What makes a Great Server Great?

[skwerel]

Discuss:

1. When looking for a new server to move to, what do you look for? What turns you off?

2. What sort of things make you want to stay upon initially exploring a server? What makes you want to leave?

3. What makes you want to stick with a server long-term?

[warpspeed10]

I like playing with the more obscure parts of the mods, so when I see that the owner has disabled items central to computer craft, railcraft, and redpower, I usually look elsewhere. This includes disabling scrap used in crafting fertilizer for IC2 crops.

When I first join a server, I want to be able to read the rules and get to playing as soon as possible. If the wilderness is far away/ confusing to get to I'm not likely to stay. The ideal spawn, in my opinion, is a simple clearing outside of an impressive city. Make sure the clearing has boards with essential rules displayed, and any other non essentials like plugin usage, and donator ranks can be off to the side. The point is, your new players will be able to run away from the city and start playing, or spend a few minutes exploring your awesome city and then begin. You don't want to trap new players in a complex maze of rules or a gigantic city. Short login to first wood time is a must.

In terms of long term retention, the only real factors are community interaction and server up time. Try hosting some server wide community games/builds, also keep a close eye on the friendliness and helpfulness of your staff.