Hanging Up the Helmet

It's been a good run, but the time has come. I'm hanging up the helmet, putting the cape away. The adventure is over, for now.

The game's been a part of my life for almost three years and I've had a lot of fun with it. But I never could quite accomplish anything meaningful. My big projects never got completed, and if the smaller ones got done, there were scarcely any people around me to share the successes with. A lot of time has been spent bored and without motivation to move on.

What does this mean? Don't expect blog posts, at least not very often. Or YouTube videos. I want to try and use my free time in other, more productive ways. I will probably still be playing Minecraft, but not as frequently. Already I'm at the point where I turn it on maybe once every few days. I'll still watch my favorite Minecraft let's players - like Etho, Pakratt0013, VintageBeef, etc. - but mostly I watch them for entertainment.

A big thanks goes out to anyone who's been a regular reader of mine for any length of time. I hope you can enjoy Minecraft and make great things more than I have.

Edge of Sanity = Reached

I had an epiphany yesterday. Actually, I'm pretty sure I had two.

The first one, which I think is fairly important, is that I come up with ideas that are far too big. I want to build far-flung villages, starships, arenas, impossibly complex redstone contraptions, etc. And the problem is... I don't have that level of imagination, time, or attention span. I don't want to spend three months working on a single build. Ideally I'd like to finish a building in two or three sittings, and normally I only play Minecraft for about a half hour at a time.

Which makes my redstone village an issue. It's an enormous project in itself. Almost two dozen buildings with who knows how much redstone wiring to be done underneath it. Honestly I don't think I would have the patience to do it all in Survival mode. I may just load up a Creative map and do it in there. Then when it's ready for release, switch to Survival mode and post it online.

Secondly, I can't make stuff that looks decent. Which is a shame. I want to make stuff that looks good. That is the entire freaking premise of Minecraft after all. But when I look at the stuff I'm currently making, I feel disappointed because it's so bland and unattractive. I don't get how people make these beautiful block combinations naturally. I don't know what part of the brain is needed to do that, but I'm missing it. Even those who say they aren't that good at building (I'm looking at you, Etho) do quite stunningly. Things just don't make sense.

Edit: Oh, I remembered a third! Everything's pretty much been done already. You know how I want to redstone everything? Well I'm pretty sure that's been done already. So yeah, there's also that about my lack of creativity. What's really left to do after this point?

Let's Play Episode 9

Let's Play Episode 8

Maybe Something

A few weeks ago I formulated an idea for a village that supplies all of my in-game needs, using a lot of redstone and hoppers to automate things. Today I finally sat down and got to building. My plan calls for 19 buildings, mostly small. The first one, a simple house, is completed.

The exterior is designed similarly to my cow house.

The interior isn't terribly decorated. You see a bed with a chest as a sort of bedside desk. On the other side is a table with a long couch to relax on. Perhaps I should put a pot there.

Some blocks away I have started making the first of many farms, a potato farm. I want it to eventually be connected to a village-wide clock which pulses once every two real life hours, automatically harvesting the crops. I also want the drops to go into an underground furnace and get cooked into baked potatoes, before coming to a rest in an underground storage area.

And a nice glitch to boot.

I have not yet updated to 1.6. Been rather apathetic about it. Surprisingly I'm not all that excited about horses, though they will indeed be a useful add. Perhaps I should alter my village layout to include some kind of horse stable!

Oh... Hi

No content in terms of gameplay has been put on here recently because, well, there hasn't been much of anything to talk about. I felt like I should make a post to get you all caught up with whatever there is to catch up on.

