The Month of January

Hello Everyone!
    I hope you all had a wonderful start to your new year. This month has been full of many great changes. Staff is currently going through reforms and has made some progress. Change is never easy but if we want to move forward somethings need to change. More information regarding some of the changes can be found below in the Team Updates section of this post. However, this months newsletter is quite an important one because we have a large update for you all regarding 7.0! Please make sure you read through the Notable News thoroughly so you are up to date with all the happening on LotC. 

Notable News

The latest and greatest on Lord of the Craft.

7.0 Update - Seventh

Hello all,

7.0 is coming soon and today I’m bringing forward some key details on the land situation. We’ve reflected over the feedback and are just rounding things out now before launch.

Land is certainly a contentious topic for a good reason. It’s a vital resource for any would be group to actually act and roleplay in a non-dependent fashion. It also in our finite maps becomes a highly valued resource. Because of the high demand yet a need for careful distribution finding a good balance can be exceptionally tricky. Our goal isn’t to be too heavy handed with this but we certainly wanted to avoid the messiness of Atlas something I’ve explained before. Since our original announcement we’ve been collected activity data something at this point, I’m sure many have mixed opinions on but it has given us a very good picture over the last few months into what our playerbases look like and the ebbs and flows of groups.  With all of that in mind, there are firstly a few things I’d like to address.

    Orcish Land

Since early December, for nearly two months, we’ve discussed the state of one of our core races on Lord of the Craft. One thing is for certain—the Orcs deserve genuine Staff support. They’ve played a key role on our server since Aegis and a huge part in shaping our server history. We will grant the Orc race a 200 by 200 plot of land as a free charter. The land does not include nation status or tile rights—things of that nature will need to be earned as many others have.  We hope though that through other avenues as well such as a strong story focus and cooperating with the Orc leadership to help reinvigorate and reshape Orcish Roleplay.

    List of Nations Thus Far

With the above being said, the finalized Nation list is done and dusted at this time.. These groups will receive advanced build placement (I will outline what this means 
further below) and will have Nation Status on 7.0. Each of these Ten groups met and exceeded the requirements outlined for Nation Status on the next map.

    Nation-List

• Curon
• Belvitz
• The Mother Grove
• Haense
• Renatus
• Aegrothond
• Sutica
• Gladewynn
• Agnarum
• Fenn

Oceans

1.13 biggest feature was its oceans and at first 7.0 was going to go without due to how everything lined up. Thankfully to the continuing expertise of Kilgrim we were able to selectively add structure generation to the oceans and get some of the cool additions. 

Resource Pits

While we’ve discussed a ton of ideas for resource gathering and placement some of which may still be implemented as time goes forward we decided on a few simple adjustments to our current system that add both quality of life and quash the silliness that is resource island. We decided firstly to move the individual resource pits across the whole of the map with a few for each time of resource. The goal is to place them in regions that are appropriate for each material. The reason there’s several is so they could never be blocked off or solely controlled by a single group or person. Even if one resides in someone else's tile they have their own regions and protections associated with them. We’ve also added things like quartz and prismarine into their own resource pits. Forestry camps will also more or less be the same thing spread around but contained. This will encourage people to see the world more among other things.

Roads

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the fact a while back when the road post was made I and few other WDs sat down with the creator of that post and after some deliberation made some changes to the road structures I’d figure you would all like to see the revised map.

Building and Schematica

At the moment of writing this, forge and the many mods that rely on it are still not ready or out. This poses a problem to our original intent with Nation city building. We wanted slow but steady progress from a completely free day one area. This however without tools like schematica becomes truly punishing. This is why if Schematica is not out by the date when we require all builds to be submitted for pasting we will paste the full cities in all 200x200. There are a few limitations such as resource blocks like Iron, emerald, gold, and diamond that will not be pasted in. All inventories will be wiped and any other blocks regularly restricted in LC will also be removed.

Dates

The all important dates for 7.0 and the relevant facets of its launch. 
    February 25th - Builds need to be submitted to me (Seventh) for pasting in
    March 2nd - 7.0 goes live.

More information about the technical side will be released as it comes available.

Vaults & You

This is a very important post for those who are looking to bring roleplay items to the new map. This time around, we’re aiming to cut back on the amount of items that we are taking over and are also looking to filter out outdated/bad items. You can read more about this here: Vaults and You

Creative Cafe

The first quarterly creative cafe will be held on February 16th at 2 pm EST! Come out and share your talents with the community. More information regarding the event and where to sign up can be found here.

