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How to be a staff member (for dummies)
Welcome reader, to the "How to be a staff member: for dummies" book. Did you ever really wanted to be a great admin or moderator? Or always wanted to be the best owner of a server on minecraft? Well, after reading this you can! This text explains everything on how to be a good staff member, and how to react in some situations, since most people become staff member without knowing how to act towards their players, which ends on discussions, or even bans for these players!
1. Power
You've probably just become a moderator and have new and awesome commands. You think you can ban everyone that is being irritated to you, and that you're immune to the rules. This, is wrong and an abuse of the power that has been given to you in trust. As a staff member you are the one that has to follow the rules precisely, you need to have them studied in your head. Cause there is nothing more stupid than a staff member who can't follow the rules, break them from time to time, or abuse their powers by, for example, unbanning a friend and own privileges. The most common rules on a server are:
-No bigotry (No discrimination in all forms: religion, origin, homofobia, age, etc.)
-No Spamming (Especially never write in caps, it makes you sound childish and angry, be calm as a staff)
-No advertising (If you're a staff member, you're not going to tell a player how good another server was)
-No Sexual or offensive material (Don't post porn, don't say you, shut the up, etc.)
Bigotry is probably one of the most neglected rules. I once was on a server where you couldn't do any form of racism or it was an insta-ban, but discrimination in the form of religion was oke. Cause they were all cussing with gods name. Bigotry is bigotry, if you make that a rule, then everything that is discrimination isn't allowed.
So, you're not as powerful as you think you are. You might have the commands and you might have the power, but the rules are the same to you. Also, the amount of respect you give towards your players must be the same. If they are polite to you, don't start ordering them around when they make a mistake. Saying "please" or "Thank you" once in awhile, doesn't hurt anyone, it only makes you a better staff. Saying "I don't have to say please cause I'm a moderator/admin/owner" is always a bad thing to say. It is just ridiculous saying that to your players, since it will make them feel like they got nothing to say on the server.
2. Punishment
After that, we arrive at chapter 2, which is punishment. It is very important to know what kind of punishment you have to give your players, in order to be fair to them. When a player for example, uses bigotry by saying a discriminating word to another player, without realising he said something wrong (This happens often), then the best way to react on this is a warning. Actually, almost ALWAYS start with a warning, except for the following rules:
-Spamming
-Advertising
-Sexual or offensive material
A person can make a joke about someones mom. A person can type something, not realising that what he typed was wrong. And a staff member can give a too high punishment to something the player didn't deserve. When the warning didn't help, you can do a temporary ban of a day or maybe a week, depends on how he reacted on the warning. And after the temporary ban, if he acts like this again or breaks any other kind of rule, you can ban him. BUT, never, never ever ban him instantly it's misuse of your power as a staff member and the reason why he said something wrong can always have an explanation about it.
What you can do, is making an unban request system for the players who got banned. Of course, when you have or are a staff member who is too stubborn to unban someone (Because he thinks he's always right and doesn't want to unban him, doesn't matter what reason he had for it) then this won't work. My advice to the staff members? Listen to your players at all costs, even those who are banned. No one likes to be banned if they tried to play decently on the servers. And think like this: "These are the people who make the server grow and roll, not you."
3.communication
As a staff member it is normal, and positive to have a good communication with other staff members. It's not so smart to have great communication (facebook, skype, teamspeak) with one or more of your players. I'm not saying it's bad to have a good friendship with them, but it will make the banning a lot harder for a staff member if he sees a friend breaking the rules, instead of a player. That's why I suggest not adding players on skype or on facebook. Although you could make a group on skype with every single player in it. Then you don't get too comfortable with them and banning stays the same. It also comes in handy when an advertiser or spammer is on the server. This way the players can tell that there is someone spamming on the server, if there isn't a staff member on the server
Having good communication with staff members is completely necessary. You can warn other staff members of players who have been breaking rules, you can tell other staff members about bugs or any other mistake in the server that needs fixing. This gives a fast solution to problems that the lower ranked staff members can not solve.
4.Getting accepted(tips and tricks)
Of course, before being able to use your power and be a good staff member, you'll have to be accepted first. Many servers need a good admin or moderator, maybe even operator to help them maintaining their server in the best possible way. There are a lot of beginning servers who will need help in any possible way. My advice to you? Check on the forums for a server that is just starting and that needs staff members. Most of the time there will be an application form you'll have to follow.Fill this application in as detailed as you can. If they ask for experience, you'll have to say every server you've been a higher rank on. If they give examples and ask you to react to it, react as detailed as possible
Example: "A kid is griefing a house in creative server, what do you do?"
Reaction: I ask him why he is breaking down the house, and if the building is his or not. If it is his, I'll check the blocks with the right command for it, and then we'll see. If it isn't his, I'll ban/temp ban him for lying to a staff member and griefing. if it is his, I'll let him work on.
Don't EVER be short in your answers, go as much in detail as you can. But don't advertise! (refering back to the experienced part, don't start saying "That server (name) was very awesome, I was mod on that you should totally check it out" Most owners or other staff members, won't like that.
Most of it is all on you, it's true that they will watch everything. Your age is a part of that. Most people think "Hmmm, this guy is 13 years old, a teenager, I don't need that" A simple way to fix this, is when they ask your age in the application, you just put it like this: "13 years old, but doing to my matureness and being very responsible, many people think I'm older."
You'll have to give them a reason, not to deny you just because of your age. Cause even if it is bigotry (As seen in sooner part, discrimination on all sections (Age, religion, colour of skin, etc.)), the owners of the server are still allowed just to deny you because of your age.
!Hint: Another good tip is to show in your typing that you are grown-up, by typing formal (No cuz; 4 instead of for; u instead of you, etc.)
If you really have that all-favoured server, and you want to be a staff member of that, I suggest becoming trusted first. Sometimes a server will be looking for new staff members, and that will be your chance. They will also have an application ready, but best for this is also being known in the server. You'll have to be active and people should know you for the good things you have done, not the bad. This way you have a bigger chance getting accepted because people know you better, they'll know that you follow the rules and that you are indeed a good choice.
For those servers who aren't seeking a staff member (but you still want to become one), I suggest being VERY trusted through their community. If you come online, people must want to say 'Hey!' to you. People must know you, and like you. You must follow the rules perfectly and even the owner should know you well. (jep, most of the times it takes this much). And then, when this is all happening and you think "Now I want to be a staff member" then my advice for you is: Go to the official website or thread, and PM to the owner (Never make it in a public thread, just trust me on that). If there isn't an application for becoming a staff member, you'll have to make your own decent one. I'll give you a small example for it, right under this text, with the main core of such an application. If you have made your own application, end it with a formal greeting like I did in this text at the end. If you have done that, just wait and think "If I get denied, what did I lose?" Nothing, exactly.
Application example:
IGN: (Your In-Game-Name to log into minecraft)
Age: (Your age of course)
I message you because: (tell them you want to be a staff member)
I would be good because: (tell them why you would be a good staff member)
experience: (tell them what experience you have had 1.How long you play mc and how many times you have been a staff member)
A.O.T spend on the server: (Amount Of Time you have spend on the server, always a +1 if you are a senior member.)
Ever got banned: (DON'T add this if you got banned before, only if you haven't, it's another +1)
Timezone:(What timezone do you live in?)
Why?: (Last but not least, why would you want to be one? give as many reasons as possible:
1. Because in my time zone you people don't have a staff member on to kick rule breakers
2. Because I'm a winst to the team, one more is never to much!
3. I've been helping people on the server for long now without having any commands to help them. It would be nice if I could.
...
Recap:
-Never abuse your powers
-Always be polite and respectful to your players
-Don't instantly ban with a single thing they do
-Listen to their reasons and argument for unban requests
-A good communication between staff members is a good way to solve problems
-Don't befriend the players on any kind of social media, this will make the banning part harder for some.
-To become a staff member, be trusted and well known by the owner and other staff members
-If making an application, write in the most important stuff and as detailed as possible. (avoid bad parts about yourself)
After reading this you've been brainwashed to be the best staff member there ever was! Go out there, apply for it, and as a player I hope I can see some new generation of good staff members.
!I hereby grant you the certificate "Staff member for dummies"!
May it help you in applying for staff member
How to make a good server (for dummies)
A good day to you, fine reader of this topic. In this part of my text I will try to explain everything about making a server, and how to make it good, through my own experience. I got to admit first, I never made a server of my own, only helped people who needed advice, builders, mods or just helpers. But I did see servers who did a bad job, and servers who did a great one. Second, this text will be my way of strategie to make a good running server. Enjoy...
1. Server Kinds
As you probably already know, there are different kinds of servers which you can chose from. These choices will affect the sort of people playing on it. If you take a pvp server, there won't be any pve players ready for it. Here under is a small list of the MAIN servers that can be found on this forum.
-PVP: Player vs player
-PVE: Person vs Environment
-RPG: Roleplaying servers
-Games: Servers which base themselves on trick jump, player vs zombie, and I would also like to add the Hunger games with this kind of server.
