@MegaStufOreo and @Meznik innocently enjoying their cozy home, unaware of the incoming bloodshed

Welcome to The MeepTimes, the twice-monthly update to keep the community in the loop with what’s new, behind the scenes, and in the works.

Server Updates
Ice Dungeon
Make your cold, dead heart feel at home in the Ice Dungeon! Venture inside to see how the story continues.

Extreme Dungeon Quest Bosses
New and already existing bosses will have repeatable rare drops added to their loot tables. Read more.

Extreme PvP
PvP is now enabled in Extreme on all plots.

Grace Period
A 60-second death grace period has been added to help limit spawn camping. New players will have a grace period of 10 minutes to get away from spawn and start the first quest. However, the grace is lifted if you open a container or hit another player.

Combat Log Safety Zones
Once combat logged, a player may not enter a safety zone (i.e. dungeon portals) until the combat log wears off.

Mob Spawns in Extreme
Mobs now spawn and roam the world freely.

Extreme Broadcasts
Extreme is now advertised in Meep broadcasts.

New Forums Sections
Extreme and Parkour now have their own sections on the website.

Recently Accepted Suggestions
Parkour Reward Changes
Instead of large weekly rewards for completing parkour courses, there will be daily rewards to encourage people to play on a regular basis. Read more.

Dungeon Events
To bring more use to dungeons other than a one-time run through, we will be hosting dungeon events where players can show off their PvP skills. Read more.

Community/Server Events
Bi-weekly Updates
Stay in-the-loop on discord to be on top of the Friday updates that bring new dungeons, fresh mechanics, and bring back old games.

Cocoa Bean Race
Since the launch of Extreme, players have searched far and wide for the highly sought after cocoa beans, but no one could find a single seed. @CluelessKlutz placed some cocoa beans in a random location and guarded them while players raced to get their hands on the precious seeds. @Viperfan and @laufeyenjoyer got there first, but Clue and his turrets fended them off. Meanwhile, @Katronica2 popped an invis pot, and took the beans while skirmishes were igniting all around him.

Warlords
Players of Meepcraft gathered on Wednesday and Thursday nights to watch MeepCraft’s best PvPers fight for a spot on the Council of the Warlords. Those with bracket predictions nervously watched @Katronica2 v @Viperfan , the closest match so far. Currently, the seven players in the quarter-finals are all from Void Gang. They are set to fight next week. Join the Warlords discord for competition updates and view the bracket here.

Town Hall
Players from Extreme gathered at a Town Hall on May 22nd to discuss the future of the world. Players agreed on re-enabling PvP world-wide. A /treaty system was a popular suggestion to allow players to have more safety in trading, and is now a high priority in the developer’s queue. Towny War is still on the horizon though, since nations have yet to be established. Dungeons will be a place to gather resources that are typically non-renewable in Vanilla MineCraft. The ComDev team now has a public discord to allow more people to learn about game and MineCraft development.

MeepTimes Contests
In this section, the community will get a chance to participate in a quick contest in each MeepTimes! There will be a 25,000 meeble or 4,000 skull prize (from the MeepTimes writers) given to the person with the best answer, chosen by the MeepTimes team. To be entered, just reply to the thread with an answer! The winner will be paid with the release of the next MeepTimes.

The contest for this issue is: Submit a photo of the urban environment that you took and you’re proud of. We’ll showcase all submissions in an album and feature the winning picture in the upcoming issue.

The winner of last edition’s Meeptimes contest is @Meznik , who is continuing his family tradition of the Meznik username.

The Project: Dungeons Season 1

The beginning of an adventure into the unknown

As the highlight of Extreme, Dungeons have been the biggest project series Meep has seen in many years. The brilliant contributors to this masterful feat: @CluelessKlutz , @MasterofBoom , @Midnight_Galaxy , @Adrian , @andrewrobins , @Achrow , @steviefiveo56 , @qazini , @teddypines , @Synergizer , @Candy_Master , and @Liam .