Community Meeting

One last community meeting before the release of 7.0 will be this weekend. After reading through these updates and announcements. A post with more information will coming out soon!

Adminland

Hey guys, it’s Telanir here. I’m gonna be real here, in this past while you don’t really hear from me often—but I want to change that this year. Just last month I wrote out a little warning: we’re reforming the Staff from the ground up. Like I’ve said, at the very bottom of this is an earnest desire to better serve your needs.

And I mentioned that, during the transition, we will be a bit clumsy regarding our duties… but so far so good! We’ve only experienced minor hiccups so far but we do apologize if you were punished out of turn or one of your requests is delayed. We will make sure we correct it.

So, about myself. It’s about time I set aside the fancy Chairman role. It’s not suitable for LotC anyhow and none of us in the community desire a “chairman”. It’s a big meme at this point and I’m content with just being your friendly neighborhood admin.

For you, things will be mostly business as usual. But for the Staff, there has been a lot of change and we’re still working on the reform. For those of you who like extensive and boring reading I wrote two letters on this subject—both can be read like mission statements (one and two). Let me know if you enjoy them.

So sort of like an FAQ with the Staff / Admins, we’re going to make two channels in the LotC Discord. First, #topic-discussion, and second, #topic-suggestions. These are an avenue for us to debate and discuss ways that we can improve LotC together where no ideas are unworthy. We don’t have enough active direct channels between you and us—and the more the better!

In the main channel we will discuss one topic at a time—ask any question that you want and we will respond. We will remove off-topic chatter so that we don’t waste your time or ours and get down to the bottom of what you care about.

In the suggestions channel, feel free to include anything that bothers you a lot recently. If we’ve already talked about it before you can still feel free to add it anyway. We may discover something unique and important but we will try to cycle one topic per day.

Right, and we’ll make sure to swat any toxicity so that everybody can be heard. We will prioritize civility but not at the expense of open discourse.

Community Guidelines Violations

Still Telanir here. CGV Appeals haven’t worked out as intended and especially when certain people employ ghostwriters! I’m sad to see my idea go, but I’m ready to give it up for the better.

If we see deliberate patterns of poor behavior in players who don’t break the rules—an Administrator will simply approach you one-on-one to discuss terms.

Magic Reports

We’re going to be taking down magic reports section too and instead streamline them into the Player Report process. We’re going to add category selection in the report format to help with this.

Team Updates

The freshest scoop from the team leaders themselves—learn all you can about your favourite teams.

World Development Team

The World Development Team has been working hard on getting the map ready for the upcoming release of 7.0!

Moderation Team

As many of you know, the Moderation Team has been formed which has phased out the GM and FM teams. This has been a great first month for the team and one full of many changes. Currently, the Moderation Team has been working hard getting acclimated to their positions and getting used to their new responsibilities. More information on the changes and the projects the team is working on can be found in the monthly update!
 

Notice: The Moderation Team is currently recruiting. Apply here.

Application Team

The Application Team has been working hard this month on their projects behind the scenes. Information regarding the team this month can be found here: AT Monthly Update.  This is a special update because it is the last monthly update from the Application Team for the team is being fazed out as well. Many of the members have been accepted over to the Community Team in which they are settling and getting for big changes to come.  More on the team can be found up next!

Community Team

Continuing on with the reforms happening to staff currently, many of you may have noticed that there has been a new team created which is the next step in our process for staff reforms. As you can tell by its name, The Community Team focuses on all aspects pertaining to the community and its well being. This primarily includes being a bridge between the community and staff, advocating for the communities feedback to be looked into and heard by the staff. They also focus on improving and looking for ways to grow the server and its community in a positive manner. In addition, they assist newer players with getting acclimated to the server, handling applications, providing community events and more. More information on the team can be found here: Community Information & Policies. 

Notice: Community Team is currently recruiting and looking for exceptional members of the community to join the team! Apply here.

Lore Team

This month the LT have been hard getting all the items converted for the transition. More information regarding the team and what has been happening lore-wise this month can be found here: LT Announcement Pt. 8

Game Development Team

The Game Development Team has been hard at work preparing everything for 1.13 and for the map transition!