In my spare time I've been learning up on enchanting and anvil use. Remember that talk of a dream tool set... from over a month ago? As it turns out, certain enchant combinations can't exist. My studies also showed me that there's a difference between, say, Smite and Sharpness, or Flame and Fire Aspect. It also taught me that every time you repair an item, the cost for repairing goes up. That essentially means you can't hold on to a single tool forever. Eventually it will get too costly to repair, and you're best off using it until it breaks. This newly gained knowledge at hand, there's what I'm now thinking would be a good toolkit for me:

• Sword with Sharpness V and Fire Aspect II. This will be my general combat sword.
• Sword with Sharpness V and Looting III. A special sword for gathering mob drops.
• Bow with Power V and Flame I. General combat bow.
• Pickaxe with Efficiency IV and Unbreaking III. My main work pick. An enchanting table can't produce Efficiency V and I don't want to spend extra levels and time using the anvil.
• Pickaxe with Fortune III and Unbreaking III. Fortune is my main desire.
• Pickaxe with Silk Touch I and Unbreaking III. Silk Touch is my main desire, any level of Unbreaking is fine with me.
• Shovel with Efficiency IV, Unbreaking III.
• Shovel with Fortune III and Unbreaking III. This would only be used for getting gravel.
• Shovel with Silk Touch I and Unbreaking III. The only conceivable use for this would be getting grass.
• Axe with Efficiency IV, Unbreaking III. General work tool. Fortune and Silk Touch strike me as useless for an axe.
• Protection IV on all pieces of armor.
• Feather Falling IV on boots.
• Respiration III on helmet. Aqua Infinity is nice (lets you break blocks as though you were on land) but I don't foresee myself needing it that frequently.

All said and done, that's three weapons, four pieces of armor, and seven tools. I suppose that's reasonable...

Server Funding Tutorial

Introduction

One of my biggest problems with finding a Minecraft server is that most of them don't seem to last very long. The owners will start off expecting the server to be around for a long time. But they run into the problem of not having enough money and after a few months it has to be shut down.

The main method of paying for server costs seems to be through donators. While this is a legitimate method, it's not the most reliable. There are several other ways to pay for a server. It seems to come down to advertising the server and showing people it's something worth donating to.

Before starting a server with all the costs that might result from that, you should first ask yourself if it's really feasible for you to have one. Let's face it, if you're 13 years old with loads of free time because it's summer, you're probably not going to start the next MindCrack or Hermitcraft server. That takes a lot of commitment, not to mention cash. That said, if you're feeling bold enough to set up a Minecraft server and want to keep it running for a while, there are plenty of things you could try.

Getting Funds

• Have money prepared: launching a server right off the bat, with no funds on hand, is a bad idea. Make sure you have enough money on hand to pay the bills in case there is a slow month. I would recommend having at least 3 months' worth of cash for the server on hand.
• Parents or roommates pay for it. You might be living with your parents or roommates, and they could be able to cover the costs for running it. If they can do that long-term (6 months or more) then you're pretty well set. Even so, you might want to try something else listed below to lessen the burden on them.
• Find a sponsor. This might be a parent, roommate, or friend. Or it might be someone else. This is a person who volunteers to pay for the server, at least for a certain amount of time.
• Job. Perhaps you have your own job and can pay for it yourself. Great! If not, and if you're of working age, a part-time job might be in order. Not only would it help pay off the server, you gain valuable work experience and money for other things. (To work solely to pay off a Minecraft server would be strange, but I suppose it's acceptable if you are really devoted to it.)
• Online work. Related to the last post. If you have something you're good at, like writing, programming, or building stuff in Minecraft, then you could join sites like Fiverr where people will pay you small sums of money to do simple tasks. There actually are people out there that will pay five dollars for you to build an impressive spawn or redstone contraption on their server.
• Server hosting: there are companies out there that will host Minecraft servers for you. I don't know what their costs are. That's something you will have to research for yourself. Or if you can afford it, set up a cheap server computer in your house.
• Work with others. If the server you want to start up is a private one with no more than a handful of people being on at once, then it's possible you can run it by yourself. But if your goal is to have a bustling community then you can't do it alone. Just like running a server, funding a server of that size needs multiple people. Pool resources to fund it.
• Donators. Although not likely to keep a server alive indefinitely, this is a standard method for getting funds. Allow people to pay via PayPal or whatever other kind of sites there are. When a person donates, reward them in-game somehow. It could be a special title, rank, their own world to build on, a certain set of armor, etc. It's part of making it worth their time and money to invest in the server.
• Ask for donations on social network sites. This might be seen as low by some but if you're really in need of funds it might work. Before launching the server go to places like the Minecraft Forums or Planet Minecraft and ask if someone would chip in a few dollars to start up a new server. If you're asking after the server is established, present to them some pictures or videos showing the most impressive parts of the server.
• Funding sites: going to sites like Kickstarter or Go Fund Me, where people donate to what they see as a worthy cause.
• Spreadshirts: you could design a t-shirt for the server specifically or something related. I don't think this would be very viable, personally.
• Paid products: for example, if the server has been around for a while and has a lot of good builds on it, a download link to it could be provided on the server website for a small charge.
• Donation plugins: things like Buycraft, Enjin Minecraft Plugin or Donator Express where people can donate and receive rewards more easily. Don't forget to give them stuff worth buying!