In the midst of releasing Season 1’s dungeons, we talked to some of the staff about the creation and development of these dungeons.

What is the most exciting aspect of dungeons? What is the most difficult aspect of creating a dungeon?
I think my answer for both questions would be the scale of them. Dungeons have at least been 600x600 blocks long. It can be really hard to fill all of that space well in a way that makes for fun gameplay. If you aren't too experienced it can be quite overwhelming. Jungle - the first dungeon that I worked on - didn't turn out well because I made the river too long and didn't put anything in it. Meanwhile, for Ocean it seemed like you were doing more than walking from point A to B. But the scale of it is definitely the most exciting part of it. The feeling when you get a map of that scale done and it's turned out well is amazing. - @Adrian

The most exciting part is that moment when you first imagine the dungeon and start making an outline. The most difficult is ironing out the last details after you've lost a lot of inspiration. - @teddypines

The most exciting aspect of a dungeon is the endless opportunities and builds which may first seem overwhelming but I find it very fun as I have so many different ideas. The most difficult aspect of a dungeon is getting started and completing it. It can be intimidating as there is so much to do, it’s sometimes a struggle to know where to begin. Adding the finals touches to the dungeons like interiors, accessories such as trees and little details can be tedious but it’s worth it to get a pleasing finished result. - @Achrow

Honestly the most exciting part for me would be coming up with the basic concepts and how creative we can be. Let me just say, there are some awesome ideas in the works! - @Midnight_Galaxy

What has been your favorite dungeon to work on so far?
I think my favorite to work on so far would be Pyramid because it was very well put together. - @CluelessKlutz

My favourite dungeon to work on was the Ice dungeon. I got to create a map and I had complete creative control in what I could do which was very fun, although the Pyramid dungeon was very unique in what blocks I used and I got to create a giant maze to torture the citizens of meep >:) The Ice dungeon was completely opposite and was mostly colder colours instead of oranges and yellows which was very refreshing. I am also a great fan of snow and ice sculptures and I could incorporate my love for snowy Norwegian forests when making the Ice dungeon! - @Achrow

I honestly wouldn't be able to name one, working on them all has been amazing. I helped come up with the origin layout and design of the dungeons and quests so it has been amazing to see them progress over time. - @Midnight_Galaxy

I don’t think there’s a specific dungeon that stands out. It’s a collection of moments: helping Adrian wrap vines over the hills surrounding the Tree of Life - it was awfully boring work, but it was just after my return to staff, and that was when I started to both understand the enormity of the project and begin to hope that I would be able to assist as well; the satisfaction watching the Media team struggle through the terrors of the barnacles and the ruthless power of Levidro after I had to go through the same trials; hanging out with Achrow and tod, watching them wrestle with roofs and struggle with mines (and, hopefully, being a helpful hand and brain). - @qazini

Which dungeon are you most proud of?
Definitely the Ocean dungeon, I think build wise that was one of my better builds and I had a lot of fun building it. I initially wasn't really sure what I should do with it. It originally was planned to be a pirate town on the coast, but I was struggling to come up with an idea big enough to be a dungeon. I got the idea to make an underwater dungeon, and didn't really go into it with a plan (all other dungeons had their own outline) and I was really happy with how it turned out in the end. I had a lot of fun playing through it as well. - @Adrian

Ocean is probably the greatest technical achievement so far in terms of dungeons because of how much is going on in the backend for it. - @CluelessKlutz

I am most proud of the current dungeon I just completed, the Ice dungeon. I am proud of this dungeon because of the short amount of time I did it in and the constant motivation I had to complete it. My building technique has certainly improved and I am also incredibly proud of the detail I put into the palace to give it a frosty and whimsical look considering I don't work with quartz and ice often! This was also my first time planning and designing a map which makes this one of my biggest builds yet! This map also wouldn't have turned out so great without the help of qazini who helped me make a lot of decisions because I'm too indecisive! - @Achrow

How much time goes into making a dungeon?
Between the architects, developers, extreme team, and administrators, each dungeon is around 30 to 40 hours of work. - @CluelessKlutz

