Server vision

Ok, based on the various posts and discussions I am reading, as well as the fairly evenly split polling, I think we may need to take a step back for a bit. Instead of talking about specific plugins and commands, we may need to instead create a vision for the server. We are better off laying out some solid statements that represent what this server is and THEN see what plugins and commands make sense for that vision.

We can't be all things to all people. Instead of trying to shape the server to what everyone wants, we should create the server based on some specific guiding principles. Those whose desires match those principles will have a home here. Those that don't think those principles are what they are looking for, are able to find a place that better suits them.

By approaching it in is way, we actually save everyone time and heartache from feeling the server is not meeting their expectations. By laying out these principles clearly up front, people are better able to decide for themselves whether Nova is the place for them.

In the end, Ben and I are doing it so we have fun. We want the community to have as much fun as possible, but if somebody doesn't like a plugin we've added, there's many other servers. Everything we've added so far makes US happy and that's the way it'll remain

Thanks for commenting, Cheese. I had kind of hoped you would actually contribute to a meaningful discussion of the situations we are facing instead of “if you don’t like what we have done, go away because we are not changing it.”

I am willing to make the assumption that you were tired, sick, or in some foul mood when you wrote that so I will carry on like we are having a true, open discussion.

CheeseDoctor22 wrote:We want the community to have as much fun as possible, but if somebody doesn't like a plugin we've added, there's many other servers.

I fully support you in that. You should definitely create the server you want. You may even be lucky enough to attract others that want the same thing. If people don't like what you are offering, they can not even bother to start building. But see, a Minecraft server is more than just "plugins". They are just tools to create a certain type of server. Here’s my issue.... you have not laid out any clear description of “your” server. What kind of server is it? What is your vision? Sorry but, “we just want everyone to have fun”, is NOT a vision statement. It is simply wishful thinking.

CheeseDoctor22 wrote:Everything we've added so far makes US happy and that's the way it'll remain

This confuses me because I see several places on the forum where Ben is asking for input and opinions. There is even a poll up. So maybe I don’t understand what you are saying. The way the server is now is how “it’ll remain”, or you’ll ask for people’s opinions and votes but in the end, do whatever you want? That’s a poor way to establish a community.

If you are not sure, a community is considered a “small, social unit of any size that shares common values”. That goes right to the heart of my original question: What are we doing? Is this just your server that you let people on out of the kindness of your heart or is it a community server that you lead? We can't share "common values" if we don't know what they are.

Alright, I'm gonna ignore the response this thread has had so far and simply give the answer I'd like to give.

At the server's conception, I imagined a community-driven server with towns, trade, and cooperation. I was looking forward to creating an interesting and interactive world where people were closely knit and played together. Honestly, the server as it stands right now does produce a clear dissonance from my initial intentions. Before I go into that, I'd like to say quickly that, though such a dissonance exists, the server altogether has pleased me fairly. I've never run a server before where towns have been as successful as they have been on here, and I feel the community of people we've garnered is a very positive one. That said, I had hoped, perhaps, for more interaction between people and for the server to be closer. I really liked the quick sprouting of towns that we saw early on, but recently, I don't feel towns have been developing as much. It's because of this that I think you may be correct, at least in some way, in defining what the server should be.

I set up the poll on the transit policy because I believe there are now two forces that combine to guide me in running the server: what I feel I'd like and what the people want. Although the vision I had for the server is very important, I feel it's also necessary for me to listen to the people. Although many of the players on the server may see it differently, they've all been drawn to the world that I've created for at least some of the reasons that I've created it. I have confidence in my vision, but I'm not sure my vision alone can run the server. For example, I had never intended on everyone having access to the /back command. However, because they did have access, I feel it's necessary to ask whether or not the server was better that way, because my own vision has conflicting views on it. I feel that removing /back may encourage people to walk more and create more infrastructure. However, if removing the command does not result in the creation of more infrastructure, than perhaps removing it was unnecessary. As of right now, though, /back is no longer allowed.

I feel I've rambled a bit beyond my original point, but I hope I haven't skirted around the point. I want to make Nova into a close-knit, community-driven server with towns and cooperative effort from players. That's the current vision I have. Beyond this, though, I'm always interested in how this mixes with the visions and ideas of the players. The suggestions board I've set up is not merely meant to be for suggestions of plugins or buildings. I really want the suggestions board to be a place where people can let us know (as well as the community) if they think something could be better or worse. While I want the in-game reactions to be community-driven, I'd like reaction to the server to drive me in running it.

I hope this response helps in some way!

Thanks for the reply, Ben. It's very helpful to understand your vision and especially how you recognize that not everything is quite as you had hoped.

My reason for starting this thread was to have a place for you to share some of that vision and allow others to collaborate with you.

Alright, I'm sorry, because to be honest I just skimmed your post where I should have definitely read the entire thing and understood it completely before commenting. Because of my foolish act, I thought you were in some form, attacking us; telling us we had no idea how to run the server and that we needed to realize what our server vision was. Because of this, I posted a jackass reply, and you ultimately gave me a jackass reply back. I wasn't trying to hurt any feelings, I just kind of read the first sentence and made up assumptions of what the entire topic was going to be about. That was wrong of me, and I'm sorry for that. I've now made two more people angry, and I have to own up for my mistake.

Don't worry about it mate. I'm certainly not angry about anything. I want this server to succeed otherwise I wouldn't be here. I want us to all work together, that's why we need to be looking at the same spot in the distance.