Alan

Except we are able to fix this, seeing as we have the power to remove status updates and implement both of the proposed changes. Additionally, taking the time to do this takes little to no time away from helping the community with their issues and feedback, and it certainly won't have any impact on the external factors which are affecting the current state of 4.0's development. It wouldn't be a subforum, Quick News would look exactly like status updates look like now. If you're instead referring to the Chat Room, that wouldn't be on the forums anymore than our Wiki is, but rather it would be linked and connected to it. Also, the sarcasm really isn't achieving anything other than annoying us, so please at least attempt to be mature in your responses.

Are you seriously presuming that such a change is a result of Gronkk's suggestion alone? This has been proposed numerous times in the past few months, in fact even Ever proposed a chat room over a year ago, and we've been considering the removal of status updates for a while now. His thread (and others) merely reminded us that we needed to do something about it.

Hey again everyone :) Considering new and old feedback threads alike, we have been considering the removal of status updates. It's been agreed that they do indeed act as a significant method to spread drama, flames, and a whole manner of other negative things to through the forums, and thus we'd like them removed. However, we can't overlook all of the positives that they bring too. Questions for staff, announcing threads and topics, and of course shamelessly advertising applications and other interesting works. For that reason, a few staff members have lightly discussed some possible changes that we'd like you guys to think on. First comes the addition of "Quick News". Essentially, Quick News will be the exact same as status updates, except only staff members will have the ability to use it. This will allow for us to quickly announce things such as server maintenance, upcoming events, and recent changes without having to post a thread for every little thing that people need to know about. The only question regarding this change is whether or not players should have the ability to reply to these Quick News updates. Second comes the proposed addition of an LotC Chat Room. It will not be seen on the main forum page, but rather a link to it will be provided on the main forum page. Such a room, however, would promote trolling and spamming, and thus we have acknowledged that certain measures will need to be taken in order to prevent it from happening. For one, if possible, we'd like it if the only way to access the chat room is for you to sign on via your main forum account, thus forcing your chat display name to be the same as your forum display name. This allows us to easily track who is causing problems and who shall be dealt with accordingly. Additionally, FMs, GMs and Admins could have the ability to remove messages that are unwanted, and possibly restrict certain people from posting in the Chat Room if they are abusing their privileges. We will have to check with the Technicians to see if a chat room with these conditions can be created, but for now all of this is up in the air. So what do you guys think? Do you thing we should just keep status updates as they are, implement these changes mentioned above, or do you believe that another idea should be gone with instead? Respond below and vote on the poll!

A drawing or sketch would certainly be helpful, as a picture is worth a thousand words as they say. Additionally, it might be hard for us to figure out what you're depicting and put it to practice. It would certainly help you if you had a visual aid, but to answer your question it is still acceptable to not have one.

Hello again everyone :) This thread merely serves as a reminder to all to quickly submit their entries to the Tutorial Zone contest ASAP! The entry period of the contest ends tomorrow (November 30th) at 11:59 pm EST, which is roughly 37 hours from now. Do not feel rushed in actually making your entry, however, as I would estimate the average entry to take around 20 minutes to fully develop and make. Take your time, brainstorm long and hard, and properly display what you believe to be the best Zone that we can use for 4.0. The contest thread can be found here: [Official Server Contest] 4.0 Tutorial Zone Design - VIP Prizes! I'm also here to clear what I have found to be a common misconception about this contest. A lot of people seem to believe that this contest calls for people to actually build an area that represents what the Tutorial Zone will be. This is not the case. Rather, the contest calls for the designing of the Tutorial Zone. This means that a sufficient entry could merely include a paint sketch or even concept art that accurately depicts how the Zone should be built come 4.0, so long as a description and explanation is included as well. Although not necessary at all, neither is building discouraged, as it does give us a perfect representation of what the Zone will look like IG. However, do not feel pressured into doing so if you do not have the time nor skills to accurately depict your ideas and thoughts via a build. With that being said, good luck to all the participants and may the best entry win!

