OS Upgrade Downtime and Promotions!
Hey, everyone!
Just two quick notes:
First off, I had to take down Delorean today to upgraded to the latest version of Debian Linux. Debian updated about 1 month ago from version 6.0 ("Squeeze") to 7.0 ("Wheezy"). As such, it is high time that Delorean followed suit and got an upgrade to the latest and greatest.
The downtime was about two hours, from 4PM-6PM EDT. While the upgrade took place while the system was live, the reboot took a very long time due to the fact that Delorean hasn't been rebooted for about 220 days. As such, it took some time to scan all the disks to ensure there were no errors or other issues.
The upgrade is now complete, though, which should help the system run smoother, especially as most of its web services (phpBB, WordPress, Apache Web Server, etc.) have gotten a long overdue upgrade.
Promotions
And now, time for promotions and new user announcements!
- EG_SpaceNinJA has decided to step down as Moderator, and has such been given the venerable Veteran rank
- pfleegore has been promoted as our first new VIP, for his extended help during the server setup
- WayneTheGoblin, my friend in-real-life, has joined and been given the rank of Master
- ZackBlaze164 has earned the rank of Master
- Revith has recently joined and been granted the rank of Apprentice so far
Congratulations to everyone!
More EE Restrictions and Backup Changes
Hey, everyone.. I have two new topics to talk about today:
More Equivalent Exchange Restrictions
Well, we're not out of the woods yet, folks. Apparently, even my own moderators can't resist the urge to kill the server economy with Energy Condensers. I figured I could trust them to exercise judgment in using them, and being reasonable with how much EMC they generate. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. Therefore, Energy Collectors are now banned to everyone except Admins. Even then, Admins are not allowed to use them except for specific server-wise purposes. Any admin I catch giving out shit-tons of items with collectors will be de-opped immediately. I am seriously attempting to create a server economy again, and everyone is making it exceedingly difficult, because of the massive greed on the server. I am seriously considering resetting the server, just because the damage seems completely irreparable at this point.
I'm going to attempt to do some kind of cleanup on all of the items and EMC people generated with collectors, but something tells me it's going to be exceedingly difficult. I really don't want to force everyone to start over, so if you want to keep going with the map as-is, I'm going to need everyone to clean up their acts immediately.
It is vehemently disheartening to me that even the people I trust the most must find exploits on this server and use them to the fullest extent. It is actions like this that destroy the fun of the server for everyone. Doing this is delaying me from rolling out the economy even more, because now I have even more items to clean up. I'm unwilling to give people the ability to generate Talons and sell items until I know that massive item generation is no longer rampant and that the stockpiles of EMC/items are gone. Again, I assumed people could exercise some restraint, but obviously I can't just trust people...I have to strongarm these exploits, police the server, and evaluate literally thousands of items to figure out what people are going to exploit and what people are not.
I was hoping the latest rollout of the server would be less of a time hog to maintain...unfortunately was I ever wrong. I had to spend literally hours scouring through the thousands of Tekkit items and restricting access item-by-item again. If you're sitting there wondering why I haven't pushed out the economy yet, or why I haven't updated any of the plugins...that's the reason. I spend most of my administration time closing loopholes that people just cannot resist exploiting to the fullest. If you're waiting impatiently for the server economy to come around, do me a favor and thank everyone exploiting Equivalent Exchange for making the new economy a target forever moving farther away.
So now, here is the new EE item access from Alchemist up:
Alchemists: access to Anti-Matter Relays and Energy Condensers for automation. You can charge up your klein stars using legitimate items and power your machinery with the stars.
Veterans: access to Red Matter Tools.
Moderators: access to the more powerful gems and rings, but not the Harvest Goddess Band.
Administrators: access is the same as before.
I really hate doing this, folks. You know my policy is to keep things as open as possible. Unfortunately, I am finding the concept of an open server to be utopian, never to be reached, no matter who I'm dealing with. I'm just bracing myself to find the next exploit I have to restrict and clean up after.
