Half-Way Point

Alo everyone,

The other day I was thinking back to the obituary to Gunia's Gulliver Server I wrote back last year...

http://ciabatta-breadalot.blogspot.com/2014/05/rip-gunias-server-2013-2014.html

I meant to write this two weeks ago (on the 28th of May), but too many life and server obligations got in the way, so consider this a belated remembrance of our parent server that a new and growing generation of players would not have had the fortune of experiencing for themselves.

It also got me thinking of how long we've been in operation.  At the time of that writing, Gunia's had been in operation for almost 18 months, or a 1.5 years, easily besting out competing Gulliver servers at that time.  In contrast we were not even at our full-year anniversary.

But as of this writing we are now nearly going on 20 months of operation, so officially (as of some time in April), we have matched and surpassed the length of service of our parent server!  And it came and went just like that with little fanfare or realization, probably because we're so used to things running according to plan, or because time simply flies when we're having fun...

Either way, I am very thankful to all of you who have helped make this server... a simple backup server for Gunia's Gulliver Server... the great and enduring success it has been in all the 20 months of its existence! Given how many challenges it has endured during its inception and all the many times it's integrity has been threatened by agents of fear and vengeance, it is truly miraculous to see all of you work together to keep it strong, proud and vibrant, to have it surpass all expectations, and to form from it a kind of community that spreads farther and wider than the confines of a simple Minecraft server.  I truly can't thank you all enough for that!

Now having outlasted any major Gulliver Server before us, and still remaining among only a few other Gulliver servers left (given so many communities have moved on to later versions of Minecraft), where do we go from here?  Clearly we're ready and willing to transition to a later version of Minecraft, Mion permitting, but do we expect to live on and keep this server in operation for all eternity?

I think not, and it wouldn't be healthy enough for us to spend so many of our best years tied to a single digital pastime . The ultimate unwritten goal of the Big Sister Gulliver server is to remain in operation for a minimum length of three years, of which we're now past the half-way point.  After the three years are up, I think it will become time for a server-wide consensus on what to do next for Big Sister (and consequently, Little Brother).  Either we extend the mandate for another year, at which point Cay and I would pass the batons on to newer, younger, and more capable owners.  Or we agree to quit while we're ahead and close the server gracefully after it's mandate is over, after which we make the server map, tools and configuration files public, and allow any interested players to resurrect their own version of Big Sister on their own if they so choose.

The first discussion on extending the mandate will begin on December 15th, 2016. We still have plenty of time to think about this, but two things are certain:

1) We want to fully respect people's needs to move on with things, including highly-successful game servers, and we also want to respect the desire for proper closure as opposed to quick and traumatic terminations.

2) We have no intention to destroy anyone's work here -- regardless of what happens, whether the mandate is extended or not, you will all eventually have full and public access to the game map, and thus can take your creations with you to preserve and cherish forever.

Having the knowledge of our server's finality, as well as our goal to preserve everyone's work, will hopefully instill a comforting sense of place and being, and allow you to better enjoy and appreciate your time here as you decide whether this is something you will want to keep doing for many more years to come.  It may be all fun and games now, but sooner or later you'll have more school responsibilities, college, work life, a loving relationship, a family, and a whole dizzying number of ways life can happen.  Our goal is to entertain you while you wait for those inevitablities, train you for those inevitabilities, and ultimately not get in your way as you finally face those inevitabilities. And if you agree that this is the most responsible thing for us to do, then I'm sure you will help us make the best decision possible on December 31st, 2016 when our voting ends

Thank you!