The Lore Regulations The following Lore Regulations seen below will branch from the foundation of the lore version of the “mechanical standard”: The lore mechanical standard, or mech standard for short, is a relatively simple policy stating that anything can be roleplayed without the need of a moderator or Lore Master’s approval, so long as it is within the capabilities of a normal Minecraft character. For a more detailed explanation of the lore mechanical standard, please refer to this thread: The Lore Mechanical Standard This means that you may roleplay whatever and whoever you desire, so long as you abide by your character’s mechanical limits and do not break official, established lore (like RPing a human that isn’t short lived). However, there are exceptions to this: Animals may not be roleplayed without Global Moderator approval This is a recent regulation imposed by GMs due to past abuse of animal RP Animal characters that are approved may only be used as temporary "event" characters New races may not be created, and new subraces require Administrator approval Should a subrace be accepted, it will require written lore Non-canon fantasy creatures, such as fairies and demons, may not be roleplayed without Lore Master approval Canon fantasy creatures, such as ghosts and trolls, may be roleplayed without approval so long as their respective lore and guidelines are followed, unless they are not meant to be played or their guidelines state that they may not be played without approval Existing Aengudaemons may not be roleplayed, and new Aengudaemons may not be created without Lore Master approval Roleplaying that something was done by an existing Aengudaemon is fine, so long as it makes sense and fits with that Aengudaemon’s lore, but roleplaying as the Aengudaemon to actually do it is prohibited It is recommended, though not necessary, that the unapproved use of Aengudaemons be avoided entirely, as they are surrounded in controversy Wings may not be roleplayed as part of your character without Administrator approval Even if they're "useless" and are just for aesthetics, wings give off an impression of holiness and relevance to heaven (or hell, if bat wings or something similar), and given that they're quickly becoming commonplace, they're no longer allowed unless approved Should you wish to make something canon, you will still need to write lore for it and have it approved. This is the only circumstance in which lore proposals will still be used, though they can just be PMed to a Lore Master rather than posted as a thread. Additionally, if you are unsure whether what you want to RP follows these regulations or not, it is recommended that you either PM a Lore Master or ask in the Lore Q&A for clarification. Better safe than sorry, as they say! Lastly, though most things do not require approval, it is strongly recommended that the lore forum be used anyways for documenting whatever new and creative things you come up with in RP! P.S. Given the fact that these regulations have yet to be tested, they may be subjected to change at any time in the near future. For this reason, it is suggested that you return to this thread every so often so that you don’t miss any changes that may occur.

* All credit for the writing of this wonderful post goes to Lagomorphia * The following post is a full explanation of the foundation that the new lore regulations branch from. This is heavily based off of how Aegis worked in practice and takes full advantage of PvP default. Firstly, what is lore? Lore means two things: one is the server backstory and "theme". This is the widely accepted definition. On LotC, "lore" has another meaning, which is a post detailing the history of something and the rules of how to roleplay it/with it in a fair and balanced way. "Breaking lore" is doing something that's impossible In Character. For example, roleplaying as an Argonian (they don't exist) is breaking lore. If you're in doubt, don't be afraid to ask. With this in mind, what can be roleplayed without breaking lore? Certain things require approval from a Lore Master or moderator to be roleplayed, but approval is only required to deviate from the "Lore Mechanical Standard"; a derivation of the Mechanical Standard. Simply put, the Lore Mechanical Standard is the capabilities of a normal Minecraft character. Essentially, if you can perform an action in Minecraft and you don't break existing lore or server rules, it doesn't matter how you explain it in-character. If your armour is Iron Armour, you can RP it as whatever you like, from simple plate to armour made from the bones of your enemies and blessed by a necromancer. So long as what the armour is RPed does not break the lore mechanical standard, it is perfectly alright. If your sword uses an Iron Sword Item, you can say it's whatever you like, from a dagger to a greatsword bigger than you are to a sword that talks. You could RP it as a cursed sword that drives the wielder insane. However, if this sword instantly kills whoever it touches, then it no longer obeys the lore mechanical standard, as it would have to be a sword that does 40 hearts of damage, and no GM in their right mind would hand those out. (Not to say that you can't claim it instantly kills in character in order to sell it to an unsuspecting adventurer...) If you still die and lose 30 minutes memory plus memory of the events leading up to your death (a server rule) when clicked to death then you can roleplay that you're undead. However, you could not roleplay as an Undead Necromancer, the Aegis antagonist. This is because they are created by the daemon Iblees, and you suddenly becoming one would be breaking the server lore. You aren't giving your character an unfair advantage by making up abilities for them, and thus it doesn't matter what you do. The canvas is the same, and you're free to paint it however you like. If the lore mechanical standard is obeyed, then people will no longer make up abilities on the spot to win in situations, thus subduing a large motive for powergaming. Thus, with the lore mechanical standard in mind, approved lore is only required when the action you want your character to take would be breaking server rules if they were a standard character, and the people you are roleplaying with are unhappy with this. The easy way to check is this: If you took away the ability your character is using, would you be breaking the rules? For example, a player decides their character has telepathy. They use their telepathy to find out that their friend is in an enemy guild base, and gather their forces to raid and rescue him. Take away the telepathy, and you're metagaming quite severely. You could be playing a character that's kept alive by a magical curse and who's body is slowly rotting: they're undead. They get into a fight, they lose, and they "die" and wake up at the Cloud Temple, having lost the memories of the events leading up to their death. Remove the undeath and no rules have been broken! Therefore, this character meets the lore mechanical standard and you don't need approval to roleplay as them. There is one recommendation I have here, and it's a recommendation, not a rule. Don't create a character with special traits or abilities unless they were born with them and thus you have to. It's far more rewarding to start with a basic character and gather their interesting traits IC. It creates more RP, more server depth and most importantly more fun if your character loses their arm in a battle and has to seek out the dwarves to have them construct a runic limb to replace it than to create a character who lost his arm and gained a runic limb in his backstory.) However, there are exceptions to this standard, which are clearly stated in the new lore regulations. Refer to this link to see what those exceptions are: The Newer Lore Regulations