Event Team

The Event Team this month has been getting ready for the end of the map event! They have been working hard planning and drafting everything out to deliver a great event for everyone at the end of the month! 

Wiki Team

The Wiki Team like the previous teams has been working hard towards 7.0. They have been getting the wiki updated on current events and Atlas Lore update.

Trendy Feedback

Our crack team of gobos compiles, analyses, and critiques our feedback forums for the top-echelon of community suggestions. We’ve picked out some of the most unique, noteworthy, and civil articles from this month.

Redemption for Incompetence

This post right here was our hottest topic for this month. It goes over a tough situation the Orc community had been put in and is asking the administration to correct the wrongs done. With that being said, the Orcish community will be receiving land next map as stated above in the 7.0 update as outlined by Seventh. The administration believes it is important that the four main races exist and thrive as they are an important pillar in LotC’s lore. 

Monkey See, Monkey Do

A great post—it covers the underestimated capacity of veteran members of this community to be role-models. Poor behavour will breed the same in new players—but so will excellent behaviour. This post offers us not only a description of one of the problems we face, but in itself, also a solution. This is worthy of a read! The Community Team is working on ways to help promote our beloved Community Guidelines and deter this from happening. More on these projects will come out soon! 

The Player Province

Community Spotlight

Bright, committed, and talented people fill our community. With the community spotlight, we highlight one individual that stands out this month. This player engages the laid-back attitude, charitable spirit, and proactive nature hailed in our community guidelines. For this reason, we congratulate them for their hard-earned achievements!

Nivndil

This month’s community spotlight goes to Nivndil. They are a member of the druid community and has a been a member of our server for quite some time. We were interested in what about the druids they enjoyed and how their experience of the server has been. Perhaps this can inspire some to branch out they can inspire some to try to branch out and try something new! 

Interview

Hello Nivndil, we overhear much about your attitude and accomplishments. We would like to highlight you in this month’s community spotlight!

Tell us about yourself and your history here on LotC.

Well, I started LotC in about April of 2015, with a friend. We made our whitelist apps together and when we got into the game, the AT who handled them helped us to find the Druids because I was intent on making a Druid-themed character and didn't understand how magic worked at the time. So I figured she could just start helping out with nature.

That was Athera and I'm sure you know how notorious the Kings Road was for that kind of RP. So I think my first adventure was being downed by Orcs because I didn't realize we had to halt and I didn't speak blah. Then if I recall they tried to cook me alive in a cauldron.

A friend helped me escape and it still makes for an amusing story IRP today.

So I undertook my Dedicancy and was there for the transition to Vailor and the initial uh... let's call it untidiness. After a few weeks, I'd finished my Dedicancy and was Attuned. Shortly afterward I had quite a lot going on irl and the server being what it is meant I couldn't stay for my own well-being. Social took a break and didn't return until February 2018, where I'd seen a few things had changed and I was in a much healthier place to handle them. So I became a Guide and was eventually nominated and voted in as an Archdruid.

I've played the same character the entire time, benefits of an Elf of course, and most of my interaction was with Welves as a playerbase, particularly since returning. I've never been staff, I don't hate myself that much.

I've recently branched out making a little cave dwarf girl too, and she gets a lot of positive interaction, which is so sweet

What is it like being a druid and being a part of the druid community? What do you enjoy about playing a druid?

So this will sound silly maybe, but I like to make characters who are very . Like very this or very that. Nivndil was my "Let's make the most Elven character possible" attempt, and at the time Wood Elves didn't have a lot going on, but it was socially acceptable to be a Druid and I liked that avenue. Again, I didn't really understand how the magic system worked at the time, I just turned up and thought "I'll be the best damn Druid I can be." And in a way it amuses me that Druidism makes you go essentially a little batshit after a while, but for my character to maintain this exterior of elegance and you know, supernatural Elven Grace.

The magic is very beautiful, it's not meant for combat and it's largely utility based. The fact that it's a deity magic with a very strong identity presents challenges too, because we don't just take on people who want their chargey pew pew lasers

So we get people come to us IRP, who we refuse because they just want the magic, and this doesn't work like arcanism or evocation

In a way it's a touch frustrating having to turn people down, but it just is how the Order handles the magic. Like it's even written into the Lord that we can feel when a Druid abuses their Gifts, to prevent IRP abuse.

