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So, you started a server, are trying to start a server, or already have a server in place, and you're thinking about setting up a donation plan. Here are some simple guidelines and suggestions that you can look at. Now, what to give your donators will vary from server to server, and also depends on what type of server you're planning on running. You also have to keep in mind that not everybody can donate, you don't want those people to all quit, now do you?
Here's a list of things you shouldn't offer, as well as some suggestions as to what you might want to give. (you might think some of these are obvious, but I've seen them all on various servers)
Do NOT offer:
1. OP weapons or armor. I'm not referring to Sharpness V or anything like that, but rather stuff that can't be obtainable in regular gameplay. In the manner of weaponry and armor, try to just make it easier to obtain it by donating, though still accessible to a non-donor. Doing otherwise will make the non-donors rage, and often leave. It's no fun fighting somebody that's almost impossible to kill no matter what you do. (this includes adding stuff like lightning strikes and stuff like that)
2. Fly access. Obviously, being able to fly gives a player a significant advantage over a player who can't. Again, it's no fun fighting a battle you can't win.
3. Godmode. Duh (sadly, I've seen it)
4. Disguisecraft. In case you don't know, disguisecraft allows a player do disguise as certain mobs. In doing so, it hides their nametag, what armor and weapons their holding, and it also makes it hard to tell that they're a player. (also changes their hitbox, so disguising as a bat offers a sizeable advantage)
5. Gamemode Privileges. Again, duh. (yes, I've seen this one too)
6. /back. After a battle, the victor is often at quite low health. Giving access to instantaneously return to the point of your death would be too overpowered.
7. /tpo. This command allows you to teleport to a player without permission. Just. No. (same goes for any other command that comes with a plugin that does the same thing)
8. /tppos. This command allows a player to teleport to specific coordinates. Can be used for the same purpose as /back and /tpo, if used with knowledge of coords.
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Pretty obvious benefit, would come with other perks of course. Just a status symbol.
2. Nick change. Also a status symbol, and nick changes could also include being colored.
3. Color codes. Gives access to chatting in colors, or in bold, italic, or underlined, or any combination thereof. Partly a status symbol, but also allows advertising of trading, faction/clan invites, and other stuff more noticeable. (note: don't make everything they say in colors or bold or anything. It just gets annoying to both the person using it and the people reading it. Let them choose when to use colors)
4. In game money. Fairly self-explanatory.
5. Tool and armor sets. Can be enchanted or un-enchanted, depending on the level of donation, also different levels of enchants would be a good idea for separation between donor ranks.
6. Donor shop. I'm not a big fan of this one personally, but you can give the donators access to a different shop than the other players, with better prices.
7. Larger shop plot/more noticeable shop plot. If your server has an area for player-made shops, you could add a section with larger plots for the donators, or maybe just make it so donators shops are closer to the warp. If shop plots cost money, you might waive the fee for a certain level of donor.
8. Kits. These need to be used in moderation, and should probably have some sort of cooldown. You don't want donors running around all willy-nilly with sharpness V diamond swords because they can just get a new one in one minute if they die. You also don't want the stuff to be too overpowered, make it stuff that can still be obtained without the kit. (daily kits and weekly kits are good ideas for cooldown times, depending on how good each kit is)
Donor perks on factions servers are always going to be hard to balance, as the players are all in competition. Just remember to make sure it's still fun for people who can't donate.
Do NOT offer:
1. OP kits. Nobody likes fighting a battle that is almost impossible to win. Though you might offer better kits, just don't make it so that they're able to win every time.
2. Joining full servers. While this might seem like a good idea, and is widely used, it's really annoying to be 10 seconds from the game starting, and a donor logs on and kicks you. There are other ways of offering stuff like this, read below.
3. Donor only servers. This can work out for a game that doesn't require a certain amount of people to be enjoyable. (a game such as MineZ, for instance) But you can't guarantee enough donors would play in said game. (especially since their kits would sorta be negated)
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Again, same as all server types, just a status symbol, still great to have. (just not on it's own)
2. Reserved slots in games. This is the better alternative to joining full servers. If a game can have anywhere from 10-20 players and be about the same fun, make there be 20 slots for each game, 15 of which can be filled by any member, after that point, only donors can join the game to fill out the other 5 slots.