So now you have a small list of servers you can build from. If you want your players to be fighting and conquering each other, then you take pvp of course. If you want them to survive together as a team against the mobs and dungeons, take PVE. You want them to make a character and play as real men/women in a world that you have created? Take rpg
. If you just want fun and games such as trick jumping, player vs zombies, arena games, etc. then you'll be best of with gaming server.
!Note: One of the worst things to do, is saying you have a PVE server, but then make it PVP to. I just hate that!
Then, there are also sub servers, in these main servers. You can make something a sub server by the kind of plugins you download on it, or the rules you set on it. Under this text I will make a list of some popular sub-servers.
PVP
- Faction Based server (one of the most popular of all, and my favorit)
- Survival based server (You stand alone, PVE but also PVP, very dangerous and very hard)
- Towny based server (With towny plugin but also pvp related.)
PVE
- Regular Based PVE (Players can help you, but not attack you. And it's still Player vs Environment.)
- Towny based PVE (Like the pvp version, but again, people won't be able to attack you)
RPG is RPG, the only sub-servers you have in there are hardcore, medium and low rpg. It depends on the staff mostly on how hard they want to play it. There is also a chance you end up in a rpg where once you are dead, you can't play for a couple of days anymore and have to make a new character.
2. Starting ones server
To start a server you'll first "have to have" the idea.Which kind of server you want, what plugins you want, How much players on it max as well as how popular you want it. With other words, you'll need to think a lot before you make it. After this there are some other points, but to make it easy for you I'll make another small lists of what you'll have to do to create a decent running server.
1. Choose your server type
2. Search for plugins you want (before you start on it, it's best to have the a list of the plugins you want
3. Make a topic (Best to make one, to gain popularity and helpers)
4. Recruit! (Make a application for builders, writers, programmers, etc. and recruit only the best)
!Note: it's best to have small trustworthy group then a lot of inactive players!
5. Skype (Make a skype or teamspeak group for you and your staff members/builders/etc.)
6. Create the world (Starters without money can create on there own server. People with enough are best to instantly search for a host so that it's on for 24/7 for your staff members to work)
7. Whitelist: You can already let people join now through an application and whitelist. then you have a view on how many people will be joining the start of your server)
8. WORK (Download plugins, build everything, writes story's and let the members do there whitelisting)
9. Popularity gain (Make a trailer, make snapshots and upload them on as many things as you can)
10. Normally, the server is finished by now. Set up a launch date and open it for your whitelisted members to join it!
If you follow this list correctly, you shouldn't have any problems during the creation of your server and the launch on it. You should have members and a good team to start with. One more thing: With the plugins !THINK!. Often there are people who set up unnecessary plugins or give too many rights to players such as disabling tnt in a faction server. TNT cannons are the basis for all faction servers in my mind. And always, ALWAYS finish your server perfectly before opening it. if it's not done yet, but you want people to play on it and check it out, open it as a BETA version but with controlled membership. And with that I mean 10 people max who give feedback to you. And last, when you have plugins with a lot of hard commands, make a tutorial for it on your topic and or server spawn. If people don't read it, it's their problem. (Hint: you can also write it in a book which is given to the players as they log in for the first time)
3. Donators
Donators are of course, one of the most important things for a non-working, non-money making server owner. Most servers have benefits for these donators, which is cool of course. A yellow name instead of a normal one, or being able to tpa or warp. You'll always have to add something extra commands or benefits for these people. If you don't have extra benefits for your donators then you would probably have none.
For rpg servers you could give those who donate the right to use a certain plugin that gives you the ability to use magic in the server. I would have liked the shape shifting skill plugin so that you could use it to scare, hide of trap other people. I belief (but am not sure) that you can also add it with the mc skill plugin (/mctop /mc sword, etc.) and that you could level up in it so that (for example) you could change into blocks the first 10 levels, then boats or mobs, then bigger mobs and eventually other players. But of course, then you'll have to add the rule not to impersonate staff.
4. Voting and economy
You'll all probably know about the voting sites for minecraft. And it is also important for the server and it's popularity to be high in this ranking. Most servers give their players items for voting for them on the server. BUT BEWARE to think good before making this. I have seen many servers who made it and gave away a diamond for example. So in a faction of 4, you'll get 4 diamonds for each vote, each day. Which will give you 26 diamonds (enough for full diamond armor +sword) in 6.5 days. There was also a server once who gave you 100 gold for each server voted, and there were 10 servers. Diamonds costed 220 gold. Which will give you enough money in 5.72 days. "Oke, it's 6 and 7 days, I can mine three times more in that time.": you'll be probably thinking. But I'm talking about doing nothing for a week long except for voting. If you play a faction based server it's way too easy to get it, no dangers.
List of often used voting sites:
planetminecraft.com
minestatus.net
minecraftservers.net
vote4craft.net
These are only 4, but there are a lot more voting servers.
But on to the next subject on the list, which is Economy. A popular and often used plugin for different servers as well PVP, PVE and RPG. Sometimes it's even used in Game servers to upgrade your weapons. But also with this one, think before making the prices.
Examples:
-Shop where prices for selling is higher than buying. (Weird right? but happens sometimes by accident)
-Shop where prices for lesser items are higher COMPARED to useful and rare items. (Which will make it to easy to get rare items in a small amount of time.
-Shop with to high amount sale (having 64x cobble before being able to sell it. Make it max 20 or something. And the rarer the item the smaller the amount of sale/buy should be.
I bring this up because too many servers make a mistake like this in my eyes. They make it too easy for their players and take the chance of a legend growing up out of the crowd away. Isn't it most fun for the owners to come online and be greeted by happy players who are having fun? Go out now fellow readers, and make the best server that minecraft has ever seen!
Recap:
- Think a lot before making a server
- Get a good and trustworthy gang of staff members and builders.
- Find the right plugins, no unnecessary ones
- Donators are very important for your server
- Voting is good for popularity, but don't give away to much for voters
- Iconomic is a fun plugin, but don't screw around with the prices, think before setting them.
That's it for now, greetings to you all
-Jason D. Black
How to faction (for dummies)
Hello there dear reader. Today we are going to talk to you about "How to play faction server".This text will be full of advice and tips about how to survive and maybe even own "asses" on a faction server. These tips and tricks will be out of my own experience of faction servers. (4 times top 3 factions, with on one server a one manned faction with full level 4 protection enchant feared by all). I hope you learn something from this, or maybe you can go in argument about it, or fill it further in. Enjoy...
1. Making a faction
A faction server is a strategic gameplay server which uses the plugin 'factions'. Under this text there is a small description of how a faction server works, and the commands that can be used with this plugin. Also a little example of a war between two factions.
Description:
1. Every player has 10/10 power from the beginning. With this power you can claim 1 land for each power (so 10 claims for one player).
2. On one of these claims, no one can destroy or build anything, but they can shoot with tnt cannons from far to destroy walls or farms
3. The meaning is to lower the power of your enemy factions, and claim their land if they don't have enough power anymore to keep it.
Example:
Faction A has 10 men (100 power) and has claimed 50 pieces of land (needs at least 50 power to keep). Faction B has 12 men (120 power) and has claimed 30 pieces of land (needs only 30 power to keep)
Faction B attacks faction A. In faction B, there are 3 dead, in faction A some people died twice, and they have a total of 13 deads. With every dead, someone loses power (Mostly it's 4 power each dead). Faction B died 3 times so that's 12 power loss. 120-12= 108 power left, which is enough to keep the land. Faction A has 13 deads so, 18x4= 52 power loss, so 100-52 = 48 power left. That's 2 power less than they need to keep the 50 pieces, so 2 pieces can be claimed. If these two pieces are claimed, they have 48 lands and 48 power, which is enough to keep the rest of the land
(48/48/120) (Land/Power/Maxpower)
Commands:
/f create (name): Create your own faction and chose it's name
/f description (description): give the description of your faction, people will be able to see it.
/f invite (PlayerName): Invite a player to your faction
/f join (FactionName): Join a faction who has invited you, or one that doesn't need an invite
/f claim: Claims the piece of land you are standing on from X to Y, (I belief it's 10 blocks on 10 blocks)
/f enemy (FactionName): Enemy a faction to be able to kill them on their faction ground
/f Ally (FactionName): Ally a faction so that you can't hurt them and you can help in war.
/f c: /f c once is ally chat, /f c another time is faction chat and /f c another time is normal chat again
These are the main faction commands. You can also give someone leadership, moderate someone so that he or she can invite and ally or enemy someone and etc.
Quantity and Quality
Something that you always have to take care of, is the quality and quantity of your faction.
