The Meeptimes #46

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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. This will be published every other Friday.​

Server Updates

EULA Compliance
As of now, the server’s pay to win system has been removed. All donator ranks now provide only cosmetic changes, such as chat color and rank tag. Don’t worry, though! You can now win perks through a random-chance crate system in /warp crate.

Black Friday Sale
Until Monday, November 27th, all ranks are 20% off! Enjoy the extra discount!

Rank Prices
Save even more due to the reduction in some rank costs! All players who previously had the Ultimate rank are now considered “Legend,” which cannot be purchased. Check the shop for the new prices!

Tutorial
The new tutorial is here! The starting place for all new players, /warp tutorial promises to contain the basics of the server.

AFK Messaging
When messaging an afk player, you now receive a message back that they are afk!


The Project: Tutorial Implementation!

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What is the new Tutorial?

Tutorial is an important tool for new players on the server as it gives them a insight of how to actually play. It is the first world a player logging onto the server sees, and thus needs to generate a positive first impression to assist in retaining new players.


Who’s been working on this?

• @Oldchopper, @xAlexBearx, @0zblox, and @Kling have created the new map.
  
  
• @LordInateur has been assisting with everything they needed and implemented each piece.
  
  
• @CluelessKlutz has been lead on this project, created the outline, assisted with the map and implementation.

Let’s Talk!

What was your specific role in creating the new tutorial?

My piece of the puzzle, so to speak, was the overall creation of what kind of tutorial we wanted to add. After a bit of brainstorming, the outline was finished and approved, then I assisted the architects in building, and Lord in implementing it. - @CluelessKlutz

I built some parts of the tutorial and clueless and I both discussed how we can bring the project to life. - @xAlexBearx

In tutorial my specific role was to finish some of the map up as well as making a few important additions. - @0zblox

I assisted in moving the tutorial build into the spawn world, implemented the portals, and re-enabled the tutorial so that new individuals spawn in the tutorial instead of at /warp spawn. - @LordInateur


Why did we need this new and improved tutorial and what are the benefits?

I think it's good to keep our tutorial worlds current so that we aren't teaching new players things that aren't up to date. Furthermore, when I rejoined the server in the summer, the tutorial world was broken and so that had to be fixed anyways. - @LordInateur

We needed this new tutorial because when a player first joins meepcraft we need to make a strong first impression in attempt encourage them to stay. I think it is safe to say that Meepcraft is unfortunately struggling to keep players and hopefully this new addition will help us continue to gather new players. - @0zblox

A new tutorial was desperately in need because it was lacking engagement and a clear layout. With the new tutorial the hopes are to make it straightfoward but yet informative, so that the player knows exactly what they need to know without that information to be too overbearing. Not only that, but there’ll be multiple choice questions at the ends of each sections to ensure that the player can comprehend and truly understand the information. All in all, the benefits of it will be a clearer, more informative, and a more engaging style. - @xAlexBearx

If any of you remember me from last year, you would remember I was always in tutorial. The previous version was horribly broken and outdated. When teaching new players by hand, we’d just run through the tutorial because its content had no relevance. It was confusing for people joining to have gamemodes advertised that we simply don’t have. This new tutorial has streamlined the whole process, and broken things down into easy-to-understand segments, while still telling the player what they can do. - @CluelessKlutz


How do you think the new Tutorial will affect the server and assist new players?

The most important thing about having new players on a server is that they need to clearly understand everything they need to know so that nothing confuses them. Whenever you’ve gone on a server confused, and clueless, did you stay long? I’m guessing not. The tutorial in a way is almost like a funnel that we haven’t had. If the new players are, say, water coming from a tap into a soda glass, most of the water won’t make it in - because of the thin bottle neck. But if you place the funnel on top of the glass and then let the water run, all the water will get in the glass. The tutorial will hopefully make sure that more players stay on the server and make it into the community, and make sure that less players don’t get into the glass simply because of an understandment barrier. - @xAlexBearx

The hope is that players who are joining will be able to grasp the gameplay of the server enough to get to one of the actual worlds. So many players who join don’t even move before logging off. However, the tutorial is a stepping stone, not the catch all fail safe to bring new players who will stay. That role needs to be fulfilled by the community. With that in mind, the new tutorial should greatly assist new players who can then go to a place where an actual player can teach them. - @CluelessKlutz

I think it will encourage individuals to learn about the server instead of being lost when they try to join a town. - @LordInateur


When working on this, did you enjoy it? What was one thing that went wrong?

I found it fun because it was challenging. There were times however, where planning the task was hard. - @xAlexBearx

I wasn't too involved in the tutorial except for the implementation of it at the end of the project, and so (other than some minor quirks we found in the portal plugin) I wouldn't really say that anything that I was directly involved with went wrong. - @LordInateur

I absolutely loved working on this project, making it quite difficult to narrow it down to one thing I enjoyed! One thing that does stand out to me was working directly with the architects and other team members to get the map put together and implemented. During said implementation process, we ran into the issue of the use of redstone lamps. They were a bit buggy in spawn, so I spent several hours going to each light to make sure it was powered in a way that did not detract from the build. - @CluelessKlutz

When working on the new tutorial I felt privileged to be creating a map that players will first see upon joining the server. It was enjoyable for me to help on the project - @0zblox


How do you think the community will like this new development?