3. Access to beta testing. If you're making custom minigames, have the donators be your beta testers. It gives them early access to new game types, and you don't have to go around trying to find beta testers. win-win
4. Lobby pets. Just a mob of some kind that follows them around, seen on a lot of servers. Again, a status symbol, as well as something neat to have.
One thing that I've seen on a minigame server that I think is pretty epic, is the ability to purchase donor kits with in-game points, which are obtained by doing well in games, and playing a lot. Donating for points instead of donating for kits would be a nice option, as then you can spend them on whatever kit you want. (donors might also get a points multiplier) This removes a lot of raging from non-donors. It'd still be somewhat hard to obtain without donating, but still possible.
The beauty of a Creative mode server, is that there's nothing that gives one player an edge over another. So, I'm just gonna go straight to the things you can offer.
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Same as always, status. (this is kinda a universal donor perk)
2. Nick change. Allows changing a nick, also with colors in it.
3. Color codes. Allows to speak in colors, bold, italic, and whatnot. Since there's no trading or anything, there's not much benefit, but it's nice to have, and I guess they can ask people to come look at their stuff or something.
4. Larger/additional plots. If you're a plot-based server, you can offer more plots or larger plots to donors. (personally, I would recommend a freebuild server, if you're kinda unsure what to do, anyways, back on topic)
5. Additional homes. On a creative server, a large amount of homes is good. You'll want to keep the non-donor homes high, but you can offer donors unlimited homes, so they can sethome at a build they like to look at, without losing building space. (or just build a lot more...)
6. Disguisecraft. If non-donors already have access to disguisecraft (mob disguise), you can give donors more disguises. Since you're I creative mode, you aren't attacked by mobs, so disguising as a mob offers no benefit other than looking cool walking around as a witch, or flying around the spawn as a wither.
In general, as far as creative mode servers go, it's all in looking good.
For those of you who are either too lazy to finish the whole thing, or don't have time, here's the tl;dr version:
Don't give donors a huge advantage over non-donors. Donor perks that give an advantage should probably be obtainable without donating, just taking a bit of work.
Thanks for reading! If you liked this blog, and/or agree with what I've said, please give it a diamond. If you have something that you disagree on, or you think should be added/changed, please leave a comment, I'll at least think about it. I think I covered the bulk of the server types, but if there's one I missed, please comment saying so, I'd like this to be as thorough as it can be.
Here's a list of things you shouldn't offer, as well as some suggestions as to what you might want to give. (you might think some of these are obvious, but I've seen them all on various servers)
Factions/PvP Servers
Do NOT offer:
1. OP weapons or armor. I'm not referring to Sharpness V or anything like that, but rather stuff that can't be obtainable in regular gameplay. In the manner of weaponry and armor, try to just make it easier to obtain it by donating, though still accessible to a non-donor. Doing otherwise will make the non-donors rage, and often leave. It's no fun fighting somebody that's almost impossible to kill no matter what you do. (this includes adding stuff like lightning strikes and stuff like that)
2. Fly access. Obviously, being able to fly gives a player a significant advantage over a player who can't. Again, it's no fun fighting a battle you can't win.
3. Godmode. Duh (sadly, I've seen it)
4. Disguisecraft. In case you don't know, disguisecraft allows a player do disguise as certain mobs. In doing so, it hides their nametag, what armor and weapons their holding, and it also makes it hard to tell that they're a player. (also changes their hitbox, so disguising as a bat offers a sizeable advantage)
5. Gamemode Privileges. Again, duh. (yes, I've seen this one too)
6. /back. After a battle, the victor is often at quite low health. Giving access to instantaneously return to the point of your death would be too overpowered.
7. /tpo. This command allows you to teleport to a player without permission. Just. No. (same goes for any other command that comes with a plugin that does the same thing)
8. /tppos. This command allows a player to teleport to specific coordinates. Can be used for the same purpose as /back and /tpo, if used with knowledge of coords.
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Pretty obvious benefit, would come with other perks of course. Just a status symbol.
