Alo everyone!
It is my pleasure to announce that as of now,
October 15, 2014, we have officially completed one whole year that our Big Sister server has been in existence! That officially makes us, as far as I know, the second longest-running Gulliver server of all time. Our parent server, Gunia's Server, still leads with an admirable 1.5 years worth of uptime -- but I say the way things are going, we'll one day be able to make our parent server proud. ^^
So it's time to put on my gala dress again...
One year... and to think for a while the server wasn't going to last one month. XD
But I'm getting ahead of myself, first let's talk celebrations. Sadly, this is not Cay Day (our REALLY important server holiday, lol), so we don't have any celebrations planned. There may be some impromptu events, games and cheese-giving by some of my awesome staff folk and generous players, but overall this is a time to reflect on how far we've come from our humble beginnings. That's not to say we don't have any "party favors" for you guys, and in fact I do have a few technical goodies to offer as an appreciation for all you've done to make us a wonderful place to be:
I updated to the latest version of Dynmap for 1.6.2 Minecraft... although this did not fix the 1.8 skin problem, let's see if it offers some other benefits.- I removed the mining fatigue effect that would mysteriously occur after players died and respsawned -- removing the module that did this will also likely improve performance a little as well.
- I removed the TP delay for ALL players, so no more having to wait 5 seconds just to teleport.
- And lastly, for Veterans and up, we made available a new command called /virtualchest that acts as your own personal backpack and portable enderchest, where you can store even MORE of your valuables safely. Former Dravics players may recognize this as the power you'd get when donating -- but here you get it for free just for being awesome. :)
There were at least two more things planned, but they both fell through at the last minute so for now this is all I can provide you all. But even so, I hope it will make your gameplay experience just a bit richer, and I hope this is testament to the commitment we give to our server and all its fantastic players. ^^
Someone once said that our server was no fun compared to Gunia's or even Dravic's server, and in all honesty that may in fact be true. There is something to be said about a raw Gulliver experience, uninhibited by fancy rules or protocols, true to the nature of the game, challenging your wits and survival skills in a hostile and unfriendly world, and making beautiful things out of that. It is primal and rich in improvised play, where kids can be kids, adults can be kids, and there is not a care in the world other than endless socialization.
But sooner or later things have to grow, and as much as I enjoyed my time in a laissez-faire Gulliver server, approximately one year ago today I found myself lost and confused, with our beloved Gunia server offline for 3 weeks, and all or buildings gone and disappeared. The IP address for Gunia's server ceased to register, and barely a word was spoken about it on any of the two forums; both staff and players alike were equally confused as to the cause, but spoke with a resignation of the inevitable. There was no further communication about it, no interaction, no banding together to wade through the mysterious blackout, no hint that any kind of organization was in place. Just a loud indifference that steadly chipped away at the confidence of all players who remained long enough to care. It seemed, for all intents and purposes, the death throes of the last remaining Gulliver server in existence -- and for all their talk of fun and friends, none of the people who complained about our server ever cared about those of us on October 2013 that were literally left in the dark.
And this after previously enduring bullying, thefts, swarming, inapproriate roleplay, callous disregard for property, feature-stagnation, and of course a complete and utter lack of communication.
This was still a dark period in my life for me IRL, so I was left with a choice... leave and never return, or actually do something about it. And so I did, and I largely have Cay to thank for the idea of creating an alternate server that could serve as a mirror site to Gunia's, and an emergency backup server for the seemingly-inevitable blackout periods. As I later found out the blackout was caused by a computer malfunction, it was also a good opportunity to offer her a commercial-grade server, one that could free her machine from the never-ending torment of server hosting. Best of all, we would offer this server to her and her staff for them to manage, so we would get the stability we wanted while not impacting the simple fun we had enjoyed all along.
