Jump to content

jchance

Members
  • Posts

    322
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by jchance

  1. I've been asking about some of the items in this thread:

     

    Fireworks -  Spoke to the techs, they see no issue and I think its a done deal for next rev.

     

    Item drops-   I'm asking about getting drops enabled in specific regions with a flag.  It is my understanding from Dumbo that drops despawn after 5 minutes, so it might be doable with a custom region flag command.

     

    To reply to specific points:

     

    Tornado -  I feel you on clearing land.   What if, as a compromise, we had large swaths of area already cleared of forests?  At least then you would have plains as a starting point, and you could plant trees if you want more.

     

    To neva (and gsand) -  I would love to give players access to limited worldedit, but the technical and policy hurdles, not to mention what you give players, is huge.  Is there a thread where this is discussed in detail somewhere already? 

     

    Contests-

     

    I'm not going to lie here, I'm all about getting more features and tweaking things to make C better, but I am not a contest guy.  I'm not against them though!   I know a lot of people love them, and I'd do whatever I can to support them.   How about we start a C contest thread and everyone can throw out a contest they'd like to see.  The thing is, instead of an admin running the whole show, how about we get a player (or mod) to MC the event and we'll provide whatever admin support you need?

  2. Just to play devil's advocate here, in the past when players knew a set date the revision would end the servers would be a ghost town for a month before the end of the rev.

     

    So, assuming we were to go to 4 revs a year on a set schedule, are you guys prepared for the last month of each rev to be basically empty and stagnant?

     

    I'm basing this off past experience over the last 3 years or so.

    • Upvote 3
  3. Aypop:

     

    With help from TheAcademician I was able to get answers to your questions and get some changes made:

     

    Unspawnables:

     

    First, these block IDs are blocked by minecraft itself, not by the server:

     

    /i 34 (piston extension)
    /i 55 (redstone wire)
    /i 59 (wheat crops) (which is weird because you can get carrots and potato crops with /i 141 and /i142 respectively)
    /i 132 (tripwire)
    /i 149 (inactive comparator)
    /i 150 (active comparator)

     

    You can test this yourself by going in to single player and trying them, like we did:

     

    nSD04.png

     

    Undropables:

     

    For the next group of items you couldn't drop: 

     

    /i 90 (nether portal block)
    /i 119 (end portal block)
    /i 8 Flowing water
    /i 9 Still water
    /i 10 Flowing lava
    /i 11 Still lava

     

    Aca removed the restriction and on the Rev 27 dev server they're droppable.  Since you can't really drop anything on C this is a safe change.  This change will be active when we roll over to the new rev in October.

     

    Banned Projectiles (and carts, and brewing stands):

     

    For the banned projectiles and other items,  these will be usable on the next rev:

     

    Snowballs

    Fire Charges

    Fishing Poles

    Brewing Stands

    Furnace minecarts

    Hopper Minecarts

    Chest Minecarts

     

    We're still looking at fireworks to see if we can enable those.   I want to, but sever / stress issues might block that.  We'll announce it when we know for sure.

     

    Kick for TNT minecarts:

     

    Still looking at this one.  Aca is trying to find the rule that does the kick to lobby and remove it, but it and command block carts will remain banned.

     

    So I think that about covers what you were asking there.

     

    I bugged TheAcademician for an hour going through all this crap, so when you see her online thank her!  You guys should build a statue in her honor.

    • Upvote 2
  4. I'm sorry if my comment offended anyone, but I stand by it.

     

    And Barney- persecution complex, really?  I'm the new admin on C- the drama free server.  I'm the one that is not tired of dealing with players, or worn down by constant debate on the forums.   If I objectively look at the forums and posts for the past couple weeks clear patterns emerge.  There is a subset of users that all group together in these threads.  They are a small percentage of the community as a whole.

     

     

    Look, I like to think I'm a reasonably cool guy to play with and I don't treat people like dicks.   Anyone who has played on C with me would know that, I hope.  That said, in my opinion the only reason anyone would start a "is this community dying?" thread and "I personally feel at this point that many people are losing faith in our community" is to draw other's people attention to their (Very visible, recent) dissatisfaction with how the servers are run in an effort to get more support for their views.  This is basically an attack on the head admins (of which I am not one) thinly veiled behind a screen of "Hey guys, I'm asking this community question to make things better!"

     

    What exactly do you hope to accomplish with this thread?  Get more people to say "yes" instead of "no" to be a catalyst for change?   Get more people bitching in the hopes that the heads or techs step down?  You address no specific problems to which a solution could be posed, so its not even like you're looking for constructive ideas.

    • Upvote 9
  5. Happy people don't complain, so you don't see the hundreds of happy people because they're all playing blocks.

