What are people looking for?

[Conker5295]

Hey guys i just wanted to take the time as a server owner to ask; What are players looking for when they join a server. What kinds of things do you expect? what keeps you playing? what turns you away and what kind of things do u wish they had/didnt have?

Thanks alot guys!

[Beer]

I expect a server to be run by professional administrators. Every one of the administrators should have, or have had some kind of job or same level responsibility to understand what it means to be professional and how to interact with their players. With that level of care, moderators are picked with higher scrutiny and overall the online experience tends to be a lot better.

Also, greylists are a must. It's easy to just fart around and have someone whitelisted, but to get a staff who does background checks on -every- -single- -player- is pretty unique; however, it leads to a much better playerbase, griefing is curbed by at least 80% and the moderators/administrators are free to do better things with their time than having to go around fixing things that some asshat decided would be fun to fuck with.

Active forums are a plus but not necessary as we're leading into an age where people prefer to talk (ala Ventrilo, Teamspeak, or Skype (apparently)), but it serves a purpose as a general board of information to direct new players to.

Finally, I always find it encouraging when an administrative staff is at least in their mid 20's or older (the older the better). When I'm told the guy running it is 19, I run the other way.

Hope that provides some insight.

[Conker5295]

I expect a server to be run by professional administrators. Every one of the administrators should have, or have had some kind of job or same level responsibility to understand what it means to be professional and how to interact with their players. With that level of care, moderators are picked with higher scrutiny and overall the online experience tends to be a lot better.

Also, greylists are a must. It's easy to just fart around and have someone whitelisted, but to get a staff who does background checks on -every- -single- -player- is pretty unique; however, it leads to a much better playerbase, griefing is curbed by at least 80% and the moderators/administrators are free to do better things with their time than having to go around fixing things that some asshat decided would be fun to fuck with.

Active forums are a plus but not necessary as we're leading into an age where people prefer to talk (ala Ventrilo, Teamspeak, or Skype (apparently)), but it serves a purpose as a general board of information to direct new players to.

Finally, I always find it encouraging when an administrative staff is at least in their mid 20's or older (the older the better). When I'm told the guy running it is 19, I run the other way.

Hope that provides some insight.

I feel you when it comes to experianced admins, theres nothing i hate more then logging into a server and seeing the [admin] tag littering the chat and there all a bounch of blind fools.

As for grey lists, im not sure if i agree with that, your rite; it does offer a better player base but it requires ALOT of managing that any experianced host or staff wouldnt have the time to keep up with because they likely have jobs or other careers to keep up with, great idea tho. i will take this into consideration.

Me as an owner, my favorite thing is to watch my comunity grow and thrive, watching the forums stay active is a big part in that.

And as for the age, i agree(for the most part) that age is a very big part in most cases. but for example, i am 17 years old. in college for computer engineering and i know more about running a server then allot of people ive come across. i do not run on a normal shared host. i own my own hardware at a data center, i don't just have a click to run server either, my server is ran on centOS and i use unique launch commands to get my server running and keep it running. But in all i can fully understand why you feel more comfortable with an older; more mature owner.

[greedseed]

agree on the mature owner 21 myself and i like you conker5295 i run my own hardware in a datacenter where i have 24/7 acces to. And even better CentOs is used here as well so there are decent managed servers out there! but these servers are hard to find and take a lot of work!

And thats what some players never understand !

i have my server new running for 3 months on the same map and there are just to many issues now. Plugins gone bad bugs bin abused.

So i started work on a server V2 witch will mean a new map. A new start.

So what do i do to keep them happy.

New server runs on Port 25565

Old map stays open on other port! Also players from the old map will keep there rank and get some extra /Kit command. And since we dont sell ANY items for real money we dont have a issue with that!

So basicly! good manage, good community, understanding of gamers, dont sell ingame stuff like a cheapass basterd and run your server like a mother care's for its child

There will always be haters but in my case about 80% Will just go to the new map and have n issue

[Smirk]

I agree about age, but not always about age, more about maturity. Of the server admins.

