Dynamic Dynmap!!!!

Alo people!!

Good news, everyone!!

Thanks to our lovely little neighborhood lizard boy (ShadowScale), I was asked to give a Dynmap installation a shot (which as some of you may not know, actually does have a Forge version).  :3

So after some tinkering and fooling around, I finally got it to work and is fully operational!!  With this tool, server players can not only check out the whereabouts of their friends, but also chat with them as well (only limited to server players and non-banned folk)!  So no more relegating godly chats to Moderators only... now any player can be the loud booming voice in the sky.  :P

If you would like to try it out for yourself, you can find our Dynmap here (or in the tab above):

http://bigsister.mcserver.ws:8123/

And here's a small preview of what you will find... :)

Little Brother Monthly Moderator Election - February 2014!!!!

Alo people!!!

In case you've been living under a rock, the Little Brother server has a nifty feature whereby anyone can have the opportunity to run for and be voted into a Monthly Moderator position on that server.  It is only for a month -- with the option for a second term if they choose -- but it gives people a chance to try out the position if they cannot earn it on Big Sister (noting, of course, that Big Sister moderators themselves can run for the post if they want it).  There may also be two moderators (one primary, one vice moderator), depending on the needs of the mod flavor!  ^^

Granted the position won't give winners carte blanche to do what they want.  In the event they become unruly themselves, Little Brother Committee members have the option to hold a snap recall election, in which case they'll be able to kick the offender out of office.  But on the other hand, if the Monthly Moderator does an amazing job on Little Brother, he or she may be eligible not only for additional Monthly Moderator terms, but perhaps even a promotion on Big Sister as well! 

In any event, we're on the verge of transitioning to our first official Little Brother flavor, which will include Ars Magica 2, Thaumcraft 4 and Mystcraft!  While we wait to set things up, I hope you will spend a little time on January's flavor, and also cast your vote for February's Monthly Moderator:

http://bigsister.forumotion.com/t92-moderator-poll-february-2014

This month's election is between our resident Deputy and pony-maniac AudreyAwesome, and... a squirrel!  :D
[so sue me! people didn't campaign, so what'dya expect?]  :P

The Server Affairs Commission!

...Yeah, you wish!  No waste of taxpayer money here, we mean a real article on REAL Commissioners, the new player rank on our server that borders (and blurs) the line between Player/Deputies and Moderator/Owners.

Commissioners are essentially Survival Moderators, and have various permissions normally reserved for opped players (e.g., ban, give, etc), but all the while requiring to stay in Survival mode. It is the best middle-ground we have of fun and responsibility, and a wonderful way to give a chance for emerging leadership to show us their talents.  :)

Had I not gotten forced into the role of server Owner, I probably would consider a Commissioner job as "my" kind of moderating title, since I can protect the server I know and love (and pretty much fend for myself in all ways imaginable), while still enjoying the pleasure of Survival gameplay.  So anyone who DOES achieve this rank should have the pride and satisfaction of knowing that they are are living my dream for me. ^__^

So anyway, without further ado.... the Commissioner's Creed:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ei738knoaw7vhrg/CommissionersCreed.pdf

There's Some New Sheriff's in Town!

...Or Deputies to be exact.

Alo everyone!

Since we just implemented a rough prototype of our new player ranking system on the forum, and have inducted our first two Deputy players (via Ajjget), it's only fitting that I finish drafting up their own Rights and Responsibilities to know more or less what they can/can't do.  It's a completely new role to any standard Minecraft server after all, so they will need all the help they can get.

Deputies are typically a little freer than Moderators or Commissioners as they are not bound by the same off-game communication requirements as those other ranks, and they can generally stick to playing the game normally with the added benefits of a few extra perks.  However, it is also the first rank that starts saddling some work responsibilities, thus reducing overall fun a bit if the situation calls for it.  Be very careful about considering even a Deputy title as a reward... you may be surprised to find a lot of heat in the kitchen.  Now you know why it's important to admit only law-abiding players on the Server... otherwise, your job on the frontlines could be a living hell.  :P

So without further ado, please read the Deputy's Creed:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cp8iukv0901581j/DeputiesCreed.pdf

Rank and File!

