it back. I've lost gunpowder and gold because of this. And then we have reason #2. Even assuming the game works, let's assume the following: You're deep in a cave, and you've struck the mother lode. Diamonds, iron, gold, enough that you've been spending hours mining it. You're chopping away at some obsidian, then out of nowhere that creeper comes and you're dead. You have five minutes to get back to your items, in a cave system that you've been exploring for 30 times that. You've lost the fruit of your labors, and the frustration is insurmountable. It's called false difficulty, and no matter how you look at it, the game is more enjoyable when you can keep your inventory.

Second, is the wild west approach to griefing and fighting. If you've ever cursed the creeper that sneaks up behind you and kills you and whatever you were working on, then imagine the rage at a human doing the same. Land claims, desire of items, the defaming of one's mother - regardless of the conflict, in the wild west, there were duels. Thus, I feel that PvP fighting needs to adopt the same philosophy if we hope to stay a community. A fight would need to take place on the mutual agreement of both parties, with a fight to the death determining the winner; none of this sneak up behind someone and mug them nonsense. Such people were criminals in the west, as they should be criminals in our server.

That begs the question, what do and don't we allow. Well, there needs to be a degree of personal responsibility here. If your wooden house on the prairie gets burnt down, that's your own fault. If the chest you left in the middle of a field gets raided, that's your own fault. You need to build your camp with the notion that people will be just as dangerous as the mobs. That being said, we can still have a server in which we kill each other, freelance, and still be civil about it.

 

[lordikon]

These are the issues that I feel need to be addressed.

Inventory should be kept upon death. The "as-Notch-intended" argument doesn't work here, for two reasons. First are the glitches that encompass inventory loss. It can go either benefit or hurt you, depending on how minecraft feels about you getting blown to bits by that creeper. Sometimes, your inventory will dupe, and you get seconds of everything when you go to the scene of the crime. I have multiple diamond tools because of this. Sometimes, your inventory will disappear instantly, leaving you no chance to get it back. I've lost gunpowder and gold because of this. And then we have reason #2. Even assuming the game works, let's assume the following: You're deep in a cave, and you've struck the mother lode. Diamonds, iron, gold, enough that you've been spending hours mining it. You're chopping away at some obsidian, then out of nowhere that creeper comes and you're dead. You have five minutes to get back to your items, in a cave system that you've been exploring for 30 times that. You've lost the fruit of your labors, and the frustration is insurmountable. It's called false difficulty, and no matter how you look at it, the game is more enjoyable when you can keep your inventory.

Second, is the wild west approach to griefing and fighting. If you've ever cursed the creeper that sneaks up behind you and kills you and whatever you were working on, then imagine the rage at a human doing the same. Land claims, desire of items, the defaming of one's mother - regardless of the conflict, in the wild west, there were duels. Thus, I feel that PvP fighting needs to adopt the same philosophy if we hope to stay a community. A fight would need to take place on the mutual agreement of both parties, with a fight to the death determining the winner; none of this sneak up behind someone and mug them nonsense. Such people were criminals in the west, as they should be criminals in our server.

That begs the question, what do and don't we allow. Well, there needs to be a degree of personal responsibility here. If your wooden house on the prairie gets burnt down, that's your own fault. If the chest you left in the middle of a field gets raided, that's your own fault. You need to build your camp with the notion that people will be just as dangerous as the mobs. That being said, we can still have a server in which we kill each other, freelance, and still be civil about it.

If inventory is kept, there is little to stop someone from continually trying to grief my stuff, and little reward in me defeating them other than my stuff not being griefed. This puts the griefer at the advantage. If their inventory is lost, they'll think twice before trying to enter my domain without permission. Why should multi-player be different than single player in this aspect anyway?

 

[SgtSpike]

These are the issues that I feel need to be addressed.

Inventory should be kept upon death. The "as-Notch-intended" argument doesn't work here, for two reasons. First are the glitches that encompass inventory loss. It can go either benefit or hurt you, depending on how minecraft feels about you getting blown to bits by that creeper. Sometimes, your inventory will dupe, and you get seconds of everything when you go to the scene of the crime. I have multiple diamond tools because of this. Sometimes, your inventory will disappear instantly, leaving you no chance to get it back. I've lost gunpowder and gold because of this. And then we have reason #2. Even assuming the game works, let's assume the following: You're deep in a cave, and you've struck the mother lode. Diamonds, iron, gold, enough that you've been spending hours mining it. You're chopping away at some obsidian, then out of nowhere that creeper comes and you're dead. You have five minutes to get back to your items, in a cave system that you've been exploring for 30 times that. You've lost the fruit of your labors, and the frustration is insurmountable. It's called false difficulty, and no matter how you look at it, the game is more enjoyable when you can keep your inventory.