A lot of it to me is about the community - isn't that why we all go to a server anyways? to meet people that enjoy the same game we do. So I say Events are really nice. Example Mob arena or that kind of thing. Even with my server of 3 of us, we have a Mob arena.

Great mods help, think your mods through before using them.

I also agree about the not selling the ingame crap, If your players are really happy they could donate. I wouldn't mind donating a few $$ here and there if I found that perfect server.

Get rid of the what I would call trouble makers quickly. I mean if they come on cussing and complaining or begging for free items or one I see all the time, can I be mod. that is a player(s) you don't want.

Quality is better than Quantity right?

[Conker5295]

agree on the mature owner 21 myself and i like you conker5295 i run my own hardware in a datacenter where i have 24/7 acces to. And even better CentOs is used here as well so there are decent managed servers out there! but these servers are hard to find and take a lot of work!

And thats what some players never understand !

i have my server new running for 3 months on the same map and there are just to many issues now. Plugins gone bad bugs bin abused.

So i started work on a server V2 witch will mean a new map. A new start.

So what do i do to keep them happy.

New server runs on Port 25565

Old map stays open on other port! Also players from the old map will keep there rank and get some extra /Kit command. And since we dont sell ANY items for real money we dont have a issue with that!

So basicly! good manage, good community, understanding of gamers, dont sell ingame stuff like a cheapass basterd and run your server like a mother care's for its child

There will always be haters but in my case about 80% Will just go to the new map and have n issue

Thanks a really great idea, ive been running servers for a year and a half and its aways a major problem when the map resets, witch sometimes is the only option. wish i would have thought of that! XD

I agree about age, but not always about age, more about maturity. Of the server admins.

A lot of it to me is about the community - isn't that why we all go to a server anyways? to meet people that enjoy the same game we do. So I say Events are really nice. Example Mob arena or that kind of thing. Even with my server of 3 of us, we have a Mob arena.

Great mods help, think your mods through before using them.

I also agree about the not selling the ingame crap, If your players are really happy they could donate. I wouldn't mind donating a few $$ here and there if I found that perfect server.

Get rid of the what I would call trouble makers quickly. I mean if they come on cussing and complaining or begging for free items or one I see all the time, can I be mod. that is a player(s) you don't want.

Quality is better than Quantity right?

I 100% agree! i hate people logging in btiching and complaining in the first 10 seconds they are on the server, i feel that is a bannable offence and im glad someone else sees that as well :D

[DXWarlock]

Yea I too hate seeing 30 [Admin] ranks on a server.

Dont know how many times I have had people ask me "Are you only an Admin, or the Owner also?"

To me thats the only admin.

other servers use the rank "Administrator" in the wrong context. In my line of work the Server admins are the ones that have access to the physical server, and the only ones with privileges to change domain user permissions, files, or setup anything on that box. So my servers the same way. One admin, me, the guy that owns/controls the box.

So why I have [Admin] and next rank is [Mod] as they only moderate the server, and police the playerbase.

Also Im VERY picky about who makes it to a mod, I've had users around for 3 years that still isnt mod. I pick people like I would if I was running a company thinking "who here would act and respond in a way that I would approve of if something needed to be taken care of if I wasnt here"

the main 2 rules for making it to mod on my server is:

1. IF you ever ask for mod, you cant have it. You should be willing to help people, and willing to do as a mod would WITHOUT expecting anything for it like mod powers, or a special rank. Most the people that make mod are people that spent a lot of time playing, helping people, answering questions, being friendly because its who they are..not what they are trying to get out of doing it.

2. Getting mod and abusing it you will loose it quickly. You should have the mindset that you are just another players, UNLESS a situation comes up that a normal player cannot deal with, then do what you must to fix it, then go back to playing as if you are just a member.

As far as donations, I do the same. I dont give you crap for it

IF you donate, its because you want to, not because I bribed your with goodies.

