Happy New Year!

Alo people!  :)

A few people have already enjoyed their New Years, in which case this message is already too late. But for myself, 2014 is only a few hours away, and I am waiting for anticipation of the many changes, both in-game and RL, the new year will bring for us.

I wish and pray that 2014 will be a good year for everyone, and that we can call be together next year, stronger and happier than ever before!  I wish the same for your family and friends as well!

Have some pie, because I baked some a few hours ago (though the real thing is almost finished)...

Not too long ago, I came out of a little discussion which dipped into a nostalgia trip of Dravics' last days, complete with pictures....

It was fascinating and sad at the same time to hear about the final days of a place many of you treasured for so long.  I can say without hesitation that the DRC is not Dravics and will never replace Dravics... it was brought to the server primarily as a monument to a bygone era, one that should be admired and respected for all the love and attention that went into its creation.

Instead, I want us to focus on creating new memories and new experiences to share, new buildings to impress us, and new games to entertain us!  And I want to give everyone the assurance that their hard work won't go unappreciated or tossed away without any record of its existence, and likewise that I won't turn away those simply looking for a little fun and adventure.  Furthermore, despite what was outlined in our manifesto, in no way do I want us to forget our roots in Main!

That's why, I want to share with you some additional things I thought of that were not included in the manifesto....

1. We will eventually have a service whereby players can "buy" a schematic export of their building on our server, so they can keep a copy of their hard work to personally own forever (which they can then import to any maps of their own).  I haven't figured out Cheese pricing yet, but it will be priced by the chunk, with bulk discounts available for extra-large buildings.
   
2. To keep things interesting, I believe our future "Little Brother" side-server should alternate mods and worlds on a monthly basis, to keep it as the exciting, cutting-edge server it's meant to be.  What's more, players would be able to vote on what kind of mod combination to host each month -- so players who lament the loss of LittleBlocks, for instance, will still have a chance to play around with it on Little Brother.
   
3. We will still be partnered with Gunia's Main Server, and will still offer technical support to those who wish to connect to it.  For instance, I helped Mion with an installation guide for the new Gulliver 0.13.8 Forge auto-installer for Minecraft 1.5.2:
   
   https://www.dropbox.com/s/7jf4tjrikx9qglk/Gulliver152_Forge_AutoInstaller.pdf
   
   Those who are new to our server are encouraged to pay it a visit... thanks to the new launcher, you can do so as easily as selecting a new profile.  If you do, please take some pictures of my old Mountaintop Bakery HQ (later sold to Super) and my humble Nether bakery (inside the unfinished Hellmart).  :D
   
4. And lastly, although I'm still not sure what our future server mascots will look like, I do at least have better names for them.  The Big Sister mascot will be Baguette, and her Little Brother mascot will be Biscuit.  The mascots won't be a frivolous feature... my whole "tip jar" proposal actually hinges on their creation, since I'm not one to take "donations".  I rather offer something for something, and that could very well be artwork of Baguette and Biscuit (digital copies, or even whole prints if at all possible).  :)

And that's about it for now.  If you have any questions, ask me them "next year", lol.  :P

[unless you're already in the new year, in which case the jokes on me] XD

Thank you!

Fun With Giant Signs!

Alo people!

Thank you all for the feedback regarding the manifesto!  I am really excited that most of you are excited, and so I'm just as excited to get many of these changes off-the-ground as soon as possible!  :D

Those of you visiting Big Sister this morning may notice a very drastic change at the global spawn point... the big hideous bedrock teleporters are gone!!!  Don't worry, as this doesn't mean you can't go to Eclipse or the Cheese House anymore... on the contrary, we are beginning to move these teleports to their proper home in Spawnington... the Transit Hub.  :)

Since the Transit Hub is designed to be airport-like, each teleport will get its own themed hub, which the regulars from that town or region are encouraged to decorate.   Giants get their own themed teleporters in the Giants Area of the Transit Hub (accessible via the elevator behind the World Tree).