These previous tips were mainly about ways where you yourself get the money. Another important aspect of funding a Minecraft server is advertising it. If nobody knows about it, they won't go to it. And if they don't go to it, how can they help pay for it? Here are some ideas for increasing the publicity of your server, and how that can help raise funds.

Getting Attention

• Social networking sites. I'm talking about having a Facebook page for the server, a Twitter account to mention the latest happenings, posting on one of the many Minecraft-related Facebook pages, posting on the Minecraft Forums, Planet Minecraft, Reddit, etc.
• Server listings: I find most servers by looking up server lists. Find sites like these and submit your server to them. Also relevant is /r/mcservers.
• Make a website for it. This could include things like a widget showing who is online, a live map, a forum, pictures of the best builds, features, and so on. Even if it's some silly webs.com site, it's better than nothing.
• Create content for people to see: run a blog showing the latest and greatest creations, a let's play YouTube channel, and so on. It gives a people a taste of what's on your server and could draw them to join it.
• Podcasts: talking about the server's events, interviewing members, general joking around.
• Livestreams: playing live on the server via Twitch.tv is quickly becoming popular. Streaming to raise donations could work.
• Ad revenue: if your server has a website, blog, or YouTube channel, you can put advertisements on the site or video which (hopefully) aren't annoying. May not pay out much but it could bring in a little bit of income.
• Stand out: find something that nobody else is doing, and focus on that. Give your server a unique aspect.
• Interact with other servers: this will also get your server more publicity. The point isn't to try and get members of the other server to yours, although it might happen. Rather, it's all about getting word-of-mouth advertisement by them.
• Link exchange / Affiliate links: on a website or wherever, offer to have a link to someone else's website or server in exchange for them linking to your server on their page.
• Special events: open the server to special events like Race for the Wool, Ultra Hardcore, Survival Games, etc. Or hold events which aren't public, but rather for your server's current users.
• Modded server types: perhaps launch another server dedicated to one of the bigger game-changing mods like Feet the Beast, TerraFirmaCraft, Tekkit, etc. Or it could be things mentioned in the previous point.
• Run the server well: this is a field all of its own, but a person might not want to donate if the server is overrun with a chat being spammed or immature players griefing everything and claiming to have slept with everyone's mom. A crappy community could hinder funding.
• Stability: it is very annoying and discouraging when a server is consistently offline. It also makes me not want to return to a server when its IP changes all the time. If you need to go offline or change the IP, let people know ahead of time. Don't forget to update your server listings when you're back up!
• Build community: another field all its own. Make it possible for people to interact. This can be done via forums, a voice chat system like Ventrillo or XChat, an IRC channel, and so on.
• First impressions matter: you may want to hold off opening a server to the public until spawn and other key areas have been created. An incomplete server will not attract people. An elegant spawn will.

Conclusion

Server funding is often one of the least-planned and most easily forgotten parts of running a server. Although a donator system is popular, it's not always enough to keep things running. As I see it, the two ways of getting server funds is by getting money from donators and advertisements, and spreading word that the server exists. By doing these things you should have a greater chance of keeping a server alive.