I run the server because I want to, and pay for it out of my pocket because I want to. I don't want to feel that Im conning people into paying for something. people ask me "What do I get if I donate" I tell them "The satisfaction of knowing your helping out the server, if thats not enough, then don't donate"

[Conker5295]

the main 2 rules for making it to mod on my server is:

1. IF you ever ask for mod, you cant have it. You should be willing to help people, and willing to do as a mod would WITHOUT expecting anything for it like mod powers, or a special rank. Most the people that make mod are people that spent a lot of time playing, helping people, answering questions, being friendly because its who they are..not what they are trying to get out of doing it.

2. Getting mod and abusing it you will loose it quickly. You should have the mindset that you are just another players, UNLESS a situation comes up that a normal player cannot deal with, then do what you must to fix it, then go back to playing as if you are just a member.

I love this statement, i hate when people go around helping others then consistantly ask to be ranked up because they helped once, or on the other hand when someone does recieve rank and they just stop assisting the server in all. its one of the main things i hate about running a server.

As far as donations, I do the same. I dont give you crap for it

IF you donate, its because you want to, not because I bribed your with goodies.

I run the server because I want to, and pay for it out of my pocket because I want to. I don't want to feel that Im conning people into paying for something. people ask me "What do I get if I donate" I tell them "The satisfaction of knowing your helping out the server, if thats not enough, then don't donate"

This; i would follow if i could. I am 17 and i pay rent:P i dont have the money to keep my server up 100% without my donors, and allot of the time no one will donate if they don't receive a little something themselves. i offer different donor ranks(NOT staff rank under any circumstance) for different amounts of money. I also ensure that they do not get an advantage over other players in the means of Pvp. i hate when you go to a server and theres that one douche bag that donated $100 and got access to nukes. completely ruins the server.

[andrewdonshik]

I agree about age, but not always about age, more about maturity. Of the server admins.

A lot of it to me is about the community - isn't that why we all go to a server anyways? to meet people that enjoy the same game we do. So I say Events are really nice. Example Mob arena or that kind of thing. Even with my server of 3 of us, we have a Mob arena.

Great mods help, think your mods through before using them.

I also agree about the not selling the ingame crap, If your players are really happy they could donate. I wouldn't mind donating a few $$ here and there if I found that perfect server.

Get rid of the what I would call trouble makers quickly. I mean if they come on cussing and complaining or begging for free items or one I see all the time, can I be mod. that is a player(s) you don't want.

Quality is better than Quantity right?

True, I bet some people could vouch for me as a 12 year old as a mature, but sucky admin.

[mochadog123]

I expect a server to be run by professional administrators. Every one of the administrators should have, or have had some kind of job or same level responsibility to understand what it means to be professional and how to interact with their players. With that level of care, moderators are picked with higher scrutiny and overall the online experience tends to be a lot better.

Also, greylists are a must. It's easy to just fart around and have someone whitelisted, but to get a staff who does background checks on -every- -single- -player- is pretty unique; however, it leads to a much better playerbase, griefing is curbed by at least 80% and the moderators/administrators are free to do better things with their time than having to go around fixing things that some asshat decided would be fun to fuck with.

Active forums are a plus but not necessary as we're leading into an age where people prefer to talk (ala Ventrilo, Teamspeak, or Skype (apparently)), but it serves a purpose as a general board of information to direct new players to.

Finally, I always find it encouraging when an administrative staff is at least in their mid 20's or older (the older the better). When I'm told the guy running it is 19, I run the other way.

Hope that provides some insight.

