A History of GPAuctions

When Liberty Minecraft launched I didn’t have a development budget. As a result, some important technical limitations went unsolved and this affected our world’s economy. People I admire recognized these problems and I felt responsible. This remains a difficult challenge. Some of them did not stick around long enough to see us overcome those barriers. Three issues were at the top of my list.

First, claim blocks were issued for playtime. This enabled players to trade land but it also meant that players received a universal basic income. This was printing money from thin air because claim blocks are convertible into cash. In November 2017 we eliminated UBI and blew up the printed money in a spectacular fireworks display. Players of Liberty Minecraft learned what happens when a free society eliminates a stimulus program.

Second, land claims expired after an arbitrary length of absence from Liberty Minecraft. So, you were not the one deciding how long to hold your property while you are absent. This arbitrary length of time was defined at 60 days because Cesare Borgia, Duke Valentino was held in high regard by his subjects and they awaited their prince for nearly as long while he was ill. With your support I designed & funded ClaimExpireDelay. Now you can decide how long to hold property in your absence by unlocking 30 day subscriptions with your donation.

Last, when a land claim did expire, this left valuable goods unprotected. For our wealthiest players, claim expiration would cause a free-for-all where valuable property may even be destroyed. The former owner was not paid for their work, and our players did not have a reliable way to put those resources in the hands of people who valued it most. With the release of GPAuctions, that problem is solved.

All of these solutions are open source and online for free.

Developing GPAuctions

As early as November 2017, Auctions was being discussed in Liberty Minecraft. Three things were clear. Claim expiration was a problem, players loved the idea of Auctions, and I had the perfect developer in RoboMWM.

Why RoboMWM? Experience. He’s the lead developer for Grief Prevention, the plugin which our players use to claim land. Work history. When I wanted to build ClaimSorting & ClaimNames for Liberty Minecraft, RoboMWM was the guy. When I wanted to rebuild GPRealEstate from ash, we paid RoboMWM. Liberty Minecraft has turned to RoboMWM for precisely this kind of work for about two years.

A good problem, a testable idea, and the right person for the job. But it was going to take time. Minecraft 1.13 was approaching so first we would launch the New World. I decided the New World would also have auctions.

In October 2018 I prepared a design document. In November RoboMWM and I sketched out a plan. Development kicked off in February. Over the last two months RoboMWM has coded while I tested. RoboMWM was paid $139 in total.

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What does it mean to me?

To provide value, I found something I could change, did something different, and answered one question: can I build a non-arbitrary means of liquidating property when players leave LMC?

The answer is yes.