2. Nick change. Also a status symbol, and nick changes could also include being colored.
3. Color codes. Gives access to chatting in colors, or in bold, italic, or underlined, or any combination thereof. Partly a status symbol, but also allows advertising of trading, faction/clan invites, and other stuff more noticeable. (note: don't make everything they say in colors or bold or anything. It just gets annoying to both the person using it and the people reading it. Let them choose when to use colors)
4. In game money. Fairly self-explanatory.
5. Tool and armor sets. Can be enchanted or un-enchanted, depending on the level of donation, also different levels of enchants would be a good idea for separation between donor ranks.
6. Donor shop. I'm not a big fan of this one personally, but you can give the donators access to a different shop than the other players, with better prices.
7. Larger shop plot/more noticeable shop plot. If your server has an area for player-made shops, you could add a section with larger plots for the donators, or maybe just make it so donators shops are closer to the warp. If shop plots cost money, you might waive the fee for a certain level of donor.
8. Kits. These need to be used in moderation, and should probably have some sort of cooldown. You don't want donors running around all willy-nilly with sharpness V diamond swords because they can just get a new one in one minute if they die. You also don't want the stuff to be too overpowered, make it stuff that can still be obtained without the kit. (daily kits and weekly kits are good ideas for cooldown times, depending on how good each kit is)
Donor perks on factions servers are always going to be hard to balance, as the players are all in competition. Just remember to make sure it's still fun for people who can't donate.
Survival Servers
Do NOT offer:
1. OP/staff. Staff positions should be based on a person's ability to moderate, follow the rules, and help people. Not the size of their wallet.
Other than that, there's not really much that a non-PvP (or no PvP unless all parties agree) server shouldn't do, as one player having one thing doesn't really effect another player. Just try to keep in mind that you shouldn't make it boring for donators (i.e. you get everything, no work, no fun), and you also don't want to make the non-donators work for a month to get something that you can get for donating $2.
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Again, pretty obvious benefit.
2. Nick change. Just a status symbol, but still really nice to have.
3. Color codes. Gives access to chatting in colors, or in bold, italic, or underlined, or any combination thereof. Partly a status symbol, but also makes trade offers and stuff of the sort more noticeable. (or they can broadcast to the world that they like cheese, I really don't care :p )
4. Kits. So long as they have a cooldown attached, this is in general a good idea. Just remember, you don't want a daily kit that comes with an inventory full of diamond blocks.
5. Donor shop. Like I said with the factions server, I'm not a big fan of this. But, offering a donor shop with better prices can be a nice benefit, without making the non-donors rage too much.
6. Mob spawners. A placeable mob spawner for the usage of turning into a grinder. Doesn't have to be the same types of spawners that can be found naturally, but remember, stuf like a wither spawner gets a little too OP.
7. Extra homes. If your server allows setting homes, you can allow donors access to set more homes than the average player, possibly unlimited homes/
8. Mob disguise. If you want, you can give donors access to the use of mob disguise. Or, if you offer free mob disguise, you can give donators access to more disguises.
9. Fly access. This one is sorta iffy, I'd leave it up to your judgement.
10. Teleport to coordinates. Allows the teleportation to specific coords, for easy travel. (same as fly, might work out, might not, depends on the play style of your server)
1. OP/staff. Staff positions should be based on a person's ability to moderate, follow the rules, and help people. Not the size of their wallet.
Other than that, there's not really much that a non-PvP (or no PvP unless all parties agree) server shouldn't do, as one player having one thing doesn't really effect another player. Just try to keep in mind that you shouldn't make it boring for donators (i.e. you get everything, no work, no fun), and you also don't want to make the non-donators work for a month to get something that you can get for donating $2.
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Again, pretty obvious benefit.
2. Nick change. Just a status symbol, but still really nice to have.
3. Color codes. Gives access to chatting in colors, or in bold, italic, or underlined, or any combination thereof. Partly a status symbol, but also makes trade offers and stuff of the sort more noticeable. (or they can broadcast to the world that they like cheese, I really don't care :p )
4. Kits. So long as they have a cooldown attached, this is in general a good idea. Just remember, you don't want a daily kit that comes with an inventory full of diamond blocks.