Backup Changes
Despite working my ass off on the server permissions, I had some time to rewrite and refresh the backup scripts I use on the server. I had to fix the script due to a bug that came up from updating Debian. Turns out the server wasn't saving everything properly until I logged on the console screen after the restart. As result, the Nether wasn't getting backed up at all, and several hours of backups were corrupt. In the process of fixing the script, I took the time to perform a few optimizations as well.
My biggest concern with the script (besides it always working) is eliminating the lag that happens due to the massive file copy. Eagleworld's map is about half a gig large (and growing), so it's not quick to copy, even on solid-state. As the server veterans will remember, back in the day, the lag would last anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes long every hour. I managed to do a few optimizations back then to get the lag time down to under 15 seconds per backup.
With my latest optimizations, however, I managed to get the time the server actually lags down to under one second. This basically makes the user impact of the backups negligible. Also, I am now backing up the nether again daily, so anything going on in there will be protected. Just remember, though, I don't guarantee any stuff you build in the nether will stick around.
Oh yeah, I also changed how it alerts the users of the backup, so it's a bit more streamlined. I use broadcast now, so you can tell when it's me talking or the backup script. Hopefully this makes the hourly backup a bit easier to stomach!
Promotions!
Hey, everyone!
So, I have updated the Server Info page with the new ranks and powers of the new ranks. I've also redone the list of users and updated everything accordingly. So, if you're looking for all of the updates with the new ranks and stuff, you can now check for it there.
And, as I promised, with the new ranks, it's time to handle long overdue promotions! So, without further ado, here's who's getting bumped up:
Apprentice to Journeyman:
- Minikimi90
Technician to Engineer:
- Karaktar
- pfleegore
We also have some changes in staff, too:
New Veterans:
- Runninghobo
- SanctusTerra
These two are valuable members of the server, but are unable to fulfill their duties right now (due to time obligations, personal reasons, etc.) So, they will be given the revered status of Veteran as thanks for their hard work on the server. Should they wish to come back to the staff of Eagleworld if/when their situations change, they will be gladly welcomed.
Note that there will be further changes in the Eagleworld Staff soon, so stay tuned!
Woah, hold on there, killer!
Well, we knew this time would come...Minecraft 1.1 has been released! Frankly, the changelog is not very impressive, but it's nice that they are concentrating on bugfixes now and making the game more stable. What is NOT nice is that Mojang still doesn't seem to give a rat's ass about breaking functionality with Bukkit, so naturally, we have to wait for Bukkit to get updated.
If you're interested in what the Bukkit team is doing about this, visit this blog post and take a look.
So, let's go over the usual questions everyone has for me after Minecraft gets updated:
Why isn't Eagleworld updated?
Because it isn't. Eagleworld cannot run without Bukkit...it depends on too many plugins for everything to work. If I were to update Minecraft, all Bukkit plugins would be lost, and we'd have about 10% of the functionality you're used to.
When is it going to get updated?
When it does. I can't give a definite time, because I have to not only wait for Bukkit to get updated, but I also have to wait for all the plugins to get updated, and I also have to test them all and get it all to fit together nicely. Granted, I do all the configuration work on a test server as the plugins get updated to minimize the time it takes, but it's still a lot of work on my part, the plugin developer's parts, and the Bukkit team's part. I wish I could make it easier and faster, but I can't.
Well, can you give me the old minecraft jar?
No. Trust me...I wish I could, but it is illegal for me to distribute Mojang's work. They very explicitly state that nobody is allowed to distribute their work in the game's Terms of Service (which you can read here).
If you read the TOS, you can see that my hands are tied. I wish I could help you all out for when you forget not to update, but I cannot. If you DO manage to get the old version somehow, I will not ask questions, but please don't ask me to do something illegal.
This sucks. How can you run a server like this?
The reason my server rarely goes down is because I've spent years learning how to maintain a server properly. It's a lot more than just installing packages and copying files. It takes hours to configure the Minecraft server just right, and I roll out all of the upgrades in 10 minutes or less once they're ready. The only reason we come across this issue in the first place is because people are too infected with SNS Syndrome to realize that the key to a stable server is carefully prepared and executed upgrades. Trust me on this one, guys: ten minutes of downtime is very short for a major application upgrade, and it's because I do it the right way.