But I will cover this in a separate post later!  ^^

Right now, it's time for fun!
Most of you enjoyed my attempt at using big lettering to create over-sized signs, and although it looks like fun, it is actually very slow and tedious to do this by hand and by memory.  Up close, the "Spawnington Transit Hub" sign looks like crap as a result.  XD

But in typical Cia fashion, I created a spreadsheet tool that will help make the process of creating big-lettered signs a snap!  Not only does it help detail for you how the lettering should be created, but it also standardizes the giant letter alphabet as well, so creating these giant signs won't be as hit-or-miss as it has been for me up till now.  So long as you have enough wood and can open the spreadsheet, you'll be creating giant signs like a pro!  :)

To get this new tool, download your own copy of the spreadsheet from:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/guj1o2g6ateecaj/LargeSignTextTool.ods

This is in OpenDocument format, so I encourage you to use LibreOffice to open it, which is a superb free office suite that is compatible with all desktop operating systems!  You can also open it using Google Docs and possibly newer versions of Microsoft Office (though I haven't tested the latter).

When you open it, you will be presented with a main page that has columns for up to 8 signs placed together -- each sign will be able to hold up to two giant-sized letters.  All you need to do is input a single character in each of the large white cells on the 3rd row, and you will notice that the text in the green area will change with it.  These 4 rows of green text represent the characters you can transcribe into your sign (no copy and paste yet, though i wonder if that could be a future plugin thing...). Transcribe all four rows into each sign to get the full two letters... and do the same on adjacent signs to form the full word!

Tinkering is welcomed if you want your signs to be different... you can mess with the Spacing value (what separates each giant character), and even modify the giant character designs if you'd like, but otherwise this tool should get you going with support for almost all major letters, numbers and characters. :)

Hope you can get a lot of use out of this tool, and as always....

Thank you!

Sister Server Manifesto – a Roadmap for the Future

Hello all.

As many of you know, I am a big proponent of communication.  Our Big Sister server was born out of a time of widespread miscommunication, when we were all dazed and confused as to why Main had been done for so long (or certainly at least most of us were).  It was a dark time of rumor and conjecture, indifference, apathy, and ultimately abandonment.  I worry that had the Big Sister server not been set up as a mirror site for Main, chances are we could have lost the last remaining public Gulliver service in existence at that time.

So if miscommunication can lead to disaster, then it stands to reason that the reverse can lead to great things.  Therefore, I make it a point to communicate everything I do with my staff (and publicly to the players) and hence I want to detail for you, openly and honestly, my hopes and dreams for what I wish to do with the Big Sister server in 2014.  For although Cay and I own it and pay for it, we need your help to make it grow and prosper, so all of you will play an integral part to its future!

Without further ado, I present to you my future plans for the Big Sister server – subject to change and feedback, of course, but a good indication of what's to come.