This topic has been locked. No, I'm not locking this topic because I dislike that a staff decision is not fully agreed with. No, I'm not locking this because people are flaming. No, I'm not locking this because I'm a dictatorial, unrelenting, hateful Admin that doesn't care what people think. I AM locking this because there are WAY too many people letting loose their ideas at once, and it's impossible to keep up with it all. With this many replies coming in at once, it's impossible to look at everything, and thus with every thing that you say, there's a good chance that someone else said it and that someone else already answered or responded to it, creating an endless cycle of things that will be said redundantly and without a purpose. We can't do anything in a situation like this, there's nothing to take, only that there are a LOT of differing opinions. That is why this thread is being locked, as leaving it open serves no purpose at this point. For those of you that still have a lot to say, I now direct you to our feedback forum. I suggest posting a thread FULLY detailing everything you like or dislike about this decision, though I also suggest waiting a little as there will likely be 10 people posting the exact same thread as you at the exact same time. P.S. Sorry if you were in the middle of writing something and posted it only to find that the thread was locked and you lost what you wrote. This couldn't have been avoided.

Mages are being "stomped into the ground" for suddenly being on equal terms with everyone else on the server? Is this not the exact elitist attitude that we're trying to get rid of in changing to this new system? Nothing is preventing you from using your awesome magic in awesome ways outside of combat. A powerful druid can still grow a forest on a whim, a shaman can still maintain a connection to the spirits, and a beard mage can still grow out the most interesting beard in the world with a thought. This system merely removes any advantages a mage has over others in combat itself. The lack of restrictions that go along with that are merely there because little else is restricted on the server. If learning magic is restricted, why isn't learning swordsmanship? Archery? Blacksmithing? Forcing magic to be learned legitimately through a method overseen by a team is what forced new players looking for magic to leave, as they had no way of learning it without staying for extended periods of time, something not everyone can do, and this contributes to our 10% new player retention rate. By you saying that EVERY mage is being hurt because of us balancing combat between mages and non-mages, you have only reinforced my personal belief that this change was incredibly needed.

A Global Moderator is a member of the staff that moderates all mediums of LotC, including the server, the forums, and Teamspeak. Global Moderators are tasked with solving player disputes and concerns, dealing with a issues and conflicts, and upholding the server rules and regulations as well as dealing with the individuals that break them. Global Moderators are chosen from only the most helpful and contributional members of the community, and they are required to remain active after joining the team. Though they are tasked with upholding the rules, Global Moderators are not above them, and thus they are just as bound to them as any other player of the community. Their word is law and must be heeded, else consequences will ensue. Are you thinking of becoming a Global Moderator? If so, ask yourself the following questions: Are you joining this position for power rather than to help the community? Are you joining this position with the intent of helping a single person or group? Do you have a habit of abusing or misusing powers or authority trusted to you? Do you have a bad relationship with many of the current staff members? Do you plan on holding this position for a very short, brief period of time? If the answer to any of the above questions are yes, then I advise reassessing yourself and perhaps returning when you believe you are better suited for the position.