Alo people!!

The mod is FAR form ideal, but as I said earlier, at least it does the job... sort of....

http://www.planetminecraft.com/mod/forge-permissions-mod-152/

If you log into the server now, you will notice that ranks are now in place, so we can have Novice players, Veteran players, Deputies, Deputy Constables and Commissioners.  Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the mod, the commands allocated are only those native to the mod itself, which also uses commands that begin with a period ("."), and thus makes it rather clunky and unwieldly to use.  Furthermore, ops are an all or nothing affair, so we can't have different grades of higher staff (such as Moderators and Owners).

Still, at least this is a good prototype for things to come, and at least we can begin using the ranks for "something".

Currently, each Survival rank allows the player the below special commands:

Novice: none
Veteran: home, tpspawn
Deputies: kick, tp, tpme, tpspawn, home
Commissioners:  kick, ban, tp, tpme, tpspawn, home, give, giveme, protect

On top of other general commands that all players can access, such as .help and .coords.
The .protect command is still untested, so it will not be made available except to higher-ranked staff, to ensure this isn't in any way damaging or dangerous.

Currently all non-opped players are being defaulted to Novice or Veteran rank depending on how  long they've been with us (or my bad memory).  ^^:
But with this temporary system in place, it won't be long before we start deputizing people.  Just bear with us as we get a feel for this crazy mod, and learn its ins and outs.

Feel free to visit the mod page linked above to learn more, and please see if you can test .protect, as well as the color coding feature which I have absolutely no clue how to use.  XD

Thank you!  ^^

A Bucket Full of Meh...

Meh... XD

Alo people,

Well continuing on from my previous blog post, those two mods didn't... quite... give us what we wanted, so that test crashed and burned. ^^

Luckily, there is a newly-discovered Plan C in a very unlikely place...

http://www.planetminecraft.com/mod/forge-permissions-mod-152/

...The instructions seem a little dismal and confusing, but I have confirmed that it DOES work (using Little Brother as a live fire testing environment), and it appears to offer a little more of what we need (including some limited area protection commands, and chat prefixes) than the Plan B mods.  I will need to spend some more time in singleplayer trying to understand how to player rank commands, but so far this is the most promising thing we have so far.

Our best solution probably would have been Fighu's Command Mod...

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1484373-152smpfihgus-command-mods-for-vanilla-server/

...But the official version is stuck at 1.5.2, and the unofficial update skips over to 1.6.4.  Plus it wouldn't have allowed rank prefixes anyway (although we likely could have just improvised a solution).  ^^

So there we go... still stumbling, but not giving up!  On way or another, we WILL succeed!! :D

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

Oh, and in other news, BreakRoom has been nominated for a position as Moderator, and the staff have successfully voted him in this evening.  So please welcome Break the Moderator!  ^^

RIP: Forge Essentials

My Fellow Peoplez,

Today Shadow and I were attempting to experiment with Forge Essentials, to begin carrying out the second phase of our master plan.  Unfortunately, it hadn't occurred to anyone (including myself) to check to see if there was actually version of Forge Essentials for Minecraft 1.6.2.  Point of fact, there HAD been one for 1.6.4 since as early as a few weeks ago -- but this one has officially been pulled due to severe stability issues, which would make its usability for servers impractical.  To make matters worse, 1.6.2 had apparently been skipped entirely by the development team, and in fact the whole progress of the project in general looks suspect.

Ironically, our greatest achievement (updating to Gulliver for Minecraft 1.6.2) ended up being our greatest impediment to reviving this feature set for those who still remember it on Dravics. MCPC+ was considered and attempted, but definitely not an option due to how Gulliver Server needs to be installed (at this time).

However, all is not lost, as we DO have Forge, and we CAN have access to other comparable mods that can perhaps not replace, but certainly salvage as many server tools as possible, at least to get our player ranks enabled.