As a playerbase, well we've got a bit everyone really. We've got Orcs, Humans, Kha, Dwarves and yeah a lot of Elves too. I'm aware that there's a lingering history of the community, but honestly what playerbase doesn't? We're all just nerds role-playing on Mineman, and we're happy to have a few more.

Outstanding Volunteer Award

We present this accolade to an exceptional staff member. We are honored and humbled that they choose our team and our server. And this month the award goes to...

Punisher8817

Punisher is an extremely hardworking individual in our staff. They have always been one to partake in discussions, reaching out to help members of the community and other teammates, and overall always going the extra mile in the work they put forth. This month Pun has done an exceptional job with heavily aiding in the moderation portion of staff reforms, training all members, in addition to coming up with help systems to further streamline moderation verdicts in areas such as blacklist lengths. Due to their hard work throughout their tenure on the GM Team and into Moderation Staff they have been promoted to Manager. This individual is an exemplary member of staff and deserves to be recognized for such. Keep up the good work and thank you for volunteering your time to better the server. 

Top VIP

The truth is that without the funds to cover our monthly costs we cannot support this wonderful experience. I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank you to our wonderful contributors. To the greatest VIP contributor this month we bid our humble gratitude and a spotlight in our newsletter.

OhDeerLord

This individual of the community takes the cake for the month of January with a generous contribution. Their generosity is what helps keep the server up and running for all to enjoy. We thank you very much!

Overall this month has been quite busy and the month to come will be even busier as we prepare to go into the new map. I hope everyone is just as excited as we are. If you have any questions about things coming up, please look out for that community meeting post. Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a lovely February! 

Have fun, take care, and thank you all,

LotC Administration

What is a Community Team Member?

A Community Team Member (often abbreviated to Com or C) is someone tasked with handling every capacity of community interacts within LoTC. Specifically, the Community Team is responsible for handling community events such as community meetings, creative cafe, handling feedback and ensuring it is responded to, and working with new players who are applying to the server through assisting in the application process. In addition, they assist players in-game with getting accustomed to the server and settled in. They are to be the bridge between the community and the staff by advocating for the community’s feedback to be heard and change to be made.
 

What should I know before applying for staff to be a Community Team Member?

Being a Community Team Member is a very draining job. It is demanding of consistency, dedication, and a drive to better the server experience and connect people. During your tenure as a Community Team Member, your actions are no longer representative of just yourself -- rather, you represent the team as a whole. As in the case with every job of this nature, in time you’ll find it is as equally rewarding of a task as it is a demanding one.

How are Community Team Members picked?

Community Team Members are selected based off multiple pieces of information that are put together. When your app is posted you will receive an interview by a Community Team Trainer who will then pass that information onto the team. Every time we select new members to be added the Community Team gives their weigh-in followed by a discussion with Community-Trainers, Community-Managers, and Admins on who would be the best addition to the team. After that process is complete the Communications Administrator considers the following: The application, the interview, team opinions, opinions of the discussion with trainers, managers, and admins, forum history, in-game history, and the applicants' overall position in the community, before making the final selection of who will join the team.

NOTICE: If you re-apply you are not promised another interview. You will usually receive another interview if you re-post your app after a considerable amount of time has passed between your last one for your old app and your new app. This is up to Community Managers.

[NEXT: Team Policies]

COMMUNITY TEAM POLICIES

1. 2-factor Authentication must be enabled on all accounts used in this position. This includes email, discord, forums, & MC Account
2. Abide by all server rules, staff conduct, and act within the community guidelines on all LotC platforms. Failure to do so may result in removal from the team (Excessive warnings, reports of poor behavior, & bans.)
3. Pex Abuse

• You are allowed to be in vanish when you please as long as you are not using it as a means to metagame
• You can use fly as long as you are in vanish
• You can use /places to teleport to settlements as you wish as long as you do not use it for the purposes of metagaming etc.
• Any abuse of Pex may result in removal from the team

4. Wandering Soul Chat must be turned on at all times.
5. [N] New Tag Removals

• New Tags should not be removed unless the player has been actively whitelisted and on the server for at least a month, but if they persist please give them the warning that an AT member cannot easily find them to assist them and with their permission, you may remove it. DO NOT REMOVE IT if they have under a week of gameplay.
• New Tags may be removed from registered Alts upon request.