• We will be establishing a Minecraft Forum thread exclusively for the Big Sister server, for information and application processing.
• My Bread-A-Lot blog will be the official news site for the Big Sister server, that part if self-evident.  ;)
• We may be acquiring our own forum [not through webs.com], again for information, discussion and application processing.
• We will be creating a new whitelist application process that will be a slightly-stricter version of the current Gunia application.
• Whitelist application approvers will be provided a grading guide to facilitate approval.
• We will discontinue the practice of Moderator applications to elect new staff members.
• Staff members will be chosen using a new parliamentary-style election process.  An Owner will nominate a player (based on personal observation and player/staff feedback), and then the rest of the staff will vote on the nominee.  Only a 4/5ths approval majority of the vote is needed to elect the new staff member.  Elections themselves are currently to be held only on-demand, though we may explore the use of quarterly or half-year staff elections.
• The central Spawnington Transit Hub will be finished, offering access to all major and minor towns/areas throughout the server, including custom-teleports.
• A system to purchase Command Block vouchers will be created. These vouchers will be used to request personal Command Block contraptions that can be requested to be built, by appointment, by me or a qualified staff technician.  Contraptions include personal teleporters and cheese shops.
• The reinstatement of dye resizing will be postponed conditionally, since the purchase of Command Block contraptions (and other future developments outlined below) could render this problematic feature obsolete.  
• PvP rules will also be retained conditionally, pending the possibility of creating PVP-free zones, or vice-versa.
• On January 10th, we will transition the Big Sister server to a Forge Build.  Please be sure to switch to Gulliver Forged before then.
• On January 10th, we will also switch our IP address to bigsister.mcserver.ws.
• Around the same date, I will make a prepayment to cover a full year of operation for the Big Sister server, to ensure we are guaranteed a lasting presence.
• Once on the Forge Build, we will begin a period of mod assessment where we can evaluate Forge Essentials, NBTEdit, server-side All-u-Want, server-side NEI, and/or any other non-destructive mods that can enhance the creative experience of the server while adding minimal overhead.
  Non-destructive mods are described as Minecraft mods that do not add new blocks or items, which could otherwise break/disappear if accidentally moved to a non-modded environment (e.g., LittleBlocks).
• We will investigate the possibility of setting up a Dynamap page for the Big Sister server, which will allow all players to chat in-game without needing to log into Minecraft.
• The implementation of Protection mods will be a high priority.  Though this may render the use of SDBs obsolete, we will continue to provide these as a public service for other purposes
• Cheese will continue to be our server currency.  However, new methods to acquire Cheese (aside from XP and Cheese Block exchange) will appear overtime.  This includes investing in a personal Cheese shop for slow and steady income.  
• More public cheese shops will be added to the server, including those purchased by users.  And until we can migrate to 1.7, a means to purchase custom NBT-Edited items will be proliferated using a Dispenser+Hopper shop system.
• We will make use of new Permissions mods to create new positions beyond just the vanilla breakout of players and opped-players.  
• A distinction will be made between novice Survival players and veteran Survival players.  Novice players will have rights identical to vanilla Survival player rights, and Veteran players may gain access a limited subset of server commands (such as Home and Back), as well as access to an SDB.
• New classes of law enforcement Survival players will be created to assist staff with day-to-day moderation activities on the server.  These high level Survival classes are to be provided to trustworthy players who may not fulfill all the requirements needed to become a staff member (or may simply not want to), but can still offer an invaluable service to the community even without the use of Creative or full server commands.
• The Deputy class Survival player will be given authority to use high-level custom items, such as NBT-edited armor and weapons, as well as some additional server commands to manipulate weather and teleportation.  Deputies are nominated by individual staff member (no more than 3 per staff member), and only require staff validation using only minimal selection requirements.  Deputies are free from communication requirements or other responsibilities off-game, but should maintain a good work ethic to ensure the potential for future growth.  Deputies can be provided chat logs for law enforcement purposes, but this is not mandatory, so they are encouraged to create their own chat log recordings [using TabbyChat], screenshots or video recordings to provide evidence of criminal activity.
• Commissioner class Survival players hold the highest pre-staff member rank available on our server.  On top of being authorized to use higher-level custom items, Commissioners are also authorized the use of the /give command and other high level building tools that can help them participate in ambitious building projects.  This class will also be allowed the use of stick resizing, mutes and kicks for higher-level enforcement capabilities. Commissioners are chosen using a slighty-less strict parliamentary election process as with staff member selection; however, off-game requirements are only voluntary, but are encouraged to make the Commissioner feel more like a staff member.  Commissioners can only appoint one Deputy (or rather, Deputy Constable) for themselves -- however, they can still [and are encouraged to] work with other Deputies in law enforcement, disaster recovery, or building activities.
• Deputy Constables are a variant of the Deputy class appointed by a Commissioner rather than a Moderator.  They are functionally the same as standard Deputies, but are equipped and managed by their Commissioner primarily.  There can only be one Deputy Constable per Commissioner.
• With the addition of the law enforcement Survival classes, the staff member class will mainly serve as the kind of “military wing” for the server, assisting with high level enforcement (such as bans), disaster relief, and advanced-scale building projects.  
  Staff members are not meant to act as personal butlers for players (Deputies are allowed to do this within reason), but they can assist players, Deputies and Commissioners with unique tasks at their own discretion.  However, staff members are encouraged to delegate minor tasks (such as item repair, teleports, resizing, and touring) to Deputies and Commissioners as much as possible, to enhance teamwork.  In addition to their pre-existing powers, all staff members will be granted at least chat access in Console, which should prove more feasible on a mobile device than Dynamap.  Staff members will also be allowed exclusive access to chat logs, map downloads and building schematics, though the latter can still be offered to Survival players as a paid service.  Due to the greater powers, staff will have to abide by stricter requirements of participation and communication – if a staff member neither participates nor communicates his or her whereabouts within a 3-month span, he or she can be demoted to a Survival player status (and require re-application to regain staff staff status).
• The base staff member class is the Moderator class, which encompasses the powers and responsibilities traditional to Opped players in vanilla Minecraft (minus some administrative powers such as /stop).  In addition to these powers, Moderators are allowed to appoint Deputy players (again, up to a maximum of 3), and can create custom NBT-edited items for distribution to Deputies and Commissioners, games, shops, and quests (though the maximum attribute power level should not exceed 25, unless otherwise exempted).  Moderators are also the first class of players who are allowed Command Block editing access – however, participation in Command Block Contraption building is purely voluntary.  Via Console, Moderators will have permission to the chat window, but nothing else (including FTP access) – but they can still request chat logs on request, or through a scheduled archival dump (to be determined).
• The new higher-level staff member class is called the Field Moderator class, and is closer to the definition of a Minecraft Admin on other servers.  Field Moderators are allowed the use of all in-game commands, and are allowed access to Chat, Command and FTP access in Console.  Field Moderators are by and large more technically-capable, builder-centric and motivated than Moderators, and as such are entrusted to assist with the day-to-day “geekery” of server administration.  As such, participation in Command Block Contraption building is even more voluntary, and Field Moderators will also be expected to assist with the setup and testing of new mod capabilities.  In exchange, Field Moderators will also be allowed the most in-game and off-game perks of all server players.
• Finally, we have the server Owners (Cayfie and myself, Ciabatta), who have all Field Moderator abilities, plus all technical capabilities on Console, including the ability to perform MCEdit maintenance updates.  Owners will also be chiefly responsible for maintaining external resource sites such as the forums, the blog and documentation, although of course in-game Moderators will continue to have a hand in their operation as well.  An Owner’s participation in daily server activities is purely voluntarily, but likely much appreciated by players and staff alike.  :)
  
