My action plan - what I'm doing for Survival

[Towelie]

Here's a list of actions I will take beginning now to try and bring Survival back on track.

#1. Step up our advertisement game, even if it means covering from my own pocket. I have no issue with paying from my own pocket to promote SFT and thankfully my wage now makes me afford that. So effective immediately, I have placed a bid on the best minecraft server listing website for a sponsored slot (bidding $205). It ends in a day.
I've also ramped up our advertising on Project Wonderful (in case you don't know what that is, it's basically a place which allows me to bid on our ads showing up on various sites, all which feature Minecraft content, so a prime target for new players. I also plan on starting either a Reddit or a Twitter campaign. Overall, I estimate spending about $400 on ads this month (we made $311 this month so far, so I assume I'm mostly going to cover that from my own pocket)

#2 Develop our portfolio - Look into adding more servers to the network to give players what they might like in order to retain more players. To this effect Prison is being developed by @blalp and we are considering other projects such as a minigame server.

#3 Identify weak areas on Survival which need to be fixed. @TheOfficialMiner  - you are in charge. Get in there, talk to people, find out what their complaints are and get back to me with an aggregated report.

#4 Solidify my position on a full reset. Which I am doing right now: There won't be a full reset for now. Yes, for now. Because I can never say without reasonable doubt that I won't want to do a reset in 6 months or 12 or 5 years. That possibility is always there, just as it always was. But for now there won't be a reset, I encourage everyone to get back in-game and build. Even if we do make a reset, I guarantee I will come up with a way for you to still be able to visit your own builds (either by offering the old worlds for download, or by setting up srvdev as a museum, which people can visit any time). Also, in the event of a full reset, I can guarantee we will transfer items without any value but with sentimental value. However, like I said, there will be no reset for now. I would like to add however, that when I will think that there is the time for a reset and I think the benefits outweigh the risks, I reserve the right to do it without asking anyone for a poll.  Ultimately my first goal is to ensure the survival of the survival server, and that may mean stepping on some toes in the process, something I am not afraid to do. I did that in the past, and it proved to be a succesful move. The only reason I am not doing it now is because I don't think the benefits outweigh the risks.

#5 Punish anyone speculating / spreading misinformation or false rumors about the full reset. There won't be a full reset for now, so anyone saying otherwise, will be punished as I see fit. I encourage the staff to apply this rule

#6 The attitude of some older players needs to change. They either need to show some respect or be punished appropriately (whether that means losing their ranks or whatever). Gone is the time when I will allow legends to make a circus. Legend should be a respectable rank and I expect the bearers of this rank to comply.

#7 Tweak the vote system. Vote Party is the future! In time, we will give up the current VoteRewards system and only remain with VoteParty to become fully EULA compliant. To that respect, I've made some changes to VoteParty:
-Added SteveCo Crates 51,52
-Added Totem of Undying (1/4 rarity)
-Added nether star (1/64 rarity)
-Added mending enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added frost walker enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added end rod (1/4 rarity)
-Tweaked various drops and drop chances

Thank you and feel free to comment/suggest a better way of doing things.

NOTE: I want to stress out that we really need donations to pay our bills. I would like to get to the bottom of why people aren't donating and what I can do about that. If you are a former donator that no longer donates, please drop me a PM explaining why, and most importantly, what I can do to get your interest again.

[Towelie]

#6 The attitude of some older players needs to change. They either need to show some respect or be punished appropriately (whether that means losing their ranks or whatever). Gone is the time when I will allow legends to make a circus. Legend should be a respectable rank and I expect the bearers of this rank to comply.

This should not be misconstrued as censorship. I will never stand in the way of someone speaking their mind regardless how old or new they may be. However, when that's done in a really rude and inappropriate tone, then it begs to question whether that person should continue being seen as an older, respected individual.

[NutellaToastx]

Great post - I feel very informed.

Also- I've donated quite a lot, and the main reason I don't really buy anything anymore is because I've pretty much got everything I want, more cool stuff would be awesome.