5. Donor shop. Like I said with the factions server, I'm not a big fan of this. But, offering a donor shop with better prices can be a nice benefit, without making the non-donors rage too much.
6. Mob spawners. A placeable mob spawner for the usage of turning into a grinder. Doesn't have to be the same types of spawners that can be found naturally, but remember, stuf like a wither spawner gets a little too OP.
7. Extra homes. If your server allows setting homes, you can allow donors access to set more homes than the average player, possibly unlimited homes/
8. Mob disguise. If you want, you can give donors access to the use of mob disguise. Or, if you offer free mob disguise, you can give donators access to more disguises.
9. Fly access. This one is sorta iffy, I'd leave it up to your judgement.
10. Teleport to coordinates. Allows the teleportation to specific coords, for easy travel. (same as fly, might work out, might not, depends on the play style of your server)
Mini-game Servers
Do NOT offer:
1. OP kits. Nobody likes fighting a battle that is almost impossible to win. Though you might offer better kits, just don't make it so that they're able to win every time.
2. Joining full servers. While this might seem like a good idea, and is widely used, it's really annoying to be 10 seconds from the game starting, and a donor logs on and kicks you. There are other ways of offering stuff like this, read below.
3. Donor only servers. This can work out for a game that doesn't require a certain amount of people to be enjoyable. (a game such as MineZ, for instance) But you can't guarantee enough donors would play in said game. (especially since their kits would sorta be negated)
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Again, same as all server types, just a status symbol, still great to have. (just not on it's own)
2. Reserved slots in games. This is the better alternative to joining full servers. If a game can have anywhere from 10-20 players and be about the same fun, make there be 20 slots for each game, 15 of which can be filled by any member, after that point, only donors can join the game to fill out the other 5 slots.
3. Access to beta testing. If you're making custom minigames, have the donators be your beta testers. It gives them early access to new game types, and you don't have to go around trying to find beta testers. win-win
4. Lobby pets. Just a mob of some kind that follows them around, seen on a lot of servers. Again, a status symbol, as well as something neat to have.
One thing that I've seen on a minigame server that I think is pretty epic, is the ability to purchase donor kits with in-game points, which are obtained by doing well in games, and playing a lot. Donating for points instead of donating for kits would be a nice option, as then you can spend them on whatever kit you want. (donors might also get a points multiplier) This removes a lot of raging from non-donors. It'd still be somewhat hard to obtain without donating, but still possible.
Creative Servers
The beauty of a Creative mode server, is that there's nothing that gives one player an edge over another. So, I'm just gonna go straight to the things you can offer.
Things you might want to offer:
1. Rank. Same as always, status. (this is kinda a universal donor perk)
2. Nick change. Allows changing a nick, also with colors in it.
3. Color codes. Allows to speak in colors, bold, italic, and whatnot. Since there's no trading or anything, there's not much benefit, but it's nice to have, and I guess they can ask people to come look at their stuff or something.
4. Larger/additional plots. If you're a plot-based server, you can offer more plots or larger plots to donors. (personally, I would recommend a freebuild server, if you're kinda unsure what to do, anyways, back on topic)
5. Additional homes. On a creative server, a large amount of homes is good. You'll want to keep the non-donor homes high, but you can offer donors unlimited homes, so they can sethome at a build they like to look at, without losing building space. (or just build a lot more...)
6. Disguisecraft. If non-donors already have access to disguisecraft (mob disguise), you can give donors more disguises. Since you're I creative mode, you aren't attacked by mobs, so disguising as a mob offers no benefit other than looking cool walking around as a witch, or flying around the spawn as a wither.
In general, as far as creative mode servers go, it's all in looking good.
For those of you who are either too lazy to finish the whole thing, or don't have time, here's the tl;dr version:
Don't give donors a huge advantage over non-donors. Donor perks that give an advantage should probably be obtainable without donating, just taking a bit of work.
Thanks for reading! If you liked this blog, and/or agree with what I've said, please give it a diamond. If you have something that you disagree on, or you think should be added/changed, please leave a comment, I'll at least think about it. I think I covered the bulk of the server types, but if there's one I missed, please comment saying so, I'd like this to be as thorough as it can be.
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