• To assist with transitioning efforts, almost all current staff members will retain their Moderator positions in this new setup, and will simply be asked to abide by new communication requirements (to be determined) and hopefully elect new Deputies.  Those that will be purged from the roster include legacy opped-players that have never joined the Sister Server, or have not actively participated in or communicated with any of the staff in months, thus forfeiting their positions.  New staff members will be nominated and voted on to take their place, either as new active staff members or Commissioners.
• Depending on the success of the Big Sister server over the course of the year, we may get a new backup server called the “Little Brother” server that will serve as the new experimental test build for new builds, mods and technology.  This server will be hosted on a different site, and will not be expensive as this will not be intended for mass-use (at best, emergency use during the occasional server outage).
• No donations will be necessary to maintain the server operation (either Big Sister or Little Brother). However, a tip-jar style favor system may be implemented if players would like to express their appreciation for my work.  Only tips below $2 USD per player per month will be allowed (if possible) – however, we can look into the possibility of having this translate to an in-game perk, such as additional cheese, or an off-game good such as a digital artwork download.
• And finally, a polling will be done to attempt to create a new server Anime-style mascot, one for the Big Sister server, and another for a potential Little Brother server.  This is to assist me in branding documentation and giving players a lovable, memorable and permanent symbol to associate our server(s) with.

If you have any other questions, please email me primarily (ciabatta.sylvia@gmail.com) -- or contact me in-game, on the forums, on the blog or via Steam if that is available to you.  

Thank you!