Quantity is of course the amount of people that you invite to your faction. Keep in mind that mostly when the quantity go's up, the quality goes down. Quality is the power of your faction. I know some of you might think "Quantity is the amount of people, but more people is more power, right?" Yes that's right, with more people you gain more power which means more land to claim. But most of the time there were are more men, there are more noobs. I suggest taking a small but dependable group, who can join on skype to. That way you have a group that can come online when you get attack, a group that doesn't suicide unnecessary because you don't have food anymore. A group you can count on. For me that group is called 'GamerGroup' We all know each other on skype and we all discuss our next move. We all tell each other to get on when we are getting raid, or are going to raid. It may sound a bit
queer, but we have been rocking faction servers before you even played minecraft. Anyway, further to the tips and tricks, here is an example how quality may look like against quantity:
"Faction A has 40 men (each player is 10 power, so 400 power). Faction B has 6 men (60 power). Faction A things they are the greatest and dominate 350 pieces of land including their faction base, part of the nether and a large part of the end. Faction B however can't claim that much, and claims 40 pieces of land. But, faction A's members die from being in the nether and the end, and stupidly falling down a mine. All together they lose 90 power. Some of them are also inactive and since this is a server who punishes inactivity, they lose another 4 members, so 40 power. They now have 130 power loss, so 400-130= 270, now 350-270= 80 power, which means that another faction can claim 8 of their lands. Faction B however, is a close group that uses skype and keeps active. Only 1 or 2 people die in a week. 40 power they have left, which is enough to keep all of their land!"
So that's simple, never invite everyone who asks you to cause that could lead to your downfall. Not only because most people who start 'Can I join your faction please' are noobs. Often they might be even pretty good, but mistakes are made, and more men only means more mistakes. Also, a spy could be amongst them, telling everyone your coordinates, so beware.
Faction Base
the first thing I do: 'logging in' => 'checking server' and if the server is any good 'Make a base' fast. Bases are the defence line of a faction. Don't go all pretty on a nice comfy house with a garden, at least, not if you want to win a faction server. My strategy and long life habbit of making a base, is making one underneath a river or water. I would make a glass ceiling in the sand under the river so that I can see if anyone is near + so that some sun could come in. with a hatch at the side of the glass, I would have my exit. Everything, even my farm, would be in the base and I would make layers. I would claim maximum 4 pieces of land and make levels 'Level 1' would be my entree with my bed, furnace, crafting table and maybe a chest. 'Level 2' Would be my farm 'Level 3' would be my chest room and 'level 4' would be leading to the mines, which of course would be sealed protectively (cobble stone and a few doors) so that no one could enter the layers through the mines. Make sure you claim a few meters next to your stone wall, so that if anyone would mine your side away, he would need a lot of tnt to blow up a side. Also, spread the layers with a few meters of ladders so that if again, he has a lot of tnt, in that case he would miss a layer by shooting at the height of a 1x1 ladder, which is hard to get to. Because of the water on top, no one can damage your base from the ground, so they'll have to mine.
But either way, a really experienced player will always find a way in. Many people who were enemy's from me, thought that they were safe, but I always found an opening. Even an obsidian base can have his weaknesses. One wooden door, one unsafe exit or one side that isn't completely finished. and if that isn't in any case possible, you can always have two next strategics:
1. Factions ALWAYS have a mine. I don't know how many times I could rely on this strategic, but mostly you could just mine down and find a small mine that leads to an entrance/exit of a base. There you just have to be hidden until the enemy opens the door, or blow it up.
2. Nether. Most of the times strong factions have a nether portal. Good factions will protect this with lava around it or sealing it with obsidian blocks so that they can only use it when they want, and not when they enemy wants to get in.
!One problem with the nether portal is that it can send you to others there bases if you go in one. That's why I suggest protecting it 100% or leaving it as it is, use the one at spawn if there is any!
As time progresses
If you do as I advised you, you might be sitting there relaxed in your base for a couple of weeks now. You got full diamond, you didn't die unnecessarily from mobs or players and your enemy's are still trying to find a way in. The problem is, they are getting there. Every base has it's weakness, sea bases protected with obsidian is a weakness on it's own, since you can't easily go up anymore and if you can go up you might get killed by people. But the safest base I ever made (which was with my group) was an obsidian sky base with 1 entrance that couldn't be opened by an enemy. And if you wanted to leave you had to fall for a few seconds and then you fell in the middle of an ocean, far far away from spawn, other factions and enemy's. I suggest doing the same of course, not even an ender pearl could find it's way in there. Of course, it takes time to mine so much obsidian, but once you're there, it's worth it.
Also, if you have been playing for some time you might have found things like blaze spawner, wart farm, the end, etc. If you still have a lot of power left I suggest claiming the important stuff like a blaze spawner, end definitely the end. You can make a wall around it with obsidian or cobble but be reminded of the tnt cannon. Also, I would put the nether wart in front of your nether portal if you get in the nether, and also protect it with something so that people won't use tnt to try and blow it up. It's hard to use a tnt cannon in the nether, but it's possible.
Raiding
There are different methods that can be used to raid an enemy faction base. Under this text I will put the tactics you can use and give a small description on it. Keep in mind that when you are raiding, you have the following stuff with you: Good gear, potions, food, tnt, cobble, redstone, bucket o' water. (to make a tnt cannon to blow up walls). Making a tnt cannon is simple and there are quite some vids for it on youtube. I suggest checking that out if you don't know how to. Normally you make the cannon out of cobblestone and you put the water in it so that the tnt can't destroy the cobble. You use X amount of tnt to upgrade the length and height of the tnt that get's shot. I refer to this X amount of tnt as power, since this is the power you put behind this tnt cannon. I suggest going to single player and testing how many "power" it takes to get for example, 20 blocks far. I made a small notification of it that I used when I went on a raid. for example, if we were 10 blocks away from a wall, I know precisely how many tnt we needed as power.
!Also note that a base might be protected with a layer of water, but shoot one block in front of that water and it will still damage the blocks behind it. But your timing will have to be perfect!
Tactics:
1. Take 'em for a hunt: Simple, you start from a point on the server (Your faction home or spawn) and search for bases from there with "/f map" command. (this shows you the map in your chat, and bases that are close by). I call 'Searching a faction' => 'going for a hunt' since you are actually hunting down other factions there base. The tricks I like to use while doing this, is always checking for unnatural things. If you leave spawn and you see a cobble stone further away, you know that he might have gone that direction. If you see a crafting table next to the water, you know that he might used a boat to cross it. Keep using /f map to search for bases in the area as you are hunting. If you find a base, you can use tnt cannons or anything else to get in, and destroy it.
2. The spy: Simply put, it's just a member of your faction who leaves you and joins another faction to spy on them, steal their stuff and get their coordinates. It's a dirty trick but it's often used with big factions who invite everyone who asks and think Quantity is the best for there power. Once in the faction this member will send the coordinates to his team and they will come to raid it. The spy doesn't have to leave the faction for that reason. He can also keep on dying until his faction can claim the land, and then leave.
3. To hell and back: The nether portal is a precious thing to all factions. You need to make potions, so you will need to have nether warts and everything from it. They will make a nether portal, and most of them will make it in there base. The nether is also smaller than the real surface, so it is easy to walk around in the nether and fall upon a portal. Go in and you'll appear in the middle of a faction base. Stepping in a portal from the nether to another faction isn't that dangerous as long as they aren't online. Traps nor lava nor water can be in the portal to kill you, so if you see a trap in front of you, or the way is shut, just go back into the nether. I advice you to always protect your nether portal, or destroying it every time you used it.
4. Operation Invisable: I once used this tactic on a faction base wich was laying above ground, but always had there doors closed. You'll have to look for a faction base with the tactics from above and if you didn't find an entrance, you can always use an invisable potion to get in. Just wait outside with your armor of until one opens the door and walks out. You'll have to be quick and silent, it doesn't mean that you are invisable that they don't hear your sounds. It's also a very risky strategie since you can be seen if someone notices your sound or the bubbles coming from you. That's why I only suggest using this when tnt cannons, nor spying, nor a nether portal is available.
Bonus round = tips and tricks
1. Use creepers to follow you and blow up if you don't have tnt when raiding an offline faction
2. Kill cows, pigs, chickens before making a base so that you have food during the creation
3. if you get attacked, stay on your faction ground. You'll gain a defence bonus of 30%!!
4. Make your /f home in water, if you're in lava or on fire you will spawn safely in the water.
5. Be quick with mining obsidian, often it's better to have a strong base then strong armor.
6. Only do high level enchants for high protection level, it will make a lot of difference.
7. When mcskills plugin is on, don't use the right click sword skill if you and a friend(s) are fighting one guy. It will also damage your friends life.
8. Don't build a nether portal at your base, but further away. they won't be able to infiltrate through the nether anymore this way.
9. Set tnt traps with tripwire out of your base (best thing is in a forest) even if the tnt doesn't damage the enemy's you will still know someone's there.
10. Use tnt cannons to blow up a nether wart farm from someone, even though you lose tnt, the nether will be worth it.
11. if you're not a fan of the nether, attack a pig zombie in it. If there is anyone else in it, they will also get attack (experimental, but it already happened on a server)
Recap:
1. Join or create a faction
2. Make a strong protective base, for example under water. No nice houses which are a target for tnt
3. Quantity Quality rule!
4. Claim wisely, not everywhere you can
5. Invite good players who you can trust, not everyone you think is ok.
6. If you have enough power left (4/10 if you follow my rules) then you can still claim the end for example
7. Rule over the lands and your enemy's!!!!
This was "How to faction (for dummies)" I hope you people like it. Go out on those servers and own your enemy's like I once did. Make me proud, and if any of you want more advice, or want someone to check if there base is protective enough, you can always ask me to take a look at it. I will be on that server in no time.