The following short application should be filled out if you wish to be considered for the position of trial GM. By filling out this application, you acknowledge that you are not guaranteed acceptance, nor will you be considered for any other position on the server unless you apply for that position as well. Minecraft username: Age: Time zone: What is a GM’s role in the community, and how would you see yourself fitting in it as a GM?: Why are you applying to be a GM?: The most impactful GM’s the server has had have always done more than the basic duties of a Global Moderator. What aspects of LotC aside from universal GM duties would you be willing to delve into?: What members of the staff and/or community could you look to for guidance of these additional responsibilities?: What faults do you believe other members of the community see in you, and how do you intend to improve on these perceived faults, if necessary?: How much free time do you have? Will this change in the foreseeable future?:

Danny was essentially in charge of player relations, AKA the one tasked with being the face of the Admin Team for the players and acting as a liaison between the community and Administration. However, it's my opinion that this role allowed for the other Admins to sort of stay in the shadows and do their own things without having to deal with the community, leading to a variety of complaints from the players and the GMs alike. Thus, we will all sort of be sharing Danny's role and hopefully participating as often as we can.

If you are still concerned by the fabulous logic in the title of this announcement, then I suggest not thinking about it because that's when things make the most sense! Anyways, back to reality. After careful deliberation in the Administration, we have decided on a new Admin to fill the massive hole left by Danny's leave (Not because he was good or anything, but because he was a rather rotund Scot. RIP Danny, #NeverForget). It was a unanimous decision agreed upon by all and it was long in the waiting action, and thus I am happy to announce the promotion of... Soper! Wait... Oops! I meant Sipper! Wait, what's his name again? Oh, Viper, that's it! Yes, indeed, Viper3x has been promoted to the rank of Admin to carry out the duties affiliated with the position in order to ensure that this server becomes as great as it can be. However, just as each Admin has his own unique role to play (me being Lore and Magic Admin, for instance), Viper will take up a new role that he himself suggested months back; that of the "Team Advisor". Essentially, this role acts as a sort of "Team Leader Leader", an Admin that is primarily responsible for not only helping Team Leader's with their respective teams, but also with keeping those leaders in check and possibly replacing them if they overstep too much or too often. With his promotion, I am also happy to announce that one of our newer GMs, BrandNewKitten, will be taking over for Viper as the leader of the Event Team! I expect great things from both of them, so please be sure to congratulate them when you get the chance (or cuss them out in private if that suits your fancy).

LotC was at its peak in Asulon because up until then it was still more or less an RP-RPG. We didn't acquire the "hardcore RP" mindset until mid-late Asulon, and we still had a lot of players by then simply because those players had been with us all along. When we made that change to hardcore, the numbers dropped and dropped. The reason it has to be that way is because that's what we, the Staff, decided we wanted this server to be. For the same reason that it would be fruitless for you to go to a PvP server and try and tell them to become Adventure or Objective, we won't be convinced to remain a genre that we don't want to be. That's why it is the way it is, and it's not changing. It still is a server for RP, but we are returning to our old ways of included RPG elements in the mix. Roleplay will still be dominant, but it will no longer be hardcore.