Over the next few days I will be testing out these server-side mods:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1893356-162-forge-hpermissions-forge-server-permission-mod/

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1835347-164-forge-server-tools/

If you have any other 1.6.2 server mods that can help recreate some Forge Essentials core mods (and could potentially be compatible with Gulliver), please let me know here or on the forums). Otherwise, we will do the best we can for now, and hope that a with a little patience, we can migrate to a better solution soon.

It will certainly help that the new Gulliver update will include an improved and non-destructive server installation method, one that may just give us another chance.at FE or MCPC+.

Honoring our Server Veterans

Alo people,

Well this went a lot slower than expected due to some... "distractions" in the evening.  But it wasn't entirely bad, as said distractions certainly helped shape this document to be a lot more bulletproof than what i previously had planned.

So without further ado, please check out... the Veteran's Creed:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7018outdu7e5kah/VeteransCreed.pdf

Big Mobs, Little Mobs, Mobs That Climb On Rocks

Alo people!

By popular request, today we took advantage of a little-advertised Gulliver feature whereby mods can spawn at different base sizes.  With this feature enabled, you can have mobs spawn as small as 0.125x or as large as 8x -- typically at random, but you also have the option of setting specific sizes, size ranges, weighted size ranges, and even mob-specific size changes.

For our own use, we have sizes capped at 0.4x, 1x and 3x only, with skeletons and zombies capped at 0.5x, 1x and 2.2x to avoid having their armor fall off.  The options are weighted, so 1x is still the dominant size, with 0.4x mobs appearing 1 out of 4 times, and 3x mobs appearing 1 out of 8 times. This ensures we don't have extremely large-sized mobs suffocating in our caves (and thus lagging the server), or extremely small mobs that make the game too easy for non-Tinies.

It's a good compromise that allows for just enough size-changing fun, while not making it too crazy or unfair.  Tinies have to be more on their toes, and Giants can't just grab and throw whoever they want.  It's one more thing to add a level of uniqueness and fun to our Big Sister server.  :)

Some Extra Visibility

Alo people!

Now that we have successfully migrated the server to Gulliver Forged, the last missing piece to our switchover plan has been completed....

We now have a Minecraft Forum Thread!!!

You can check it out here...

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/2310157-162-big-sister-gulliver-minecraft-server-whitelisted-forge/

It is essentially just the whitelist application from our forum, plus a few tweaks and treats here and there.  If you know anyone on the Minecraft forum that is looking for a good Gulliver server and isn't scared by challenging whitelist apps, please nudge them over to that thread.  :3

Thank you!

FORGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alo people!

Great news!  After remembering I had to take care of some things Friday night, and thus not make the 9pm CST deadline for the Forge update, I just went ahead and did the update now (still technically on Friday).  So the Big Sister server is now officially a Gulliver Forged server, and I could swear I even see a slight performance boost for some reason.  :D

This of course means that Gulliver modloader users will not be able to connect to the Big Sister server, so if you have not yet done so, please use my guide below...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/958pdolca8sqo55/Gulliver162Installation_ForgeAutoInstaller.pdf

And remember that the server is now using the following IP:

bigsister.mcserver.ws

If you cannot install Gulliver Forged, or need some help and feel you can't reach us [for whatever oddball reason], you can also visit us at the Little Brother server, which for the month of January is running off of a Minecraft Development Snapshot for 1.8...

littlebrother.mcserver.ws

As for the specifics of the update itself, Mion and I have agreed to postpone the official Gulliver update that would have directly addressed the issue we had last Friday.  We have agreed to reschedule closer to the end of the month, in order to convert this into a proper update with new features, in addition to bug fixes, code cleanup and enhancements.