How to Roleplay (for dummies)
Hello again dear reader of mine. Ever saw a weird server name such as "Kings of the land" or "Magic Kingdoms"? Ever clicked on one of those weird titles on the forum and saw a story on the first page? Maybe an application skeleton and a few races? These my friend, are called "Roleplay servers" It's where you create your own character, from any race available, and make your own story in their world. I will try to explain more about these roleplay servers. The different kinds and how like to call them, also the ones who you can define as good or not.
1. Definitions
Every definition there is for a RPG server. Not only the RPG definition will be explained in these content, but also what Meta-gaming, Power-gaming, etc.
1.1 RPG
A role-playing game (RPG and sometimes roleplaying game) is a game in which players assume the roles of charactersin a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making or character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
1.2 RPGmc
A role-playing minecraft server (RPGmc how I like to call it) is a server that is stated in a made up timezone and storyline. The player will have to create a character in order to play in this world together with other online RPG'ers. Once in-game, the player will take over the life of it's character and play as him in the game and will communicate (as the character) with other players. Eventually all the choices you made, and all the things you said or did to other players, will change your future actions and story.
1.3 Meta-gaming
Meta-gaming, often used in the question section of an application skeleton, "What does Meta-gaming mean". Simply, Meta-gaming is knowing something that your character can't know about, because he never heard of it or see it before. It's not because you have OOC information, that you can use that information for IC purpose. A simple example is when two characters meet each other on a field. X-character sees Y-character for the first time, and visa versa. Though, X-character says "Hey Y, what's up?" To him as he passes, even though they have never met. X-character used his name because he saw it in chat, or because he sees it above his character. However, this is Meta-gaming, thus wrong. You can only know your opponents name if anyone said it to you, or he said it himself. Same example X-character and Y-character. Y sees X walking past him and starts talking to X. "Hye, my name is Y, what are you doing here?" X stops and looks towards Y. :"Oh, hey Y (now he knows his name) My name is X, and I'm just passing through. This is the only correct way to get information, it can only happen IC
1.3 Powergaming
Powergaming, A.K.A. Doing something a normal person wouldn't be able to do. Although powergaming can be stated on different levels, the most common one is that of a regular human. A human for example, can't lift a 1 ton heavy object, doesn't matter how strong he is. If you start roleplaying and you say *Runs so fast that not even a Cheetah could follow him* Than you are powergaming, since no man on earth can run faster than a cheetah. Another example, often misused in Medieval RPGmc servers: *And stabs the other player in the hearth* You would start thinking "What's weird about this one? A man can stab another man easily." Well, most servers don't want you to kill another player as simple as that. First of all, you'll need to have a reason for it, you can't just start stabbing everyone. Second of all, if you have a reason and you press that sentence faster than your opponent can, you're giving him no chance which is considered unfair.
1.4 IC and OOC
IC (In Character) When you are IC than you are talking and acting as your character. So all the rules will be active and running for your character. However, occasionally you have questions or need help with something. If you want to talk to an admin or have a question that isn't related to your character's role play in any way, then you can use OOC (Out Of Character). Most RPGmc servers will have an OOC chat where you can go at (/ooc). But if this isn't the case you could always do this : "((ooc: Yeah I got a question about the server))" This is kinda known as the international chat use for OOC purposes.
2. The good, The bad, The ugly
How can you see the difference between good RPGmc servers and bad once? What makes them bad or, why did I make a bad RPG server and why does no one wants to join it? I'll explain everything in this section for you. I'll explain why a RPGmc server can be bad, and why no one is joining.
2.1 Storyline
One of the MOST important things of a RPGmc server is the storyline. Without it, people won't know in what era they are, with what races they play... simply, they don't even know what's happening. There are different reasons why a storyline should be good. Not only is it the face of the RPGmc server, but it also gives the player the most feeling to join or not to join.
-Grammar (Make sure the grammar is practically perfect, otherwise people get the feeling that amateur runs the place.)
-BackBone (Is what I like to call it. It's the Main storyline which contains the most important part. Why are we here? What is this world?...
-SideStory (Of course also important! Make some interesting side stories for people to read, about different gods or hero's. etc.
2.1.2 Suggestion:
What you also can do (and what I came up with myself for an RPGmc server) is an interaction with your players. With other words, the story changes because of how your players react to it. Most servers have one storyline and you'll have to play in it and do your thing. But, what if the storyline changes thanks to you, or other players? For example :"The elves take over the Orc kingdom. One player in particular was a true hero in this battle. At the end, the owner of the server edits the storyline, and talks about this man and his victory, his armor, other hero's etc."
2.2 Races
Also important in a RPGmc server are the races. A good RPG server would always take a few races which the player can choose from.
Note: It's important for these races to have description and also, you guessed it, a storyline.
It may seem hard, but for every race you'll have to make sure that the character will start doubting from, whether to take an Orc, a dwarf or and elf. If you are going to benefit one certain species, then you're going to have a population problem soon enough.
2.2.1 Often picked races
-Human -Vampire
-Dwarf -Werewolf
-Orc -Demon
-Elf -Angel
Note: It's not always so that you can pick a race in an RPGmc server. It is even so, that one of the few best RPGmc servers only have a human race, though you can still pick another definition of race (in my eyes) which are jobs. For example with the many Assassin creed RPG's you could pick between "Politician" ; "Guard" ; "Citizen" ; "etc.".
2.3 Plugins
Another reason why the server can be good or bad, is the usage of plugins. Of course, plugins make the gameplay a lot more fun from time to time, but can also be a drag. If you're going to stuff your RPGmc server full with useless plugins, you're going to have a bad time with them, since plugins take memory and memory makes lagg.
Simply put: You don't have to stuff your server full with plugins you can't use or which won't be used, otherwise it will become fat and slow.
2.3.2 Mods which can be used and are defined necessary:
-Faction plugin (for putting the players with the same race in the same group.)
-Chat plugin (For making an OOC chat where people can ask things, a public chat to broadcast or just talk, and a area chat so that only people in the area around you can hear your character)
Which plugin you want, or which you want to play with, completely lays with you. If you want to play in a village based server (Where you can buy land and make your own village) then I suggest the Plugin specifically made for that. However, and I can't say this often enough, Don't spam your server with plugins you won't use.
3. Y U NO play on my server?
It's often so that people make an RPGmc server, but they get less people than they had hoped for. Often, they will have not enough players (considering that some of them will become inactive after release of the server) and the server will become inhabitant. Eventually, it was just a waste of time and money.
You: "But how do you make sure that players will join?"
Well, that's still a question for anyone to solve. You won't be a hundred % sure if you'll have enough players, doesn't matter what you do. However, there are things you can do which makes it closer towards that hundred % sureness.
3.1 Advertisement
Don't be ashamed of your server, and spread the word. First of all, make a thread for your server on this MC forum, which will contain the storyline, the races, even a photo or two from the map. Make a nice Signature for your server to promote it.
BUT, do not in any case, start spamming another man's thread to get views on your. Or not in any case, promote your server on another server. This will instantly ban you from that specific server, and it might have nasty'er consequences than you think.
- Create MCForum thread
- Create a signature
- Tell people who are into role play about your new server (but don't do it on other people's threads or servers)
- Create a site (create one for your server. Make a forum in it with 'Suggestion', 'Storyline', 'Progess', etc. in it)
- Create a twitter account (This way you can bait more players if you use the @Minecraft or #minecraft function)
- Create a youtube account (To upload video's about cool places on your map, this way you could also add theme songs for the server)
With Other Words, do anything you can to make your server popular.
note: This might seem a lot of work for you, but there are many famous servers who use their own Site, twitter and youtube account to show the world how good they are. There is one dutch server called "The Kingdom Server". I can upload a video on it here, but the only speak dutch so most of you wouldn't understand.
4. Recap
(For RPGmc server creators) :
- Make a good storyline and side-story's
- Make a full content with Races/Storylines and even pictures
- Don't feed your server with to much plugins!
- Make some good advertisement so that your server becomes well known.
(RPGmc server searchers):
- Search for a server which has the right plugins that you want. If you don't want a server where you have to join a village and build a house, than don't.
- Search for a server with the right races or jobs you want to play as.
- Search for servers who worked hard to promote their thread
- Search for a server with a nice looking storyline/side-story's
This was "Roleplay server for dummies" I hoped you found it an interesting read, and if so, thanks for reading it. If there is anything you think I should add just asked here in the thread.
Greeting from your dearest advicer,
Jason D. Black
Questions?
Question section: (Is it faction related, rpg related, server creation related, etc.)
Question: (What's your question?)
~These texts are personal experiences, ideas and advices from me, and other people who make their argument and give their ideas. It will constantly be changed for this reason, to give you an optimal player's guide to minecraft.~
Welcome reader, to the "How to be a staff member: for dummies" book. Did you ever really wanted to be a great admin or moderator? Or always wanted to be the best owner of a server on minecraft? Well, after reading this you can! This text explains everything on how to be a good staff member, and how to react in some situations, since most people become staff member without knowing how to act towards their players, which ends on discussions, or even bans for these players!