Many many hours go into map making and building to create a dungeon, it really depends on how well you manage your time and the amount of effort you are willing to put in. The first dungeon I did took me weeks and the latest dungeon I did quite quickly: it took me 2 weeks to build a map and come up with ideas, plan it and then project those plans into a build. In other words don't build a dungeon unless you're willing to give up your sanity and time hehe. - @Achrow

Hard to say, but a lot more than you'd think. Some parts take little to no time, others are very difficult. - @teddypines

It really varies from dungeon to dungeon. Pyramid took a couple of weeks until it was completed, however Ocean took only 8 hours to get done. Most dungeons take around a week to build with 2-3 builders working on them. - @Adrian

What goes into writing a quest?
I never thought I’d be involved in quest writing, it had felt a bit too formulaic for me. However, I would teleport to Achrow while he was building Ice. As we discussed how the build was going, I felt more and more involved in the story that would take place. We worked out that if we wanted it underground, the fight would have to take place in dungeons. Naturally, that meant a prisoner boss. We had already decided on a duo by then, and now it made even more sense - one would be a captive, and one would be a rescuer. At that point, I was so engaged in the castle, I needed to write the script. While writing, I was very conscious of trying to keep the word count low, and so I had to ruthlessly chop the finer details of the world away. I quickly came to hope that I would create more about this world soon enough. - @qazini

How have dungeons changed through inception to release?
Oh man, dungeons have changed a lot. Initially they were just gonna be mini forts with respawning bosses. Back in November, I got bored one day and made the terrain for the dungeon that is coming after Ice. Clue and Mid saw it and we had the idea to turn it into a dungeon. While building the dungeon we had the idea to tie dungeons into one major quest. In those 7 days dungeons went from these mini-forts scattered around the world to a full set of massive maps. - @Adrian

The dungeons I've worked on haven't really changed that much before and after planning and building since I plan quite specifically to what I want done with a drawing app. For the Ice dungeon I had to change the proportions of the buildings because I reached the height limit quite often (woops). Overall the dungeons look fairly similar to what I have in mind at the beginning; only a few changes occur as different members of the team come up with new and exciting ideas to add to the map. - @Achrow

The arch team has been amazing, they took my initial ideas and concepts and made them flourish. I provided a basic layout and then they only expanded on that and made it amazing. - @Midnight_Galaxy

Anything else you’d like to add?
I would just like to thank everyone who has worked on dungeons and the community for their patience in regards to waiting for dungeons and the feedback which has been provided to us which has enabled us to make improvements. - @Midnight_Galaxy

Humans of MeepCraft ft. @Istas_Sani

Istas showing off her lighthouse in Extreme

When did you first join Meep, and what’s kept you around for so long?
I knew you’d ask that, and truthfully, idk. I was going to look up when my son bought the game for me. He said “I think you’d like this game.” He sat me by a fish pond and told me to watch for bubbles. I played single player for a few years. Then he told me to check out the server. I was terrified. I didn’t chat or anything. We had a fight with Old_Pink - our town was Bethel, and he made a town called Hell. Pink built a monstrosity in redstone blocks, lava, and hellish stuff right up to our border. We put up a cactus hedge so we didn’t have to look at it. He just harangued us all the time. Then Megusta built a chapel in our town in support of us. I started talking to people, asking questions, and traded a lot at Diana’s shop. Built my own town in Beta, then Gamma, then Classic.

What made you terrified?
I wasn’t a gamer. I had only played Sonic the Hedgehog and a “gem” game. I didn’t interact with players; I was afraid to go to the wild, couldn’t kill mobs, and was afraid of getting ripped off by others.

Has that changed since?
Sure - you live and you grow. When my son was grown and out of the house, we could play together; like, way better than Facebook.

What’s stood out in your towns over the years?
I really liked the one in gamma, and Hiraeth in Classic is also great. I expanded it over the years to include the village next door, the shop Colors, an underground railroad, and the Dark Tower skele grinder. I built a hot air balloon shortly after the glazed terra came out - before I even had a rank, so I built it with no fly!