So, to sum this whole thing up, please don't ask me to change the way I run my server. Everyone expects the server to be running 23 hours and 59 minutes a day (one minute being the time it takes for the nightly refresh), and I can deliver that to you because of how I run it. The only thing I ask you to do in return is remember NOT to upgrade immediately, and don't go insane when a new update comes along, especially when the changes are quite boring and are mostly bugfixes. Thanks.
So what now?
What now? It's time for the Wall of Shame! I shall prepare for you a list of the geniuses that just can't fight that urge update and still try to log on my server:
The Wall Of Shame
- SanctusTerra
- Stained_Brown
- EhonisAzn
- Prometheis
- radio998
- Battle_Toads
- LilBatesperu
- Peturd
- XmetroidfanX
- Darkseeker
- Toxictaco25
Yes, I'll keep updating this. Why? Because. 
Anyway, I'll make sure to keep you all posted. Happy mining!
A big update: Referral Bonuses, Back Salaries, and Lots ‘o’ Promotions!
Hey, everyone!
Yes, it's been a while, and while I realize the bulk of you might appreciate that as to not have to read through my walls of text (lol), this is a post you'll definitely want to read! I got a few things to talk about today, and they all involve things you will really want to hear!
Lots 'o' Promotions!
Let's face it...promotions were overdue. Way overdue. So, without further ado, here's the list of people getting bumped up!
Builder to Architect
- LilBatesperu
- Batesperu
- Ikgrid
Architect to Artisan
- Peturd
- xcaboose22
- yorhodes
- adamant454
- pillsbaryjoeboy
- justynsm
Artisan to VIP
- jbkarate9
- Thunder__Child
- ljdarten
VIP to Moderator
- EG_SpaceNinja
Again, as of right now, there's nobody on the active or semi-active side on this server that I am not really willing to promote. So, if you didn't make the cut, just make sure I see your face a bit more. Promotions only go to active players!
Back Promotions
Besides the latest promotions above, there are a bunch of you that never claimed promotions, some from a long time ago. At this point, I'd like everyone to make sure you have all the promotions you earned. Please take a quick look at the newly updated Player List at the bottom of the Server Info page. Find your name in the list, and see if you indeed have the rank you should have. If you are, say, a Builder and it lists you as an Architect, check all of the Promotions Posts and find when you got promoted. Then, come see an admin and get promoted!
Back Salaries
I lament the fact that a lot of the old regulars don't really play on here anymore. I'd love to see you guys come back for a while. Some players (such as Peturd, Runninghobo, etc.) have come back recently, but I'd like to see more! So, for the month of August, I'm going to allow players to claim back salaries! This means that in addition to August's salary, I will let you retroactively claim up to three additional months of salaries! I do have a record of who did and did not claim salaries, so if you haven't been around for a while, and were thinking about it, this is the perfect time to come back!
Introducing: Player Referrals
Since Minecraft Server List (or MCSL) has greatly downgraded my server in terms of rating for a whole 4-5 hours of downtime (sigh), we haven't really been getting new members. However, honestly, my best source of new players has always been player referrals. So, I have decided that it is time to start rewarding people for good player referrals, and give everyone a bit of incentive to get your friends on Eagleworld!
Here's how the system will work:
- When the person joins, they will list you as their referral, pretty much how it has always been.
- The new player will go through the recruitment process as usual.
- If the person qualifies for membership and becomes a Builder, the referring player will receive 250 Talons.
- If the person stays on Eagleworld and is ranked up to Architect, the referring player will receive an additional 2,250 Talons.
Since new, good players are valuable to the server, I consider 2,500 Talons a fair bonus for referrals. If there are players that wish to share the Referral Bonus, I can work those out on a case-to-case basis.
In Conclusion...
I hope all of these updates and improvements will give everyone an incentive to come back and enjoy Eagleworld once again. I do have plans for additional improvements down the road, so this won't be the end of it. Stay tuned for even more updates!
