December Newsletter

[Danny 2232]

The Lord of the Craft Newsletter - December Edition

Howdy folks! Welcome to the Lord of the Craft December Newsletter. There’s been a huge amount of things happening over the past few month, so we’ll be discussing that today, as well as a few topics about the future of LOTC, the festive season and our Most Noted Player.

T H E--F E S T I V E--S E A S O N

This December, we’re aiming to make it exciting and jolly for the players. We have some fantastic ideas on how we can make this Christmas great for you guys - including large amounts of competitions and exciting events.

NekoDanie has also introduced the December Calendar which lists all of our in-game events this December, check it out here!

S E R V E R--L A W S--U P D A T E D !

The server rules have changed a large amount! We recommend that everyone reads them to ensure that they are fully aware of the new changes! Do so here.!

L O T C--3.0

Onto 3.0 -it’s been five months in the making (quite a while), and still ain’t done. There’s still a large amount of work to be done (map-wise, mechanic-wise and misc-wise) so don’t expect it for another little while! We were originally hoping it would be released in mid-December, however that isn’t something that’s going to happen. We also aren’t releasing a release date for the map, as we want everything to be totally perfect and not rushed.

We’ll be releasing some videos on 3.0 soon. Myself and Tythus will be working on a video to be released in the near future, and we'll keep you updated on that!

N E W--D O N A T I O N--S Y S T E M

The Donation System has received a much needed upgrade recently. Our new Donation Center is located on ‘ http://donate.lordofthecraft.net’ ! We’ve also changed the Donation Perks, and there will be even larger changes made to them once we hit 3.0. So, the new donation perks are explained in the spoiler below.

Here ye’ are:

Coal - $10 - Access to server at any time (even if full), no advertisements on the forums, an inbox size increased to 500 messages, distinction as a donator

Iron - $25 - Ability to create gates and bridges, the ability to make an NPC companion, one extra soulstone location, ability to lock chests.

Gold - $50 - Ability to add other players to locked chests, the ability to have your own private TeamSpeak channel, an inbox increased to 1000 messages, the ability to create another NPC companion.

Diamond - $100 - Another two NPCs (4 total), the ability to hide and show any forum posts you’ve made, a third soulstone location, ability to password lock chests, the ability to create elevators.

Bedrock - $200 - Another two NPCs (6 total), a fourth soulstone location (4 total), your name on the website in the Hall of Donators, and inbox increased to 2000 messages, the ability to create areas which play music from the server’s midi library.

Ender - $300 - Another four NPCs (10 total), another two soulstone locations (6 total), your name on the website in the Hall of Heroes.

Aether - $500 - Another five NPCs, the ability to have a customized tag, your name on the website in the Hall of Gods, an unlimited size inbox.

UPDATE: Higher VIP ranks can now add more people to PMs! ~16/12/12

F O R U M--C H A N G E S

There’s been a large amount of changes to our forums over the past few days as well! The majority are mentioned in the ‘Forum Overhaul’ forum thread - however, there’s been some since then! Notably: The Feedback and Bugs forum has been created, The Festive Feast area, and the big flashy Vote button. There’s some even larger changes on the near horizon, so keep an eye open!

M O S T--N O T E D--P L A Y E R

"Sultan_Mogroka": 1- How did you hear of LOTC, and when did you join?

"Ned Lud": I joined back in August, 2011. I was playing on a Survival SMP Factions server at the time and someone there was making fun of hardcore role-playing servers in general, so I Googled and found Lord of the Craft. As a role-player and fan of Lord of the Rings, it looked interesting, so I joined.

"Sultan_Mogroka": Do you remember in the haze of it all your very first impressions of the server?

"Ned Lud": I started as an orc, so I remember fumbling around at the Cloud Temple at first. Followed the signs to Krugmar and ended up digging into a cave for shelter. It was pretty cool, although at the time the orcs were really low in numbers. Mogroka was my first contact, I remember him running by and there were some members of Gorkil building a tower. That's pretty much how I got started, got pulled into the Gorkil Clan and it was all over from there.

"Sultan_Mogroka": 3- What made you roll and Orc?

"Sultan_Mogroka": an*

"Ned Lud": I just love orcs and ugly meathead characters in general. In all of my past role-playing experiences, I've always leaned towards the oddball, less popular races.

"Sultan_Mogroka": Overall how would you describe your experience with Aegis

"Sultan_Mogroka": -4

"Ned Lud": It was a blast. It was obvious that there were a lot of kinks to work out back then, but it was like nothing I had seen before in an online role-playing game. Most online role-playing games are limited to text or just become RPG grindhouses with no actual standards or enforcement of role-play. Lord of the Craft was something different. It has a good foundation and it has evolved so much from when I first started.

"Sultan_Mogroka": and how about now, do you think the server is still as good as it originally was?

"Ned Lud": It will always be a work in progress, but I feel that it's better now, as we continue to learn what works and what doesn't work for the running of the server and the community. We've got players and staff that have been here from day one and there's just a constant effort to improve the state of things as we learn from our mistakes and come up with new ideas for the future of the server. There are going to be ups and downs with any server, but I feel like we've got a lot of committed players and staff that are pushing on ahead for the long haul to continually improve the role-playing experience. In the original server, we were just getting our bearing and it was all new to us. Now, we've got experience and a clearer vision of what needs to be done. So it can only get better so long as we pool this knowledge and work together.

