In with the New

[501warhead 1796]

Hey folks.

 

It’s been a long journey here on LotC as an Administrator. I knew it was going to be tough from the get-go but I didn’t let that stop me. I started in December of 2016 and I’ve been going ever since, it’s had it’s ups and downs but I don’t regret a minute of the decision I made to put myself forward for nominations.

 

I’d like to think my time has been a productive one, but it’s hard to say. Just about as soon as I got on the team I focused my attention to a passion of mine; Map Development. Previous generations of Administration could probably reaffirm that my goals around this were passionate albeit at times nebulous. Never to be dissuaded however I left the “admining” to Tahmas, Ever, & Telanir and reached out to what I now recognise to be some of the most talented people on LotC that I have ever interacted with.

 

They had passion, motivation, and vision. Between Kilgrim, Hiebe, Shift, and Chaotikal I spent most of those months having fun, talking out ideas, and planning what would eventually become Atlas. I was proud of the work they put in and I knew that they were the cornerstone of that project, I worked as hard as I could to try to make sure Atlas was going to be great. I wanted to make sure that they had the room to explore their creative visions and I worked to always provide more ideas and fuel for their drive. It wasn’t easy but even still it was fun.

 

I fought for what I believed was right, for the server and community. At times I became jaded but worked to balance that and return to a positive mentality. Probably the lowest time during my period as an Admin was the time after the Full Disclosure post by Thomas. I never responded to that thread because I didn’t know how to. It was stressful, and I constantly thought about how to just talk about it to clear the air. Those thoughts lead me to anxiety and stress that I don’t think anything, not job interviews or my professors “do-a-4-month-project-in-1-week-or-you-dont-graduate” assignment, has come close to. It was rough for me because I saw Thomas as a friend who I disagreed with and who we quarreled with, but both had good sights for the server. I wouldn’t have had the wonderful opportunity to work on the server without him. I wish I could say I’m all jovial and have forgotten it but the truth is it’s still a sting to think about that leaves me cautious, anxious, and sometimes downright paranoid when interacting with others.

 

Eventually I pushed through that time however and we began Atlas development in full. I had graduated from school and didn’t have a lot to do during the downtime trying to decide what to do with my life. In that time I grew inactive on LotC; /seen could show me offline for as much as two weeks. That metric, however, was deceptive; instead I was active on our private map building server, spending the days flying over and smoothing terrain to pass my worries away and enjoy the time I had and the work I was doing for LotC. We never reached my goal of a fully detailed work to rival Athera (perhaps a bit ambitious!) but we accomplished so much in that time regardless. All of the builders helped so very much and I’m thankful for everyone who poured their talent into Atlas.

Time passed and I saw a point to fight for in the development process to finish the initiative Shiftnative started with Athera; the World Developers. I had always wanted a team that was dedicated to one of the most important aspects of LotC; map design. I didn’t like waiting for an admin to start a map design process with just a handful of burned out Event Team Builders who often lacked the motivation to pursue, or that there were just far too few of. Event Team Builders really shaped our previous maps and some tried their hardest but often it fell dramatically short of the quality that we, as a community, often would come to expect. The World Developers were that solution, and I wanted to pull active builders onto a low-maintenance team that gave people the opportunity to be truly creative and contribute to LotC amazing works of art only they were capable of.

 

The start of the team was rocky under my guidance. With little idea as to direction and a generally already complete map, most of the upper management organized by myself, it was listing. I was fighting I feel almost day in and day out with other admins as to the point of the team and it is here that I have to just stop for a moment and praise probably one of the most talented individuals I’ve met since returning to the server in 2016; SeventhCircle. Without him the World Development team would likely not even exist and he’s been working so hard between the ET management and the World Dev team to really push the server to a brighter future. I handed off the WD Director position to him and he’s continued to stun me with his creativity and motivation and I sincerely hope, for all of us, he continues to do such amazing work.

