As may of you know, the shops are not working. The problem is our NPC plugin called Citizens. They are working on Citizens2 which is going to be awesome, but in the meantime they have stopped fixing bugs on citizens1 ( the version we use)  Citizens 2 is in beta now, with no clear release date.  I did try it once, but there is no trader NPC available anyway so it has no use to us and switched back.
So… to bring the shops back online we are going  to move to a sign based shop system.  We will keep with the sign shops  until Citizens2 comes out, then the NPC’s will return.

It will work much the same way with a few differences…

• Each Item must have it’s own sign. Some of our shops are very small, so space will be a issue. We may have to build some sort of temporary shop areas to buy and sell items we don’t have room for in the main shops.
• Being a sign, there wont be pictures of the items, so it may be hard for some players to “shop”
• It isn’t as fun as having NPCs in the shops, selling you items.
• Items can be sold more than 1 at a time, which is a +
• Items can be sold as a set.
• And a big one… Users will be able to open their own shops!  You stock, you set the price, you get the profits.  There will be some rules for this one, so stay tuned for those, we are still testing, but I am looking to have this rolled out this weekend.
• Once the NPCs  are back, Most of the sign shops will be removed, but player run shops will stay.

Users can now log in to the right. Make sure you use your Minecraft username (case sensitive) and your avatar from Minecraft!  Registering will give you access to e-mail updates,  an will allow you to comment on posts. 

New Plugin!  MC Jobs

• I installed this jobs plugin a few weeks ago. We were had just started testing it, when a update came out. This update had a default tax groups built in. I didn’t know this at the time and VGS players where just about to get out the picket signs and magic markers. : )
• I have disabled taxes and you now live in a tax free utopia again, with one exception… TNT. I have been noticing a lot a craters around the world and one of the rules is no TNT above ground except if you are using it clear areas to build. So the is a TNT block place tax of $100. We can adjust it higher or lower if we need to.
• There is new Job and Skill Center on the south side of town. It is between the 2 tunnels, in the side of the mountain. (Look for the giant Pickaxe) This building will has buttons to press to get info, join or leave a job. (no need for commands, but you can still type /jobs join/leave <type> if you would like.)
• Rules are simple, you can pick up to 3 jobs. Once you do, you will be paid every 30 mins.
• There is a 15 min cool down period when you leave a job. You will need to wait 15 mins before joining  that same job again. This is prevent rapid job changes as you do different tasks.  We may make this longer if we notice any problems. Future updates of this plugin will offer higher pay when you stay on a job longer.
• Pay is set how we want now, but if we discover loopholes and exploits in the system are being used, we will modify pay rates.
• Admins! If you want to join a job you will have to type different command, get with me if you need help. It is a permissions problem that I can’t figure out.

New Players!

• Please be sure to  welcome this new group of 5 players to the server!
• tydixie
• HaVoC935
• McGreggor
• TerryBadd
• encryptid

New Plugin

• We have installed a plugin so admins can reload individual plugins!
• What this means to you is less restarts and no more server reloads
• If you find a plugin acting up let a admin know,
• If you need to buy something, and the npc is gone… we can reload them now.

Protection Plugins!

• I’ve been around the server and have seen a lot of users using MyChunk and Lockette.
• This is great, I love seeing you guys use the plugins. It takes a lot of hard work to make sure everything stays updated and works properly.
• We have decided to move to Mychunk as our primary land protection plugin….  we still will be using residence,  but it is mainly going to used for server areas.
• 2 reasons for this is;  how easy Mychunk is to use, and the selection tool for res is not working at this time, so users can only select boxes in a radius.
• Users can still use res if they choose, and no residences will be removed. But from here on in, we will be pointing users toward Mychunk instead of Res.
• Just a reminder of how to use Mychunk below. And a video tutorial.
• MyChunk Usage (all the sign commands for Mychunk, you can allow just some users access to edit your chunk)
• MyChunk Flags (allow other players access to specific types of actions)

Well it has been a couple of months since we switched to our new map full of protected areas, vendors, monsters, new resources and all the goodness that comes along with a new map.  This begs the question, what about the old maps?  Well the original plan was to move to the new map while leaving the old maps available for a short time.  Well…. that time has come.  We will be switching 100% to the new maps in the upcoming month.

So what does this mean to you?

