Welcome, Commissioner Flamm!

Hello all!

It is my pleasure to congratulate Flammole for his promotion to the rank of server Commissioner!

Flammole comes to us with an interesting history, having been a Moderator on the Dravics' server, and the owner of the Skyscraper server; even so, for the longest time, he appeared to favor a quiet simple life on Gunia's as well as our server early on. He was a great quiet player, hard working both in-game and IRL, and one of the more mature players to join us from the Dravics server. He also earned the trust of both old and new players alike, but never really showed interest in being anything more than a simple player, hence why he was left largely alone to be free to enjoy the fun simple life of a free player. That all changed during the Skyscraper debacle when he not only took it upon himself to fund and manage that server on behalf of his very close friends, but he also displayed the moral fortitude and maturity to rise above the hateful antics of some, and engaged in real diplomacy with staff on our server. He was the voice of reason amid the chaos, and even after that server dissolved he was humble and grateful for the hand we extended in hosting its map and accepting some of its players. Displaying amazing leadership in getting these people acquainted with our values and working to heal many of the wounds caused by the debacle (all the while never forgetting the roots that originally made him such an appealing player), this earned him a promotion to Deputy status through which he has only enhanced his many contributions to our server. For this he has proven to be an individual who can be entrusted with the greater Commissioner powers, as well as our respect and admiration. I believe with the new opportunities and responsibilities he will give this server the kind of utmost dedication that he has offered to many other servers before.

Flammole was voted in through a parliamentary-style staff election featuring a 81% voter turnout, with 11 votes in favor and two abstains.

I want to thank everyone who participated for giving Flammole such an enthusiastic vote of confidence!

Welcome, Commissioner Miisaka!

Hello all!


It is my pleasure to congratulate Miisaka for her promotion to the rank of server Commissioner!

Since writing the best application in the history of our server, Miisaka has always poured her very best at things in a manner that is both approachable and professional. Even as a Novice rank, she was a superb builder, an ethical and helpful player, a concerned reporter of criminal and abhorrent activities, and a great writer. But as a Deputy, she has gone above and beyond her call of duty, assisting with countless whitelist reviews, criminal investigations, interrogations, fact-finding, world-building, brain-storming, experimentation, and efforts to help victims of Swarming. She appreciates the zen simplicty of Minecraft, but takes pride in surpassing expectations even more -- she is less a player on our server, and more an intellectual colleague and friend, and stands as a shining example of the kind of players we hope to share our server with. As such, she has proven to be an individual who can be entrusted with the greater Commissioner powers, as well as our respect and admiration. And although her offgame-communication is still scarce, it's my hope that her expanded responsibilities and goals will offer new opportunities for proactive teamwork!

Miisaka was voted in through a parliamentary-style staff election featuring a 81% voter turnout, with 11 votes in favor and two abstains due to unavailability!

I want to thank everyone who participated for giving Miisaka such an enthusiastic vote of confidence!

Minecraft Forum Update

Alo peoplez,

Wow, I haven't updated this in a while, must be slacking.  And in fact, I AM kinda slacking, although in a good way... just busy with work and busy planning out more of Spawningotn.  Another Spawnington highlight is up and ocoming, albeit after I add a couple of more buildings.  ^^

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that the Minecraft Forum has updated to a new and efficient format, albeit one that uses a new BBCode engine that made total mincemeat of my whitelist application there.  I've since fixed it to the best of my abilities, but if you spot anything odd, please let me know...

Now if any of you know how to display Youtube embedded videos properly in this format, please let me know. ^^;

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Hello all.

I am pleased to announce the availability of the June Flavor for Little Brother!
This is based off Invisi's "Pirates of the Sky and Sea" mod proposal, which features a whole bunch of pirate and technical mods that are bound to lend a "steampunk" edge to your swash-buckling adventures!  :D
It also features some of the mods used in some of the latest Minecraft series, so if you've ever wanted to make your own personal Hambone base, or go off hand-gliding across the entire map, well now you can!  XD

Here are the details of this month's flavor:

• This is reverting back to Minecraft 1.6.4, given that half the mods were still not available for 1.7.2.  
• Tinker's Construct, Archimedes Ships, Bibliocraft, OpenMods and Koadmaster's Pirates are our primary feature mods.
• The map is an original vanilla world auto-generated by the server
• AudreyAwesome, InvisibleDragon and Lizeli9 are the sole moderators, with the empty monthly mod position defaulting to Squirrel.
• Difficulty is set to "Hard Mode" to ensure some kind of challenge.  ;)

For Installation:

1. Create a new Little Brother profile in your launcher and have it set to Minecraft 1.6.4 -- run the game at least once to download the necessary Version files.
2. Download Forge Installer v9.11.1 for Minecraft v1.6.4 and run the installer.
3. Back in the Little Brother profile, set the Game Directory to a new folder of your choice and the Use Version to the new Forge for 1.6.4, and run the game.  This will allow game files (including the /mods folder) for this Little Brother profile to be created in a separate folder, thus eliminating the risk of overwriting your standard Big Sister files in the main Minecraft directory.
   