In the meantime, as an effective workaround with the existing version of Gulliver Forged, we are using a modified version of Forge that does not run a discrepancy check, and hence no longer requires JVM arguments to run.  Many thanks to Tarig for getting this done for us!!  Please leave ample love, respect and admiration for him here: http://www.minecraftforum.net/user/1904940-tarig/

I will wait for about a day to create the new MC Forum thread, to ensure that everyone has had a chance to log into Big Sister.  In the event you notice a bug or other inconsistency, please let me know on the forums as soon as possible!

http://bigsister.forumotion.com/f4-support-tickets

Thank you and enjoy our new Forged server!  It won't be long before we have Forge Essentials up and running!  :D

Wednesday Waypoint

Alo people,

Well it's the beginning of the week, and most of you are currently locked down in school, finals, or work of any other kind.  As such, the servers, both Big Sister and Little Brother, have been relatively quiet -- however, that is perfectly fine.  Be sure never to let game addiction ruin your grades or impact your work, so resist the urge to stop in if you can't.

In the meantime, I will continue to handle some changes behind the scenes, not least of which is the Friday switchover to Forge , which yes we are still doing one way or another.  So as I said last week, be sure to update your Gulliver to Gulliver Forged prior to January 17th at 9pm CST.  ^^

In other news this fine Wednesday...

• We are still looking for people to volunteer to join the Little Brother Server committee. Little Brother is designed to be a server by the people, for the people, with little intervention from me (other than Technical.  So if you'd like to help run the server and plan out its various changes each month, please join up here... http://bigsister.forumotion.com/t44-wanted-little-brother-committee
  
• After a lengthy and successful parole hearing, we are allowing back Dude1002746 (a former moderator banned for indecency and abuse of power) onto the server.  Likewise on a separate front, and after a lengthy and protruded whitelist interrogation, we are admitting Claire's brother jbracco92 (banned on Gunia's Main server for mass-griefing and sabotage) onto our server as well. Both users have been given the opportunity (via Survival play only) to prove they are serious about redeeming their image.  Although you have the right to be suspicious of them and observe them carefully, please be mindful that everyone deserves at least a second chance.  If they are true to their word, they may provide valuable contributions to our server; and if they regrettably are not, then they can deal with all of us collectively.  ;)
  
• A new reporting guide produced by ShadowScale has been posted on the forum, for those of you who would like a guide on how to post good griefing/stealing/murdering/indecent behavior reports.... http://bigsister.forumotion.com/t50-support-ticket-guidelines
  
• And just a reminder, we are still soliciting ideas for future mod flavors on the Little Brother server... http://bigsister.forumotion.com/f15-brainstorming
  Please post your own ideas for a chance to win some free Cheese on the Sister Server.

And that's about it for now.  Happy Wednesday! :)

Welcome, Little Brother!

Alo people!!

I am happy to report a whole barrage of good news!!

For starters, Mion has agreed to expedite a new update that will help us with our Forge issue. It will not be this weekend as she previously estimated, but she assured me it can be done in the very near future.  Should the opportunity rise, please convey your thanks to her before or after she releases the update to show our support and gratitude!  :)

Secondly, we do have in our possession a failsafe measure contributed to me by one of our most talented players that will effectively nullify Forge's discrepancy checks.  This will ensure that, one way or another, we can reschedule the Forge switchover for this coming Friday.  A week's delay is still better than what most game industry companies get away with these days.  ;)

And lastly, although I wanted to officially unveil this on Friday along with the switchover, the catastrophe kind of took it out of the spotlight, since it was used to test the Gulliver Forged server (and where I originally discovered the issue).  But with everything in the process of being resolved, let me finally put it back into production, and so I'm proud to say that the LITTLE BROTHER SERVER IS NOW LIVE!!!!!

Currently it is running Vanilla Minecraft Snapshot 14w02c, so if you want to play on here please create a new profile that allows for development snapshots.  The IP for Little Brother is:

littlebrother.mcserver.ws

This was done spur-of the-moment, so currently there are no official rules in place, and all the player rules in Big Sister have carried over into Little Brother (including moderators and such). This may not be the case next month, but for now Little Brother will offer a pure survival experience alternative for up to 10 people, where they can play with all the latest snapshot advances including colored glass and slime blocks.  It is a snapshot server, though, so don't build anything overly epic as there's no guarantee it will survive subsequent updates.  ;)

Also, Little Brother is still primarily an experimental server, so we may need to take it offline every once in a while for some major testing on a new Big Sister feature.  Expect this a lot in the run-up to Forge Essentials.  :D

Enjoy the new playground!