1. Power
You've probably just become a moderator and have new and awesome commands. You think you can ban everyone that is being irritated to you, and that you're immune to the rules. This, is wrong and an abuse of the power that has been given to you in trust. As a staff member you are the one that has to follow the rules precisely, you need to have them studied in your head. Cause there is nothing more stupid than a staff member who can't follow the rules, break them from time to time, or abuse their powers by, for example, unbanning a friend and own privileges. The most common rules on a server are:
-No bigotry (No discrimination in all forms: religion, origin, homofobia, age, etc.)
-No Spamming (Especially never write in caps, it makes you sound childish and angry, be calm as a staff)
-No advertising (If you're a staff member, you're not going to tell a player how good another server was)
-No Sexual or offensive material (Don't post porn, don't say you, shut the up, etc.)
Bigotry is probably one of the most neglected rules. I once was on a server where you couldn't do any form of racism or it was an insta-ban, but discrimination in the form of religion was oke. Cause they were all cussing with gods name. Bigotry is bigotry, if you make that a rule, then everything that is discrimination isn't allowed.
So, you're not as powerful as you think you are. You might have the commands and you might have the power, but the rules are the same to you. Also, the amount of respect you give towards your players must be the same. If they are polite to you, don't start ordering them around when they make a mistake. Saying "please" or "Thank you" once in awhile, doesn't hurt anyone, it only makes you a better staff. Saying "I don't have to say please cause I'm a moderator/admin/owner" is always a bad thing to say. It is just ridiculous saying that to your players, since it will make them feel like they got nothing to say on the server.
2. Punishment
After that, we arrive at chapter 2, which is punishment. It is very important to know what kind of punishment you have to give your players, in order to be fair to them. When a player for example, uses bigotry by saying a discriminating word to another player, without realising he said something wrong (This happens often), then the best way to react on this is a warning. Actually, almost ALWAYS start with a warning, except for the following rules:
-Spamming
-Advertising
-Sexual or offensive material
A person can make a joke about someones mom. A person can type something, not realising that what he typed was wrong. And a staff member can give a too high punishment to something the player didn't deserve. When the warning didn't help, you can do a temporary ban of a day or maybe a week, depends on how he reacted on the warning. And after the temporary ban, if he acts like this again or breaks any other kind of rule, you can ban him. BUT, never, never ever ban him instantly it's misuse of your power as a staff member and the reason why he said something wrong can always have an explanation about it.
What you can do, is making an unban request system for the players who got banned. Of course, when you have or are a staff member who is too stubborn to unban someone (Because he thinks he's always right and doesn't want to unban him, doesn't matter what reason he had for it) then this won't work. My advice to the staff members? Listen to your players at all costs, even those who are banned. No one likes to be banned if they tried to play decently on the servers. And think like this: "These are the people who make the server grow and roll, not you."
3.communication
As a staff member it is normal, and positive to have a good communication with other staff members. It's not so smart to have great communication (facebook, skype, teamspeak) with one or more of your players. I'm not saying it's bad to have a good friendship with them, but it will make the banning a lot harder for a staff member if he sees a friend breaking the rules, instead of a player. That's why I suggest not adding players on skype or on facebook. Although you could make a group on skype with every single player in it. Then you don't get too comfortable with them and banning stays the same. It also comes in handy when an advertiser or spammer is on the server. This way the players can tell that there is someone spamming on the server, if there isn't a staff member on the server
Having good communication with staff members is completely necessary. You can warn other staff members of players who have been breaking rules, you can tell other staff members about bugs or any other mistake in the server that needs fixing. This gives a fast solution to problems that the lower ranked staff members can not solve.
4.Getting accepted(tips and tricks)
Of course, before being able to use your power and be a good staff member, you'll have to be accepted first. Many servers need a good admin or moderator, maybe even operator to help them maintaining their server in the best possible way. There are a lot of beginning servers who will need help in any possible way. My advice to you? Check on the forums for a server that is just starting and that needs staff members. Most of the time there will be an application form you'll have to follow.Fill this application in as detailed as you can. If they ask for experience, you'll have to say every server you've been a higher rank on. If they give examples and ask you to react to it, react as detailed as possible
Example: "A kid is griefing a house in creative server, what do you do?"
Reaction: I ask him why he is breaking down the house, and if the building is his or not. If it is his, I'll check the blocks with the right command for it, and then we'll see. If it isn't his, I'll ban/temp ban him for lying to a staff member and griefing. if it is his, I'll let him work on.
Don't EVER be short in your answers, go as much in detail as you can. But don't advertise! (refering back to the experienced part, don't start saying "That server (name) was very awesome, I was mod on that you should totally check it out" Most owners or other staff members, won't like that.
Most of it is all on you, it's true that they will watch everything. Your age is a part of that. Most people think "Hmmm, this guy is 13 years old, a teenager, I don't need that" A simple way to fix this, is when they ask your age in the application, you just put it like this: "13 years old, but doing to my matureness and being very responsible, many people think I'm older."
You'll have to give them a reason, not to deny you just because of your age. Cause even if it is bigotry (As seen in sooner part, discrimination on all sections (Age, religion, colour of skin, etc.)), the owners of the server are still allowed just to deny you because of your age.
!Hint: Another good tip is to show in your typing that you are grown-up, by typing formal (No cuz; 4 instead of for; u instead of you, etc.)
If you really have that all-favoured server, and you want to be a staff member of that, I suggest becoming trusted first. Sometimes a server will be looking for new staff members, and that will be your chance. They will also have an application ready, but best for this is also being known in the server. You'll have to be active and people should know you for the good things you have done, not the bad. This way you have a bigger chance getting accepted because people know you better, they'll know that you follow the rules and that you are indeed a good choice.
For those servers who aren't seeking a staff member (but you still want to become one), I suggest being VERY trusted through their community. If you come online, people must want to say 'Hey!' to you. People must know you, and like you. You must follow the rules perfectly and even the owner should know you well. (jep, most of the times it takes this much). And then, when this is all happening and you think "Now I want to be a staff member" then my advice for you is: Go to the official website or thread, and PM to the owner (Never make it in a public thread, just trust me on that). If there isn't an application for becoming a staff member, you'll have to make your own decent one. I'll give you a small example for it, right under this text, with the main core of such an application. If you have made your own application, end it with a formal greeting like I did in this text at the end. If you have done that, just wait and think "If I get denied, what did I lose?" Nothing, exactly.
Application example:
IGN: (Your In-Game-Name to log into minecraft)
Age: (Your age of course)
I message you because: (tell them you want to be a staff member)
I would be good because: (tell them why you would be a good staff member)
experience: (tell them what experience you have had 1.How long you play mc and how many times you have been a staff member)
A.O.T spend on the server: (Amount Of Time you have spend on the server, always a +1 if you are a senior member.)
Ever got banned: (DON'T add this if you got banned before, only if you haven't, it's another +1)
Timezone:(What timezone do you live in?)
Why?: (Last but not least, why would you want to be one? give as many reasons as possible:
1. Because in my time zone you people don't have a staff member on to kick rule breakers
2. Because I'm a winst to the team, one more is never to much!
3. I've been helping people on the server for long now without having any commands to help them. It would be nice if I could.
...
Recap:
-Never abuse your powers
-Always be polite and respectful to your players
-Don't instantly ban with a single thing they do
-Listen to their reasons and argument for unban requests
-A good communication between staff members is a good way to solve problems
-Don't befriend the players on any kind of social media, this will make the banning part harder for some.
-To become a staff member, be trusted and well known by the owner and other staff members
-If making an application, write in the most important stuff and as detailed as possible. (avoid bad parts about yourself)
After reading this you've been brainwashed to be the best staff member there ever was! Go out there, apply for it, and as a player I hope I can see some new generation of good staff members.
!I hereby grant you the certificate "Staff member for dummies"!
May it help you in applying for staff member
How to make a good server (for dummies)
A good day to you, fine reader of this topic. In this part of my text I will try to explain everything about making a server, and how to make it good, through my own experience. I got to admit first, I never made a server of my own, only helped people who needed advice, builders, mods or just helpers. But I did see servers who did a bad job, and servers who did a great one. Second, this text will be my way of strategie to make a good running server. Enjoy...
1. Server Kinds
As you probably already know, there are different kinds of servers which you can chose from. These choices will affect the sort of people playing on it. If you take a pvp server, there won't be any pve players ready for it. Here under is a small list of the MAIN servers that can be found on this forum.
-PVP: Player vs player
-PVE: Person vs Environment
-RPG: Roleplaying servers
-Games: Servers which base themselves on trick jump, player vs zombie, and I would also like to add the Hunger games with this kind of server.
So now you have a small list of servers you can build from. If you want your players to be fighting and conquering each other, then you take pvp of course. If you want them to survive together as a team against the mobs and dungeons, take PVE. You want them to make a character and play as real men/women in a world that you have created? Take rpg
. If you just want fun and games such as trick jumping, player vs zombies, arena games, etc. then you'll be best of with gaming server.!Note: One of the worst things to do, is saying you have a PVE server, but then make it PVP to. I just hate that!