If we see an increase in player activity I think the community will enjoy having more players to interact with. Hopefully it works. - @0zblox

I'm not sure that the current community will care too much about the tutorial, but the new community (those that are just now joining MeepCraft) will find it immensely helpful. - @LordInateur

While I don’t believe current players will find this too interesting, I do hope they will enjoy an increase in both the player count, and the ability to recruit more people to their towns. - @CluelessKlutz

I think it’ll be helpful for the new players of meep. - @xAlexBearx


Anything else you would like to add?

/o> - @xAlexBearx

(nupe) - @LordInateur

There’s a few hidden easter eggs around the tutorial. No hints, but good luck finding them! - @CluessKlutz


Storytime with the Crew - Part 2!

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Anyone here?

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: yeah what’s going on fuzz??

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: We’ve had a bit of a problem.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: You know about the new Parkour plugin?

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: Yeah, it’s really cool, Ellie, Midnight and Lord did it..

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: There were some files in there that weren’t authorized.

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: Like… affected the server?

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Yeah. I don’t know exactly what it does, but it’s got something to do with the ruined towns.

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: A plugin?

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: No, don’t be silly.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Hmm… actually…

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: …that could be a possibility.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Two secs.


Not two seconds later.


(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: It’s a plugin. Titled “natdis.jar”.

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: “natdis”? Like… as in… natural disasters?

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Oh..

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Oh no.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: We need to fix this.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: And we need to fix this now.

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: What do we need to do?

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: We need to find the three parts of the Java file. It split it and hid inside the Towns world to disguise itself, to make itself not found.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Can you scout the world and see if you can find anything suspicious? We’re looking for a glowing, purple dome of blocks. The part would be in there.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: But if you find it, DO NOT GO IN.

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: caps bna

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: Now is not the time for this! Go!

(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: Right. Okay. On it.


Spongey was a bit confused. A Java file? In the Towns world? Like, physically in the Towns world? But, it wasn’t the time to question the logic. She had to find the three pieces or… or… what would happen?


(G/Towns) [Ultimate] SpongeyStar: What happens if we don’t find the three pieces?

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: The Towns world will be reset. All Towny data will be lost.

(G/Towns) [Owner] Fuzzlr: We have an hour tops. Get going.


The Towns world… reset? Everyone’s hard work and dedication to the world would be deleted… just like that? Spongey smiled. This wasn’t going to be hard at all.

Around the world Spongey went. Her supplydrop skills came in handy, checking the coordinates every few seconds, looking around for a purple stack of blocks, like Fuzz had said. Forest biomes, taiga biomes, even deep ocean biomes – Spongey checked them all. But finally, after ten long, tense minutes – she found one. Deep down, inside a ravine. She flew down and looked around. It was pulsating, moving, as if it was alive. Every few seconds, it grew, then shrank.

Following her orders, she waited patiently outside and notified Fuzzlr of her discovery. Soon after, he arrived, told Spongey to remain outside and entered the dome. “I’ll be two minutes, tops, Don’t do anything,” he assured.

Remaining calm, Spongey looked around the ravine. It seemed that it hadn’t been looted yet, with redstone, iron and a few splashes of gold ore glowing in the darkness. Checking her town balance, she tried a /t claim outpost on the ravine, aiming to collect the ores, to sell for later dates.

The command registered, and Spongey glided down to collect the ores. However, a few seconds later, the ravine shuddered, and groaned. Sand blocks fell, dirt blocks were misplaced. The ravine shook, like a bartender making a cocktail. Blocks were moved. Spongey was in danger of being crushed by falling stone.

Spongey smiled. She was well prepared for this.

A few weeks earlier, she recalled the event that the staff team had hosted late in the night. Musical Chairs, Sumo, Snowball Fight. And Anvil Drop. Her skills let her easily dodge the falling blocks, no matter how heavily or quickly they came.

Fuzzlr emerged from the dome. “What did you do?” he demanded, quickly taking in his surroundings.

“Nothing! Nothing! Only a /t claim command…”

“Spongey! I told you not to do anything! This is bad. Very bad.”

The top of the ravine had been completely blocked off, so they had to make do with a different route through the caves. The duo made a path through the stone, removing blocked paths and jumping through two-block holes. Sunlight evaded them, teasing them with a small breakthrough, which was hastily replaced by the earthquake.

The shaking intensified. The earth seemed to mold around them. “Hurry up! We need to get out of here!” exclaimed Fuzzlr. And with a final burst through a pillar of sand, they flew up and out of the cave, which, only seconds later, collapsed fully.

“That was a close one,” remarked Spongey, gasping for breath.

“Yes, yes. What I’m more concerned about is this plugin. Why isn’t the quake stopping?” queried Fuzzlr.

A quake. Of course. The Natural Disasters plugin.