   
4. Download Archimede's Ships for Minecraft 1.6.4:
   http://www.minecraftprojects.net/archimedes-ships-1-6-4
5. Download Tinkers' Construct 1.5.5.7 for Minecraft 1.6.4:
   http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1659892-164tinkers-construct/
6. Download Bibliocraft v1.5.5 for Minecraft 1.6.4:
   http://www.bibliocraftmod.com/?page_id=48#MC17
7. Download OpenBlocks and OpenModsLib:
   http://www.openmods.info/
8. Download KoadMaster's Pirates v0.4.2:
   http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1857984-164forge-koadmasters-pirates/
9. Copy all the mods listed above to your /mods folder inside the custom folder you specified in the Little Brother profile's Game Directory.  In the end your /mods folder should look something like this:
   
   
10. Load the game using the Little Brother profile, add littlebrother.mcserver.ws into your Multiplayer list, and enjoy!

Good luck and have fun!
An' go look 'fer buried treasure!

RIP Gunia's Server (2013-2014)

Hello everyone,

I regret to inform everyone that this is less a blog article and more an obituary to a place very dear to us, full of fun and fond memories.  To those of us who played on Gunia's server, or, like myself, started Minecraft multiplayer on her server, it is important for us to note that it has ceased all active operations.  Gunia herself updated her forum site with the news and personally confirmed the decision with me as well; and the same has already been broadcast by her staff on the Minecraft forum page:

http://guniasgs.webs.com/

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1627087-152-gulliver-server-whitelisted-non-forge/page__st__2400#entry31651760

As of this writing, Gunia's server continues to hold the record for the longest-running Gulliver server to date, having first opened in January of 2013 and transitioned across three world refreshes, and various Gulliver versions.  Hosted on Gunia's home computer, it has outlasted Dravic's, Schmevil's, and other Gulliver servers that had sprung before or during its operation, and was best known for its ease of entry, simple focus on pure survival,  and laissez-faire management.

Big Sister originally began as alternate mirror (or "sister") server to Gunia's server during a time in which her computer was inoperative and the server offline for weeks -- the goal was to maintain both servers in parallel, with Gunia's being the parent server, and the sister server being the equivalent of what Little Brother is today (a cutting-edge test server).  This did not turn out to be the case, but even so we continue Gunia's tradition of respecting survival play, applauding simplicity and self-sufficiency, improving the family-friendliness of the gameplay experience, and minimizing the complexity of the mod requirements.

Despite any differences we may have had at times, I enjoyed my brief time on Gunia's server, and I respected the simple efficiency of Gunia's management style, which, in many ways, came to shape how Cay and I run Big Sister.   It seems like only yesterday that I was a mere Minecraft newbie, taking up Cay's advice to make a simple whitelist application to enjoy a Minecraft experience like no other...

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1627087-152-gulliver-server-whitelisted-non-forge/page__st__2040#entry24471300

Those were simpler days I still miss, days that may never return as I am no longer the same carefree person I was then.  But life goes on, things we love come and go -- the best we can hope for is the luxury of proper closure and the expectation that the memory can live on in perpetuity.  Though our dear parent server is gone, it's memory will live on in the hearts of those it has touched, and in the mandate of the Big Sister server.  We have enormous shoes to fill before we could ever become a "Gunia's Server 2.0", but the fact that we have made this our goal is testament to Gunia's unforgettable legacy.

To Gunia, we wish you all the best in your real life endeavors as you pass through the best years in your life.

And to your server, we wish it a well deserved rest, and hope that one day we can immortalize pieces of its world into ours.

Rest in peace...

Spawnington City 2000

Alo peoplez,

The winds of change are blowing everywhere, and in all respects looking at the server today is nothing like looking at it back in November 2013 (if for anything else, because back then there was no Dynmap).  And nowhere is this more evident than in Spawnington, which went from being a VERY lucky testificate village that spawned near the world spawn, to a bustling metropolis filled with Skyscrapers and fancy buildings.  The whole of Spawnington isn't even finished yet, and already it's a dizzying array of buildings and project works that could take a prospective Tiny weeks to explore thoroughly.

That also includes a lot of my attempts at building or at least zoning necessary structures in Spawnington, and this has happened so fast no doubt many of you are wondering what half this stuff is.  Fortunately, here's a quick run-through of all the new Spawnington structures to keep you informed... ^^

Cay's

Why celebrate Cayfie once a year, when now you can do it 24/7!!  This gorgeous pink sugary structure is the only building currently in Spawnington purely dedicated to 8x players, and it offers all special merchandise available during the Cay Day 2014 celebrations.  So if you missed the fireworks, now you can buy a few and relive the memories (though not for free).  :)

Construction Site

Possibly the most beautiful waste of space ever made, complete with port-a-john and a huge construction crane built for people who miss the old Transit Hub crane.  :)

Utility Building

Yes, as in where you would normally go to pay your electric bill (for those very few of you who pay their own electric bill, lol).  A great place to get free gravel and [soon] cheap glowstone -- anything to help you make the server great, interconnected and lag-resistant!  It's also 8x-accessible, allowing crazy giants access to the rooftops for some dangerously high and lethal parkour.  ^^