Then, there are also sub servers, in these main servers. You can make something a sub server by the kind of plugins you download on it, or the rules you set on it. Under this text I will make a list of some popular sub-servers.
PVP
- Faction Based server (one of the most popular of all, and my favorit)
- Survival based server (You stand alone, PVE but also PVP, very dangerous and very hard)
- Towny based server (With towny plugin but also pvp related.)
PVE
- Regular Based PVE (Players can help you, but not attack you. And it's still Player vs Environment.)
- Towny based PVE (Like the pvp version, but again, people won't be able to attack you)
RPG is RPG, the only sub-servers you have in there are hardcore, medium and low rpg. It depends on the staff mostly on how hard they want to play it. There is also a chance you end up in a rpg where once you are dead, you can't play for a couple of days anymore and have to make a new character.
2. Starting ones server
To start a server you'll first "have to have" the idea.Which kind of server you want, what plugins you want, How much players on it max as well as how popular you want it. With other words, you'll need to think a lot before you make it. After this there are some other points, but to make it easy for you I'll make another small lists of what you'll have to do to create a decent running server.
1. Choose your server type
2. Search for plugins you want (before you start on it, it's best to have the a list of the plugins you want
3. Make a topic (Best to make one, to gain popularity and helpers)
4. Recruit! (Make a application for builders, writers, programmers, etc. and recruit only the best)
!Note: it's best to have small trustworthy group then a lot of inactive players!
5. Skype (Make a skype or teamspeak group for you and your staff members/builders/etc.)
6. Create the world (Starters without money can create on there own server. People with enough are best to instantly search for a host so that it's on for 24/7 for your staff members to work)
7. Whitelist: You can already let people join now through an application and whitelist. then you have a view on how many people will be joining the start of your server)
8. WORK (Download plugins, build everything, writes story's and let the members do there whitelisting)
9. Popularity gain (Make a trailer, make snapshots and upload them on as many things as you can)
10. Normally, the server is finished by now. Set up a launch date and open it for your whitelisted members to join it!
If you follow this list correctly, you shouldn't have any problems during the creation of your server and the launch on it. You should have members and a good team to start with. One more thing: With the plugins !THINK!. Often there are people who set up unnecessary plugins or give too many rights to players such as disabling tnt in a faction server. TNT cannons are the basis for all faction servers in my mind. And always, ALWAYS finish your server perfectly before opening it. if it's not done yet, but you want people to play on it and check it out, open it as a BETA version but with controlled membership. And with that I mean 10 people max who give feedback to you. And last, when you have plugins with a lot of hard commands, make a tutorial for it on your topic and or server spawn. If people don't read it, it's their problem. (Hint: you can also write it in a book which is given to the players as they log in for the first time)
3. Donators
Donators are of course, one of the most important things for a non-working, non-money making server owner. Most servers have benefits for these donators, which is cool of course. A yellow name instead of a normal one, or being able to tpa or warp. You'll always have to add something extra commands or benefits for these people. If you don't have extra benefits for your donators then you would probably have none.
For rpg servers you could give those who donate the right to use a certain plugin that gives you the ability to use magic in the server. I would have liked the shape shifting skill plugin so that you could use it to scare, hide of trap other people. I belief (but am not sure) that you can also add it with the mc skill plugin (/mctop /mc sword, etc.) and that you could level up in it so that (for example) you could change into blocks the first 10 levels, then boats or mobs, then bigger mobs and eventually other players. But of course, then you'll have to add the rule not to impersonate staff.
4. Voting and economy
You'll all probably know about the voting sites for minecraft. And it is also important for the server and it's popularity to be high in this ranking. Most servers give their players items for voting for them on the server. BUT BEWARE to think good before making this. I have seen many servers who made it and gave away a diamond for example. So in a faction of 4, you'll get 4 diamonds for each vote, each day. Which will give you 26 diamonds (enough for full diamond armor +sword) in 6.5 days. There was also a server once who gave you 100 gold for each server voted, and there were 10 servers. Diamonds costed 220 gold. Which will give you enough money in 5.72 days. "Oke, it's 6 and 7 days, I can mine three times more in that time.": you'll be probably thinking. But I'm talking about doing nothing for a week long except for voting. If you play a faction based server it's way too easy to get it, no dangers.
List of often used voting sites:
planetminecraft.com
minestatus.net
minecraftservers.net
vote4craft.net
These are only 4, but there are a lot more voting servers.
But on to the next subject on the list, which is Economy. A popular and often used plugin for different servers as well PVP, PVE and RPG. Sometimes it's even used in Game servers to upgrade your weapons. But also with this one, think before making the prices.
Examples:
-Shop where prices for selling is higher than buying. (Weird right? but happens sometimes by accident)
-Shop where prices for lesser items are higher COMPARED to useful and rare items. (Which will make it to easy to get rare items in a small amount of time.
-Shop with to high amount sale (having 64x cobble before being able to sell it. Make it max 20 or something. And the rarer the item the smaller the amount of sale/buy should be.
I bring this up because too many servers make a mistake like this in my eyes. They make it too easy for their players and take the chance of a legend growing up out of the crowd away. Isn't it most fun for the owners to come online and be greeted by happy players who are having fun? Go out now fellow readers, and make the best server that minecraft has ever seen!
Recap:
- Think a lot before making a server
- Get a good and trustworthy gang of staff members and builders.
- Find the right plugins, no unnecessary ones
- Donators are very important for your server
- Voting is good for popularity, but don't give away to much for voters
- Iconomic is a fun plugin, but don't screw around with the prices, think before setting them.
That's it for now, greetings to you all
-Jason D. Black
How to faction (for dummies)
Hello there dear reader. Today we are going to talk to you about "How to play faction server".This text will be full of advice and tips about how to survive and maybe even own "asses" on a faction server. These tips and tricks will be out of my own experience of faction servers. (4 times top 3 factions, with on one server a one manned faction with full level 4 protection enchant feared by all). I hope you learn something from this, or maybe you can go in argument about it, or fill it further in. Enjoy...
1. Making a faction
A faction server is a strategic gameplay server which uses the plugin 'factions'. Under this text there is a small description of how a faction server works, and the commands that can be used with this plugin. Also a little example of a war between two factions.
Description:
1. Every player has 10/10 power from the beginning. With this power you can claim 1 land for each power (so 10 claims for one player).
2. On one of these claims, no one can destroy or build anything, but they can shoot with tnt cannons from far to destroy walls or farms
3. The meaning is to lower the power of your enemy factions, and claim their land if they don't have enough power anymore to keep it.
Example:
Faction A has 10 men (100 power) and has claimed 50 pieces of land (needs at least 50 power to keep). Faction B has 12 men (120 power) and has claimed 30 pieces of land (needs only 30 power to keep)
Faction B attacks faction A. In faction B, there are 3 dead, in faction A some people died twice, and they have a total of 13 deads. With every dead, someone loses power (Mostly it's 4 power each dead). Faction B died 3 times so that's 12 power loss. 120-12= 108 power left, which is enough to keep the land. Faction A has 13 deads so, 18x4= 52 power loss, so 100-52 = 48 power left. That's 2 power less than they need to keep the 50 pieces, so 2 pieces can be claimed. If these two pieces are claimed, they have 48 lands and 48 power, which is enough to keep the rest of the land
(48/48/120) (Land/Power/Maxpower)
Commands:
/f create (name): Create your own faction and chose it's name
/f description (description): give the description of your faction, people will be able to see it.
/f invite (PlayerName): Invite a player to your faction
/f join (FactionName): Join a faction who has invited you, or one that doesn't need an invite
/f claim: Claims the piece of land you are standing on from X to Y, (I belief it's 10 blocks on 10 blocks)
/f enemy (FactionName): Enemy a faction to be able to kill them on their faction ground
/f Ally (FactionName): Ally a faction so that you can't hurt them and you can help in war.
/f c: /f c once is ally chat, /f c another time is faction chat and /f c another time is normal chat again
These are the main faction commands. You can also give someone leadership, moderate someone so that he or she can invite and ally or enemy someone and etc.
Quantity and Quality
Something that you always have to take care of, is the quality and quantity of your faction.
Quantity is of course the amount of people that you invite to your faction. Keep in mind that mostly when the quantity go's up, the quality goes down. Quality is the power of your faction. I know some of you might think "Quantity is the amount of people, but more people is more power, right?" Yes that's right, with more people you gain more power which means more land to claim. But most of the time there were are more men, there are more noobs. I suggest taking a small but dependable group, who can join on skype to. That way you have a group that can come online when you get attack, a group that doesn't suicide unnecessary because you don't have food anymore. A group you can count on. For me that group is called 'GamerGroup' We all know each other on skype and we all discuss our next move. We all tell each other to get on when we are getting raid, or are going to raid. It may sound a bit
queer, but we have been rocking faction servers before you even played minecraft. Anyway, further to the tips and tricks, here is an example how quality may look like against quantity:
"Faction A has 40 men (each player is 10 power, so 400 power). Faction B has 6 men (60 power). Faction A things they are the greatest and dominate 350 pieces of land including their faction base, part of the nether and a large part of the end. Faction B however can't claim that much, and claims 40 pieces of land. But, faction A's members die from being in the nether and the end, and stupidly falling down a mine. All together they lose 90 power. Some of them are also inactive and since this is a server who punishes inactivity, they lose another 4 members, so 40 power. They now have 130 power loss, so 400-130= 270, now 350-270= 80 power, which means that another faction can claim 8 of their lands. Faction B however, is a close group that uses skype and keeps active. Only 1 or 2 people die in a week. 40 power they have left, which is enough to keep all of their land!"