6. Unwhitelisted Accounts

• Players that have lost their account and wish to have another one whitelisted must be directed to a trainer or manager
• They will be given choice to make either an ALT app or have their old account unwhitelisted for the new account to take its place
• They must make a new application
• Minas and items do not get refunded

7. All posts pertaining to the Community Team must be looked over an approved by a manager or the Communications Admin before being posted on the forums.

[NEXT: Team Structure]

COMMUNITY TEAM STRUCTURE

The team structure is designed to keep optimal efficiency in project management, overall direction, timeliness, productivity, and activity monitoring. The roles within the Community team are as follows:

Communications Admin

The Communications Admin oversees all thing related to the community and communication on LoTC. This role is here to be a support to the community team and ensuring that the team is progressing in a positive direction.

Tasks include:

• Ensuring standards for the community team are consistent and being maintained
• Managing community feedback and advocating for the community’s thoughts and feedback are being taken into account and recognized.
• Managing announcements, news, and community engagement. This includes managing the LotC twitter, scheduling community meetings, events, and ensuring important information is reaching the community.
• Managing the Community Team Roster Manager which includes team commitments and project delegation.

Managers

The Communications Managers are responsible for supporting the Community Team. They are a lead role of the team and ensure that responsibilities and the standards of the team are being met. They are the final say in issues that may arise on a daily basis.

Tasks include:

• Overseeing daily operation and ensuring responsibilities are being fulfilled
• Identifying issues relating to the Community Team and finding to improve upon those issues.
• Leading and organizing large projects to help push the community forward.

Trainers

Communications Trainers are tasked with the responsibilities of preparing new members of the team, setting them up with all the tools and information needed to succeed in their new position. They are also tasked with improving the training system and working on ways to make the process more efficient and effective. Those in this position are to be role models to the team and display how a member of this team should work and act.

Tasks include:

• Interviewing new applicants for the community team
• Training and ensuring new members of the team are set up with the tools to succeed on the team
• Creating tools used to aid in handling duties on the team. This includes guides and documentation for our processes.
• Creating and working projects to further help new players and improve the quality of roleplay.
• Reviewing feedback from the community and advocating for changes to be made.

Guides & Mentors

The guides and mentors are the backbones and the faces of the team. These are the people that go out on a daily basis and connect with the community. Those with the guide position are focused on guiding new players around the map and getting them settled within respective player-bases. Those who are mentors are the ones who ensure players are familiar with commands, teaching them how to roleplay properly and improve.

Tasks include:

• Helping new members get acclimated with the rules and roleplay
• Helping players in-game and in the WS channel.
• Creating and working projects to further help new players and improve the quality of roleplay.
• Reviewing feedback from the community and advocating for changes to be made.
• Handling Applications in a timely manner

Media
The media sector of the community is reserved for those who have the talent and drive to promote our server through their work with media. They are not tasked with the same duties as the rest of the team as their creative work takes a lot of time. Those in this position will be offered the tools necessary to do their job as best as they can.
Tasks may include (depending on what they do):

• Youtube videos
• Streaming
• Creating Graphics

The Month of December

Greetings everyone,

Hope your new year is starting off great! As we here at LoTC get back into the swing of things after our holiday break we wanted to direct your attention and throw a spotlight on what we have been seeing, hearing and working on as staff. The community is what makes this server so amazing. The community is diverse, loving, caring, and creative---which gives us an amazing atmosphere for everyone to experience and enjoy. My New Year’s resolution will be to have a monthly community newsletter where I can highlight important information and notable events and summarize them in a post for you to read and digest. This post is going up a little later than planned but better late than never I always say. From here on we are going to try to have these posts up during the first week of every month.  Anywho, here’s to a great 2019!!!

[NEXT: NOTABLE NEWS]

Notable News

The latest and greatest on Lord of The Craft.

Return of The Creative Cafe

TarreBear: We are pleased to announce the return on the Creative Cafe. It has been a long time since we have hosted one of these fun little events. For those who are unfamiliar, it is an evening where all members of the community are invited to come show off their talents and creativity-- be it singing, playing an instrument, or even poetry. More information on the event will be announced later this month!

Promotion of a New Administrator

Fireheart: Hey all! Jumping in here to announce officially something that you all have probably noticed. Earlier last month in December we approached TarreBear and offered her the position of our communication administrator. The reasoning for another administrator dates back to our Admin Update Pt. 1 post where we outlined our desires for a more functional team. Tarre’s duties will be to focus on communicating down information regarding staff and to streamline our event scheduling for things such as Creative Cafe, Community Meetings, future updates and more. We wish her the best of luck and we look forward to working alongside her.

