Server Rank Update

Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a number of small projects for the server. Finally these have all started coming to head, and are now ready for release to the public!

Tickets Helping us Help you
As the server grows, so do the requests for help; because we as staff can't keep up anymore we have now introduced a new ticket system. The ticket system allows you the user, the ability to create a support ticket - after doing so, you will be placed into a queue. A member of staff will then proceed to help you in numerical order, and thus increasing your play time, but decreasing your frustrations! Tickets are open to all ranks, and are very easy to use:

• /helpme - Will teleport you to the information centre for more info
• /helpme <req> - Will create a ticket. Please make sure to make your <req> descriptive. For example /helpme can you please add john3 to my region
• In addition to /helpme, you can also use /hm as a shortcut to the command.

Kits
We all love free items, but free items always come at a price. Not this time, effective today we are introducing some new kits for different ranks! These will give you some cool things such as torches, armor and potions at your demands!

• Miner - /kit torches
• Builder - /kit stone
• Mason - /kit food
• Guild - /kit wool
• Elite - /kit forbidden
• Elite - /kit wood
• Elite - /kit xp
• Elite - /kit potions
• Knight - /kit war
• Infinite - /kit diamond

Flames And Brick Head you say?!
Some of you may have seen myself (Artemu) or even some of our admins, walking around with flames on their back, and maybe even a bedrock head. Well effective today, all players of rank Elite will now be able to have a funky hat too! Simply hold a block or item in your hand, and type /hat - the item will then be added as a hat to your skin!

The End PVP Arena
The End. Possibly one of the hardest realms, just got harder! We have converted out End into a PVP arena, players will now need to battle not only each other but the Enderman too! The End is not for the faint hearted, so beware... Open to all Ranks - simply type /end to go there

XP, XP, where Art thou XP!
We love it. We loose it. We hate it. It's just one of those things in Minecraft everyone is worried about! But no more; effective immediately, all players of rank <INSERT RANK> and higher will only loose 50% of their XP, while all players of rank <INSERT RANK> and higher won't loose any XP upon their death! Now, you can do all the PVP'ing and Enchanting you want, and no longer need to worry about what you are at risk of loosing!

Toxic Zombies
You gotta admit, Zombies... They boring! So to improve on gameplay, and add a little bit of fun, we have modified how players and zombies interact. When a player comes into contact with a zombie, they will now get sick for a specified period of time - this adds a whole new dimension to mob hunting, as not only do you have to worry about them hurting you, but making you sick too!

Rage Quit Life
Rage Quitting; it's what we all do best! But how exactly do you rage quit an online environment such as Minecraft. Well today we introducing a very cool feature for ranks of Guild and above. Simply type /ragequit and you will be ejected from the server - but be warned! You will also be banned from joining the server for 30 mins! I am in the process of working on a new update for the server. Below is the news post I am currently putting together. It is not complete but gives you a quick updates as to what will be happening soon!

Smelt Here, There and Everywhere
Ever have that problem, that you standing somewhere and suddenly you think ... I need a furnace. That problem is now solved, simply type the command /smelt and what ever ore you holding, will be smelted into it's precious metal (even ores like Diamonds, and Redstone which can be changed). This command is available to all ranks Builder and higher. (Developed by TJGX46)

Lag Be Gone
Along with all the past development, I have also been working on some more server related updates too. One of these updates is a Lag Control Meter; freely available for all users to view using /lag, the command will inform you of our current lag status. Now generally a command like this would never be shown to a player; and in all honesty it's not something I really want to make public. However, I want players to get the best experience they can - and lying to them just doesn't cut it, so although /lag can at times discourage new players into think we are a pathetic case for a lagged out server, I feel at least we letting everyone know who we really are. It is then the users choice if they wish to stay. Now onto the Optimization part - part of the Lag tools, is a new suite of custom developed components built into this plugin which will start disabling non essential parts of the game, and initiate memory sweeps. The implication of these counter measures may be visible at times, so in the case you think something is suddenly wrong - please check out the /lag command for more information as to the servers current status. I just wish to reiterate that these tools are still in development, however they have already proven to stabilize the server to optimal performance in a very short period of time.

Disclaimer: All big servers have lag to some extent, it's just one of those things you have to deal with. So although, it may sound as though I am "admitting" to us being lagged; we in fact run at 0% most of the time.