 

After Atlas released and the World Dev Team was handed off, I stagnated. I had spent a year(!) working and focusing on a single thing not even related to the Administration. In my free time I would hang out in /ooc (I still do!) and just talk with players - and a lot of times I spoke my mind. I felt it liberating to have a chat like that to go to and even some of the more abrasive players (RIP Space) were comforting to talk to even if they did ultimately call me garbage. It was fun to just know I was a part of a community larger than myself and it motivated me to keep working. After Atlas launched I continued to do so and listen to folks in OOC talk about their likes and dislikes of Atlas, to try to get an idea as to what we did right and wrong. In the background the lack of a map design process to get lost in left me drifting and it was noticed by our very small Administration. As Paleo and Vaynth left and we brought Harold on we kept the team intentionally small because we didn’t want to spent 2-3 months trying to find new admins when we were already falling behind on big stuff.

 

During that time I was told by both Telanir and Harold to step down, and they both did so in their own unique ways. They were concerned about my state and felt increasing pressure from my lack of contributions, but I decided against it - and instead rapidly became incredibly active starting in March as I left my job. I spent time in game and developing, trying to focus on improving a few things that were critical to me. I founded the monk order, took on an attempt to rewrite war rules, tried to hash out issues with some of the major warclaims, all while trying to keep the server physically going.

 

I was active, but it was a little much. Soon the monk order fell into decay where it remains today, the war rules are unfinished, even though the major warclaims I handled are settled now. The Community Manager position was my last big initiative to push some change for LotC and I hope that marimbamonk will continue to show all of us how talented he is in the future, and I have hope for it.

 

As for me, I’m resigning from the Administration. Two weeks ago I was offered a full-time office position on salary as a Java Developer and I’m loving every minute of it, and while I had wanted to continue contributing as an Administrator to LotC it’s come to a point where I’m no longer having fun coming home from work or being home on the weekends. It’s stress that I don’t think I handle well and comes off poorly in how I talk, and so I don’t believe Administrator is the right role for me anymore.

 

But (fortunately? unfortunately?) I’m not leaving. LotC is my first and only minecraft server and I’m brimming with so many ideas (mostly code or world dev ideas) that I’d probably talk your head off if we had a chat; but I want to let the new Administration lead the way, and I’ll pursue my ideas as a Developer, World Developer, and interim (or perhaps permanent?) Wiki Team Director. I’m having an absolute blast working on a code project for LotC and I think there are a lot of things I can really do now that I’m not a part of the Administration.

 

Thanks for everyone who has supported me as I pursued this position, even those who couldn’t after I prioritized it over them and our friendship. I’m hopeful for the future of the server and I’ll do everything I can to pursue a creative and unique future in the roles I serve now.

 

P.S. Sorry to everyone I ignored this week! It wasn’t intentional, I just didn’t want to start handling something I couldn’t finish.

 

Thanks for everything,
501warhead

 

[Eurielle 1189]

N A N I???

[gandalfo 1452]

o7

[Monkee 7369]

We might not have always agreed, but I think your heart was in the right place, and you undeniably worked harder than most on this server. Thank you for your time as an admin.

[winterblessing 1800]

Thank you for all the work you've put in. I hope that your career takes you good places. 
 

[Ixli 1472]

o7

[Consulary Republic of Holm 131]

THE FORUMS AREEEEE BURNNNINGGGG

[GDPR 014 48]

good luck with your job. hope you get a lot of fun and experience out of it. 

[Auriel_ 652]

o7

talked to me when no other did

[JustMeMorgan 2066]

O7
MY BBY

GOOD LUCK TO YOU

 

I SALUTE YOU
 

[Guest]

Good luck with the new job. 

o7 

[Medvekoma 2073]

**** guys. We missed Telanir. RELOAD.

 

Sad to see you go. From the last weeks of your tenure and all the shitstorm it was evident pressure and issues were mounting from two sides.

[Dromui 755]

I've definitely disagreed with a lot of decisions you've made in the past, but you gave it your all, which I respect. I wish you well and hope you find success and enjoyment with both your career and new positions within the server.

 

o7

[Narthok 10416]

Think you got flamed more than you deserved,

[Mavromino 514]

Wait 501 how do I get unbanned now? From what I'd heard I need you to unban me. @501warhead