“Of course! Did you unclaim the town outpost?”

“The outpo- no! I didn’t unclaim it!” realized Spongey.

They made their way across the land, flying high above the new cracks that had appeared in the ground. Using /towny map, she located the plot, and typing as fast as she could, unclaimed it.

The rumbling stopped immediately. It had worked. Spongey sighed with relief, then realized the main motive that they had come here for.

“Did you disable the plugin part?” asked Spongey.

“Yes, I managed to do that just as the rumbling started. One down, two to go.” Fuzzlr cracked a small smile, but it was quickly hidden away. “We have work to do.”

Spongey grinned. “On it.”


Humans Of MeepCraft - Feat. @creepersareokay & @Acceleradiance


What lead you to Meepcraft?

Crepersrok1364: As of Christmas eve this year, 5 years will have passed since I joined, so I really have no idea. I'm pretty sure I found all of the servers I joined on those "Minecraft server list" websites though (same ones we vote on).

Acceleradiance: When I got my own account, the first thing I did was play on multiplayer servers. I simply looked up “minecraft servers” and just joined the first one I saw, which happened to be MeepCraft. Although I didn’t understand anything that went on for the first 1-2 years, I became more engaged with the economy aspect as time passed.


What do you enjoy the most about the server?

Crepesfork146745: Of course I'm gonna say parkour in its current state, but back in the "old days", I was mostly engaged with CTF (mods pls bring bac colonies) and towns.

Acceleradiance: I generally enjoyed the different minigames (particularly parkour, boomo, and CTF) because they were fun ways to make money. Subsequently, I enjoyed towny for the pure sake of amassing a large sum of money.


If you were given a million Meebles right now, what would you spend them on?

Crepepeprok14ok74eepokepe1474psaokreok: A rank for dragonery123!!!

Acceleradiance: A rank for Nick_Foles!!!


Which parkour course do you like best, and why?

Crok17: CITY!!! Even though I have to admit my nostalgia for it, since it’s the original of course, I do think it strikes a great balance across both its difficulty and length and actually manages to pull off the feeling of progression. It’s also diverse in a way only rivaled by Chillroom (second favorite map) in terms of parkour, for example including sections of cactus, panes, bars, and pretty much anything you could imagine in Minecraft in 2012. @Fuzzlr next collab with Pimpkachu when??

Acceleradiance: City, as it incorporates a large range of jumps in terms of variety and difficulty. I consider it to be a long-standing classic that many people enjoyed, and a map that can help an individual improve their skills.


If you could be an admin for a day, what would you do?

Creem: You didn’t ask for one thing in specific, so here’s a laundry list: Bring back Planet Parkour, free Matt and Kdo, /eco give obviously, promote @OKNEM, and add /g lock.

Acceleradiance: Demote myself, nothing good will come out of it. But first, bring back planet parkour.


Which Star Wars movie is the best?

creepersareokay: I haven’t seen the prequels, but out of the ones I have seen, I’d go with the obvious choice of ESB.

Acceleradiance: What’s Star Wars? The Emperor Strikes Back because that’s what the Internet says.

CluelessKlutz: Accel, please stop ruining my life.


Anything else you’d like to add?

Creepers rock: Vote for stronghold on the “Limited Time Holiday Parkour!” thread and /ci gives you free diamonds.

Acceleradiance: Vote for stronghold on the “Limited Time Holiday Parkour!” thread and /ci gives you free diamonds.


Welcomes and Farewells

We bid farewell to one of our beloved developers, @Vamp1re_Man. Best of luck!

Life is a story of many chapters. For the favorite EggieMod, one of those chapters has come to its close. With that, we bid good luck to @EllieEllie in writing the rest of her story!


Social Media!

Be sure to follow us on our social media platforms to get sneak peaks and be kept up to date on all things meep!

Instagram! - @officialmeepcraftmc

Facebook! - @meepcraftmc​

Get involved with the MeepTimes

With every release of the MeepTimes, we pick a cover photo submitted by the community! The owner of each piece of content selected will receive a 10,000 meeble reward. To submit a cover photo for the next release of the MeepTimes, send a private message to @CluelessKlutz. Happy Meeping!


The next issue of The MeepTimes will be released December 8, 2017! See you then!


This issue was created by @CluelessKlutz, @OKNEM, @Midnight_Galaxy

 

Tutorial rocks.

Wink wink

 

top 10 photos taken moments before disaster

 

wait so we dont have multiple homes, /nv, /ec, /craft, or /suicide!

 

lane, meep is still pay-to-win. Now it's just EULA compliant so it's pay-to-win but if you don't pay, you can be lucky and still win. You keep all your perks, rankless users can also get them with astronomical luck

 

oh well thats good

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 26, 2017, Original Post Date: Nov 26, 2017 ---

oh and finally a tutorial! I can now delete the tutorial.txt from my desktop!

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 26, 2017 ---

you make it sound like she died. lol

it makes me want to ask, @EllieEllie, did u kick the bucket?

but tbh vamp probably tried to /kick the bukkit! (dev joke everyone)