1. You will be responsible for moving any items from the old map systems (Mobs or World)
2. If you would like your creations moved, please contact an admin and he or she can help you move it to a location on the new map
3. The online maps for these two worlds (mobs and world) will no longer be updated and in fact eventually removed from the website
4. We are thinking that if you want a copy of the original world or mobs, we will make it available for download upon request

These changes will slowly but surely come to life in the next month, so it means that if there’s anything you’ve been hold off moving, now is the time.  Some common questions might be:

Q. What if I don’t want to play in a world with monsters.. my stuff might be blown up.

A. With the Residence plugin you can buy a property and set it so that monster cannot spawn or even wander into your property.  Here is a link to residence command lines.

Q. Will there be any other worlds that will be removed?

A. The only other worlds might be the nether associated with these different worlds, but that also means that the new nether will have the unique monsters and resources that go along with the new mapping system

Q. Why are you doing this?!?!!?

A. It was our plan all along to eventually remove these maps.. we’ve just really taken our time doing it.  This will also open a world of possibilities including a possible move to a real time mapping system which would have overwhelmed our system if we’re running 4-5+ maps.

Q. If I want a copy of the old worlds, how can I get them?

A.  I will be uploading them to the web server and giving out the address to those who request it.  Please fill out our contact us form and request a copy of the old maps.  Once you have downloaded these, there will be no support for getting them working on your computer, but it should be pretty straight forward.

Feel free to ask any other questions either through our Facebook page or contacting us directly.  One last thing.. there will be a “to be announced” event before the removal of the old map systems.. stay tuned to Facebook or this webpage for information on that event.

I just want remind everyone of the rules about chests…

1. Only take from chests you own or have permission to access by the owner.
2. This rule applies to all worlds, old and new. (even if someone’s house seems long abandoned, they may be active in the new world and may still use their old locations)
3. You still can take from chests that are obviously in dungeons, strongholds and mines.
4. If you are unsure if a chest is ok to take out of, ask an admin, we can scan it and see whose it is.
5. This rule does not apply to contests when chests are part of the game, but setup for contests can take time. Some may take weeks to set up, as the contest makers may have family and/or job obligations that come first.. If you come across a contest/event location,  do not remove the contents.  (also please do not try to find contest areas before contests or to ask about the content of contests;  they are meant to be a surprise and can  take a lot of work to put together)
6. Remember to protect your chests. It just takes a sign! Simply place a sign onto the side of your chest (no writing) and it’s locked, so easy. Look below for some info on Lockette, our locking plugin.

How to use lockette

1. The easy way to use lockette is to slap a sign on any chest, it will automatically input the text like in the example above.
2. If you want to write another name on the 3nd and 4th lines, you can allow access to other people.
3. You can use lockette on jukeboxes, furnaces, dispensers, enchantment tables and doors
4. To lock a door, just put a sign above a door with [private] (brackets included) on the first line, and the 3rd and 4th line can be for other player’s names you want to grant access to.
5. Works on double doors and double chests (requires only one sign, but you can add more if you want to grant access to more that 2 other people.
6. There are some examples in the welcome center if you need help (basement level 2, or the lift in the player center)
7. Some quick rules on lockette.

• Only place locks on chests you made… Period! anyone caught locking other people’s chests without permission will lose the items in the chest and spend some time jail.
• Putting locks on exterior doors is strongly discouraged except for your private home. We want people to explore the server and look at other peoples creations, locking doors prevents this. It is not against the rules to lock a exterior door, I just ask you not too.
• Remember admins can bypass locked doors, and break locks on chests. But we will only do it if we have a good reason for it.

Thanks for you time everyone!

Due bongo’s work schedule the contest may be move back a bit, as he is unsure what time he will get off work tonight.  But it will be tonight.

All plugins have been checked and updated if available.  We are now running the newest available versions.

Hopefully this helps with some of the lag issues a bit… here’s hoping!

Coming up this weekend, Saturday the 5th at 8p EST, will be another server contest.  Im not going to give many details about it, just trust me, you’ll dig it!  :)  Hope to see a good crowd for this one….

Check it out, Idiotboy did a great job on them, the are faster than the old ones, and have shading , so they look better too.

Some plugin is causing some users to spawn in town when they connect. If you need help getting back to a location we can try to help. We are working on the problem. Some other plugins may be not working correctly at the moment, and we are aware of some various issues. Sorry for any problems you may have as a result.