Important Announcement For Tomomrrow

Alo people!

Although some of you may still be in a period of mourning, the truth is we have work to do and lots of it.  I am creating a write-up that will detail Big Sister's roadmap for 2014, and I hope to have it available for public viewing tomorrow evening!!

It is in fact written up, but I need some members of my staff (and select VIP ^_-) to review it first -- plus I also have to help a friend of mine with a move for most of the day tomorrow (IRL, of course).

So as usual, another busy day for Cia, but thankfully I have quite a surprise in store for the unveiling of my grand roadmap/manifesto, so watch this space tomorrow [evening]!  :D

Resignation

Hello everyone,

As some of you may know, Cory has decided to resign from his posititon as co-owner of the Big Sister Server, and wishes to pursue an opportunity elsewhere.  I feel saddened by this decision and he may be sorely missed, but it is his decision to make and we must respect if he wishes to pursue more activities in his real life.   [which I always encourage everyone to do]

I want to thank Cory for giving me the opportunity to offer the Big Sister Server to our community in its early days; I also owe him for serving as liaison between Gunia and myself when communication was virtually non-existent.  Although I wish we had parted as closer friends, I appreciate the few times we did talk and exchanged ideas. He was one of the first to support my ongoing efforts to bring peace and prosperity in our community, and he also was supportive of my technological innovations\ to bring some much-needed differentiation on Sister, and for that I am truly grateful.

Please join me in thanking Cory for his months of service rendered, and wish him all the best in his creative efforts going forward.  Thank you very much!

===============

As for ourselves, we now only have two co-owners on Big Sister now, and only a symbolic partnership to the Main Server, so the prospect of maintaining our team partnership in its current for may not be possible.  We may have no choice but to begin exploring options for self-governance, including the separation of our Big Sister server as an independent gulliver server all its own (still closely partnered with Gunia's, of course), as well as changes to the whitelist application processs and moderator selection.  It is appropriate this has happened so close to the New Year, as we can say that 2014 will be a period of both chaos and excitement, with the ever-hopeful prospect of a bright future.  Let's do our best, team!

Thank you.

So What the Heck is This Thing?!

Alo people!

So some of you have been in and around the world spawn region may be wondering what this big funky gray-white building is...

Actually, if you look closely, it has some cobble and wood accents to match the Spawnington architectural style... but ultimately, it's a bit alien compared to the rest of the surrounding buildings. So what the chocolate fudge is this?

Well boys and girls, this thing will be our fancy new transit hub!  Specifically, this white and gray thing is the Normal-accessible section of the Transit Hub -- the Giants section will be underground, accessible through a special access elevator (in fact, various ones, yet to be built).  The building itself will be designed to look like a fancy bus and train terminal,  with several floors of themed carriers (the teleportss to a region), shops, escalators, another shortcut to the Vault, and a lot of room for growth.

Once command blocks are purchasable by players, we can also offer a private teleport wing where we can offer instant travel options from Spawn to a location of the player's choice.  This will not include teleports to new towns, as these will be created as public "carriers" on the main levels.  If you're in the process of building a town, please be sure to send me the name and coordinates so we can [see if we need to] add it to the official Transit Hub.  :)

Also, although we don't need much help in the top "Normal" level, we still have lots of work to do in the Giants section.  For those looking for minerals, adventure, or just something to do, you're welcomed to come down to the Giants level and help excavate out a huge room from the corner of x150 y50 z400 to x200 y30 z350!  Any minerals you find are yours, of course!

The Giants secton can be accessed using the elevator behind the World Tree...

Thank you!

Present Time!!

