[diamond_boss]

Okay, so with all the talk about how Minerealm is dead and stuff, people have been offering suggestions for how we can improve activity on the server and the amount of people playing. To keep things short, Minerealm is in a depression because, for the most part, people are bored of the game and moving on with their lives. Chances are a lot of old regulars won't be coming back anyways for the above reason... and a lot of people are too busy to play. No, it's not because of Mojang or Microsoft or the fact that overall, people are playing less in general at this "time of year".

Nah.

Minerealm is just kinda dead.

So I'm gonna get right to the point and say that tiny little adjustments to the game aren't gonna fix the overall problem of their being very few players online. Nobody's interest in the game is just gonna resurrect overnight because 'oh, look! different kinds of wooden doors!' or something. To be very honest, the only change that may possibly revive people's interest in the game has to be a big one.

So let me propose my suggestion: unban everyone. Make a clear slate, start over. There's no way that this can go wrong. All of the minor offenders like one-time trolls and hackers that only played for a bit and then bit the dust likely don't even remember this server anymore. The old, old players like Kress and Lightbulbs and whoever who are notorious on this server probably don't care much anymore to cause major trouble either (if you haven't moved on then I honestly feel sorry for you.) The in-between offenders who were banned a bunch of times and finally got perma'd are the main reason I want this suggestion to go through. That probably sounds insane. Well, they're the guys who, unlike many people right now, are itching to play and have invested a lot of time into Minerealm. Not saying that they deserve to be let back after their repeated mistakes, but chances are they'll definitely be playing should they be given another chance to finally get back.

In the end, whether we get a plethora of troublemakers or real talk people who actually want to play online, Minerealm traffic will undoubtedly increase. And to be perfectly honest, if I may ever be more convicted to a statement made on these forums or the server in my time playing here... I'd much rather see Minerealm hot and buzzing with people going crazy, causing trouble and making bad decisions then absolutely nothing happening at all, seeing less and less activity by the day. I liked those days better. I'm sure we all did.

At the end of the day, should this go through... even if it goes terribly, horribly wrong, it's still a game, and we tried. So there's no reason not to.

So here we are. Whether we're shot down or not, at least we tried to save what's left.

[diamond_boss]

In addition to my earlier points, I would like to say that being as it's Minerealm's 4th birthday, it is even more crucial that this suggestion and others concerning the inactivity problem are taken into consideration. I mean, It's the server's 4 year anniversary and it seems like not a lot of people care. In past years, this same even was taken as much more. That's just an example of how bad the problem really is.

Also, I wanted to add that with the possibility of another server (5.0 map) it would be useful if, perhaps, when activity shifts to the 5.0 server, that everyone is unbanned on the 4.0 server. It feels right, like with a new start (5.0 map), the old slate will also be made new. That's my opinion. It wouldn't hurt to unbar everyone on the server that likely will only became less popular if a new server comes around.

*sorry for the double post rather than an edit to the OP, I felt it appropriate that this post was included separately.

[Grelman]

What about just keeping it a bit more simple and allowing everyone to start with a clean slate on the new server, and keeping the old one as is? That is granted the new server becomes a reality sometime in the future.

[SkullRose]

There are definitely pros and cons to this but I personally think it would simply be very interesting or maybe a complete migraine but we'll never know unless we try.

[falareborn]

Lol, no, just no.

[bahnchef]

I voted yes because it is worth a try at least. Perhaps some of those players who have contributed to the community or built a lot before being banned will return to the server. Provided they'll take notice of their unban at all.

But I'm afraid this won't cause a significant increase of the number of active players. My observation was that the vast majority of banned players were banned shortly after their first join - they were bored trolls that swore twice, stole from nearby chests or said the forbidden name of a Youtube troll. As dlgn said, most of them won't remember the name of this server. They just moved to the next server and likely got banned there again.

So I think there is no reason why we shouldn't try it. I'm sure there won't be a rush of x-rayers and griefers ready to tyrannize the community. And even if there are some persistent trolls, they'll be banned immediately again.

This unban should come along with the new v5 server. Otherwise it won't have a material effect.

But anyway, this idea should be given a chance.

[falareborn]

I'm sure there won't be a rush of x-rayers and griefers ready to tyrannize the community.

Oh you would be amazed.

[gallinka]

No for 2 reasons:

#1: In case you haven't forgotten, Intelli OWNs and runs the server (with help from rokkr and all of staff). It is a dictatorship. There is NO democracy as far as these decisions go. Intelli is human and I am sure willing to admit when he is wrong (is he ever wrong though?). I know he is open to suggestions too, BUT his word is final and both him, rokkr and staff make the decision to permaban a player.

#2: The rules on this server are really not that hard to follow. In the case of a ban where an argument was made that the rules were not clear (and I can count on one hand where this has happened) either there extenuating circumstances (the player had multiple bans, etc) and a ban appeal was not accepted, or the ban appeal was accepted after a short punishment period. Permabanned players, on the other hand, where proven to either not be willing to follow the rules or just unable to follow them NOT ONCE BUT MULTIPLE TIMES! This happened to the point were it became a pattern. A simple ban was not enough and thus they were permabanned.

Are there players who could come back after a permaban and follow the rules and make a positive contribution to the community? Probably, but which ones. How do we pick and choose. If we make the wrong call or let everyone back in it WILL have a negative affect on the community and that is unacceptable.

[Valendr0s]

I think our goal can be accomplished without this rather drastic step.

Our problem is too few active players. So we need advertising. There are many sites around the web that allow for voting on servers. And when you incentive voting, everybody wins - the server gets more exposure and you get something (say 5,000 credits per vote or something).

Find the places where people go to find servers to play on (reddit, mineservers.com. Even planet minecraft - though that website tends to evoke a bit of a Pavlovian recoil on this server), and keep your entries active. Check comments as much as you check them for the forums here.

However, I *WOULD* be in favor of a temporary ban situation rather than permanent ban. I was a kid once. And now that we're 4 years old, I can imagine a kid being a jerk 1-4 years ago, but today could potentially be a productive member of our server. He may not even remember all the servers he's banned from.

[Dj Lance Rock]

I'm going to crawl out of the woodwork to say three main things.

1.) Yes, actually. Yes, BUT
2.) You uh, might want to leave Lights banned. That said,

3.) the villains on the server gave people a common enemy. Brought a sense of thrill to things. Food for thought.

Clearly this idea is absolutely insane, but it has merit. Unbanning EVERYONE though? Have you ever seen that list? Some graves are best left undisturbed.