Second, is the wild west approach to griefing and fighting. If you've ever cursed the creeper that sneaks up behind you and kills you and whatever you were working on, then imagine the rage at a human doing the same. Land claims, desire of items, the defaming of one's mother - regardless of the conflict, in the wild west, there were duels. Thus, I feel that PvP fighting needs to adopt the same philosophy if we hope to stay a community. A fight would need to take place on the mutual agreement of both parties, with a fight to the death determining the winner; none of this sneak up behind someone and mug them nonsense. Such people were criminals in the west, as they should be criminals in our server.

That begs the question, what do and don't we allow. Well, there needs to be a degree of personal responsibility here. If your wooden house on the prairie gets burnt down, that's your own fault. If the chest you left in the middle of a field gets raided, that's your own fault. You need to build your camp with the notion that people will be just as dangerous as the mobs. That being said, we can still have a server in which we kill each other, freelance, and still be civil about it.

Interesting thoughts. We certainly won't be implementing this server until the major bugs you listed are fixed - it would be pointless and frustrating. However, I disagree with your cave example. Assuming the spawn is relatively close to the various guild safezones, one could use the /sethome command to save their place inside a cave. If they die, they could simply /home and restore their resources. In fact, I imagine using /sethome and /home will be a rather essential part of wandering in the wild.

A good thing that would come of the increased difficulty of mining in caves is a lower supply for said resources, resulting in increased value of the resources that DID make it out of a cave. The risk is higher, but the reward would increase proportionally as well.

Also, it might be prudent to take some glass along with you during cave expeditions, so that you can place torches and glass walls around any new mining areas. This way, not only would you block creepers or what have you from reaching you, you also wouldn't be surprised to break down the wall and find some waiting.

Regarding people sneaking up behind you and killing you in the wild, well, you should always be aware of your surroundings. It would be very difficult for someone to sneak up on you if you just took a quick look around every minute or so, especially if you are constantly moving about. If you stop to smell the roses or construct a hideout, you should certainly be careful and aware of what is around you to be sure you don't get killed. Or just keep a light inventory, so it doesn't matter much if you do die.

If we have to have people agree on fighting before they fight, we may as well just keep PvP to arenas, and have the outside areas PvE.

Just my opinions here, btw. I'm not saying you're wrong, just responding with my own thoughts.

 

[Vargess]

These are the issues that I feel need to be addressed.

Inventory should be kept upon death. The "as-Notch-intended" argument doesn't work here, for two reasons. First are the glitches that encompass inventory loss. It can go either benefit or hurt you, depending on how minecraft feels about you getting blown to bits by that creeper. Sometimes, your inventory will dupe, and you get seconds of everything when you go to the scene of the crime. I have multiple diamond tools because of this. Sometimes, your inventory will disappear instantly, leaving you no chance to get it back. I've lost gunpowder and gold because of this. And then we have reason #2. Even assuming the game works, let's assume the following: You're deep in a cave, and you've struck the mother lode. Diamonds, iron, gold, enough that you've been spending hours mining it. You're chopping away at some obsidian, then out of nowhere that creeper comes and you're dead. You have five minutes to get back to your items, in a cave system that you've been exploring for 30 times that. You've lost the fruit of your labors, and the frustration is insurmountable. It's called false difficulty, and no matter how you look at it, the game is more enjoyable when you can keep your inventory.

Second, is the wild west approach to griefing and fighting. If you've ever cursed the creeper that sneaks up behind you and kills you and whatever you were working on, then imagine the rage at a human doing the same. Land claims, desire of items, the defaming of one's mother - regardless of the conflict, in the wild west, there were duels. Thus, I feel that PvP fighting needs to adopt the same philosophy if we hope to stay a community. A fight would need to take place on the mutual agreement of both parties, with a fight to the death determining the winner; none of this sneak up behind someone and mug them nonsense. Such people were criminals in the west, as they should be criminals in our server.

That begs the question, what do and don't we allow. Well, there needs to be a degree of personal responsibility here. If your wooden house on the prairie gets burnt down, that's your own fault. If the chest you left in the middle of a field gets raided, that's your own fault. You need to build your camp with the notion that people will be just as dangerous as the mobs. That being said, we can still have a server in which we kill each other, freelance, and still be civil about it.

