Safe to update to 1.6.4

[Eviltechie]

The servers have been updated to 1.6.4. You can go ahead and update your clients.

[diego96]

Yay

[dyl1138]

About fucking time
I didn't know 1.6.4 was even released, techie u da best.

[ragenidhogg]

what did it even implement

[dyl1138]

what did it even implement

Minecraft Realms bugfixes.

[Eviltechie]

what did it even implement

It fixed an auth exploit.
It saves buildings so things like nether fortresses work in 1.7.
There is now a build in afk kick.

[FormalMongoose]

Is noone getting on anymore? Where did everybody go?

[vxi]

Where did everybody go?

I went to places that have PvE and a more friendly community :>

[A Ninja]

Where did everybody go?

I went to places that have PvE and a more friendly community :>

Maybe you should try improving the J2 one, I know mbaxter and eviltechie are always open to ideas about the mc servers.

[vxi]

Maybe you should try improving the J2 one, I know mbaxter and eviltechie are always open to ideas about the mc servers

Do you mean improving the J2 community or the J2 servers? Because I don't think changing the servers will improve the community, and I can't think of any way the community could be improved otherwise.
Also, the only change I want with the servers is for them to be PvE currently, which doesn't seem like it's going to happen any time soon, and if it does it will be gone soon because nobody else will bother playing it.

[Rayray25849]

It seems that every time a PvE server comes up, it dies rather quickly. Sure, it is very popular at first, but after a couple of weeks, the popularity slowly sinks to the point where it's just an empty server for a few months. And I feel like other types of servers should come up, not just PvE, PvE, PvE, but things like Factions and Minigames (although I have no clue what minigames we might think about).

As for the community... we probably aren't changing anytime soon.

[vxi]

I'd argue that the popularity dies no matter what happens because the community doesn't really grow or change.
It seemed to me like the popularity of PvP died out quicker than the PvE before it.
I think the reason for that is that in PvE everyone has a chance to grow and thrive, as opposed to PvP where the largest group will thrive the most, and it isn't very user-friendly because new users can't usually join the big groups because they aren't trusted, whereas in PvE you can trust anyone because if they break the rules your stuff will just be regenerated and they'll be banned, and you can build anything anywhere so you don't have to worry about finding an amazing hiding spot for your base to have it not be destroyed the next time you get online. Sure, that usually only happens in large servers, but in small servers the opposite happens; every group just stocks up on supplies near the edge of the map, never or almost never fighting other groups, but if they do happen to find another base it's just a big looting group like finding a treasure chest rather than having a fight over it because nobody is online.
That's why I like PvE.
If PvE was back I'd also be interested in doing it differently than the way I did it last time (finding a large secluded area and buggering off from everyone else), I would like to hire a large group of people to do work and start a town, possibly resurrect old memories like Cloud City, we'll see. I want to get the community involved, so that people have some sort of incentive to come online.
Another reason why I like PvE is because it's just my favorite. Other people like other gamemodes for other reasons but I like PvE and I want to play PvE so that's what I fight for.

And you're right, the community probably isn't going to change anytime soon because what the community does probably isn't going to change anytime soon.

Another great example of the problems the community has (and a good opportunity to give a public complaint) is that I gave an admin application in and haven't received a response about it yet. Mind you, I gave the application in the very day (hour, even) that the applications were opened for Minecraft admins. I have been given no excuse or reason for this, either. It's the small things that count.
If I had been an admin this whole time I would be fighting harder for something to come of the Minecraft J2 experience, and I would be more motivated to get online, help people, and I'd be more motivated to start a large community activity in PvE because I'd be able to oversee it easier. By that I mean I wouldn't have to send a report every day for the new member that joined the community activity, I could hand out kicks and bans and rollbacks on my own, making everything a much, much easier process for everyone.

Something else that I have a problem with when it comes to admins is that it seems (to me, at least, this may not be the same for everyone) like there is some Satanic inner-circle to Minecraft development that you have to sacrifice your wife and give your pinkie toes up to get into. I've been with this community for a long, long time in comparison to many of the people that are in it just for Minecraft, and I still haven't had a chance to give any input or make any changes to it unless of course you include what's been spoken to deaf ears. This obviously is related to the admin application issues.

I really care about J2's PvE gamemode, probably more than I should, but when people point out that it doesn't look like I'm trying to do much to improve it it's because all of my past experiences with this have been in vain, and I've basically given up on trying to make a difference. It doesn't seem like anyone else cares enough to keep these things alive, even when they say they do.