Also, thank you for being so on top of things and caring so much for SFT. Hopefully the bidding goes well.

[nicholiplays]

minigames is what i live for, especially if its on sft i can play with players that i enjoy talking to. but hopefully its actually fun games that wont die off

[Towelie]

minigames is what i live for, especially if its on sft i can play with players that i enjoy talking to. but hopefully its actually fun games that wont die off

We also have /play if you haven't checked it out. It's exactly minigames you can play with other people.

[quickredf0x]

Great post - I feel very informed.

Also- I've donated quite a lot, and the main reason I don't really buy anything anymore is because I've pretty much got everything I want, more cool stuff would be awesome.

Also, thank you for being so on top of things and caring so much for SFT. Hopefully the bidding goes well.

I understand what you mean but I have some prior knowledge on this sort of subject. On a server I previously played on, the owners did their best to supply whatever kits the players wanted (especially for higher ranks that were achieved solely through donations). Around the time I stopped playing for personal reasons, the main owner commented that mojang was *making him get rid of the kits because they were too op*. The server ended up being reset as a result and it lost nearly all the staff and players. I'm not saying it would happen here, especially considering how much better SFT is run, but its worth thinking about in this situation.

However this does not mean that the kits could not be adjusted, improved, or expanded. From what I have seen on survival, you guys have your sticks in a bundle. I trust that things will work out just fine.

[nicholiplays]

Yeah but its not as fun as physically moving on MC and playing actual minigames @Towelie

[MrChanango]

I'm very pleased with the way SFT is heading.
Thanks Tow!

[Towelie]

In case you missed my original post update:

#7 Tweak the vote system. Vote Party is the future! In time, we will give up the current VoteRewards system and only remain with VoteParty to become fully EULA compliant. To that respect, I've made some changes to VoteParty:
-Added SteveCo Crates 51,52
-Added Totem of Undying (1/4 rarity)
-Added nether star (1/64 rarity)
-Added mending enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added frost walker enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added end rod (1/4 rarity)
-Tweaked various drops and drop chances

[MrRed2017]

Hope this will enlighten SFT and bring us back up on our 2 feet


On a side note @Towelie, the in-game announcement to this post is broken. The goo.gl link has an & in it, which makes the link invalid for people who click on it;

[T4Tom2]

I'm very pleased with the way SFT is heading.
Thanks Tow!

Chan, I don't understand.

One minute your calling for a reset to change SFT and 'save it'

The next you're saying how much of a good direction SFT is headed?

[SpeashuLK]

I'm very pleased with the way SFT is heading.
Thanks Tow!

Chan, I don't understand.

One minute your calling for a reset to change SFT and 'save it'

The next you're saying how much of a good direction SFT is headed?

This is not constructive. In my mind, it's an example of a community turn-off.

Reset is not happening so Chan is probably moving forward... which is detrimental to this servers survival.

Why don't you join us! 

[blalp]

#2 Develop our portfolio - Look into adding more servers to the network to give players what they might like in order to retain more players. To this effect Prison is being developed by [attach]@blalp[/attach] and we are considering other projects such as a minigame server.

If you guys have ideas for this of features you want to see, please pm me.

[MrChanango]

I'm very pleased with the way SFT is heading.
Thanks Tow!

Chan, I don't understand.

One minute your calling for a reset to change SFT and 'save it'

The next you're saying how much of a good direction SFT is headed?

This is not constructive. In my mind, it's an example of a community turn-off.

Reset is not happening so Chan is probably moving forward... which is detrimental to this servers survival.

Why don't you join us! 

Thanks Speashu,
Tom, all I was saying was I liked how Tow was coming up with other ideas besides a reset to make SFT a better place.