Tabby Chatastrophe!

Alo peoplez,

After the disappointment from last night's Forge debacle, I kinda forgot to cover a few of our bases. The IP change, for instance, is wonderful to have... but as an unintended consequence, it has disrupted TabbyChat usage.

This is because the TabbyChat config folder is still set to read "gunia2.mcserver.ws".  If you rename the config folder to "bigsister.mcserver.ws", then your Tabby will work again.

If you need detailed help, I have updated my guide with the new IP address and screenshots...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wyg50bmob5lyj4p/TabbyChatGuide162.pdf

Thank you all for your patience as we get through this mild setback.  I was a bit angry at first, but ultimately we should hope for the best.  After all, even bad things happen for a reason, and it's possible this setback in the present can translate to great things in the future.  :)

Houston, We Have a Problem

Alo people,

I'm very sorry to say that our Forge switch-over has been placed on hold, due to an issue both related to our current inability to run JVM arguments from our host's server.  The instructions from the Gulliver thread work, but only for private-run servers from people's machines -- since we run Big Sister from a paid service provider, things are sadly a little different.

I have tried contacting our server host's tech support regarding our issue and the possibility to append the necessary -DFML call that allows Gulliver to work.  Unfortunately, the java executable is shared across various other minecraft servers they service, so it's not possible to append additional JVM arguments without inconveniencing them.  In short... something as minor as this has stopped us in our tracks. :(

Thankfully, Mion herself has offered to help modify the mod to integrate better with Forge, thus eliminating the need for the additional JVM arguments. she may be able to do so some time this weekend and I will do everything in my power to help her, but the fact of the matter is that our switch-over is now on hold, and I truly apologize for this.  :(

I have however deployed some of the other updates to Big Sister, and I will list them below...

• The IP Address has now officially changed to bigsister.mcserver.ws
• The new Whitelist Application has been activated, although the MC Forum has not been created yet pending what will happen with Forge.
• All inactive moderators and legacy ops have been purged from the list, leaving Burger, Drake, Ajj, Kee and King as our remaining legacy staff (plus Cayfie, who is our co-owner).  Please thank them for their incredible devotion and hard work!
• Also, please welcome ShadowScale as our newest moderator to Big Sister!

I will keep you posted with any other updates as they arise.  Thank you!

Last Chance!!!!

Alo people!!!

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Friday the 10th at 9pm CST, the server WILL be updating to a Gulliver Forged build!!!  So please update your clients to Gulliver Forged immediately before you risk getting left out.  Here is my guide to show you how...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/958pdolca8sqo55/Gulliver162Installation_ForgeAutoInstaller.pdf

And if you have any questions, please let me know ASAP. ^^

On top of that, we will also be updating the server's IP address to...

bigsister.mcserver.ws

Unfortunately, I have very little control over when this gets done as it is handled by the minecraft host, so I'd advise you add this to your list of multiplayer server accounts now.  That way, if the original IP looks offline, you'll know from the new IP that is is not.  :)

Carryover Window Has Closed

Alo people!

As I stated on the application threads in Gunia's MC forum and web forum, effective immediately we are no longer processing whitelist applications for the Sister Server at these locations, and we are no longer accepting automatic whitelist carryovers from the Main server.  In fact, while we work on the transition to a Gulliver Forge server in the next two days, we will have a temporary moratorium on whitelisting to prevent any issues.  Henceforth, anyone who posts their whitelist application at the above locations will do so for admittance into the Main server only.

Once the switchover is complete, then our new whitelist application (and our future MC Server thread) will be used to process Big Sister server whitelist application requests going forward.

Please wish us luck as we start preparing for some big but long-overdue changes!

