Creative revival Ideas

We would have a rather complex ranking system if we go that route.
Ex
_________Guest__________
Builder 1__Tinker___Sketcher
Builder 2__Engineer__Artist
App___________________
Architect_______________
Creator_________________

But then to get app you would have to have a combination of skills which also means that the tags would have to be combined for the overlapping ranks. A system similar to this might be successful in a larger server but with our small community we wouldn't have the numbers to pull extra groups.

 

Agreed. We would be able to justify it if we had more than a half dozen Redstoners and Pixel artists.

This discussion has been had at least 3 times before, it might be a good idea to veto it before you all get worked up again. It would be too complex to implement, and there really isn't much benefit to it.

 

Actually, you can still have an easy system for redstone and pixel ranks. If they build well enough, just put a little p or r tag next to their name. Doesn't impact on the other ranks nor have any perks, just provides some small achievement to look up to.

 

Fair enough, keeping them seperate tracks makes it easier.

 

Since suggestions are being thrown out there:

As I mentioned elsewhere, getting levels is fairly easy here. As Nav said several pages ago, this presents a two-fold issue. 1) It drives away people that want to prove what they can do and test themselves against a stiffer criteria. 2) Those decent builders that aren't driven away by the lack of stiffer criteria blaze through the ranks and reach the end of the line. Then, with nothing else to strive for, they lose interest and drift away.

I had some trouble finding inspiration on SC. There were about 2 - 3 good builders that I could get some style ideas from, but not much else. I got along great with the staff, a very friendly bunch, however, the critiquing aspect of the promotion I found to be somewhat lacking. This didn't really help me advance my knowledge or skills which is something that I wanted to have happen. Likewise, there were only a handful of builds that actually gave me pause to go through and look at. Nothing was overly inspiring, which is a drag because many people need some sort of inspiration to get cranking on a project.

To that end, I really don't think that a 'creative' server should create special ranks for sub-par builders who just want a place to log in to and fool around with gamemode 1. If players want to play together, allow them to co-build as guests on guest plots. If 4 friends hop on to build together, they have 4 plots with which to work. That's plenty of room for building dirt cabins etc.

Suggestion A
If you're plan is to gamify creative, might as well just take most of the ranks out altogether, make all of the plots the same size, possibly keep a 'builder' or 'architect' rank to it for those that show promise and give them a showcase plotworld to build in. You won't attract or keep dedicated builders with such an environment, so the entire thing should be geared towards those that just want to play with their friends and try things out.

Suggestion B
My personal preference would be to see the ranks firmed up, all the staff practiced up on constructive critiquing (not that they're bad, but if things are to be firmer there needs to be a consistent method of critiquing) and styles, firm but fair reviews given for each build, and you work your way up the chain. If you suck at building, you stay in the lower ranks. If you show promise and have the ability to improve, you advance.

- Aen


Edit: And for the love of God, please get rid of the open worlds. Ideally it would be plot worlds up until the very last rank you could possibly get. This not only benefits the builder, as they will have an idea of what space they really need to work with to possibly advance to the next level, it also will help make critiquing more consistent.

 

Suggestion for the staff then.

They have a private (Like an isolated plot or area in the terrain world) build, in which they have example builds, one of pass quality, one of fail quality , and one of an exceptional quality. They do this for every rank, so then all staff members have a visual guide as to the level expected. Each of these builds would have signs on them, detailing things that need to be watched out for.

And pls no. Please don't get rid of the terrain world. Sometimes it's nice for a builder not to have to design the terrain for their build right down to the minute details.

 

This idea can also be used to demonstrate to guests. Especially if it is the same build that is modified to a standard of each level.

 

We were heading down the path of "Suggestion B". I think all builders need a goal to reach, and if they can't come to our new standard of building they just won't rank up.

 

Again, it depends on the type of audience trying to be reached. Having a plotted scope within which to be creative helps promote creativity in my opinion, and creative use of a tight space to realize your vision should be a part of the ranking/critiquing process. Leave the open terrain worlds for those that reach whatever the final rank is.

 

It really depends on what your muse is though. I know that myself, and others like me build with existing terrain, and our builds evolve to fit the terrain around it. Sometimes having a blank canvas is good, and sometimes it's good to have a few shapes to work around.

Neither is really better than the other. But I believe that only having plots would make the server become stale.

 

Because that's not already happened.

 

I agree with the "Style Specific ranks" because quite frankly, I hate building things that are too original and mainstream, and somehow I'm better at modern and contemporary builds since its all about simplicity and style (like ikea) . If I have a picture open with Minecraft open at the same time I can almost copy it exactly. I get on when I could so I'll assume I'm a casual builder, I mean it took me 2 years to build this because of college Lmao. That was the most time I have ever built something in the world of Minecraft...
http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/5th-mansion/

 

So when are we going to start our plans?
I feel like creating a new spawn should probably come before anything else.

 

Let it be an epic spawn! Or they can just copy paste a existing apprentice build that is astonishing or something. I think this should be a priority because people get out of school May and June and the server might get it's people once again.

 

A new spawn is a nice after thought, but it won't help in the long run, and therefore imo it really isn't top priority. It's just something that can be built in the short term.

As for a build itself, I would suggest one of you draw up some plans/proposals then.

 

I like how we all set forth a team to get things done . And collaborate as a whole with a common idea and interest in this.

 

I say we create a definitive, comprehensive, prioritized list of things we need to do before blindly starting any of this. It's a good way to make sure we're all on the same page, improve our efficiency, and prevent us from doing anything stupid. From there, we can figure out who's doing what, lay out some time frames, and get shit done I think that's the best method for preventing this from turning into another big, talked-up flop.

 

We just need to get a time when everyone is available. As far as the list of things we need to get accomplished, it's the very first post in this thread.
-Remove the terrain world
-New plot sizes
-New rank names
-Make ranking hard
-New spawn
-Builds points
Not really sure if we are all on board for the new Creative PMC page.

 

I'd say one of the most important things to create a final idea we can work on are the Build Points. Personally, I believe this is one of the major "game-changing" updates we are making to Creative. On the original post we came up with these ideas for purchase with Build Points. If anyone has any more suggestions, please do not hesitate to post them.

• Nicknames (within reason)
• Extra plots
• Particle effects
• Pets (EchoPet)
• Hats
• Access to /tp
• Disguise
• Prefixes/Suffixes (Again, within reason)

The only problem with these is how to distribute them. I thought we could give them to players when they ranked up, to encourage people and help them stay motivated on builds. Additional ways of getting these points could be through voting, winning build competitions, and maybe as suggested before: building themed builds like a medieval category, fantasy, etc... (I don't know if this would be implemented though honestly)

If anyone has any other ideas about how to distribute these I'd love to hear it.

And just a clarification for anyone who knows.... can you give people build points for donating? It would be a nice addition to give people.

 

One selfish question regarding the terrain world thing. Steamtown is almost definitely too big to fit on an apprentice plot. Unless that Arch plotworld thing is still kicking, then Imma have to either dl it, or figure something else out.

Also, wasn't there that freebuild world thingo?

And finally, just as an addition to the above. Build islands. Don't forget them.