A Big Year For Staff

As many have already noticed, there are some major changing coming to the staff this year. While it is not yet ready for wholesome community reveal it is in full discussion within the staff. We are targeting productivity and direction this year.  In summary, we wish to tear down rampant bureaucracy and respect the time, efforts, and voice of the over 120 staff serving as of today. We as today’s Administration believe that LotC should run like a Minecraft roleplay community—not like a business. A post outlining the changes and reasonings will come out soon ™ . Change can be hard and scary, mistakes are made, but please bear with us as we go this time of change.

WANTED: Newsletter Graphics Artist

Telanir: We’re looking for a capable graphics artist to spice up the Monthly Newsletter! If you are interested in helping out and getting lots of appreciation, please message on Discord at Telanir#0001.
 

[NEXT: TEAM UPDATES]

Team Updates

The freshest scoop from the Team Directors themselves—learn all you can about your favorite teams.

World Development Team

Seventh is away for a little bit due to IRL commitments. He has said Mid-Late February Launch for 7.0. And Charters coming soon ™.  A Your View on the Charter System was put up on his behalf, please check it out and give your thoughts. Finally, he would like to add that more information and updates will be given once he has returned. Stay tuned!

Game Team

The Game Team has been working hard on preparing the rule sets for 7.0 which include wars, coups, & freebuild. For more information check out their monthly update here.

Lore Team

FlamboyantNewEra has been busy shelving more lore as the Lore Team Director. The team’s plans for 2019 are very big and hope to see a lot of improvements come to the content aspects of LoTC. This month they provide a full outline of what they plan to see done in 2019.

Game Development Team

The Game Development Team has been hard at work updating the server for 1.13. More information about what they have been working on can be found in their monthly update here.

[NEXT: TEAM UPDATE CONT.]

Forum Team

The Forum Moderation Team has seen another consistent and solid month under Doriftu’s leadership. Here are his comments on the months proceedings:
"For the month of December, there weren’t really all that many changes to the FM team. Aside from the usual Forum Moderator work, there have been a few discussions regarding projects the team has, and specific roles have been assigned to individual FMs through the Roster Manager that all staff teams have. December has been a slow month, following the implementation of the new forum rules the previous month."
 

Event Team

The Event Team had a fun ending to 2018 with the closure of the famous “September Prince” eventline. Shoutout to all of those involved, but specifically Aesopian for his hard work and dedication to the eventline. The ET also saw Xarkly step down as Event Team Director and in his place, TreatyCole has stepped up to take his place. Here are some comments from him:

“Throughout the month of December, We had quite a few changes, especially in the leadership and structure of the team. Xarkly stepped down from Director, but still (thankfully) serves us as the Actor Manager. With weeks of planning with management and administration, the ET has restructured to give each member an individual responsibility/assignment. These assignments will help places get events, while having every ET have more purpose on the team. The team has downsized quite a bit, losing ET such as Malgonious, Dean, Lion, Wulfery, Jakobi, Whiplash, and Noobman (These are the members I am aware of, but I believe there were quite a few more before I became Director). The ET team is now focused on providing better quality events, as per the community has told us. We have put in place several new guidelines for ET so this can happen effectively. the ET will NOT be taking on new ET for the month of January unless our numbers get too small, so stay tuned in the next coming months!”

Application Team

The Application Team had a great end of the year closing out 2018 with a new Director for the team! Make sure to say hi to Ivoryyy_ and ask her any questions you might have about the AT. A monthly update for what the Application Team worked on in December can be found here.

Wiki Team

Here are some comments from the Wiki Team Director, Lsuvsfar , on the teams ongoings for the month of December

“The Wiki Team has had a slow month this December, as many of us had finals going on. Some progress was made in updating its information, though we still have a lot to do. With the additions of Saharan, LionEy_, and Luka at the start of January, we’ll hopefully see a boost in activity, though some of us will need to shift to working on other projects as the map approaches its end.”

[NEXT: TRENDY FEEDBACK]

Trendy Feedback

Our crack team of gobos compiles, analyses, and critiques our feedback forums for the top-echelon of community suggestions. We’ve picked out some of the most unique, noteworthy, and civil articles from this month.