Alo people,

I'm not one to talk a lot about my personal life online, but from time to time I'll indulge in a little digital extroversion.  ^^

After my viewing of Christmas Story (and the writing of my crazy manifesto), we had some of the baked goods I made, plus about several hundred shots of Rompope and a new drink I enjoy called Rumchatta.  In other words, an overdose of sweet stuff... always good during the holidays (and to pack in the calories in a very short amount of time).  Though we watched Love Actually afterwards before the customary midnight feast, I probably passed out in some drunken stupor, as I awoke around 7am on my bed, fully-clothed, hungover, and with no recollection of anything.  Apparently I wasn't the only one either, so gift-giving had to be postponed for the morning (half the family, including myself, prefer opening presents at night).  XD

So anywho, after half a breakfast and some crazy jokes at my expense, it's present-opening time!!  As many of you can guess, bread, baked-good and bread-making accessories figured heavily in my repertoire of presents.  But I'm not 100% shallow, so fancy cheeses, salamis and tapenades were also included amongst my collection of tasty treats.  Candy and tea as well.  ^^

For the amateur builder in me, a pair of Feng Shui mushrooms to bring in positive energy into my room, or something like that.  It's a little known fact, but I actually LOVE mushrooms IRL, both to eat, to behold and as decorative elements.  It's one of the reasons I'm annoyed by the fact that mushroom blocks are impossible to get in vanilla Minecraft... when we transition to a Gulliver-Forge server, enabling mushrooms blocks are going to have to be priority #1 (before protection mods, lol).

And for the geek in me, a little nostalgia trip for a change... an actual NES toploader!!! :D

Used, of course, but in working condition and with an assortment of games (including my favorite Super Mario Bros 3!!), controllers and a light zapper to go with it!

Even though I grew up during the 16-bit era, I only really owned an old NES toploader for myself, and indulged in only a small collection of games (mainly Super Mario, Megaman and Kirby's Adventure).  It was probably for the best since I was a VERY slow student, and spent almost all of my free time very slllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyyyy doing homework, and anything more expensive than an old 8-bit system would have been wasted on me.  It was towards the twilight of the Playstation One era that I finally tried the Sega Genesis for a little while (Sonic!! <3 ), before making the leap-frog into the PC era with amazing building games like SimCity 2000 or ultra-detailed immersive games like the original Half Life (and before ultimately giving up gaming entirely due to college and after that my demanding full-time job).  I wouldn't own another console again until the Nintendo Wii, and even that I didn't buy it for myself, and don't really play it anymore unless it's with my younger cousins or nieces.  <3

But up until today, I still have fond memories of my old NES.  My original one was gifted to my cousins in Mexico a LONG time ago, and the urge to play it again has been slowly but surely brewing in me as I got older.  And today I have the chance to relive some fond memories, so believe me when i say that I'm very truly happy!!

If people ask why I was so keen to import Dravics and other maps onto our server, it's quite simple... memories are golden.  And although I'm too young of a Minecrafter to get a nostalgia trip from an old map, believe me I'm quite aware of that awesome feeling via other means. ^^

And that about ends my little holiday journal.  I hope all of you have also enjoyed your Christmas, and are in the company of fond friends and family!  See you later!  ^^

Thank you!

Quid Pro Quo - On Swearing and Compromises

Hello.

As we speak, I am writing this while watching Christmas Story with dear friends and family, not altogether happy with having been approached with this issue during a very inconvenient time for me.  I have already stated that today is kind of a day off for me, as it should be for most of you.

The fact that I accidentally left my Steam account open is admittedly my fault, and the fact that I feel compelled to say something about it now (rather than say tomorrow or Thursday) is also my fault for being too dedicated to our community.  Even so, I beg you next time to show me some consideration, especially since I've often done the same for many of you.

What is the issue brought to my attention?  Swearing.  And not as a widespread problem, but simply as an issue between two moderators, which doesn't actually make it a problem of swearing, so much as a clash of personalities which is a bit more understandable.

For the uninitiated, the current pool of moderators on Big Sister were not selected by me, but were carried over ("inherited", if you will) from Gunia's Main Server, and as such encompass the values and selection criteria from that server.  Over time I expect Big Sister to have its own moderator selection criteria, including a useful guide to assist Moderators with their day-to-day activities. But that being said, it should be clear that not all the moderators currently in our roster fit the emerging minimum requirements for moderatorship [especially when it comes to communication]. 