I agree with practically everything stated on this post except for the age recommendation. I am thirteen, and I myself have never been very fond of crazy kids who run around creating trouble at every place they go. So growing up I always found when given the option to play hide and go seek or some other mindless game or to talk to the adults, I would always choose talking to the adults. So naturally I started to act like one. I am always laid back now, and realize that I have to do what is right opposed to doing what is fun. In minecraft admin terms: I would solve conflicts instead of creating them as the average child admin would. Not to mention that the first time I was applying for admin when I was 11, I was so worried that the owner wasn't going to accept me because I was "too young" so I lied and said I was 26, and he actually belived it because I was so mature that he didn't realize that I was more than 10 years younger than I claimed to be. So what I am getting at is that age does play a big part in accepting admins, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't let 11 year olds apply because there may be that rare case where the child is better than an adult.

~Mocha

[Conker5295]

I agree with practically everything stated on this post except for the age recommendation. I am thirteen, and I myself have never been very fond of crazy kids who run around creating trouble at every place they go. So growing up I always found when given the option to play hide and go seek or some other mindless game or to talk to the adults, I would always choose talking to the adults. So naturally I started to act like one. I am always laid back now, and realize that I have to do what is right opposed to doing what is fun. In minecraft admin terms: I would solve conflicts instead of creating them as the average child admin would. Not to mention that the first time I was applying for admin when I was 11, I was so worried that the owner wasn't going to accept me because I was "too young" so I lied and said I was 26, and he actually belived it because I was so mature that he didn't realize that I was more than 10 years younger than I claimed to be. So what I am getting at is that age does play a big part in accepting admins, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't let 11 year olds apply because there may be that rare case where the child is better than an adult.

~Mocha

Its good to hear that not all small children are completely insane, but; something you have to know as mature as you say you are. is that its hard for server owners, and administrators to accept that, and that kids with any level of maturity is a very, very rare occurrence :P

[Beer]

Sorry, but the age requirement is necessary. I'm not saying a 30 year old can't act like an asshat, they can and do. What I am saying is that it's more likely that someone who is younger is more apt to be an asshat than someone who is older. It's even less unlikely that someone will be an asshat if they've worked a steady job and knows what it's like to hold responsibilities and be accountable. Two things you gain with age and experience.

Furthermore, it looks more appealing to have an older staff than a younger one which has been stated many times.

I've been an administrator for a gaming server (not minecraft) and it's something I am glad I did, but I would need a -lot- of convincing to do again considering the amount of entitled pieces of shit I had to deal with on a daily basis. I applaud anyone who has the mental insanity to do it.

[DXWarlock]

Same here. While i know many many kids play minecraft (Mine do also). I prefer members of my server be over 18.

It narrows down the choices of members a LOT for us.

But I have 2 kids, I don't need to babysit someones elses, because their parents are using the internet as a "go find something to do" babysitter.

And granted, we have met quite a few that was under 16 that was respectful, and mature. but they are far and few between. so we error on the side of averages and assume you are like the other 95% until you prove otherwise. Its a bad stereotype of teens, but its there for a reason, prove to us you don't fit it

Our general rule is "We prefer you to be over 18, but if the question doesn't come up "Wait, how old are you...really?" because of your actions, we never ask your age to need to enforce it.

If you come on and type like your texting your friend in math class going

"HAI! wut r u guyz up 2?"

or

"Hi Admin, can I have plz op?? I build real good!"

or using a curse words like you just learned them today and want to toss it into every sentence...

then we are asking you how old you are, and keeping an eye on you

One analogy I make to my members is it's like a christmas dinner..You have the adults table, and the childrens table (usually)

So you don't have adults trying to have a relaxing meal catching up on old times, and random kids at the same table going "O..M..G, have any of you seen the new MLP, that stuff is BADASS! who else is a brony here?!"

So our server is the 'adults table' its not we hate kids, we have some of our own. we just prefer to hang out with the others liked minded like us to relax on our time off :)

[Watchful11]

I first joined the server I play on at the beginning of this year. After a few months of playing I was promoted to senior member because of my helpfulness to other players. A few more months later i was promoted to admin, again for being generally helpful to everybody around me.

To the op: This is what i would want in a server, helpful admins who know what they are doing. The main job of the admin should be to help the players on their server. The admins should also know what they are doing. They should have a firm grasp of all the mods and plugins.