     

    There is a small subset of players in this community that will never be happy.  They have turned this forum and making others as angry as they are in to their mode of entertainment instead of actually playing minecraft.  This in no way is representative of the playerbase as a whole.

    • Upvote 9
  6. I have posted on this topic in a few places including both admin discussions, in game with the other cadmins and Dumbo, and in this recent thread.

     

    Rule Presentation on Server:

     

    Being a cadmin I am lucky to have the least complicated rule structure of any server- xraying is not really an issue, we don't have complicated issues like crop grief on PVE, and there are no difficult concepts that are in flux like the current S revision.   That said, when a player joins C and sees this wall of text it does not give a good impression:

     

    B5rGl.png

     

    If I joined a server and was confronted with 33 signs of rules I'd think to myself "fuck this, I can't even walk around without these assholes banning me" and leave, just like many players do now.

     

    I get that there have been extensive griefing problems in the past.   I understand that as one of the oldest minecraft servers in existence we have had our share of rule lawyering and forum drama, and hundreds of not thousands of ban appeals arguing with mods and admins.   However, that is not a new player's fault and we should not project that on to them the first time they join.

     

    That is why I have proposed to the other cadmins (and they've agreed) to simplify the rules in the new C spawn currently in development.   This was my example I created for that discussion:

     

    Tdc7kENX.png

     

    Granted, on PVE and S the basic set of rules would need to be a little more extensive, but it should never have to be 33 signs creating a wall of text.  Nobody reads that anyway- it either gets taken in and they leave thinking we're authoritarian assholes or their eyes just glaze over and they skip it.  With 5 basic rules they'll read them and then go have fun.

     

     

    The argument I'm sure I'll read is that we need to define hate speech or being being disrespectful to other players.   I don't think thats a valid argument-  on C we always give warnings first for that kind of thing before banning, so there is no need to say "No hate speech, homophobia, or racism."   This is 2014, people know those things are bad, and if they don't they'll be banned soon enough.

     

    If you want to list detailed, lawyered out rules?  Cool, do it in a /rulebook (but not 77 pages like the current C rulebook) or on the website.   Most players don't need that though- they just need to know the basics as presented above and have fun.

     

     

    Banned Items and General Presentation of Information at Spawn:

     

    Likewise, I've always hated the authoritarian "BANNED ITEMS" board that seems to get bigger and bigger for each rev, as if they needed something to fill up space in spawn.   In reality, players can't place banned items so there is no need to throw what they can't do in their face- they'll figure it out soon enough that TNT minecarts are banned when they try to place one.  If they ask in chat, there is always someone more than willing to point out that they're banned on this server.

     

    E1HfeGg1.png

     

    Instead, I want to have a shift in how we present information at spawn to be kinder, gentler, and more welcoming-   Instead of saying "ITEM FRAMES ARE BANNED" we need to say "Hey buddy, if you need an item frame just do /modreq item frame!"   The same with flowing liquids and whatever else I am forgetting at the moment.    These items aren't banned, you just need help with them.  Offer that help instead of telling players what they can't do. 

     

    We need to stop presenting mods as a police force and start presenting them as the player support group they are.  Instead of listing things players can't do we need to start listing things mods can do for players.   Change biomes, create protections, get builds moved, whatever nice things mods (or admins if it needs to be elevated) can do for the player.

     

    Moderator Interactions with Players:

     

    I can't speak for other servers but on C everyone has been giving warnings for bad behavior before bans.   Be it a direct message, a "no homophobia please" in general chat, or a kick to get their attention (my least favorite option), most mods warn before banning an account now.  I'd like to see this encouraged, even more so with a streamlined set of rules at spawn.

     

    in summary (and this is all my opinion and not the opinion of other staff or the admins):

     

    This server has been around a long time.   There has been years of rule lawyering, arguing on the forums, ban appeal trolling, and everything else.   This has colored our interactions with players as mods and admins where, in my opinion, we tend to take a hard line from the start where it is not really deserved by the player.   The people that run these servers are genuinely good people that care about the servers and the players but they're worn down by years of bullshit.   We need to stop that and start welcoming players in.

     

    In summary, it's just fucking blocks.  You're supposed to have fun.

    • Upvote 12
  7. Aypop, I'll address your questions, and the tech questions I don't have answers for I'll note below and do my best to get you an answer:

     


    The following, when using the /i command, don't give anything in inventory, despite giving a confirming message. I'm not sure if this is intended or a deal with minecraft itself. I personally don't think they're necessary, but it's a nice list to have. 
     