However, not everything is about following rules to a fault -- and even for moderators I personally would not have chosen on my own, I am still willing to help them out and give them an opportunity to grow and learn.  This is pure and simple compromise, an integral part of teamwork where "give and take" is more efficient and fair than simply dictating rules in a way that encourages them to be broken.  Given their unique circumstances, I expect all our moderators, old and new, to be willing to work with and compromise with each other's disparate personalities.

The following, therefore, are guidelines on how moderators can approach the current issue involved in a fair and responsible manner....

Based on observation of player habits and my own open sensibilities, I won't support an outright ban on the practice of swearing (nor for that matter any other red-topic items such as violence, vorephelia, or politics).  I will of course urge their use responsibly and in moderation, especially due to the prevalence of very young players on our server.  For those preferring an objective measure of "moderation", a 3-strike rule within a 5 minute period prior to pointing out a breach of etiquette should be sufficient.  People, especially moderators, opting to flaunt this rule can rightfully be disciplined for abusing this privilege.

However, as part of the give-and-take, forcing users to relinquish their right to even limited free speech, due solely to personal sensibilities, is neither fair nor responsible, and can be interpreted as an act of selfishness.  This is even worse coming from moderators who must deal with individuals of different ages and personalities, and shouldn't impose their own values onto others, especially onto the server.  If you cannot deal with these issues as a matter of sensibilities, age, culture or religion, chances are you may not be moderator-grade -- but if you still wish to prove otherwise, we can certainly help discuss ways for you to talk about, cope with, or, if necessary, circumvent the issue.

Just as an example, I do not make it a habit to swear because I find it a personally-degrading and  uneducated practice that conveys a lack of creativity -- but even so, I will not deny others the freedom to express themselves thusly if that's their only means to communicate.  Instead, I rely leading by example, in the hope that I can inspire swearers to gradually and naturally relinquish the habit, and in effect learn to better themselves through their own efforts.

Which leads me to the unaddressed issue of problem resolution, especially among moderators.

If there is an argument amongst yourselves, please do your utmost to take it out of the public channels.  Your primary job is to maintain the peace on the server, and turning the Global channel into a verbal WWF wrestling match is both degrading to yourselves as moderators, and to me as an owner who has to be called in to police you both.  

And finally, be mindful that respect is earned, not owed.  Contrary to public belief, being a moderator does not immediately command respect -- its being a good moderator that accomplishes that.  A good moderator can be young and mature, or old and irreverent.  A good moderator can be meek as a lamb or swear up a storm on occasion.  A good moderator is more than likely a very big communicator (especially big with me).  A good moderator will not be afraid to admit they're wrong and apologize, what I personally see as a high-level sign of maturity.  But for sure, a good moderator will make an effort to understand (and work with) his or her fellows as best as he or she can, even if it means accepting some things you may not like (such as patience or humility).  To compromise is not necessarily an easy task, but the rewards can be immense.

And that should about cover my thoughts on the matter.  If you have any questions, you can write them below as a comment.  I hope this has been an informative and useful read for you.

Thank you, and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

Real quick, because I haven't much time....  :)

Christmas Eve is either approaching, or has already happened for most of you; in any event, happy holidays to you all, and best wishes to you and your family!

On the server end, everyone with an SDB got a secret Santa Cia gift inside, I hope you will enjoy them (though some unfortunately did earn a little charcoal this year, tsk tsk).  Those without an SDB either shame on you, or I'll take care of you later.  :)

Also, as one mass server gift, I imported that Cheese Quest Map that Shadow referred to me yesterday, and it is currently situated around 3000 blocks north of Spawnington.  There is a teleporter there now too.  The place is huge, easy to get lost in, and deadly-dangerous to most players, but by GAWD is it beautiful!  Unlike the DRC, its is also public property, so you are free to add new blocks, scavenge any original items there, disable mob spawners, and/or make a home there if you wish.  The map is for everyone to enjoy! ^^

Holiday Skin Change, GET!

Peace on Earth (for a change), and joy to all peeps....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  I will be looking like the below for a while... ^^