Rule change proposal

This feedback post covers a noticeable flaw in combat rules that points out an issue where the LoTC rules do not promote a roleplay centric server. Suxals, the author of the post, details the issues with the current rules and provides suggestions in how they can be changed to be improved. Corpean has since taken these rules and has brought them to the administration for approval.

Enforce Aging Limits or Remove Age Limits

Why might an Orc character exist today since Aegis of 2011 and why do some humans outlive a half dozen maps? The ultimate question is, how is age lore enforced on LotC? Is it fair for you to kill off your character due to age while someone else does not? Perhaps, the answer is yes—but only if you are the one who makes that choice. Read more on the Administrative response here.

The “REAL” Problem With The Orcs

A passionate rant on the state of our Orc community, one that is dear to us as one of the four main pillars of LotC. While not graceful, OzYmandi does raise a topic that demands attention. It is time we give a critical part of our community the attention it needs.
The fundamental roots of LotC come from a place of four descendant races…

Where did the direction go?

This feedback dives into the issues relating to LoTC being stagnant. A lot of confusion has come over the years from misdirection and questionable decisions which has led to sweeping changes in staff both in the past and present. Telanir responded to this thread and revealed an address he made to all LoTC Staff through a letter he wrote outlining where staff would be taken in 2019.

[NEXT: THE PLAYER PROVINCE]

Community Spotlight

Bright, committed, and talented people fill our community. With the community spotlight, we highlight one individual that stands out this month. This player engages the laid-back attitude, charitable spirit, and proactive nature hailed in our community guidelines. For this reason, we congratulate them for their hard-earned achievements!

TheNanMan2000

For December's community spotlight we chose TheNanMan2000 for his hard work and drive to improve the Orc player-base. Over the past month some issues with the Orcs have been brought to our attention and we wish to make an effort to work with TheNanMan2000 and the Orc Playerbase to ensure they have the tools they need to improve.

Interview

Hello TheNanMan2000, the Administration overhears much about your attitude and accomplishments. We would like to highlight you in this month’s community spotlight!
 

What are some of your plans for the Orcs as Rex?

TheNanMan2000: Primarily, re-establish RP as our number 1 focus and, equally as important, make the life and values of Krug well-known to every Orc, so that 'Honour' has a more clear and distinct code.  At the moment, it's not quite clear what is 'honorable', as honor is subjective to each Orc. For example, 1 Orc may consider raiding and slaying a village of Humans honorable because it shows their strength and skill.  On the other hand, another Orc may consider it honorable to not raid and kill needlessly as it shows self-discipline.  Without Honour, the Orcs are just a group of massive Gorillas with Human-like intelligence, except they also live about 3 times as long.
 

How much experience do have playing an Orc and what do you enjoy about it?

TheNanMan2000: I don't have a massive amount of experience. I first joined the Orcs on Vailor when I was playing as a Troll, hiding under a bridge and stealing from the Kharajyr, until some Braduks, one of the Orc Clans, found me with Sandk1ng leading them.  He invited me to live with them, so I did and that's when I first experienced real Orc roleplay.  As it's worth noting, what 90% of outsiders see of Orc Roleplay is the time they spend banditing and raiding, which, as you can imagine, is only done by mostly the PVP orientated of our community, and doesn't show the majority of what we get up to at home.  After some time, I decided to make an Orc, however, after around a month or 2 I left LoTC, which I did often, due to just getting a bit bored. I made an Orc again near the beginning of this map, Atlas, which I soon found out that the Orcs were suffering from generally low activity, due to numerous reasons which I'm not 100% clear on.  Despite that, I yet again fell in love with the culture. The Race in general intrigues me, the fact that Orcs are colossal giants with a savagely predatory nature, however with the intellectual ability of any Human, and mixed with the same amounts of emotion. It added so much flavor to RP when you add in the fact that you're basically a 7-foot Predator but with a strict code of Honour.  There's so much I love about Orc RP, but I've already written a lot.
 

Lastly, what is one of your favorite experiences you’ve had on on LoTC?