Liz Tower

Actually the first experimental use of WorldControl to build something cool and useful in Spawnington.  I donated to our [then] only Deputy at the time as an appreciation for her hard work, but mainly just to get someone else to decorate the interior, lol.  :P

Assembly Hall

Our own answer to the United Nations!  A place for players of all towns and sizes to come together, and talk about peace and cooperation.  Or just brawl and horse around.  :P

Spawnington Mall

Digitally remastered in THX, for ultimate in quality picture and sound!  Still empty at the moment, but stores will come... and at least the exterior architecture is cool and nifty, with the characteristic "wood" feel so common for testificates.  The giant creature is pictured here still wearning the Cay Day 2014 mask... it can't be helped, he's taken a liking to it.  :3

Cinema

The cost of movie tickets these days is outrageous!  So why not stop by the Spawnington cinema for cheap tickets, cheap food, cheap seats and cheap bathroom stalls!  it may not be immediately obvious, but there is also some giant accessibility on the side of the building... they even have their own ticket booth as well.

Spawnington Transporation and Freight Underground Station

The heart of our future subway system interconecting all townships in the Greater Spawnington region.  Why do we need trains when we already have teleports?  Because trains are cool, nuff said!  :)

Fire Station

Few people realize they CAN help with building projects in Spawnington, and the fire station is a perfect example of players wishing to take some building off my hands.  The Fire Station is a great place to start given I had zero idea of how to make it myself.  :)

Radio Tower

Complete with mini radio station at the bottom.  This tower is officially the highest peak in Spawnington as of this writing.  Climb to the very top for an awe-inspiring view of everything, including the top of the World Tree.  The tower is also Giant accessible, just find the stairs on the side.  :)

Hockey Stadium

And yes, it IS 8x-accessible, but only the bleachers... the game is still only for 1x and 2x players.  ;)
Take part in the fastest, wildest mini-game available in this part of the server world!  :D

Landfill

Located in the nearby suburb of BoonDumps, this is where all garbage in Spawnington winds up. And like RL garbage dumps, this one will only get bigger and bigger over time!  Just remember... one person's junk is another person's treasure!  :D

BatPort

I may have mentioned this before in the v0.14.2 update post, but we now have an official BatPort in the city!  No string or bats necessary, you can buy them in the terminal -- just be sure to use the cobweb dispensers when getting on bats, to ensure you have time to catch 'em!  :)

Grassy Knoll Skyway

Located near the new suburb of Grassy Knoll, this deck-truss bridge offers safe passage over the monster-infested swamps, into the area that may one day become a new town.  Lots of amazing new development is happening there as we speak.  :)

St. Spook's Memorial Hospital

And finally,... a place to go to for medical help after you've died one to many times. :P
Gifted to Spookster who was gracious enough to finish the Spawnginton-Glasgrow road!  True, he whined a lot before about not getting his own tower in the city -- but when you do great things that save me a good deal of time, I'm amenable to a favor or two.  :P

HAPPY CAY DAY 2014!!!!

ALO EVERYONE!!!
And especially our dearest leader Cayfie, the supreme and saintly head of our Big Sister server!!  :D

It's a common misconception that the server is strictly mine, and while it is true I am the purse of it and handle lots of the technical aspects, the originator of the idea was Cayfie, the person directly responsible for negotiating the concept of a Gunia sister server with the staff at the time was Cayfie, and the person who I owe my entire Minecraft existence to is Cayfie!

She may not be on much due to school, time zones and other life responsibilities, but make no mistake... Cay if a remarkable person who controls a lot more than you know behind the scenes, and is ever watchful and grateful of our endeavours!  She is the benevolent ruler behind the curtain, overseeing everything and keeping me civil.  She encourages innovation but respects the survival tradition from Gunia's server, and thus mandates a healthy balance between instant gratification and putting the effort towards it.   She is as close to a matron saint for the server as we can get, and without her there would simply be no Big Sister/Little Brother server, and possibly no community if trends at the time were any indication.

But above all, she is a great friend to many, a wonderful human being to many more, and a kind but quirky soul that never fails to remind us why we work hard and play harder!

So from all of us, have a Happy Birthday, Cayfie!!
And may you have many many more!!  :D

Oh, and for everyone else on the server, bear in mind that Cay Day celebrations involve a LOT of free stuff!  And in fact the name is a bit of a misnomer, since "Day" is actually more like "weekend", and a little bit of our Friday since it's actually a bit of Saturday for CayCay (because,... Australia).  :P

For the full fun and frivolity, aside form seeing all of Spawnington decorated with Cay's tri-colours, please visit the town square at Spawnington... which has now been appropriately Cay-i-fied!  :P

There you will get free fireworks inspired by Cay and her pony OC.  You will also get cheap Cayfie heads (the first of many custom items now possible on our server), cheap ponies (4 Cheese horses FTW!), and cheap cake (or is it "cayke"?)!!!

ENJOY!! And please post your birthday messages at our official Cay Day forum thread!!  :D

http://bigsister.forumotion.com/t225-official-cay-day-2014-thread#2593