And so we did, and on October 15th, 2013, the server was purchased, and the news sent out to all available staff members who would listen. No action was taken right away, leaving me time to beautify the spawn point, create the primitve resizing machines (still standing today), importing the World Tree, and expanding out the early Spawnington settlement to more than just a few houses. The decision on what to do with our "Sister Server" was still up in the air even after Gunia's Server was restored. Eventually, our offer was accepted, and on October 27th, 2013, the doors were first open to a "beta" group of players, followed by the official server unveiling the next day:
These were humble beginnings of offering a helping hand to Gunia's staff in exchange for running it themselves, and letting me continue enjoying the calm and peaceful life that I so relished of those early days as a "humble baker". Sadly, due to the ever-present miscommunication, I found out too late that no one wanted to take responsibly for running or maintaining this new server; and so once again I took up the mantle and improvised a pseudo-admin job without an official title of any kind or full control over the content of the old forums. It grew increasingly difficult for me to maintain the status quo that we all cherished, and it wasn't long before some players and staff alike noticed that I was being taken advantage of by people eager to saddle me with all the work so long as they could roleplay all day.
Hence, the illusion of fun and friends withered away for me, and in its place was the cold reality of my own entrapment in a system that simply didn't care to continue, bored of Minecraft and Gulliver, longing to jettison us all perhaps in favor of some middle school-aged clique. Only this time I was not alone, nor was I in the dark or powerless to stop the vicious cycle of laziness and irresponsibility that threatened to ruin all that we worked for. This time there was organization and communication, as we no longer sat on the sidelines as spectators to a massive derailment, but rather active drivers of the steam locomotor that was our server, with ever-growing control of its future direction.
And so in December of 2013, events transpired that would see us become our own separate server, the "Big Sister" server, with our own forums, our own unique whitelist and command structure, our own security apparatus and currency system. We would preserve worlds from servers long thought abandoned, and use technology to augment the land and gameplay experience. We would acquire our Little Brother server to act as our summer retreat away from our server, offering the same laissez faire approach as Gunia's server, but with an interesting twist every month. And we would learn to respect builders and their works, and vow to never engage in any of the callous, irresponsible policies of the past that would see server admins destroy countless hours of work purely on a vain whim.
But most important of all... we would strive to communicate, communicate and communicate. We would offer this blog and its forums to inform our players of happenings, and guides to facilitate complexities of installation of the like. We would train staff to communicate with each other, and coordinate menial tasks, construction projects and backups. We keep in touch even off the server, sharing a challenging game elsewhere, or exchanging new ideas and learning opportunities. In essence, our server is more than just a Minecraft Gulliver Server, but it is a beacon... a common rallying point to get us through the game and keep us together.
So yes, we have changed, just as I have changed having long lost the persona of a "humble baker" who simply wanted to play peacefully and quietly, and not be a burden to anyone. But if I could do it again I would, because for a little forfeiture of plain and simple fun, I instead feel older, wiser, more alive and proud of our accomplishments. I have taken what should have been a mere gaming experience, and turned it into an opportunity to expand my horizons, to learn things that literally have changed (and possibly even saved) my life. I expected my Minecrafting to be just a "waste of time", and succeeded in letting it enrich my life a bit more; and I only wish for others to have that opportunity to be able to look back and say "these were really truly good times that I will never forget".
So with that I will part with some simple words of wisdom:
"Eat right, sleep well, ask questions, never stop learning, make the best of any situation, COMMUNICATE!! And believe in your ability to do all of the above!"
Thank you very much to everyone who has helped make this anniversary possible, from my dear friend Cayfie who got me started in this, to UncleMion who wrote this wonderful mod, to even Gunia who intentionally-or-not helped bring most of us together. To all my dear staff, past and present, who have given their best, put up with my eccentricities, been my friend and greatest supporter in my times of need or plenty, who have helped protect the peace and security of our server, and who represent the future of our server. And of course, to all my dear players, who spread the word far and wide, give us your hard-earned time and admiration, who showcase your gorgeous art and creations, and who help make us truly a unique and inviting place that I am happy and proud to visit every day.
May we all celebrate this occasion again at least one more time next year!
--Cia
