(https://embed.noobscraft.com/6148523063484d364c7939704c6d6c745a3356794c6d4e766253397662476f794f4546484c6e42755a775f5f)
As promised I'm going to outline several different areas of Noobstown and my plans for them moving forward now that Foob is taking a step back from his ownership and administration role. This is on top of the information outlined at https://www.noobscraft.com/server/the-future-of-noobstown-17952/ (https://www.noobscraft.com/server/the-future-of-noobstown-17952/msg87456/#msg87456). This might not answer all of your questions moving forward so if you have any questions please just ask. I am also open to feedback about any of this, it doesn't have to be fixed in stone, so if you've got an opinion or idea feel free to put it forward.
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Planned Updates
We're going to continue on with the existing plans for development, including name changing, the wilderness update, etc. The list of items available at https://www.noobscraft.com/work/ (https://www.noobscraft.com/work/) hasn't changed, I will also continue to add to this as new ideas and plans come forward. I am obviously the only developer here and as such things won't be lightning fast, but I will be spending a large chunk of my time trying to work out updates to keep new things coming to Noobstown. The final few "Summer Updates" should be released this month, this includes:
- Name Changing - This is the big one in the list, almost everything is now in place and a few players who have changed their name have already trialed this. There will be more information about how exactly this is going to work. As part of this there will have to be an update to how Chest Shops work (since they list your name currently :P), but this will be explained as it happens, and I'll give you all time to adjust accordingly.
- Wilderness Updates - Things like the free chunks check commands, sponges in the wilderness, slime blocks with pistons and a number of bug fixes will be coming. As well as further adjustments to the pricing of chunks if you use Nbz to buy them.
- Head Shop - This again will be coming, the specifics of pricing and which heads will be available just need to be determined and then this won't take long to implement. If you've got any suggestions, or have any specific decorative heads you would like to see please suggest them.
If you've got any specific questions about the updates themselves just ask them.
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Donations
As you will likely have noticed the "Donate" messages and links on the server and site have been removed. Currently for now we will no longer be accepting donations in exchange for rewards as we previously did. The server costs are not that high and at the moment I can afford to fund things completely myself, however in the near future I might introduce a quick and simple 'donate button' to allow you to simply donate if you really want to, but again at the moment no rewards will be given in return. Some form of revised store for purchasing things and assisting with the funding of Noobstown will likely return in the future but for now you cannot donate in the same form as you used to be able to. The reason for this relates to old changes in to the Minecraft Commerical Guidelines (https://account.mojang.com/terms#commercial) and also in terms of the personal complications caused by taxation which would have to be paid on any purchases made. Anything already purchased is already yours so don't worry about losing things.
This does mean a few things:
- There is and will no longer be any way to donate to get VIP or VIP+ through payments. All existing VIPs and VIP+s will keep the rank obviously but for now there will be no way to become a new one or to upgrade from VIP to VIP+. The perks of being VIP and VIP+ are going against the Minecraft commerical guidelines as such we will not be able to ever sell it in its current format again.
- Those spawners which were previously for sale on the old store will be added to /spawners at an increased price compared with the other ones. These being available for purchase using real money is going again Minecraft's Commerical guidelines and as such we will not be able to sell them to fund the server in the future.
- The purchase of additional Wilderness land or extra homes will no longer be possible. You can already earn Wilderness land for free (https://www.noobscraft.com/free/) just for playing anyway.
- For now the option to purchase 2x mcMMO XP for the whole server will be unavailable. I have however been doing random periods of double XP at random times anyway, so if you're online you might be able to take part in some of those anyway.
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Events
As you are probably aware we've been quite lacking on the event front for the last few months, I do plan to change this though. As you have hopefully read Chunk of the Month has returned (https://www.noobscraft.com/events/chunk-of-the-month-returns/msg87612/#msg87612) as the first step to improving. We'll be moving back to the more scheduled events with times and dates soon too. I'm planning to bring in some regular weekly/month recurring events, and I'm going to add a calendar/timetable feature on the site so you'll be able to look at days and see whether we've got anything special going on for that day. Keep an eye out for announcements about those soon.
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The Staff Team
A few people have asked me if we're going to be getting new admins, and the simple answer at the moment is no :P. At the moment we aren't in direct need of such as large team as we don't have as many players at the moment. If things pick up again then I might look into expanding the team, but they aren't really needed at the moment.
As for the existing team; I'm very grateful for all of the help they provide, they're an often under-appreciated key part of Noobstown. As we need the moderation team will expand :). They'll hopefully assist me in running the planned events which will be coming soon! You can find information about the current staff team at https://www.noobscraft.com/team/ (https://www.noobscraft.com/team/).
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Reduced Player Numbers
I just want to address a few people who have mentioned concern about the fact Noobstown doesn't get as many players as we used to. While I agree it's not great, it doesn't symbolise the end of the server, I've got no plans to slow down in development or features and as explained above we will be bringing back events, and introducing other fun features in the future. We will be likely introducing features to make it easier for new players to get started too, and will try to have a more active role in helping new players.
I keep saying this but if you've got any ideas for how to make Noobstown more fun so people (including yourself) want to stick around and so it's generally more enjoyable for you to play then please do suggest them. If it's a big idea I'm still open to it too, things can change and new ideas can be introduced. Noobstown is meant to be a community for us all to enjoy; ideas don't just have to come from the staff, I'm welcoming anyone to put forward their ideas.
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Finally I want to give a great thanks to Foob (https://www.noobscraft.com/profile/foob) for getting Noobstown to where it is today, and for giving me the opportunity to continue on with things now that he has stepped down. I wish him all the best in whatever future ventures he takes part in :).
If you have any questions about anything mentioned above, the future of Noobstown, my plans or anything similar please do just ask.
- ItsLawrence
In other news the Map is now available again from the link at the top of the site and https://www.noobscraft.com/map/ (https://www.noobscraft.com/map/).