Special thanks to Gunia for letting us use her forums during the past few months, but now we'll give them a well-deserved rest from all our post-spam.  ;)

A Novice's Creed

As many of you know, I will be writing guidebooks for each player rank on our soon-to-be-more-awesome server, detailing what they're rights and responsibilities [and requirements] are in the role they will assume in our revamped community.  But I can't leave it at just making some boring, smelly old guys... No ma'am! I want them to be as interesting and immersive as possible, to the extent that players practically BEG to read them.  :D

And so I will create the player's Creeds, and as of today I have completed the most basic Creed...

The Novice's Creed...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z07iuqinzl3nedj/NovicesCreed.pdf

I have already screened this with various expert players, but feel free to read and provide feedback. This Creed is meant for people fresh to the server -- they will need to read it as part of the new application process.  ^^

New Whitelist Application

Alo people!  ^^

I'm happy to report that I have completed the first draft of the whitelist application for the Big Sister  server, that will take effect starting January 10th.  This is not currently active, so for the time being the current whitelist applications are still to be used and we will currently still honor whitelist carryover from the Main server.  After the 10th, however, everyone who wants to join the Big Sister server needs to fill out this application, including those who are already whitelisted in Main, but have not yet asked to join our server.  

Even though the application is still technically a draft, I still want to show it to everyone to solicit feedback.  If you like it, or can suggest things to improve it, please let me know so it can be the best application it can be!  :)

Full application:  http://bigsister.forumotion.com/t27-whitelist-applications

Forge Ahead Towards the Future!

Alo people.

As some of you may know or remember, the 10th is the day that we will transition the server to Gulliver Forged 0.14.1.  This is the reason I have encouraged all of you to install Gulliver Forged on your own system preemptively.

If you have already done so, you're all set and don't have to take any further action. Congratulations, you done good!  :)

However if you're still running Modloader, you have one week to convert to Gulliver Forged before you will no longer be able to log into Big Sister.  If you can't due to technical issues or installation uncertainties, please contact me so I can help you resolve them.  But one way or another, we will get this change in place, in order to spearhead the many exciting changes I've put forth in my Roadmap.  

As an additional reminder, please note that we will be changing our IP address as well to future-proof our server.  For your convenience, I'd recommend adding this to your list of Multiplayer Minecraft servers now, as it won't hurt you to keep it handy, and it will make the switch-over even more seamless....

bigsister.mcserver.ws

In addition to the above major changes, we will also be going forward with the below changes as well...

• Our new forum will officially open by then, and will likely have all sticky posts and application material ready.
• I will open a new Minecraft Forum thread for Big Sister, which will serve as a backup for our new forum.
• Once both forums are up and running, we will discontinue use of Main's forum and MC forum thread to process whitelist applications for Big Sister.  If people post there specifically looking to be added into Sister, they will be kindly redirected to our new forum or our own Minecraft Forum thread.
• The moderator list will be reviewed, and inactive moderators and legacy ops will be removed from the Ops list.
• The first new Moderator selection process will begin starting on this date, with one nominee slated for a staff-level position.  The Commissioner selection process will not begin until the position itself is created; however, nominees have or will be informed of our intentions to promote them beforehand.
• Starting on this date, Moderators will be invited to register for Chat Console access.
• All documentation will be revised to reflect all the aforementioned changes.

Please note that these are the only changes we have planned for the 10th of January.  We will not be adding Forge Essentials just yet, as we need at least a week to ensure that all players have successfully converted, and our server is functioning properly on Gulliver Forged.  

If after that week things proceed smoothly, then we will attempt to install Forge Essentials and begin the process of securing server builds and creating our new positions.

Please wish us luck as we work towards ushering in this new era for the server!  :)

Thank you!

Annnnnnd.... it grew....

Thank you everyone who has pre-registered and is testing the heck out of this early build!  You're definitely proving it can be a very exciting and exhilarating platform for news, discussion and general zaniness.  :)

Big Things Have Small Beginnings

....Or in this case, very confusing and complicated beginnings that are branded as easy-to-use.  Or maybe I'm tired and/or dumb, who knows.

But anyway, hello people!!  Just wanted to report that the roadmap is well on its way now.  Tonight I was able to inaugurate our new forum, http://bigsister.forumotion.com/...

...and although it's not much to look at now, who knows where we can take it in the coming weeks and months?  