I hope none of this causes some huge kerfuffle and gets everyone mad at me, these are real issues that aren't being addressed (at least to my knowing) and I'm trying to address them because it seems like I've been given a good opportunity, so if you respond please keep in mind that I'm trying to do something good for the community, or at least make someone else do something good for the community.

inb4 tl;dr

[Siri]

reply to my goddamn admin application and bring back mc4 omg

[dyl1138]

I didn't know adminship came with greater influence on server management. I thought it was more or less a hellish internship for a babysitting company ran by a hybrid sunflower dog deity.

About the 'Satanic inner-circle'. From what I understand, senior staff are mostly in charge of server development, site management, hiring/firing admins, and bugfixing by ritual sacrifice. (Nothing like an exorcism to fix that darn SQL database!) They also waste their time starting up multiple threads geared towards pure brainstorming for server ideas, then filter through all suggestions involving copying x server, client side mod based plugins (tekkit briefly discussed on occasion), massive coding projects, etc. They wield a large portion of power and responsibilities, and still try to source many ideas from the community. For example, the requested maps thread in the TF subforum.

Being an admin is far from being a full overseer of a server. While your dedication and ideals of a perfect PvE server are perhaps persuasive, a single admin cannot properly oversee and manage any one server. Hence, the admin staff. Nowadays the balance of admins versus players is noticeably more skewed, as server activity continues to die down. (That trend started in May 2011, if I'm not mistaken.) More admins is not the solution, and neither is yet another PvE revival.

I feel like trying to reignite or relive past server experiences is pointless. I remember when I first joined. Minecraft was the first multiplayer game I had ever played with an actual way to communicate with others. I joined mc2 and was blindly accepted and had the time of my life building little diamond rectangles and jokingly role playing. I also enjoyed minigames in the sense of no plugins necessary, and in fact my last real project was a minesweeper board. It didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped, but I digress. Do I have fond memories of the servers? Yes. Do I wish to recreate them? No. This is because I tend, just as many others do, to look upon the past with rose-colored glasses. I fail to see the MASSIVE faults with the systems in place at the time. MC3 and 4 were laggy, deformed, and without the sheer amount of work put in by staff they would have never worked in the first place.

I used to feel similarly about PvP, specifically Dante's factions server. While I have constructed many ideas for a new PvP server, (and shared most of them!), I find that the one thing I enjoy throughout is the community, a community I have never quite fit into. The community should be the purpose of all of these debates and threads, and instead what I see are doomsayers mourning a trivial past and cowering in fear of their visions of the future of said community. ( e.g.: why is j2 so ded?) While we all respect others' opinions, the internet is a harsh and antagonizing medium for any and all opinions/ statements. It is through these criticisms and discussions that we all benefit.

[Eviltechie]

I think the reason for that is that in PvE everyone has a chance to grow and thrive, as opposed to PvP where the largest group will thrive the most

PvP dies fast because one group dominates, and those that don't get wiped off the map are hiding underground 10,000 blocks from spawn.
PvE dies fast because it's basically creative mode, but you have to mine the resources yourself. You could spend hours perfecting a farm, but to what end? Resources are plentiful, anybody can build the same farm.

I would like to hire a large group of people to do work

This always ends badly. You should know why.

That being said, I think PvE would be fun if there was some sort of mutual and coordinated enemy. The mobs we have now don't cut it.

haven't received a response

Still pending.

If I had been an admin this whole time I would be fighting

I haven't seen much fighting without admin. Why would having it change anything. Don't think there is some magic that happens if you get hired.

I wouldn't have to send a report every day for the new member that joined the community activity, I could hand out kicks and bans and rollbacks on my own, making everything a much, much easier process for everyone.

This happens very little as it is.

I still haven't had a chance to give any input

Words are cheap.

gets everyone mad at me

I'm very mad.

I would almost tell you to go and grab some plugins, a map, and to configure them how you like and we'll host it as mc3, but the whole 1.7 thing is a hitch in that plan. (Bukkit for 1.7 will be out soon, but everything is likely to break.) In a week, once things stabilize, talk to me on irc and I'll see where we stand.

I didn't know adminship came with greater influence on server management.

Being on IRC helps with influence, not necessarily being an admin.

I thought it was more or less a hellish internship for a babysitting company ran by a hybrid sunflower dog deity.

This used to be true back when things were really popular.