    /i 34 (piston extension)
    /i 55 (redstone wire)
    /i 59 (wheat crops) (which is weird because you can get carrots and potato crops with /i 141 and /i142 respectively)
    /i 132 (tripwire)
    /i 149 (inactive comparator)
    /i 150 (active comparator)

     

     

     I don't really know the reason why you can't place these other than possibly the redstone devices maybe causing lag.   I will ask about the specific block IDs you mention above and if we can get them enabled.  I'm fairly certain that for items like /i 34 they just disappear when placed anyway, or don't function correctly if they do stick, which is why they're disabled.

     


    These are items are banned from placing, but cannot be dropped from inventory with Q for some reason. I'd like to be able to drop these items easily without having to drop them out of my inventory. I don't see much sense in not being able to drop these. 
     
    /i 90 (nether portal block)
    /i 119 (end portal block)
    /i 8 Flowing water
    /i 9 Still water
    /i 10 Flowing lava
    /i 11 Still lava

     

     

     The rules that prevent dropping these items are left over from back in the day when you could actually drop items on C.  I'm sure when they changed the config to prevent dropping anything they just didn't search around and remove these item ID specific rules from the various configs.   That, or they are part of the standard base config that gets used on all Nerd servers and C just inherits it.  

     

    I will ask the tech admins if we can remove these rules. 

     

    These are items that are not allowed to be placed. I'd like to note that hopper minecarts and command block minecarts (/i 422) are currently allowed to be placed on rails while these aren't. I'd also like to note that Command Blocks are disabled on the server, and can only be enabled by changing the server config files. 
     
    Chest Minecart
    Furnace Minecart
    Command Block

     

     

     Again, I'll ask the tech admins about this.   More than likely some config just needs to be updated. 

     

    Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, these tech issues are pretty minor compared to the other things that tech admins do, which is why they've been overlooked.   These are not "blockers" to gameplay in any way, but I'll do my best to get you an answer.

     


    These are items that "spawn" entities upon usage that quickly dissipate, but are banned for some reason. Keep in mind that while these are banned, splash potions are allowed to be thrown (and are thrown) all the time. It's not logically consistent to ban these two items when they can be replaced with splash potions readily.
     
    Snowball
    Fire Charge

     

     

    More than likely these were banned because they were used to annoy people (much like the throwing potions are now) and their usage can't really be tracked.   For example, if you did a modreq saying "jchance spammed me with snowballs for 4 hours" there is no way, as a mod or admin, we can log in and really see that to my knowledge.   All we could really do is see you complaining in chat (like "Stop throwing snowballs at me jchancefucker!") but with creative mode we wouldn't even see them do "/i snowball" since they can grab it from the inventory menu.

     

    The reason potions are probably not banned, and I am just guessing here, is for PVP enabled areas since splash potions do have a legitimate use in survival mode.    

     

    It is the consensus of cadmins that unbanning more projectiles, including snowballs, eggs (without the chickens), and fishing rods is a good idea.  I believe we asked the techs to earlier, but it looks like it's still disabled so I'll do my best to bring it to their attention.  I'm all for giving people things and then punishing the people that use them the wrong way, not banning them from everyone.

     


    When someone right clicks anywhere with a TNT minecart, they are immediately kicked to the lobby. I don't have any qualms about this for server security's sake, but I would like input from a mod/admin on if/how TNT minecarts can be used to circumvent worldguard among other things. TNT minecarts also cannot be dropped with Q, which like I said doesn't make much sense. 

     

     

     I don't really understand why TNT minecarts have this behavior-  if they are going to be prevented from being placed like other banned or modreq items then they should act the same way.   I'll ask the techs if we can get this behavior consistent with other non-placeable items.

     


    Additionally, brewing stands are not allowed to be interacted with, but can be placed. Hoppers cannot be placed on brewing stands either. Brewing potions on C seems a bit unnecessary, but creating a demonstration for use on P  or S, or just demonstrating how redstone works, should be allowed. 

     

     

     This has already been brought up among Cadmins that we should make brewing stands active. I don't know if there was a technical or lag issue on it or what, but  I'll see where we're at on that.

     


    After playing on the Creative and PvE servers a lot, I'm glad that we have competent admins, moderators, and community members that quickly point out griefing, let the proper authorities know of the situation, have the offending party kicked or banned after collecting evidence, and rollback malicious edits. 
     
    I've noticed that on especially C, new players are often characterized as suspicious by other players. While it's nice for our player base to have solidarity against griefing and spam, we might be alienating potentially constructive players.

     

     

     

    It is my personal opinion (and not necessarily that of the admin team in general) that we treat everyone who joins C like a criminal before they join.   This includes:

     

    - 37 signs of rules before they even leave the spawn room

    - 77 page rulebook, that even though it is mostly instructions for modreqs, etc., is just too daunting.

