Hey, Halcyon! It's Miz! Long time, no see, right? Well, if you haven't noticed, we're down! Due to some unfortunate events, Halcyon is undergoing restructuring, effective immediately. The server is being moved back to Tennessee from California, and we do not have a time frame as far as when it will be available for use. Unfortunately, this means that backups of the old maps/worlds are unavailable and cannot be retrieved.
During this downtime, I want to take the time to mention that while I haven't been involved a lot in the past two years, I do still care about everyone who has made a difference in this server. Miko and I are good friends, and speak regularly. Hell, we even went on a cruise together last week! I originally started this server to create a welcoming and open environment where everyone could have fun and be free of drama and worry, and I want this server to stay that way.
With that said, this relaunch is going to be different. I'm going to be planning a lot more, regarding how I want the ranks to be structured and how I want the players to interact with the world. I'm also giving everyone this warning: I will be paying attention to participation. This server cannot be run by one person, alone. We rely on the players/staff who volunteer their time to make this place an inviting place to play, and when compared to some other servers, we do it with far fewer rules. If participation does not pick up and the server is empty for multiple days/weeks at a time, I will consider shutting Halcyon down permanently.
What can you do to help? You can start by applying to be a staff member. I am going to make a new application in the coming days, and will looking for people who can dedicate the time it takes to help make this relaunch one of the best ever. Staff members/moderators are those special people who have all the fun stuff, right? Everyone likes fun stuff! We are also going to be looking for dedicated builders. This is something we've never had before. Builders are those special, trusted players who will have access to limited worldedit and creative mode permissions to help build some of the massive structures we are going to need. I'll go further into this in a few days.
Some of the other things you can do to help include making your own builds in your own local worlds. The spawn point will need to be completely rebuilt (obviously) but we can't do this all alone. I highly recommend that those of you with great building ideas take the time to build some items in your local single-player or lan/multiplayer worlds to be moved over when the server is ready for launch. Got a cool castle build? I want to see it. Start sharing pictures. Get the creative juices flowing. I want to see what you've got planned for the relaunch.
That's all for now. I'll post more when I have more information available. Until then, just remember: Everything is inevitable, even change. Without change, our lives will be dull and lackluster, and we won't think to explore outside of the bubbles we call our world.
--Miz