It has been my mission since I started this server, to provide an environment where everyone wants to play and have fun. It's my job as the Owner to help make sure it stays that way. I'm going to try to give you guys status updates every once in a while so we can get an idea of where we stand as a group, and help to improve our overall energy/feeling/whatever on the server.
WE MADE IT TWO MONTHS!
Well guys, we've been public 2 months. That's a great milestone. That's 1/6th of a year, and it's also 60 days. it's from Easter until the end of school! In that time, here's what we've done:
- We've successfully launched our server, complete with VIP shops areas, an admin shop area, and stargates hubs.
- We've handled traffic from over 300 unique members.
- We've started the process of implementing PVP Arenas.
- We've launched this forum and a Facebook page!
- We've managed to saturate the Google results (when searching for Halcyon Minecraft.)
Now here's a list of things I would like to accomplish in the next 2-3 months:
- Complete implementation of PVP Arenas.
- Begin an advertising campaign.
- Redesign the rules wall and update /rules.
- Find a way to implement an Adventure Map (this doesn't mean have it operational, just find a way.)
- Redesign the server banner.
- Consider more contests to entice players.
Obviously, this is a small list. This list, however, does contain a lot of things that will take time to complete. I urge each and every one of you to make sure you keep your minds open to new ideas, and if you think of anything - pass it on, either to myself in a PM or Skype message, or to a Mod. What I'd like to do now, is talk a little bit about some of the items on both of these lists, so everyone is on the same page.
IMPLEMENTATION OF PVP ARENASAs many of you know, Nuchiha has a boxing ring. This was an awesome first step to getting our server to have some variety in gameplay and environments. What you may not know, is that some of our other players and admins are working on other PVP-related projects.
- Stormravage is working on a large pvp arena, and hopefully it will be open soon. She's got a lot of the zone already laid out, and I can't wait to see what she has in store.
- Aang and Nuchiha are working on a sort of tower-defense game that players can participate in. It's currently in the early development stages, and as soon as we know more, we will share it with you.
- I'm working on a PVP zone called "The Dome Project." It'll be a glass-domed city where players can live and survive, but it will be flagged for PVP, both inside the dome and on the outskirts. PVE players, beware!
***Mods now have access to /area commands, which will make toggling PVP Arena block damage THAT much easier, especially if your arena is a spleef-type map.
If you've got any ideas for PVP-themed events or zones, let a moderator or admin know!
300 UNIQUE PLAYER MILESTONEThis milestone was actually passed a while back - i just noticed it the other day while poking around in the server. 300 unique visitors in 2 months is great for a small server like us. it is right in line with what I expected when we launched the server, and it can only get better from here. Out of those 300 people, we have several regular members, who are dedicated to making our server a fun place to be.
The Google results for Halcyon Minecraft are great. There is only one other server that seems to have used this name in the past, and it's inactive. But, in order to keep our numbers up, we may need to resort to advertising for the server. Some of it can be free, other forms of advertising can be paid. I'm challenging everyone on this server to make at least one thread about Halcyon in a minecraft-related forum over the next few months, and bump it every couple of days. The more people we can expose our server to, the more people will come to visit. Share the Facebook page with your friends. Share the forum address with family or complete strangers. If people know we exist, they might just come and visit. If you're interested in helping pay for advertising, you may use the PayPal link on the forums. Remember: $20 gets you a VIP rank, which gives you some cool stuff.
Of course, with increased traffic, comes the need for increased server space. We're not at that point yet, but I expect that one day we will have need for more server space, either in the form of a secondary server, or just a bigger machine, capable of holding more players. Internet is also not free. To run the server, I spend about $100/month, so if you'd like to help offset the costs or help us expand, please click Donate.
REDESIGN OF /RULES AND THE RULES WALLAs the server grows, rules change, for various reasons. Most of them are changed or added because someone did something to make us think that the rule was either necessary or redundant. We have rules in place to help keep the server safe and drama-free, but sometimes things slip through the cracks, or the rules are misinterpreted and people get angry. That's why I'm proposing a rules redesign.
I believe that the rules should be accessible to anyone, anywhere. Having them in spawn is a great idea, but I honestly think that /rules should be put to better use. Also, I want to know what rules you find offensive/outdated, and which rules you think we should add. Shoot me a PM and we'll talk about it.
SERVER BANNER REDESIGNYou may have noticed that I updated the forum server banner the other day. I made it myself, but I'm not too happy with it, so right now it's a placeholder. Starting today, I'd like to start a contest for a banner design. The winner will get one of my Cock Launchers of Doom from the admin shop and their banner will be posted at the top of the forums page and most likely also used on the Facebook page.
We will need two versions of the banner: A 1200x200 version and a 600x100 version. The theme can be any way you want to make it, but it must have some of the same elements found in the banner I already have posted at the top of the forum. It is NOT required to have both the forum address and the server address on it at the same time, but it is required to have "Halcyon Minecraft - Go Adventure" somewhere on it, as well as the server address. The banner may be .jpg or .gif format, and may be animated if you wish.
To enter the contest, send me a message to a link with your banner. I'll post a thread in general discussion at a later date, including a poll where everyone can vote on their favorite banner.
THIS CONCLUDES ISSUE1 VOL1 OF THE SERVER STATUS REPORT! CHECK BACK WITH US SOON, FOR ANOTHER UPDATE!