I will still need some help as I'm totally new to forum design, and have little clue what I'm doing (and little time to figure it out on my own).  So if you're willing and able to assist with the CSS redesign, blog integration, and widget thingies, that would be fantastic!

In the meantime, while the forum is not quite ready for primetime, please check it out and let me know your thoughts on it here.

Thank you!  :)

Break in the Ranks

Alo people!
Hope your 2014 is going well so far.  :3

We are nearing the time in which many of the changes in my server roadmap will begin to change shape, and as such I've begun to do a little research in Forge Esssentials, which will guarantee that a lot of the changes outlined will be made possible.

Which is a good time to remind everyone to please start using Gulliver Forged prior to the 10th of this month, as the server will be switching to a Forge build by then, and Modloader Gulliver will no longer be supported from that time onwards.  If you're not sure how to install Gulliver Forged, please check out the Guide tab at the top of this page -- and if you have any problems, please reach me and I can help you install it.  :)

So anyway, as part of my research, I was reviewing all the new commands available, as well as the ability to create player groups in which can be delegated these aforementioned commands.  I won't go into too much detail as to what each command means (please check out the Minecraft and Forge Essentials wikis for more info), but I can at least start brainstorming what commands each new player rank can be assigned in the future.

Below is the draft proposal of this ranked Command structure, which I've already had reviewed by some experienced, trusted or simply awesome players, and thus should now be ready to share with everyone:

NOVICE

[anti-grief protection commands]

afk

help

me

msg

seed

shoulderentity

showmysize

tell

VETERAN

[all Novice Commands]

[right to a Safety Deposit Box - more like a symbol of prestige]

back

home [warping version only]

kit [weekly allowance]

sethome

DEPUTY

[all Veteran Commands]

basesize

basesizeadjust

craft

enderchest

kit [daily stipend]

repair

showsize

spawn

toggledownfall

top

tphere

tpa 

warp

DEPUTY CONSTABLE

[all Deputy Commands]

[slightly better kit than standard Deputy's]

COMMISSIONER

[all Deputy Commands]

[forum whitelisting approval rights]

colorize

doublesize

entitybasesize

entitybasesizeadjust

entitydoublesize

entityhalfsize

entityshowsize

effect

enchant

give

halfsize

heal

invsee

jump

kick

mute

say

smite

spawnpoint

time

tp

warp set/del

weather

whitelist

unmute

xp

MODERATOR

[all Commissioner Commands]

[Creative-Mode]

[right to modify Command Blocks]

[partial Console access]

ban

ban-ip

banlist

burn

debug

clear

gamemode

gamerule

instantkarma

kill

pardon

pardon-ip

playsound

spawnmob

FIELD MODERATOR

[all Moderator Commands]

[WorldEdit Commands]

[Permission Editing Commands]

[full Console access]

capabilities

deop

feperm

op

scoreboard

setspawn

stop

OWNER

[all Field Moderator Commands]

[anything else missing above]  ;)

It should be clear from this list that the idea is to spread out server management across a vast spectrum of players, rather than concentrate power into a single elite but overworked cadre that may not be available on the server at all times.

Although a Deputy cannot wield a ban hammer of justice, he or she will still have plenty of powers available to imprison wayward players, offer (or sell) repair, resizing and teleportation services, and control weather (to help fight random fires).

Commissioners are essentially Survival Moderators, and do have the power to kick or "tempban" wayward players by effectively removing them from the whitelist temporarily (after which a meeting can be called in to determine if the removal should be made permanent.  They also have access to a vast array of building, effect and enchantment commands that pretty much put them en par with the power of a Moderator, minus the ability to fly (for now, anyway).  In short, they do not mess around, and will likely be treated as members of my staff.  ;)

Therefore, this setup presents a lot of delegation opportunities for current moderators, and allow them to concentrate on their core obligations, or simply help put their Creative powers to good use as far as building towns, transportation and contraptions.

The list is still subject to change, but in its present state makes me very excited about what's to come.  Hopefully you too can share in the excitement.  :D