    - "Banned Items" that are not really that- they're just items you need to ask a mod for help with

    - Immediately TP'ing to and following around players who are new, waiting for them to grief

    - Banning items that "could" let people bug others instead of just punishing the people that use them to do so (like snowballs)

     

    It is my firm belief that this is a game.  It's just fucking blocks!   I think we should stop treating everyone like they're from a grief team and start making C a more welcoming, happy place where everyone can get rid of the drama and just play digital legos.  It has been my campaign since I was made cadmin to shift how we treat players.  

     

    We've had extensive conversations about planning the next rev, and I've spoken to the other cadmins about simplifying spawn.   I want to remove the rule lawyering rules, reducing 37 rule signs to 7, like this:

     

    Tdc7kENX.png

     

    I also want to reduce the rulebook to just those rules, a link to the full rules on the website, and a page that says "For more helpful commands and how to modreq, do /commandbook" or some similar command and get the other 60 pages of how to modreq, how to get protection, other server commands, etc.

     

    Likewise, "banned" items is negative and makes us seem like overlord assholes IMO.   To correct the negative overtones,  I want to simplify that section by not listing actual banned items (because you'll know they're banned if you try to place them, natch) and making the "mod placed items" more friendly, like this:

     

    E1HfeGg1.png

     

     

    I think these are worthwhile changes that will change the way everyone who joins our server will see us- not as a stuffy, 100 rule server where farting wrong might get you banned but instead as what we are- a nice, drama free and relaxed place to play blocks.    This is how C should be seen.   Other servers have complicated social issues and forum arguments- C should not.   Again, its just fucking blocks.

     

    I have also been addressing (non-mod) players who follow new people that join the server and treat them like griefers the minute they join.   I hate this practice-  players are not equipped to assess if a new player is a griefer, and thats not your job anyway.   Mods and admins, if they feel the threat is real, can look up player histories, vanish and follow them without creeping them out, and just generally handle this better than a player following another around.  We also get nocheat warnings and select block placement warnings that let us know if a player is up to no good without even following them.

     

    This practice of vigilante new player stalking really needs to stop- I've been on when one new player joins and 3 "regulars" start shadowing them until they get creeped out and just leave.

     

    I know that I personally haven't always been the best about this, but I have also been trying to warn more players before taking action for breaking rules.  Generally, I'm trying to be a nicer admin than I was a mod because I think that the players on C deserve someone who cares about a fun play environment more than they care about being a police officer.  Other mods and admins have been doing the same, with warnings and kicks coming before bans.

     

    I propose to evaluate this threat with a weekly metric to potentially use on all the servers: use the server logs to evaluate how many new players are banned within 4 hours (or some arbitrary length of time) of their joining the server. You could get this by checking the time the griefer joined and what time he was banned, and evaluating if it was within the arbitrary time window.

     

    This will indicate how many people specifically join the server to grief, and separates those cases of regulars being banned; I do contend, however, that there will be some people who misunderstand the server rules from the beginning and unfortunately are banned as a result, though this is a VERY rare case. This metric can be applied for each server, and it can be used to gauge the usefulness and effectiveness of ad campaigns on server listing sites as well. I'd very much like a tech admin to comment about the possibility and efficacy of such a method. 

     

    I'd also like input on whether such data should be available to the public or kept secret to the administration or even just the techs and heads.

     

     

    I personally don't see the benefit of sharing grief data with the community but other than that I have no comment on this.   Mods and admins already have the tools they need to effectively do their jobs, with C being the most laid back and easy to moderate server in nerd.nu.

    • Upvote 3
  8. I wouldn't be surprised if this post was also down voted, my previous two posts made after I mentioned it on that thread were also down voted.

     

     

    It's EVERY post (margin of error 5%).

     

    -gsand

    ;D

     

    So uh, I accidentally downvoted your post.  no shit, total accident.  There appears to be no way to undo that, so I'm sorry.  I just accidentally clicked it while scrolling on my touchpad.

     

    Given the content of your post, I'm accidentally the best troll ever though.

    • Upvote 3
  9. I think leaving just upvotes lets others lend support to a post's content without having to sit down and craft a reply themselves.  You can easily gauge support for a post or idea by glancing at upvotes without the downvote brigading (real or imagined) and without the negativity associated with downvotes.

     

    However, we don't strictly need either as the question is framed.

    • Upvote 1
  10. There is no maybe about it- you did do that.

     

    S is a different style of gameplay where griefing and looting is allowed.   Griefing on C is never allowed- it says as much at spawn and in the rulebook that every player receives when joining for the first time.

     

    Reply that you understand that griefing and/or modifying others builds in any way is not allowed on C and I'll unban you.

  11. I really like the tpmode change, and I think its an improvement, but it doesn't really affect a change in behavior.   C still has the /spawn command that effectively does the same thing as /tp playername when someone joins for the first time, which is why I think a nice post informing them that "they might be creeping people out and please don't do that" might be in order.

×
×
  • Create New...