You have some valid points there. However, I'd like to point out a couple of things you touched on. One is the West was not quite as civil as your post leaves me to think you believe it was. There was a fair amount of backstabbing and stealing from neighbors and theives alike. There were the more civilized duels, but those were generally held in public so the winner's name would be spread and they would be feared. Fame and glory were big then.
The other thing is Single Player vs the Multi Player aspect. The intention of Notch and both version is the same. The difference is having multiple people in the same world, which leads to all sorts of possibilities. The way he "intends" it to be played, is by a straight vanila server. None of the plugins and tools that we have at the moment. He may yet decide to block all these mods once the game is more complete.
I took the "wild west" idea to heart because if you think about it, the thought very closely resembles how you would play in single player. You are more protected in your home, behind some walls and torches. Outside you have to watch your back. It adds an instance of suspense and thrill to the game. Now with other players, we have to expand on that a little bit by creating towns, or bases like large castles where multiple people reside. Working together would be best, but there may be a few loners out there who prefer to sneak around. I'm testing some plugins that will help make this work better for us.

Everyone just needs to have a little patience while all of this is worked out.

 

[Socrates271]

and that's how the west won over the east.

those who use their surroundings bend the rules to create one truth, might is right. From sword to mind.


hence the heart of 'craft: to use what tools may lay abound to your advantage whether it be creation or destruction. From the blocks we destroy, we also create. Whether it blocks, players, or mobs. The same rule holds true. I believe it's also the first law of energy by some obscure figure.

Safe cities will provide ample space for relaxation. Think of them as a warm slumber after embracing a chill wind of day.

 

[Kiwinz]

Thanks varg for the history lesson and you to soc for a bit of physics.

After playing pvp for awhile I think it is best we start with a new map (vips should still keep their invents from last map)
The current creative ones buildings have not been designed for mobs and pvp.

I think run a 20+ res pvp server with all the mods we will need like towny and mobs enabled and stuff on a fresh map but vips with old invents.

And a 10+ res as old creative map with no mobs or damage have this as 2nd server

What do people think?

 

[NeoDaitou]

While I would prefer Kiwi's idea of starting fresh and VIPs keeping their inventory, I can understand the need to keep the server together and just move the spawn far far away from the old areas. This would feel just like a new map, would allow those who want to stay in the old build server to play in a way that is pretty close to how they have, and would also fit with the whole wild west theme of heading out into the wilderness. If you think about it, not everyone who went west had nothing left in the east. Many still had families and friends that they left behind who might have held on to property for them if they were to ever "make it big." This would work with the idea of people having their stuff in their old homes and picking up what they need to bring with them. This also makes the non-VIPs feel like they aren't just being made to start all over again while the VIPs (who are, for the most part, the most vocal in these arguments) make all the decisions that affect them.

As to the creepers, I have already expressed my opinions on that and I still feel that they are an essential part of the danger to the game. Furthermore, there are going to be safe zones where the creepers )cannot spawn and protection to keep them out (as long as your guild-mates aren't leaving the door open ^_^). If people are worried about losing their valuable items, leave them behind in hidden chests (just like they had to do in the wild west). The same goes for building outside of the safe zones; a person takes their life and property into their own hands by moving away from safety. If we find that many people are leaving to work in the wild and they want to have their stuff protected (because it's awesome, not just because they want it), they could always talk to SgtSpike or Vargess or someone set up a special protected zone.

Also, on the topic of guilds, guild leaders should make sure to pick people of differing skill types. For example, they'll want someone who knows how to work with redstone, someone who likes/is willing to spend many hours working on defenses, someone who is socially proficient enough to coordinate with other guilds for supplies/work/joint efforts, etc. This is just my suggestion from almost a decade of table-top rpgs and mmorpgs and I thought that people might not have considered these things.

 

[kart8305]

Lots of options here, wow. My main concern really is to stick with whatever the community wants to do as a majority. Multiplayer is about playing with multiple players, after all.

With tools that wear out and mobs blowing stuff up, we might as well start over fresh on a map. It would sort of a post apocalyptic mad max kind of world, but it would be fun. You can forget about epic cities, though.

On the other hand, I really like all the awesome construction that's been done on the creative server. Now that tools wear out, continuing that work will be quite difficult without a "fix" for Notch's tool damage fix.

 

[Drickz]

I know lots of people play the game for the creative side of the game. Are those players forced into a PvP environment where players and mobs(EXPLODING creepers) can kill them anytime?

My thoughts might be a little conservative but I think the server is good as it is, creative+harmless mobs would be good.

I've noticed the PvP features doesn't work at all because of lag and the complete lack of variation(sword or bow -without special attacks).
If I wanted to play PvP I'd log on WoW or CS, not Minecraft.