Promotions, Global Shop, and Downtime
Hey, everyone!
Just another blog post to handle three minor things on the server. I'll deal with these in order or ease:
Downtime earlier today
I apologize for the server downtime. The server crapped out on me because the console hung up. While the server itself was running fine with the console hung, it caused the reboot to not happen properly. So, after the reboot, the server went down completely.
Anyway, I don't suspect it to happen again, especially after I update Craftbukkit to the latest recommended build. The Bukkit team has a new build ready, I just have to test it before deployment.
Global Shop Update
Well, I finally got around to it...the Global Shop has been updated to add three new items: Red Mushrooms, Brown Mushrooms, and Slime Balls. Prices can be found on the Global Shop page as usual.
Promotions
And, finally, the fun stuff: Promotions!
Unlike last promotion, which was all about the builders, this one's all about the higher-ups:
Builder to Architect:
- justynsm
Architect to Artisan:
- jbkarate9
- xchrisbeftwx
- Thunder__Child
- ljdarten
Artisan to VIP:
- Archer665
- WARRIORSPARTON
VIP to Moderator:
- SanctusTerra
And, that's all she wrote, folks! Again, as usual, there are few active members that are not getting promoted. If you are active and not promoted, you just need a bit more time, that's all.
Eagleworld updated to 1.7.3
Hey, everyone!
This is just a quick note that Eagleworld is now on version 1.7.3 of Minecraft. Feel free to update and join! Thankfully, the update went through without any averse regressions or bugs that I can see. Here's a quick synopsis of what I did:
- Minecraft SMP is now on 1.7.3 and up-to-date.
- The Piston Bugs (and the resulting dupe bugs) should be resolved.
- Craftbukkit is temporarily on a non-canon version put out by Dinnerbone, one of the head developers. Once the Bukkit Team fixes all of the dev cycle problems they had due to the delay of the 1.7.3 update, they will release a recommended build and I will update accordingly.
- Essentials has been updated to the latest version and appears stable. New commands, too!
- LWC is an all-new version, but the functionality appears to be the same, so no new commands to learn.
- CreativeStick is updated as well. Functionality is pretty much the same.
- BigBrother is updated and caught up to the latest MC functionality. Server protection is the same as it always was
- Dynmap is a new version! Also, I've installed the Landmarks plugin to allow us to label things on the server. I'm working out the details more, but you can see two examples at the spawn point and The Capitol.
- iConomy, LocalShops, Townymod, and FlatEarth are unchanged. No new version, still work 100%.
I still need to update the help page so you can get a view of all the latest commands. It's going to take me a while to parse through the whole thing and update it. Honestly, I'm really tired and can't do it right now. If you're that desperate to find out (which I suspect), go to the Essentials Command Guide and figure it out yourself for now.
And for those of you that thinks this is easy, it's not. If you're bitching about why I don't have any new mods or that it took longer than you wanted, take a small look at some of the stuff I have to configure every time we update:
| Spoiler Inside: Permissions Config File for Eagleworld | |
|---|---|
| Spoiler Inside: Essentials Config File for Eagleworld | |
|---|---|
And these are just two configs out of the whole list I have. Just two. These are also in YAML format, which makes it more difficult. While YAML is not difficult syntax, if you accidentally put one thing out of order (e.g. one of the subitems in a group is just ONE SPACE OFF, or if I use a tab instead of 4 spaces), the whole plugin will crash and cause the server to crash. If that happens, I get to scour the logs to figure out which plugin crashed, then I get to scour through this entire file to find the one damn thing that's off. It doesn't help that sometimes a tab can be disguised as spaces if they line up in my text editor.
Also, when it comes to configuring each plugin, I have to scour through the whole list of permissions (This is iConomy's for example, and this is a small one) for every updated plugin. If any permissions have changed at all, I have to go through and revalidate all of the permissions for that plugin to make sure functionality won't break when I update. It's tedious and slow. And this is all AFTER I manage to get all of the plugins to work on the latest Minecraft SMP and Bukkit build.