So that's simple, never invite everyone who asks you to cause that could lead to your downfall. Not only because most people who start 'Can I join your faction please' are noobs. Often they might be even pretty good, but mistakes are made, and more men only means more mistakes. Also, a spy could be amongst them, telling everyone your coordinates, so beware.
Faction Base
the first thing I do: 'logging in' => 'checking server' and if the server is any good 'Make a base' fast. Bases are the defence line of a faction. Don't go all pretty on a nice comfy house with a garden, at least, not if you want to win a faction server. My strategy and long life habbit of making a base, is making one underneath a river or water. I would make a glass ceiling in the sand under the river so that I can see if anyone is near + so that some sun could come in. with a hatch at the side of the glass, I would have my exit. Everything, even my farm, would be in the base and I would make layers. I would claim maximum 4 pieces of land and make levels 'Level 1' would be my entree with my bed, furnace, crafting table and maybe a chest. 'Level 2' Would be my farm 'Level 3' would be my chest room and 'level 4' would be leading to the mines, which of course would be sealed protectively (cobble stone and a few doors) so that no one could enter the layers through the mines. Make sure you claim a few meters next to your stone wall, so that if anyone would mine your side away, he would need a lot of tnt to blow up a side. Also, spread the layers with a few meters of ladders so that if again, he has a lot of tnt, in that case he would miss a layer by shooting at the height of a 1x1 ladder, which is hard to get to. Because of the water on top, no one can damage your base from the ground, so they'll have to mine.
But either way, a really experienced player will always find a way in. Many people who were enemy's from me, thought that they were safe, but I always found an opening. Even an obsidian base can have his weaknesses. One wooden door, one unsafe exit or one side that isn't completely finished. and if that isn't in any case possible, you can always have two next strategics:
1. Factions ALWAYS have a mine. I don't know how many times I could rely on this strategic, but mostly you could just mine down and find a small mine that leads to an entrance/exit of a base. There you just have to be hidden until the enemy opens the door, or blow it up.
2. Nether. Most of the times strong factions have a nether portal. Good factions will protect this with lava around it or sealing it with obsidian blocks so that they can only use it when they want, and not when they enemy wants to get in.
!One problem with the nether portal is that it can send you to others there bases if you go in one. That's why I suggest protecting it 100% or leaving it as it is, use the one at spawn if there is any!
As time progresses
If you do as I advised you, you might be sitting there relaxed in your base for a couple of weeks now. You got full diamond, you didn't die unnecessarily from mobs or players and your enemy's are still trying to find a way in. The problem is, they are getting there. Every base has it's weakness, sea bases protected with obsidian is a weakness on it's own, since you can't easily go up anymore and if you can go up you might get killed by people. But the safest base I ever made (which was with my group) was an obsidian sky base with 1 entrance that couldn't be opened by an enemy. And if you wanted to leave you had to fall for a few seconds and then you fell in the middle of an ocean, far far away from spawn, other factions and enemy's. I suggest doing the same of course, not even an ender pearl could find it's way in there. Of course, it takes time to mine so much obsidian, but once you're there, it's worth it.
Also, if you have been playing for some time you might have found things like blaze spawner, wart farm, the end, etc. If you still have a lot of power left I suggest claiming the important stuff like a blaze spawner, end definitely the end. You can make a wall around it with obsidian or cobble but be reminded of the tnt cannon. Also, I would put the nether wart in front of your nether portal if you get in the nether, and also protect it with something so that people won't use tnt to try and blow it up. It's hard to use a tnt cannon in the nether, but it's possible.
Raiding
There are different methods that can be used to raid an enemy faction base. Under this text I will put the tactics you can use and give a small description on it. Keep in mind that when you are raiding, you have the following stuff with you: Good gear, potions, food, tnt, cobble, redstone, bucket o' water. (to make a tnt cannon to blow up walls). Making a tnt cannon is simple and there are quite some vids for it on youtube. I suggest checking that out if you don't know how to. Normally you make the cannon out of cobblestone and you put the water in it so that the tnt can't destroy the cobble. You use X amount of tnt to upgrade the length and height of the tnt that get's shot. I refer to this X amount of tnt as power, since this is the power you put behind this tnt cannon. I suggest going to single player and testing how many "power" it takes to get for example, 20 blocks far. I made a small notification of it that I used when I went on a raid. for example, if we were 10 blocks away from a wall, I know precisely how many tnt we needed as power.
!Also note that a base might be protected with a layer of water, but shoot one block in front of that water and it will still damage the blocks behind it. But your timing will have to be perfect!
Tactics:
1. Take 'em for a hunt: Simple, you start from a point on the server (Your faction home or spawn) and search for bases from there with "/f map" command. (this shows you the map in your chat, and bases that are close by). I call 'Searching a faction' => 'going for a hunt' since you are actually hunting down other factions there base. The tricks I like to use while doing this, is always checking for unnatural things. If you leave spawn and you see a cobble stone further away, you know that he might have gone that direction. If you see a crafting table next to the water, you know that he might used a boat to cross it. Keep using /f map to search for bases in the area as you are hunting. If you find a base, you can use tnt cannons or anything else to get in, and destroy it.
2. The spy: Simply put, it's just a member of your faction who leaves you and joins another faction to spy on them, steal their stuff and get their coordinates. It's a dirty trick but it's often used with big factions who invite everyone who asks and think Quantity is the best for there power. Once in the faction this member will send the coordinates to his team and they will come to raid it. The spy doesn't have to leave the faction for that reason. He can also keep on dying until his faction can claim the land, and then leave.
3. To hell and back: The nether portal is a precious thing to all factions. You need to make potions, so you will need to have nether warts and everything from it. They will make a nether portal, and most of them will make it in there base. The nether is also smaller than the real surface, so it is easy to walk around in the nether and fall upon a portal. Go in and you'll appear in the middle of a faction base. Stepping in a portal from the nether to another faction isn't that dangerous as long as they aren't online. Traps nor lava nor water can be in the portal to kill you, so if you see a trap in front of you, or the way is shut, just go back into the nether. I advice you to always protect your nether portal, or destroying it every time you used it.
4. Operation Invisable: I once used this tactic on a faction base wich was laying above ground, but always had there doors closed. You'll have to look for a faction base with the tactics from above and if you didn't find an entrance, you can always use an invisable potion to get in. Just wait outside with your armor of until one opens the door and walks out. You'll have to be quick and silent, it doesn't mean that you are invisable that they don't hear your sounds. It's also a very risky strategie since you can be seen if someone notices your sound or the bubbles coming from you. That's why I only suggest using this when tnt cannons, nor spying, nor a nether portal is available.
Bonus round = tips and tricks
1. Use creepers to follow you and blow up if you don't have tnt when raiding an offline faction
2. Kill cows, pigs, chickens before making a base so that you have food during the creation
3. if you get attacked, stay on your faction ground. You'll gain a defence bonus of 30%!!
4. Make your /f home in water, if you're in lava or on fire you will spawn safely in the water.
5. Be quick with mining obsidian, often it's better to have a strong base then strong armor.
6. Only do high level enchants for high protection level, it will make a lot of difference.
7. When mcskills plugin is on, don't use the right click sword skill if you and a friend(s) are fighting one guy. It will also damage your friends life.
8. Don't build a nether portal at your base, but further away. they won't be able to infiltrate through the nether anymore this way.
9. Set tnt traps with tripwire out of your base (best thing is in a forest) even if the tnt doesn't damage the enemy's you will still know someone's there.
10. Use tnt cannons to blow up a nether wart farm from someone, even though you lose tnt, the nether will be worth it.
11. if you're not a fan of the nether, attack a pig zombie in it. If there is anyone else in it, they will also get attack (experimental, but it already happened on a server)
Recap:
1. Join or create a faction
2. Make a strong protective base, for example under water. No nice houses which are a target for tnt
3. Quantity Quality rule!
4. Claim wisely, not everywhere you can
5. Invite good players who you can trust, not everyone you think is ok.
6. If you have enough power left (4/10 if you follow my rules) then you can still claim the end for example
7. Rule over the lands and your enemy's!!!!
This was "How to faction (for dummies)" I hope you people like it. Go out on those servers and own your enemy's like I once did. Make me proud, and if any of you want more advice, or want someone to check if there base is protective enough, you can always ask me to take a look at it. I will be on that server in no time.
