Voting Improvements! Voting is the single most important thing any of us can do to help our servers grow, and the fact of the matter is, almost no one does it anymore. That includes the staff, and it includes me. We don't blame you. Going to 8 external sites to complete an image captcha, watch an ad, fill in your username, and click submit all for a measly 800 rupies isn't the most fun. And even for those who don't mind putting in some effort to vote, sometimes you just can't remember. We have many changes planned for the way our voting system works so that you want to vote, but before any of them are implemented, we'd like to get some community input. Here is what we have planned so far: Implementing iFrames so you don't have to leave the site to vote - An iFrame, to put it simply, is a viewing window to another webpage. So instead of clicking 8 links, you can vote on the first site, and click an arrow to cycle to the next one, all from the comfort of shadecrest.com/vote. Cutting down on the total number of sites - This is something we're still not positive about. We're considering cutting the number of sites down from 8 to 4. If removing half the sites makes twice as many people vote, it's worth it. Ever since we increased the number of links on the vote page, the amount of players who vote regularly has dropped drastically. Going to 8 different voting sites is just too much for most people. Changing the reward system - Instead of a flat 100 rupies for every vote, every day, we'd like to spice it up. First and foremost, we'll be implementing a "points" system. Each vote gains you 1 point. You can either (A) redeem your points for rupies, or (B) buy otherwise unobtainable items and perks from an inventory-based vote shop, such as increased rate of xp gain for an hour. Secondly, we'll be incorporating a "vote lottery" of sorts. Each time you vote, you'll have a certain probability of getting additional rewards, ranging anywhere from experience to auction coupons to nether stars for the incredibly lucky. All of the potential rewards can be viewed via an inventory GUI. Improving rewards for top monthly voters - We already reward the top monthly voters, but we're looking to make some improvements to the system. Just like now, all voters above a certain number of votes will receive a monetary reward at the end of the month. But now, along with this, the top 3 voters will receive an in-game trophy commemorating their efforts, along with a podium display at spawn for the next month. The top all time voters will receive a similar display. At the beginning of the next month, everyone will be given a book that shows all the people who made it to 50 votes, 75 votes, etc. More Reminders to Vote - We would like to get a section going on the main page of the website that people see every time they visit. It will include a reminder to vote that links to the vote page along with the current top 5 voters and their respective vote counts. In-game, if you haven't voted in the last 24 hours, we will have a reminder system to send you a message when you log in. We don't want to remind you an annoying amount, just enough to ensure that you don't forget Creative - All of the aforementioned changes go for creative as well (albeit the vote lottery). The creative point shop will offer extra building utilities and WorldEdit features. This will be necessary with the EULA changes going into effect. What We Need from You: Give us your input. Why do you personally not vote? What would you like to see changed about our system that would make you interested in voting everyday? Do you agree with the ideas listed above? Input from the community is crucial if we want our servers to grow and prosper. On a side note, not everyone has stopped voting regularly. We'd like to make a shout out to k9katz and StephenP67 who have voted almost everyday this month.
Looks Great! I haven't really been on survival much this month so I haven't voted much Vanilla and ftb both have been holding me back
I don't vote cuzz I hate having to open a browser that's the main reason...secondly I do pretty much everything on my smartphone regarding the forum etc...so if a mobile vote app or something for mobile...that'll be good follow the buzzards
I kinda just forget to vote, I have a routine in the mornings, and I've never bee able to integrate voting into it for some reason. With the reminders, maybe have a text thing, like the ones ingame, but in the shoutbox? Like once every 2 hours or something. Maybe after 27 messages?
I think a pop-up like reminder would be best fit the forums. Considering minecraft has a similar feature with links it might be able to be done in game as well.
The reminder to vote should not be that big, it should be noticeable, but not too in your face. Sent from Sleberts phone
I vote most days. I have links to all the sites in one bookmark folder and open them all at once in their own tabs. That way they are all loaded and it's just a matter of completing one, closing the tab and doing the next. The main stumbling block for me is the 24 hour limit. It basically means it gets a bit later every day when you can vote again until it gets so late you have to miss a day. But basically it doesn't take 5 minutes to complete them all. Well it is a bit of a pain on a phone or ipod but if you're on the computer to play anyway I don't see it as much of an imposition.
Yeah, I honestly don't see why the sites don't just have the count reset at a certain time each day. That way, you can still only vote once every 24 hour period, and it doesn't force you to skip a day.
Some of them operate that way, and some operate the way Stephen described. It would make things much simpler if they all had a certain time to reset.
What if we altered the banner add somewhat, or the page banner. So kinda like a lot of the websites have the scrolling thing, where there's something like 4 or 5 slides, that change on a periodic basis. Kinda like what Steam does with it's sales (Not the summer ones). All of them would have the Shadecrest brand plastered on then, but there could be one for Creative, Survival, Vanilla, Space engineers, and voting; as well as anything else like major announcements like version updates. Just a semi-flashy thing to tell people about all the awesome things we have on offer.
Unfortunately, no. The only data we have is from the start of this month and beyond, since in the past we've actually deleted our data at the end of the month.