What’s the Dark Tower skelly grinder?
It’s a tower on my property that has a great skele grinder. Not open to the public, but town members can use it!

Why did you choose to create /pwarp colors?
I found that I liked to make banners, so I thought I could sell them. Then, I thought I’d sell all the colored blocks. Thus the motto “Nothing you need, everything you want”.

You’re a fair bit older than most of the players on here. How does that impact how you interact with the server and talk with other players?
All older people still think they’re 20 in their brains. It’s my nature to be more of an observer than a leader, and I have a quick dry wit. Most of the time I don’t think of age when in-game. It’s a fantasy world for me, and sometimes I get a kick of how real it is for some of the players. I play to relax, and found Extreme to be anything but relaxing. I almost quit after the first weekend. Too stressful. Now, I just ignore most of the drama. Build, harvest, mine. You should see these cool lighthouses I build at Encom.

Tell me about yourself.
I have a degree in Art History; I studied with Rena Coen, the mom of the Coen brothers. I was in Europe in 1977 and came back with a punk-rock haircut before it was cool.

What was Rena Coen like?
Very intelligent. She wrote quite a few books and had a great sense of humor.

Where did you go in Europe?
Rome, Florence, Paris, London, Bruges. Florence was great, but London was easier because of the language.

What did you study?
Art, music, theatre, men. It was good for me, taught me self-reliance, taught me that the world over, people are people.

Any stories you’d like to share?
I saw Audrey Hepburn buying gelato on Ponte Vecchio in Florence at 10pm one night.

What kind of art did you study?
All ages, from cave paintings to modern. Lifelong learner. Still follow every link and documentary about archeology and art.

Could you list some favorites?
Oh gosh. Rothko paintings. Van Gogh of course. Hanna Hoch. Chihuly glass.

What did it mean to you, to be an art historian?
It is good to study what you like, even though you may never get a job in the field. I do medical billing, my daughter is a sonographer, my son is neo_ocelot, he just got married last October. I do keep our family’s history, and there are a few friends I like to discuss life, history, and art with. It gives you a keen sense of observation, and an appreciation of all things. Nature, the shape of clouds, the way shadows fall. Patterns in cat fur, symmetry in leaves and branches.

What it takes to be a creator is indescribable. What it takes to be a successful artist is shameless self-promotion. Do you know any artists? They are all egomaniacs.

I worked in a printing company the first 10 years of my career life; I designed logos and brochures for people. I painted historical photos on stage sets for a community theatre. I made a rock - a giant boulder - for an Easter choir concert at church. It was cool, drove it there strapped to the top of the minivan. My daughter and I are both ceramic artists, in wheel-thrown pottery.

You said you had a punk-rock haircut in 1977, before it was cool. Has your style in hair and music changed since then?
I got it in London from Horst studios, it had two layers of fringe, or bangs, in the front. One down to the eyebrows, one mid-forehead. The rest was a short Dorthy-Hamill style bob (you might have to google her too). I never followed punk music too much, but the 70s were awesome. Van Morrison, Cat Stevens, Shawn Phillips, Doobie Brothers. I’m just an aging hippie. Now I’ll listen to White Stripes, David Gray, Black Keys, Jack Johnson, lots of stuff my kids share.

Welcomes and Farewells
We part ways with @Doctor_HarD , and we wish him the best with future endeavors!

Social Media!
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Get involved with the MeepTimes
We welcome you to participate in the Meeptimes! Submit a cover photo or community event for a chance to get 10,000 meebles or 1,000 skulls, or a story for the chance to win 25,000 meebles or 4,000 skulls, if the content is used. To submit entries for the next release of the MeepTimes, send a private message in-game, over forums, or on discord to @qazini .

Happy Meeping!

The next issue of The MeepTimes will be released June 5th, 2020. See you then!

This issue was created by:
@qazini @BooBear1227 @Adrian @LordMellow