I will take this post to attempt and explain some of the more controversial decisions of this post. Our genre. We stated in the "Aim of the Game" thread not but a few weeks ago that LotC would be once again be focusing on RP-RPG elements; that is a focus on both RP and RPG in harmony rather than one or the other. Regardless of what people want to see, that genre is what LotC began as and it is what it was when it drew in the most players. It's not an "outdated form", but rather it is the theme that is the least selective for new players and thus it allows us to retain the most players while simultaneous returning to a server that provides actual gameplay for veterans and newbies alike. Hardcore RP servers maintain low numbers for good reason, because it's such a selective genre and very few people are actually fully committed to it. LotC is no longer a hardcore RP server and it shouldn't have ever been one, and if some of you guys aren't ok with that, I'm sorry but that's just how it is. Magic. There seems to be the misconception that we are holding off the Magic Plugin, but this is NOT the case. Development of the Magic Plugin has not stopped nor slowed. The post detailed that we would be waiting to publicize our decision on the actual magic system itself as governed by the MAT. We have made our decision and we are acting upon it, but we'd rather wait until we finish finalizing the new system before we unleash our plans upon the playerbase and likely cause drama all around that could have been avoided. This won't take a month either as many likely believe it will, nor will it take a week, in fact I plan to follow up with a full explanation within a few days. Forum reputation. I know for a fact that this has upset quite a lot of people, in fact I myself will miss that green number on my profile, but this was a decision that was not made easily. The simple truth is that forum reputation does nothing positive on the forums. It doesn't sort the helpful players from the not, it doesn't separate the good from the bad, and it doesn't tell you who to go to when you need help; rather, most often it simply shows you who knows how to say things that some players want to hear, even if it isn't actually helpful or realistic. Is this why we're removing it (only if a new system doesn't work out, that is)? Of course not, because even if it's useless there are still people who like it and removing it just because it doesn't serve a good purpose would be silly. Instead, we're removing it because of the negatives it brings. I know this is not true for everyone, in fact this only applies to a minority of players, but the sad truth is that there are too many people out there that make posts and threads that are HUGELY affected by the desire for reputation. There are people out there that are willing to completely disregard forum rules, that are willing to be rude and disrespectful to others and staff members alike, people that are willing to purposely spread drama by exaggerating or even falsifying facts, all for the purpose of gaining reputation. I'm not saying it's cause and effect (in fact it's likely a combination of things), but does anyone else realize that the mass drama and bad attitude of the community didn't arise until shortly after the removal of the -1 function? Why be rude or break rules or spread drama when more people will -1 you than +1 you? I guess the counterargument to this would be to simply return the -1 button, but that itself was removed initially due to abuse as well, where people would harass others by singling them out and -1ing all of their posts. It's sad that there are a bunch of players out there that earn their rep legitimately through hard work and helpfulness, but unfortunately we must now all pay the price of a system that has been abused due to the simple fact that a mere +1 button on an internet forum is such a cause of corruption for some people. With that being said, do NOT forget the fact that we are working to get a new system in its place, more specifically the YouTube system as mentioned. This will allow us to keep rep based on comments while still solving the issue of people posting for overall rep. The removal of rep entirely is a last ditch "if all else fails" method that we will fall back on; it's not guaranteed. Lastly, the new Admin. I am still personally in favor of adding two Admins, but for the moment only one is agreed upon. The second candidate I will discuss with the Administration later today or tomorrow, but the first one is the priority at the moment. Anyways, hope that answered some questions and further clarified some points. I know that not everyone will be happy with some of these changes, especially the removal of rep, but we make these changes with the hopes of improving the server as a whole for veterans and new players alike. Sometimes you just have to step back and realize that what might negatively affect you now could positively affect you and many others in the future, so please don't be so quick to jump on the bandwagon of discontent simply because extremely trivial things are being taken from you for the greater good of the entire server.

You mean as I pointed out in my first sentence? A for effort though Freya. :)

This was by far my favorite video you guys have done in a while. In fact I'd go so far to say that it's the best video you guys have done in over a year, and I'm not saying that just because I am a Druid myself. LotC's videos for a while now have been missing out on a vital aspect of both advertising and entertainment; feeling. Our past videos have consisted of aesthetics only along with some music in the background as well, but none of them have "felt" like something worth watching or looking into. Compare these videos to Aegis' videos, which were both entertaining and insightful, and you'll find that there's no comparison (not to jump on board the Aegis is better bandwagon, but it's true). This is only proof that videos like this one, completely devoid of "great" editting, music, and shaders, can still be a wonder simply because of the feel they have to them. Show less of the "pretty to look at" stuff on LotC and focus more on the actual people and the RP and you'll do wonders for the server. It's videos like this that people find on the internet and go "God damn, I want to be a Druid on Lord of the Craft", so for that I give you guys a huge round of applause. Well done. P.S. I still like LOTC-BC, but that's an entirely different kind of video which is more used for spreading news than actually advertising or entertaining, thus I am not referring to it in this reply.