[MrChanango]

In case you missed my original post update:

#7 Tweak the vote system. Vote Party is the future! In time, we will give up the current VoteRewards system and only remain with VoteParty to become fully EULA compliant. To that respect, I've made some changes to VoteParty:
-Added SteveCo Crates 51,52
-Added Totem of Undying (1/4 rarity)
-Added nether star (1/64 rarity)
-Added mending enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added frost walker enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added end rod (1/4 rarity)
-Tweaked various drops and drop chances

I would change Totem of Undying's to 1/8 or 1/12, and Mending to 1/16.
Mending is too useful to be in circulation so much.
@Towelie

[blakus87]

In case you missed my original post update:

#7 Tweak the vote system. Vote Party is the future! In time, we will give up the current VoteRewards system and only remain with VoteParty to become fully EULA compliant. To that respect, I've made some changes to VoteParty:
-Added SteveCo Crates 51,52
-Added Totem of Undying (1/4 rarity)
-Added nether star (1/64 rarity)
-Added mending enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added frost walker enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added end rod (1/4 rarity)
-Tweaked various drops and drop chances

I would change Totem of Undying's to 1/8 or 1/12, and Mending to 1/16.
Mending is too useful to be in circulation so much.
@Towelie

Agree

[VirginianAE]

Tow, I like your thoughts. I think the older vets become a big part of the solution. As much as many of us have different opinions on how SFT should be administrated, we should all have the common goal of seeing the community stay strong and seeing it move forward.  Once we start hitting the point where the inability of the group to ban together begins to create an existential threat to SFT, you would hope we could see past our differences.

[MrChanango]

#2 Develop our portfolio - Look into adding more servers to the network to give players what they might like in order to retain more players. To this effect Prison is being developed by @blalp and we are considering other projects such as a minigame server.

If you guys have ideas for this of features you want to see, please pm me.

I know this has been talked about and is currently being worked on (I think) but SkyFactory.

[blalp]

I know this has been talked about and is currently being worked on (I think) but SkyFactory.

Yes we are more info in posts below
https://www.superfuntime.org/forum/index.php/topic,174814.msg832566.html#new
https://www.superfuntime.org/forum/index.php/topic,173894.0

[ironlord82]

Tow, i'd personally love to donate, but me being a dumb ol 12 year old, i cant (Meaning im not allowed to rip)

[Lunarine]

Tow, thank you for all you do to keep the server up and running. I love SFT and I really enjoy playing there and all the friends I've made so far.

[truewolfmaster]

Tow, i'd personally love to donate, but me being a dumb ol 12 year old, i cant (Meaning im not allowed to rip)

so vote and get SFT up there on voting sites

[Towelie]

Hope this will enlighten SFT and bring us back up on our 2 feet


On a side note @Towelie, the in-game announcement to this post is broken. The goo.gl link has an & in it, which makes the link invalid for people who click on it;

fixed

[Towelie]

In case you missed my original post update:

#7 Tweak the vote system. Vote Party is the future! In time, we will give up the current VoteRewards system and only remain with VoteParty to become fully EULA compliant. To that respect, I've made some changes to VoteParty:
-Added SteveCo Crates 51,52
-Added Totem of Undying (1/4 rarity)
-Added nether star (1/64 rarity)
-Added mending enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added frost walker enchantment book (1/8 rarity)
-Added end rod (1/4 rarity)
-Tweaked various drops and drop chances

I would change Totem of Undying's to 1/8 or 1/12, and Mending to 1/16.
Mending is too useful to be in circulation so much.
@Towelie

Fixed

[765Zombie]

I think it's a great plan. I left the server for about a year and a half in late 2015 after retiring from staff rank because of the repetitive things everyone did each day, and I feel it went downhill. I think people aren't donating because we aren't as massive as we used to be, ("what's the point of donating to a dying server?") they say. If we can somehow get our playerbase back to the size it was in 2012+ I think we can bring it back up. If that happened, I believe that many players, new and old will join again. And with the release of newer games, minecraft gets kinda left behind. I agree that we need something new more up to date with other current Minecraft servers, something that'll pique other's interest. Prison sounds great, and maybe skyblock, definitely minigames, and if hunger games servers are still a thing, maybe revive that server to help us too. What my point is, is that I agree with you and that to fix the server we will need a massive amount of renovations, additions, and advertisement. We can pull this off guys, we just need to be on our feet.