Now, I get the fun of translating that permissions file you saw above into something you can use on the Help Page. Otherwise, I'll get nothing but complaints that you can't do what you want to do. So even after I'm done, I still get 5-10 hours of work scouring through this crap making sure the blog is updated.
This latest update took roughly 10 hours to do so far. And no, this is not fun. It's tedious, boring, mind-numbing, and painful. Testing new plugins and actually playing the game is fun. Unfortunately, both of those activities as of late tend to give me more work to do on the server...
One last thing: You can expect some more promotions this weekend, so stay tuned!
1.7 Update, Promotions, Salaries, and Playing Admin
Hey everyone!
Here's a quadruple-whammy post for y'all tonight. I have four major things to cover, but I'll try to keep it as succinct as possible:
1.7 Update News
Just so you are in the loop, yes, Craftbukkit does have a recommended build for Minecraft 1.7.2, and I can update at this point. However, there are major bugs in the server app itself (not Bukkit) that cause dupe bugs and piston bugs. The Bukkit team is strongly recommending not to update until this is fixed, and I tend to agree. Here is the Bukkit team's blog post regarding the matter: link here.
So, the long story short is hold tight until this is resolved. The good news is I can temporarily start working towards updating the server to get a head-start once the update is finished.
Independence Day Promotions
Well, I promised more promotions, so here they come! This batch involves the newest string of members and an embellishment of the server staff:
Builder to Architect:
- Banana_Blob
- adamant454
- MegaUltraBuilder
- pillsbaryjoeboy
Artisan to VIP
- Nonagrrl
VIP to Moderator
- Nephylim
- Melany23
Moderator to Administrator
- Openminded
I chose to promote Nephy and Melany to mods because they are both dependable and trustworthy members of the server, and they have experience modding Minecraft servers in the past. Also, the times they are online will fill the gaps of when mods/admins are actually online to ensure greater coverage of the server at all times.
I chose Openminded as the latest admin because Nick (Runninghobo) has been quite busy lately and he hasn't been able to back up me as much as he was in the past. Therefore, the need for additional admins is in order. Open has consistently proven to provide great assistance to helping me deal with the server, not just in building things (such as the subway system), but also in dealing with new members. He's proven as a mod that he will be able to serve as a quality admin on this server.
So, I hope you all congratulate the new promotions and welcome the new server staff! And if you were expecting a promotion, don't get upset. There are three major reason that people don't get promoted at any given time on this server:
- Hasn't been on the server long enough to demonstrate the worthiness of a promotion
- Has demonstrated trustworthiness, but has been inactive on the server
- Has given me a reason to question whether or not to promote them.
The majority of the lack of promotions in the list are due to 1 and 2. Honestly, I have 10-12 people I'd be willing to promote right now, but they either don't play anymore or have played very sporadically. So, don't fret if you don't see your name on the list today.
July Salaries
Well, it's that time of the month again! July salaries are ready to be given out, so make sure to claim them! And, since the server is not on 1.7 yet, I'll be giving out another "SNS-Free Bonus" this month for those of you that were willing to either not update or willing to back-up their 1.6 install: If you claim your salary before I update the server, you will get a 500 Talon bonus! So, make sure to claim them soon!
Quick update on Playing Admin
I've received a LOT of questions regarding Runninghobo's post on Playing Admin on the server. While I posted a response to his post in the comments and clarified some stuff, I still see people unclear about this. For example, someone was concerned because they saw a moderator asking questions and accused them of playing admin. Note that while mods cannot actually promote members, they can do all the preliminary questioning and prep them for membership.
So, to the members, if you see a mod asking questions, it's okay. And if you are a moderator, and want to know what you need to do to question a member, please ask me!
I'll be redoing the Server Info and Help Pages soon, so I'll make sure to add all this info in to clarify it for good.
And in closing...
It's a lot of crap to read, I know, but there's a lot going on in Eagleworld right now. Any questions about the post (I'm sure there will be a lot), please comment below and ask away! I will be sure to answer them as best as I can!
Late June Promotions
Hi everyone!