"Sultan_Mogroka": Some players believe that they must be given roleplay, instead of creating there own how do feel regarding that issue?

"Ned Lud": As role-players, we are all essentially story-tellers. Think of it as a bunch of people sitting around a campfire, each one of them taking turns telling parts of a story. The story takes on a life of it's own, evolving based on what is told. If you're not taking your turn to tell your part of the story, you're not truly immersing yourself in the role-play. Players are given a turn at telling their story and what they do with that opportunity is up to them. If you're not immersing yourself in the role-play and using your imagination to contribute to the experience, you're missing out on what role-playing is all about.

"Sultan_Mogroka": Do you believe that ''Tythus'' Sucked as Rex?

"Ned Lud": Who's Tythus? Never heard of him.

"Sultan_Mogroka": That says it all.

"Ned Lud": :P

"Sultan_Mogroka": You're quite the known name on the server, but I'd like to ask about the life and detail sof your character's, Ned/Bungo

"Ned Lud": Ned Lud'Gorkil's a grizzled old orcish warrior shaman that been around since the days of Aegis. Son of Angbad'Gorkil, cousin to Mogroka'Gorkil, he's a boarrider and a nomadic warrior at heart. He's fought in many wars and battles against the Undead and lesser races; slew a dozen ghasts with a longbow, lost his hand to a Shurr'Dru, tamed a Hill Giant. He has trained in the ways of the Farseer under Goj Mogroka and also dabbles in the Arts of the Witchdoctor. He's nearing his 200th year so these days he likes to wander around on various shamanic pilgrimages and meditate over a nice bowl of pork-chops. Bango Blackfoot is a backwater Halfling that I've recently become acquainted with. Playing combat-oriented characters is a lot of work, so after a year of that I figured it's time to relax a bit.

"Ned Lud": Don't go AFK on me now.

"Sultan_Mogroka": Its nice that you put back story but also add the stories that happen to you ingame and that adds to the character I believe.

"Sultan_Mogroka": In all the time you've been on the server -- out of all of your roleplay stories, what do you think is the most interesting RP experience you have had?

"Ned Lud": That would have to be the spirit journeys or the random hunts that orcs would go on as a group. The wars and battles are fun, but I've always felt that the interesting role-play comes during our downtime when there's nothing to kill and we just sort've throw together something to do at random. One or two of us might be loosely guiding the role-play, but overall it would just be players coming up with things on the fly. That's when it gets interesting.

“Sultan_Mogroka": Last Question.

"Sultan_Mogroka": Is it true that Ned and Mogroka had a homosexual thing between the two of them or is that just a myth ;) ?

"Ned Lud": Hey, what happens in the spirit walks stays in the spirit walks. ;)

"Sultan_Mogroka": Hahah one more thing, that I almost forgot.

"Sultan_Mogroka": As a builder in 3.0 map, how do you see the world and do you feel it pass the test of Asulon and Aegis?

"Sultan_Mogroka": would* pass

"Ned Lud": I think it's off to a great start. It combines the best of both Aegis and Asulon, focusing on the elements that worked in both worlds and straying away from the elements that were less successful. Like I've said before, it'll always be a work in progress, but you can definitely see where the realm in 3.0 has been tailored to meet the needs of the server and community, incorporating the knowledge and wisdom of our older players while leaving room for the suggestions and ideas of our newer players.

"Sultan_Mogroka": That is very nice to hear :), well thank you for your time and have a good one mate.

"Ned Lud": Thanks, you too. Get some sleep.

R E C E N T--C H A N G E S

There’s been a huge amount of changes to LOTC recently, from changes in staffing to changes in the server itself.

Staffing - most of us will be aware of the large changes in server staffing that have occurred over the past week or two, however for anyone who is unaware - here’s a brief overview of what happened.

Serenityonyx, one of our Administrative Staff departed and not long after Shiftnative - our Lead Developer - left also. This left the staff team in ‘a bit of a pickle’, however we managed to pull through and changes to the Administration Team were made. Urasept, and myself were both promoted to the rank of Administrator in order to get things back together, and NekoDanie - one of our old Administrators - returned to the server. There is now no longer a rank called ‘Lead Developer’, and instead the Administration Team run together in-order to ensure that we keep things running! Lirinya, one of our best-known and oldest Administrators has also since stepped down. We wish all three of our - now-ex-admins - the very best in whatever they choose to do, and hope they do stick around the community.

There’s also been changes in the GM-team. Respiren and Schwan have departed from the GM Team, whilst Cap’n’Lime, nppeck, Saviordude, Rhia, Jroy96, Viscen and Wodehouse have all been promoted to the rank of GM. Congratulations to them all - they’re settling in nicely!

In regards to the FM team, there’s two more FMs on the ‘prowl’ now - Aryon and Meguzara. Both of these players have shown great dedication to the server in the past, and were chosen for their ability to work efficiently and properly.

