Narissis

To put Zomise's equations into words: the 16 building plots don't have to be in a row. If you arranged them in a 4x4 grid, they'll total 100x100 blocks of building space, plus the size of whatever delineators you place in between them.

Drums!

This is a neat idea (though I see it more as a PvP server with a town system than as a "hybrid" server). However, I fail to see how it will address the problem of dwindling player numbers. That's a pattern that reliably occurs on any server, P or S or C, and it isn't related to players seeking out something to do - there's lots to do on the existing servers. One could argue there's actually more to do as a rev progresses, because players build lots of different activity places and arenas. The reason why the player numbers plummet is because players value exploration in a vanilla server. They want to strike out across a fresh map and build something. Once they've built that thing, their activity level drops. The same would happen on a server like the one proposed - yes, town vs. town raids would add an extra dynamic, but players would probably become inactive once their towns were finished, and then there wouldn't be enough player concurrency to actually support the town-based PvP system.

Wait, we can post maps now?

I'm totally on board with the ideas of automatic timed bans and a lenient first-time ban length with rapidly-escalating punishments for repeat offenses. I think the issue with MCBouncer not having a built-in timed ban expiry system could probably be worked around. For instance, would it be possible to modify the server plugin such that a mod would specify the ban length/reason within the syntax of the ban command, and for the plugin to then run a timer and issue the unban command when it runs down? As for the rollback issue with X-ray bans, maybe the best solution is to compromise: get rid of the rollback punishment on blocks placed in the world, but keep the inventory wipe.

Dear padmins: Who is your favourite player and why is it Narissis?

I think there's a middle ground to be struck between excessively long bans and too-short bans. Something like, for instance, a two-tier system where first offenders receive a "slap on the wrist" style punishment, with a warning that consequences will be significantly higher for repeat offenses. In the event of a second ban, the length would be substantially longer.

Weazol's spawn secret... uh... that's the path to zen enlightenment, right?

The catch here is that the rollback is intended to remove not only the materials obtained by X-ray, but also the edits that were done using the spoils. For instance, if someone X-rays to diamonds, then makes an enchanting table and some diamond tools, and uses the diamond tools to mine a bunch of stone... then that stone is the product of X-ray. It's often not possible to remove only the direct products of X-raying because by the time it's acted upon, those have already been crafted into things. If we were to grant an exception to secondary products of X-ray, then there'd be no functional disincentive for X-raying because players would simply craft things immediately with their X-rayed ores, eliminating the possibility of losing anything at all. Then they'd take a little vacation for their 2-week ban and be back at the end ready to X-ray some more. Ultimately, the best solution would probably be one wherein all the crafting and tool uses are traceable so we could remove only the things that were crafted from blocks mined using tools acquired directly through X-rayed materials... but I don't think our logging plugins are sophisticated enough to allow that.

Anyone is going to complain that a punishment is harsh when they're the subject of it. You could ban them for one day and they'd whine that a ban is too stiff for whatever they did. That said, I agree that the ban lengths for X-ray are too steep. If the only punishment was a ban, then I'd consider them reasonable. But when it's coupled with the full rollback and inventory loss, there's no need to also have an excessively long ban. I'd suggest reducing X-ray ban periods to be similar to griefing bans, while retaining the rollback & inventory dump. This way the player still gets some "cooling-off" time, and having lost the spoils of their X-raying, they will be discouraged from repeat offenses by the knowledge that the benefit of their cheating will not be sustained after their ban. And of course, just like griefing, the ban lengths would increase with repeat offenses. So if a player truly doesn't learn their lesson, they'll quickly be facing ban durations comparable to the present standard for X-ray. Precisely, tobylane - the rules used to be very brief, simple, and digestible (before my time on nerd.nu began, admittedly). And then, over time, staff reacted to rules lawyering by making the rules more and more complex. I feel like we've gone a little past the point where we should've just stopped and told people "tough cookies, staff judgement will never not be a factor." In my observation, the players who complain about mod subjectivity are almost exclusively players who deliberately push their luck until they get a slap on the wrist. To be frank, we don't need to cater to that kind of shit-disturbing attitude. As for ruling out staff promotions for players who have been repeat offenders, I wouldn't necessarily agree in absolute terms. I think people can mature and change and sometimes deserve a second chance. But I think that players with disciplinary records should be considered carefully. The severity of the infractions should be taken into account, as well as the time elapsed since the most recent disciplinary action. If need be, the player could be promoted on a probationary basis.

FWIW, I built the secret entrance to ghrey's parkour, and the little tower above it. The tower itself is also a mini-secret in that there's a vine players can climb to get to the centre spiral and go up inside it.

Good to have you on the server! I look forward to saying hello whenever I manage to un-disappear.

IMHO, we could certainly stand to simplify and streamline the rules. Maybe not to the extent of being overly broad in the sense that they once were with "don't be or build a dick", but enough so that players can read just a short summary to get a sense of the general standard for conduct on the server. There will always be rules lawyers, and they'll always find new loopholes no matter how many revisions are made to the rules. At some point you just have to stop and say "okay, here are the rules; this is as complex as they need to be" and tell the rules lawyers "I'm sorry that you feel the staff are unfairly subjective, however the mods have been carefully appointed from a pool of players who have proven themselves fair and trustworthy in judgement. The admins will review this case to ensure that you were not treated unfairly" and then have an admin double-check the logs to make sure the interaction was reasonable. I've always been fond of taking a more affirmative approach to rules, personally. I don't like to call them "rules"; I think it sounds a little too patronizing, like something you'd follow in grade school. I like "code of conduct", with terms worded positively - for instance, instead of saying "no griefing" I would say "respect other players and their builds". That's just my preference, though.

And today it's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQWgf47IQ1Q

Someone posted their fan-made music video on /r/animation and I've had the song stuck in my head ever since:

To this point, the answer is simple: rules lawyers. If there were no players who attempt to bend rules or constantly cry foul at the slightest hint of subjectivity from mods judging how to handle issues on a case-by-case basis, and if there were no players who attempt to game the system by finding loopholes or dancing on the edge of the rules to troll other players, there would be no need for the rules to be made as rigid as they are. Such players do exist, however, so the rules have to be worded and enforced as strictly as possible as a result.

I'm grateful for the time extension; takes a bit of the pressure off for finishing my build. :P Biggest obstacle now is trying to make a redstone water detector, ideally one that doesn't require a boat to work.

And I still have to finish the interior of the middle buff "tower"... apologies for my inactivity over the past two weeks; it's been hectic. On that note, the idea of the Othello is that it's supposed to be a neutral ship, disabled by mysterious circumstances, over which the two factions are fighting. So if anyone wants to build/paste a couple of red and lime ships battling one another over/around it, that would save me some work. :P

I hit the Othello hard last night and got almost all the blast door wiring up and running; it's shaping up quite nicely, though I do need to figure out how to make a redstone water detector for part of it. It's looking like it's gonna turn out nice and properly mazelike, if only because of the deck layouts and staircase locations that will be necessary for working around its redstone guts.

Yer a builder, Harry.

I got in a ton of work on it last night, so the fuselage is starting to take shape. Still a long, long way to go but we'll get there. :)

What if they were required to have an auto-shutoff when chests are full? Maybe that'd be a bit too technical to try to enforce.

Dat Mirra chair.