How to Roleplay (for dummies)
Hello again dear reader of mine. Ever saw a weird server name such as "Kings of the land" or "Magic Kingdoms"? Ever clicked on one of those weird titles on the forum and saw a story on the first page? Maybe an application skeleton and a few races? These my friend, are called "Roleplay servers" It's where you create your own character, from any race available, and make your own story in their world. I will try to explain more about these roleplay servers. The different kinds and how like to call them, also the ones who you can define as good or not.
1. Definitions
Every definition there is for a RPG server. Not only the RPG definition will be explained in these content, but also what Meta-gaming, Power-gaming, etc.
1.1 RPG
A role-playing game (RPG and sometimes roleplaying game) is a game in which players assume the roles of charactersin a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making or character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
1.2 RPGmc
A role-playing minecraft server (RPGmc how I like to call it) is a server that is stated in a made up timezone and storyline. The player will have to create a character in order to play in this world together with other online RPG'ers. Once in-game, the player will take over the life of it's character and play as him in the game and will communicate (as the character) with other players. Eventually all the choices you made, and all the things you said or did to other players, will change your future actions and story.
1.3 Meta-gaming
Meta-gaming, often used in the question section of an application skeleton, "What does Meta-gaming mean". Simply, Meta-gaming is knowing something that your character can't know about, because he never heard of it or see it before. It's not because you have OOC information, that you can use that information for IC purpose. A simple example is when two characters meet each other on a field. X-character sees Y-character for the first time, and visa versa. Though, X-character says "Hey Y, what's up?" To him as he passes, even though they have never met. X-character used his name because he saw it in chat, or because he sees it above his character. However, this is Meta-gaming, thus wrong. You can only know your opponents name if anyone said it to you, or he said it himself. Same example X-character and Y-character. Y sees X walking past him and starts talking to X. "Hye, my name is Y, what are you doing here?" X stops and looks towards Y. :"Oh, hey Y (now he knows his name) My name is X, and I'm just passing through. This is the only correct way to get information, it can only happen IC
1.3 Powergaming
Powergaming, A.K.A. Doing something a normal person wouldn't be able to do. Although powergaming can be stated on different levels, the most common one is that of a regular human. A human for example, can't lift a 1 ton heavy object, doesn't matter how strong he is. If you start roleplaying and you say *Runs so fast that not even a Cheetah could follow him* Than you are powergaming, since no man on earth can run faster than a cheetah. Another example, often misused in Medieval RPGmc servers: *And stabs the other player in the hearth* You would start thinking "What's weird about this one? A man can stab another man easily." Well, most servers don't want you to kill another player as simple as that. First of all, you'll need to have a reason for it, you can't just start stabbing everyone. Second of all, if you have a reason and you press that sentence faster than your opponent can, you're giving him no chance which is considered unfair.
1.4 IC and OOC
IC (In Character) When you are IC than you are talking and acting as your character. So all the rules will be active and running for your character. However, occasionally you have questions or need help with something. If you want to talk to an admin or have a question that isn't related to your character's role play in any way, then you can use OOC (Out Of Character). Most RPGmc servers will have an OOC chat where you can go at (/ooc). But if this isn't the case you could always do this : "((ooc: Yeah I got a question about the server))" This is kinda known as the international chat use for OOC purposes.
2. The good, The bad, The ugly
How can you see the difference between good RPGmc servers and bad once? What makes them bad or, why did I make a bad RPG server and why does no one wants to join it? I'll explain everything in this section for you. I'll explain why a RPGmc server can be bad, and why no one is joining.
2.1 Storyline
One of the MOST important things of a RPGmc server is the storyline. Without it, people won't know in what era they are, with what races they play... simply, they don't even know what's happening. There are different reasons why a storyline should be good. Not only is it the face of the RPGmc server, but it also gives the player the most feeling to join or not to join.
-Grammar (Make sure the grammar is practically perfect, otherwise people get the feeling that amateur runs the place.)
-BackBone (Is what I like to call it. It's the Main storyline which contains the most important part. Why are we here? What is this world?...
-SideStory (Of course also important! Make some interesting side stories for people to read, about different gods or hero's. etc.
2.1.2 Suggestion:
What you also can do (and what I came up with myself for an RPGmc server) is an interaction with your players. With other words, the story changes because of how your players react to it. Most servers have one storyline and you'll have to play in it and do your thing. But, what if the storyline changes thanks to you, or other players? For example :"The elves take over the Orc kingdom. One player in particular was a true hero in this battle. At the end, the owner of the server edits the storyline, and talks about this man and his victory, his armor, other hero's etc."
2.2 Races
Also important in a RPGmc server are the races. A good RPG server would always take a few races which the player can choose from.
Note: It's important for these races to have description and also, you guessed it, a storyline.
It may seem hard, but for every race you'll have to make sure that the character will start doubting from, whether to take an Orc, a dwarf or and elf. If you are going to benefit one certain species, then you're going to have a population problem soon enough.
2.2.1 Often picked races
-Human -Vampire
-Dwarf -Werewolf
-Orc -Demon
-Elf -Angel
Note: It's not always so that you can pick a race in an RPGmc server. It is even so, that one of the few best RPGmc servers only have a human race, though you can still pick another definition of race (in my eyes) which are jobs. For example with the many Assassin creed RPG's you could pick between "Politician" ; "Guard" ; "Citizen" ; "etc.".
2.3 Plugins
Another reason why the server can be good or bad, is the usage of plugins. Of course, plugins make the gameplay a lot more fun from time to time, but can also be a drag. If you're going to stuff your RPGmc server full with useless plugins, you're going to have a bad time with them, since plugins take memory and memory makes lagg.
Simply put: You don't have to stuff your server full with plugins you can't use or which won't be used, otherwise it will become fat and slow.
2.3.2 Mods which can be used and are defined necessary:
-Faction plugin (for putting the players with the same race in the same group.)
-Chat plugin (For making an OOC chat where people can ask things, a public chat to broadcast or just talk, and a area chat so that only people in the area around you can hear your character)
Which plugin you want, or which you want to play with, completely lays with you. If you want to play in a village based server (Where you can buy land and make your own village) then I suggest the Plugin specifically made for that. However, and I can't say this often enough, Don't spam your server with plugins you won't use.
3. Y U NO play on my server?
It's often so that people make an RPGmc server, but they get less people than they had hoped for. Often, they will have not enough players (considering that some of them will become inactive after release of the server) and the server will become inhabitant. Eventually, it was just a waste of time and money.
You: "But how do you make sure that players will join?"
Well, that's still a question for anyone to solve. You won't be a hundred % sure if you'll have enough players, doesn't matter what you do. However, there are things you can do which makes it closer towards that hundred % sureness.
3.1 Advertisement
Don't be ashamed of your server, and spread the word. First of all, make a thread for your server on this MC forum, which will contain the storyline, the races, even a photo or two from the map. Make a nice Signature for your server to promote it.
BUT, do not in any case, start spamming another man's thread to get views on your. Or not in any case, promote your server on another server. This will instantly ban you from that specific server, and it might have nasty'er consequences than you think.
- Create MCForum thread
- Create a signature
- Tell people who are into role play about your new server (but don't do it on other people's threads or servers)
- Create a site (create one for your server. Make a forum in it with 'Suggestion', 'Storyline', 'Progess', etc. in it)
- Create a twitter account (This way you can bait more players if you use the @Minecraft or #minecraft function)
- Create a youtube account (To upload video's about cool places on your map, this way you could also add theme songs for the server)
With Other Words, do anything you can to make your server popular.
note: This might seem a lot of work for you, but there are many famous servers who use their own Site, twitter and youtube account to show the world how good they are. There is one dutch server called "The Kingdom Server". I can upload a video on it here, but the only speak dutch so most of you wouldn't understand.
4. Recap
(For RPGmc server creators) :
- Make a good storyline and side-story's
- Make a full content with Races/Storylines and even pictures
- Don't feed your server with to much plugins!
- Make some good advertisement so that your server becomes well known.
(RPGmc server searchers):
- Search for a server which has the right plugins that you want. If you don't want a server where you have to join a village and build a house, than don't.
- Search for a server with the right races or jobs you want to play as.
- Search for servers who worked hard to promote their thread
- Search for a server with a nice looking storyline/side-story's
This was "Roleplay server for dummies" I hoped you found it an interesting read, and if so, thanks for reading it. If there is anything you think I should add just asked here in the thread.
Greeting from your dearest advicer,
Jason D. Black
Questions?
Question section: (Is it faction related, rpg related, server creation related, etc.)
Question: (What's your question?)
~These texts are personal experiences, ideas and advices from me, and other people who make their argument and give their ideas. It will constantly be changed for this reason, to give you an optimal player's guide to minecraft.~
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Update #1 : by PlunderPixels 09/22/2014 11:01:25 pmSep 22nd, 2014
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All we have at the moment if the Owner 1/1 Co-Owner 1/1 Head-Admin 1/1 Administrator 1/5. So if you guys could read this very informal and helpful blog and then apply here. That would be awesome! We've only accepted a few moderators out of like 40+ applicants. Reminder, you need to be 13+ to be staff on our server. And you need the above things too. Link Here: http://www.planetminecraft.com/forums/team-network-recruitment-t440111.html
Anyway, diamond from me.