There has also been a brand new rank created in order to provide quick, efficient and helpful assistance to players at any time - the Guides. Congratulations to our 8 Guides - Soresan, Vekrus, Panda, Enyahs, Cyndikate, Nemantius, BoogerBuster and Ever - you’re all doing fantastic!

The Server - unfortunately, we did in-fact lose the Asulon map due to technical issues, and the newest backup available was 3 months outdated. This was a clear fault with our set-up, and we’ve now corrected the issue to ensure that this will never happen again.

We’re currently running on a temporary map that is set back on the journey to Asulon, and is a ‘what-if’ scenario. This means people are able to play their Aegis characters, or characters that they create specifically for the map.

<br class="kix-line-break">We’ve begun work on a 2.5 world, in which we will carry out the transition from Asulon to 3.0! This map is totally different from anything we’ve ever done before, and we’re excited to be able to do such a thing and build up towards 3.0.

M I N E S T A T U S--&--S U P P O R T I N G--T H E--S E R V E R

We began a push on Minestatus earlier this week after the addition of a handy-’Vote’ button on the front page of the forums - at the time of writing, this button has had: 3,741 clicks and 1,915 votes have been placed on Minestatus. That honestly is fantastic! We’ve hit rank 15 out of all the servers on Minestatus multiple times, and also managed to reach rank 13 at one point.

We have also re-introduced an initiative that rewards those who choose to take the time out of their day to vote. The top voter of every week get the chance to win a free $25 VIP Rank, for the following month!

In addition to that, our Minestatus page has been updated! It looks pretty sweet now, instead of just a block of horrid text!

Supporting the server is something that is exceedingly important in aiding us to keep things running. Most people seem to consider supporting the server as having to be about Donations, but it’s not! You can support the servers in so many ways - simply by playing you are supporting is. Even heading over to our MinecraftForum thread and leaving a positive comment can greatly help us - and even heading onto PlanetMinecraft and dropping us a diamond. There are so many ways that you can help us keep the Lord of the Craft going - it’s hard to name them all - so, head out onto the internet, and lend us a hand in bringing LOTC to more people!

U S E F U L--&--I M P O R T A N T--L I N K S

Here’s a couple of links that we feel are extremely important that you head over and give a little read.

Firstly, the Creative Cafe - an exciting, and unique TeamSpeak event coming soon!

Secondly, the December Calendar! Created by NekoDanie this exciting post describes the in-game events occurring throughout this Festive Season.

Thirdly and finally - disaster has struck. Saint Nicholas’ sleigh has broken! The elves have managed to build a new one, but it looks horrid - can you help him? See if you can right here!

Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic time roleplaying!

Be sure to follow us on

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[gingernut97 150]

Very good read! Thank you for doing this, Danny!

Congratulations to Ned_Lud!

[Bethykinss 158]

Very interesting, a lot more to know. Thanks for the update Danny!

[o_Ben_o 193]

Been waiting for this! and Congratulations to all the new staff. Sad to see Respiren and Schwaan go:(

[lemontide331 1615]

Very good.

Grats Ned Lud on the most noted player. Totally deserved it.

And best of luck to Respiren and Schwaan with their life outside of LotC. Sad to see both of them go.

[Lirinya 4021]

I would like to ask if there are any updates on 2.5?

Also, congrats to player of the week.

[o_Ben_o 193]

Awww liri, you left staff:o

[Lirinya 4021]

Awww liri, you left staff:o

Old news ^^

[o_Ben_o 193]

Old news ^^

Didn't know, sorry was a bit slow...

[Ford 1996]

I have no clue who Ned Lud is, but as I can see from the post, he deserves it!

[Salamandra 1136]

I have no clue who Ned Lud is, but as I can see from the post, he deserves it!

Agreed.

[Fredfort (jens6851) 283]

Rawr! :D

The new donater perks looks great :3

And congratz to our very own, Ned Lud.

[emberhard 82]

I asume the old donator privileges will still be in place? As when I purchased Iron a while back it included full craftbook & lwc.

[The Victor Blair Project 36]

I can understand why you would strip gold VIP of most of its useful advantages. I don't like that now I'd have to fork over another 50 dollars just to re-gain the functionality in-game I already had. As someone who's never used teamspeak or filled up his inbox I don't think that the private chancel or the increase in forum messages is really a fair trade.

[Danny 2232]

I asume the old donator privileges will still be in place? As when I purchased Iron a while back it included full craftbook & lwc.

No rank has ever had full Falsebook/Craftbook - it was wrongly titled. VIP ranks will be altered to the new ones, regardless of when the user donated.

Note: Grass VIP is no longer able to be donated for - old Grass VIPs still have their rank however.

I can understand why you would strip gold VIP of most of its useful advantages. I don't like that now I'd have to fork over another 50 dollars just to re-gain the functionality in-game I already had. As someone who's never used teamspeak or filled up his inbox I don't think that the private chancel or the increase in forum messages is really a fair trade.

What exactly have we stripped it of?

Keep note of how it says we'll be adding more benefits.