TheNanMan2000: One of my favorites is from a Spirit Walk me and some other Orcs did not so long ago, hosted by Nazark'Gorkil.  We decided to visit Vulka, the Spirit of Strategy, Siegecraft, and Warfare, due to my Orc being a member of Clan Gorkil, an 8 IRL year old Clan made of Military Strategists, Masters of the Bloodlust and even some Blacksmithing.  Nazark did a short ritual, burning Cactus green in a fire, having us drink an unknown narcotic from a bowl and then projecting our souls to the Spirit Realm of Vulka, similar to how the Daedra have their own Realms from Elder Scrolls.  Whilst there, we explored her realm, with all it's unique quirks and designs, before visiting a Tower. We entered, and found a small looking Goblin. We asked him for help, and he agreed, so long as we would beat him in a game of chess.  After a hard game we played over a chess website, we finally won, and he showed us a secret passage to Vulka. Unknown to us though, that Goblin was the Spirit that used to be the Spirit of Strategy, Siegecraft, and Warfare before Vulka, but he was dethroned, and so was a shell of his former self.  Something I found especially intriguing. After going through the passageway, my Orc opened a trapdoor leading up a leader and seeing that a table was placed over the exit, he throws it into the air.. only to find out that table was the war-table Vulka and her Lesser Spirits were using to devise plans.  With little time to react, he was struck in the back of his leg with a spear, but Nazark, the Farseer, saved him by calling out. We then spoke to Vulka, who in fact takes on the appearance of a short Wood Elf woman with dreadlocks. After some time talking, my Orc asked if he could become her Champion, and she agreed, so long as he built her 5 shrines, converted 5 other to worship her, and did a deed worth telling future generations about..  So now, that's my Orc's quest, along with running Krugmar. Hopefully, he'll find his opportunity to fulfill that deed.
 

[NEXT: PLAYER PROVINCE CONT.]

Outstanding Staff Award

We present this accolade to an exceptional staff member. We are honored and humbled that they choose our team and our server. And this month the award goes to...

Temp/RancidHound

This individual performs exceptional work as a member of our staff. He takes initiative and, without anyone asking this of him, wrote a comprehensive concept post on conflict regulation and guidelines. In this, he discusses conflict roleplay and how we can improve the quality of this kind of roleplay on the server. He breaks down the phases of how the roleplay commences from the approach to the departure and gives detailed feedback on what should be expected from either side. Efforts such as these are what greatly improve as a staff team and a server. This is the beginning of the process for his concept and we look forward to seeing more of his hard work. Thank you for your contribution to the staff and the server!

Top VIP

The truth is that without the funds to cover our monthly costs we cannot support this wonderful experience. I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank you to our wonderful contributors. To the greatest VIP contributor this month we bid our humble gratitude and a spotlight in our newsletter.

notHawk

This individual of the community takes the cake for the month of December with a generous contribution. Their generosity is what helps keep the server up and running for all to enjoy. We thank you very much!
 

[NEXT: PLAYER PROVINCE CONT.]

Guide Spotlight

One way to lend service to your community is writing a guide! Bold players write them for a targeted audience and share expertise, commentary, tips. We present to you a compelling, practical, and ambitious guide written this month!
 

Guide to Roleplaying A Medical Patient

TarreBear: Big shout out to Toffee for writing up this amazing guide on how to roleplay a medical patient. It goes in depth on how to roleplay different types of illness, injuries, and diseases using resourceful information such as symptoms a person may encounter whilst being a patient. These types of guides help to improve roleplay quality and are great resources to all players alike. We encourage everyone to give it a read. Thank you for your contribution and hard work. We can’t wait for more!

Roleplay Spotlight

When we think roleplay often we immediately look to our fantastic Minecraft experience. Nonetheless! We are proud of you, our authors, who produce innumerable works—none the lesser, many are amusing, stimulating, and impactful. We’ve chosen one among the many creative posts this month.

A Mother’s Memory

This RP post by Delmodan is a very special and moving one. Not only is it beautifully written, it takes you on an emotional journey that really resonates with the reader. The post is about a Druidess who mourns at the grave of their deceased son, dreaming of what could have been if he had not passed.  This post is so moving because the author lets us in on their emotions and feelings they have experienced. Loss is one of the hardest things we go through in our lives and many times unexpected. We give you our condolences Delmodan and wish you nothing but joy and happiness in this new year.

[NEXT: CONCLUSION]

December was a good month and a great close to an eventful year. As we go into the new and open another chapter, we strive for change, improvement, and positivity for the betterment of our server and the community. We wish to put more focus on community and dynamic roleplay. May this be an amazing year for each and every one of you!

Have fun, take care, and thank you all,

LotC Administration