To everybody else who is talking about quality of admins: I don't believe age should be a requirement at all. The only important thing is maturity. Age is a very good indicator of maturity, to the point that its hard to believe a 13 year old can be mature. (No offense mochadog123, the forum rules here say to not sign your posts) Restricting a server to people over 18 is a very good way of keeping out most of the trouble makers. As is blacklisting anyone who asks to be an admin or can't type proper English.

[DXWarlock]

yea sorry didnt mean to get off topic.

As for what people want...I have no clue how to answer it

After running a server the last 3 years, I cant seem to narrow down a "list" of what everyone wants as a collective inside the MC community. I dont think there is a "swiss army" of mods and plugins that will fit everyone, and not even one that fits "most of the people"

Anything I have, some love, some hate.

Anything I don't have some leave because I don't have it, others threaten TO leave if I add it.

So best advice I can give, do what I did. Make a server YOU would like playing on. As its the type you would know how to manage well, as its a personal experience then of what works well and doesnt. And it will bring in people that like that also.

Because if your adding things your don't enjoy personally, you have no gauge of how well its actually working, or what would make it 'feel better' in a tweak of it.

For me, my servers the way I would enjoy one being, if I went looking for one to play on. We don't get HUGE numbers of players..but also thats one of the points I like about it. I rather have 50 members that play well together, get along as friends, and enjoy the time they play..than having 5000 that fight, argue, constantly harassing mods and admins about "so and so is doing X,HELP ME!"

I have no urge to be the "biggest and best" MC server. Bragging rights means nothing to me, if I hate running it, 1/2 the people playing aren't having all the fun they COULD be, and every member is just a stat to me, instead of a real person I talk to and get to know..

[gavjenks]

I agree with practically everything stated on this post except for the age recommendation. I am thirteen, and I myself have never been very fond of crazy kids who run around creating trouble at every place they go. So growing up I always found when given the option to play hide and go seek or some other mindless game or to talk to the adults, I would always choose talking to the adults. So naturally I started to act like one. I am always laid back now, and realize that I have to do what is right opposed to doing what is fun. In minecraft admin terms: I would solve conflicts instead of creating them as the average child admin would. Not to mention that the first time I was applying for admin when I was 11, I was so worried that the owner wasn't going to accept me because I was "too young" so I lied and said I was 26, and he actually belived it because I was so mature that he didn't realize that I was more than 10 years younger than I claimed to be. So what I am getting at is that age does play a big part in accepting admins, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't let 11 year olds apply because there may be that rare case where the child is better than an adult.

~Mocha

Not applicable to you anymore personally, but just FYI about legal issues: If you are a server based in the United States, then you legally cannot allow players under 13 years of age onto your server (due to COPA), unless you fill out a bunch of ridiculous paperwork and file it with the government that basically guarantees you will monitor your web service to not have swearing, sexual content, etc. And it makes you LIABLE if you fail to monitor these things well enough. And there are probably fees involved too, etc.

Therefore, any serious server with intelligent hosts who know the law and don't want to get sued in the United States, ESPECIALLY ones that collect any sort of money, will generally not allow players under 13 years of age, period.

For those people under 13, if this annoys you, I suggest writing to your US senator or congressman with your thoughts if applicable (or having your parents do so). It is out of the server's hands.

[DXWarlock]

That only applies if you are collecting personal information on them..not the access to it.

Unless you are speaking of the other COPA (not COPPA) it was never passed.

[gavjenks]

Sorry yes I meant COPPA with 2 P's. And the sexual content, etc. doesn't count, therefore, as you point out. Although that's a perfect example right there though of why the server I admin on does not allow children under 13 at all... my confusion about this matter won't cause me to get sued accidentally by protecting the wrong things, since we just don't bother with the kids at all!

Even with COPPA, now that I am looking at the correct law, though, there seem to be MULTIPLE pitfalls that a minecraft server could fall into.

