I know I haven't joined the server yet but I think plugins is a good thing and spigot will be updated super quick so it wont take that long to add spigot.
Like what you said above. I hate chat looking like that.
<HelixTwist> hello
and would rather[OWNER] HelixTwist > hello
also tpa will be too broken which ruins the whole purpose of nether hubs and its a must for smps.
But /spawn or ONLY ONE /home per player should be a good idea. They will still use the nether hubs but will motivate people to explore more. People will be still using durability on the elytras but will still make the trip 2x faster
I struggle with other smp servers explore to find new woodland mansions and endcity by traveling like 50k blocks.
This will sure help people to join even more, and you can ask me further question to debate over this.This is just my opinion and experience hope this convinces you to add it in.
P.S I would also like /msg for private messages (haha Discord s the same thing), core protect for stolen items or greifed bases.
P.P.S and yes Im aware spigot is a pain to deal with.
P.P.S.S I know you want a pure vanilla but there are too many flaws when its multiplayer.
As seen in Hermitcraft they use data packs for further enchantement to the game so the experiences will be much easier.