Just a quick post to let you know who got promoted today. These were actually supposed to be given out last weekend, but I kinda dropped the ball thanks to multiple personal issues:
Architect to Artisan:
- XmetroidfanX
- pfleegore
- SittingTurtl3
Builder to Architect:
- xchrisbeftwx
- Thunder__Child
- ljdarten
- yorhodes
As is standard procedure, you need to claim your promotion if you weren't online during the promotions. Even if I'm offline, just mention it at some point on the server and I'll see to your promotion.
And yes, you can expect more promotions soon!
Eagleworld updated to Minecraft 1.6!
Hi, everyone!
This update was a long time coming. My apologies to everyone that it took so long. The Bukkit team recently released an excellent recommended build that works with 1.6.6 that solved a LOT of the bugs I was coming across in trying to update. Either way, 1.6 is here, and it's stable! You should find the server to be in a far better state than it was when I rolled out 1.5.
I am also very happy to say that very little functionality has been lost between 1.5 and 1.6, and that we have a bunch of new great stuff thanks to Essentials. Things HAVE changed, though, so please make sure to familiarize yourself with the following:
1. The Global Shop is now a Local Shop
Unfortunately, for now, this is the best solution. The person that took over SimpleShop has stripped many of the features that are compulsory for Eagleworld. There IS another plugin I can use called BetterShop, but it doesn't have the full functionality, either. So, LocalShops is our savior. Here's what you need to know:
- SimpleShop is no more, so you can't use the Global Shop everywhere.
- The Global Shop is located at the Walmart in Capitol city. There are two warps you can use to get to the Walmart: walmart and globalshop. The second one plops you directly into the shop.
- Use the Global Shop as you would any local shop.
- Now, /lshop and /shop work with LocalShops. Using either one is fine.
- ALL Eagleworld members now have access to /back to make using the new Global Shop easier. However, only Artisans or better can use /back to teleport to their death location.
2. Bug fixes and new bugs
I believe the mass-majority of issues we had on the server are now good. Here are things I know are fixed now that were previously problematic:
- The area around the spawn point with performance issues is now okay.
- Any nether issues as a result of the 1.6 upgrade are resolved. Nether works as before.
- The dynmap site issues are fixed and the dynmap works normally again
- The CreativeStick server crash is now fixed, as well as other cstick bugs
- Residual iConomy database bugs (that caused performance issues) are now cleaned up
There are plenty of other bugfixes I'm sure, but I am unsure what else occurred.
Here are some new bugs that I am aware of:
- Possible TNT detonation issue...investigating
- Possible spawn point lag issue...investigating
Also, please let me know if you do see any new bugs..I will update the blog accordingly.
3. Dynmap is back...and bad!
The Dynmap plugin was long overdue for an update, and it is finally fixed. There are some new features to look out for, such as seeing player health/armor bars, and general performance improvements. Also, the isometric view works again, and it is available for both the normal world and for the nether. Please note that right now, it is not fully re-rendered, so that will be done during the early morning.
4. Promotions all around, and I'm listening to you on them!
Promotions are LONG overdue on the server. And yes, I will be doing more this weekend. I am sorry it's been so long, so I have automatically promoted a bunch of you. I will give you your salaries/raises tonight:
Builder to Architect:
- xcaboose22
- jbkarate9
Architect to Artisan:
- Archer665
- Nonagrrl
- WARRIORSPARTON
- ugonalose
Artisan to VIP:
- MrKindLife
- ZackBlaze164
VIP to Moderator:
- openminded
Please note that if you are not promoted, DO NOT FRET. I am still evaluating users. These are just those that I knew were long overdue. If you wish to plead a case for a promotion for yourself or someone else, I will welcome your opinions. I will not hold it against you if you ask for a promotion at this time (for yourself or someone else). The server has been in a rough state for a while (as have I been), so I am not 100% in touch with every user. That will slowly be rectified over the next week or two, but in the meantime, I am counting on you to speak up if you feel you deserve a promotion.
Conclusion
There's still plenty for me to do. The blog will be updated with all the new commands and stuff over the next few days. Feel free to let me know about promotions for you or someone else, as well as any bug information. Tell me in-server or make a comment below!