* Minecraft almost certainly would qualify as a "website directed at children" due to its use of animated characters, gameplay that clearly attracts kids under 13, etc. This makes it subject to the most stringent versions of the law, where server operators don't need to realize what they're doing to be in violation.

* Since vanilla minecraft and tekkit keep logs of all chat, then servers are, in fact, "collecting and storing personal information from minors" if and when the minor happens to mention any personal information about themselves.

* Even if the server doesn't keep logs, and even if no kid ever says anything personal, the server would still be in violation if it did not post a privacy policy stating its practices explicitly, and if it did not obtain written consent from parents for every kid under 13 that those privacy policies are acceptable. At $11,000 a violation, just one is enough to ruin a server and/or its operators.

* The server would still have to closely monitor whether things built by or said by its members might be construed as advertising paid products or services, which might make violations of COPPA even worse or might even constitute violation in itself (I can't quite tell).

Still what I would call clearly not worth it.

[DXWarlock]

1.)Collecting and store personal data, and one mentioning it is isn't mutually exclusive. Collecting data is defined as specifically asking for or data collecting such as apps for phones, for the intent of storing it for statistical data or usage. NOT someone saying their name over a chat via their own intent or reasons. Be it minecraft, skype, MSN, yahoo, MIRC, etc.

2.)And compliance with the 'written consent from parents' is under question and isnt currently enforced..as it was drawn up before the advent of facebook and the like. If facebook isn't getting pounded by govt about the lack of written notarized parental consent, I highly doubt a minecraft host of 50 people will. As that very clause is in a suspended state waiting for revisions.

3.) it is only a violation if the data collected was relayed or released by the operator of the site via any public means. It does not cover the child speaking that information himself. (it was proposed to cover that, but was shot down as virtually impossible to dictate the context and prosecute based on such a loose definition of 'speaking publicly' as it also would cover him telling his friend his address via a chat software to come over)

So unless you are collecting that data in a pool, without parental consent, with intent to relay that information publicly WITHOUT the parents consent, by posting on an openly public forum, or passing it on to 3rd parties, you are not in violation.

With all the holes and revisions that are being discussed for COPPA as its stands is outdated, and totally unenforceable in its current state beyond very specific instances, its usage itself is under question by the government.

But you can keep the tinfoil hat on, and worry. I myself will know Im fine.

[andrewdonshik]

Wow, I'm so glad that I'm 13 in 6 months. Does this mean my server violates COPPA because I'm twelve?

[DXWarlock]

No, they are not collecting by request and storing information that can be used to disclose personal details that would be in violation.

Now if when you joined they was asking for an address, home phone, first and last name, social etc as part of its requirements..then it would be in question if it was in violation.

[Beer]

Wow, I'm so glad that I'm 13 in 6 months. Does this mean my server violates COPPA because I'm twelve?

If it's based in the US, yes.

No, they are not collecting by request and storing information that can be used to disclose personal details that would be in violation.

Now if when you joined they was asking for an address, home phone, first and last name, social etc as part of its requirements..then it would be in question if it was in violation.

If he had to accept any terms to join the server, such as a greylist server, then that also applies.

[andrewdonshik]

If it's based in the US, yes.

If he had to accept any terms to join the server, such as a greylist server, then that also applies.

I mean, it's LITERALLY my server. By making it public and having myself on it, does that violate COPPA.

[Watchful11]

I would wonder if there has been a single case of someone suing for this over a minecraft server. Just because its technically illegal doesn't put you in danger of a huge fine. There must be thousands of minecraft servers out there.

[Beer]

I mean, it's LITERALLY my server. By making it public and having myself on it, does that violate COPPA.

Not sure, but I know I wouldn't play on a server with a 13yr old owner/admin for a variety of reasons. Legal grey areas I'm not sure about wouldn't help. Maybe you should look into it since it's your server, your butt, and all that jazz.