It finally happened…Delorean went down.
So, it happened. Eagleworld went down. It was running for almost 700 days, but it fell victim to a power outage on July 31st.
Thankfully, not for long, though. I was on vacation in South Carolina at the time, so I wasn't around to power the server back up. The server shut down gracefully thanks to my UPS, and Delorean's data is 100% safe.
If you want more details on the server outage, check my main blog post here.
I don't want to start up the Minecraft server as yet, as I am still doing things with the OS to get everything copasetic (rebuilding disk arrays, performing stress tests, etc). However, I really want to invest my time in working towards rebuilding my Minecraft server fresh.
Starting Over
So why did I stop working on the server so long? Simple: it got too damn hard to do. I had a lot of things going on in my life. Between a divorce, medical issues, problems with my family, and a new girlfriend, time devoted to Minecraft was a minimum as it was. And with Minecraft changing so much so quickly, and with the plugins Eagleworld uses falling into such disarray, it was damn near impossible to keep her running without investing way more time than I had, and honestly, way more time than I wanted to devote.
However, I do love Minecraft, and thanks to a lack of Internet connection when I was on vacation in South Carolina, I spent a good amount of time playing single-player Minecraft during my downtime. Loved it, too. It really reminded me of why I played Minecraft in the first place and motivated me to rebuild Eagleworld.
So, now what?
Well, if I'm going to start over, doing it completely seems the way to do it, and I really do mean completely. The reason I stopped working on it in the first place was because my server's design was based on plugins back when Minecraft was still in Alpha Hey0's Mod was the server wrapper of choice. If I'm going to rebuild it and be able to keep it going this time, I really have to change my plan up.
So, I'm going to restructure and rebuild a new Eagleworld based on the current release of Minecraft, with the current release of Minecraft in mind. Change of rules, change of plugins, change of server focus...everything. But if I'm going to do that, I need your help.
Suggestions
I want 'em, folks! I want to know what it is that kept you coming to Eagleworld, and what it is you don't like. I can tell you right now that I'm going to keep the goal of security and safety of all of your work. I know that was what made Eagleworld work in the past, and I'm sure it will keep it going in the future. I know the rules were extremely strict and they need to be changed and simplified, so I will want your help with that too. I can tell you that getting divorced and starting my life over has sure has hell made me more laid back (and a hell of a lot happier, too), and I'm sure that'll be heavily reflected in how I run my server. But I can't build a server community by myself. That's where you come in.
So, I'd love to hear from you all! I'll probably start up a basic vanilla server soon just to have a place to meet up and goof around, but I want to rebuild this thing properly, with all of your help. And don't worry about all of your work...all the maps are safe and I'd like to do with them what everyone considers best, whether that is keeping it in-server, having another server completely, or just posting the map files, or whatever. So let me know! Thanks, everyone!
August 13th, 2012 - 21:51
Let me be the first to say yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay will write more later driving atm
August 14th, 2012 - 11:47
Thanks!
I’m probably going to start out experimenting with some new plugins and a new server direction. Runninghobo already suggested to use Tekkit on the Twitter feed, so I’m going to grab that tonight or tomorrow and play around with it a bit.
I think rebuilding Eagleworld from scratch really won’t be that difficult. Instead of asking questions like “How can I get a Global Shop plugin like the one I used to use?” I will be asking questions like “How can I have it so everyone can get the items they need, but still have to work for it?” I’ll be tackling my goals at the root of the need this time. So I might not even have a server economy again like iConomy if it isn’t needed. Emeralds or a barter system might be the better option. Instead of worrying about server warps and town designations, I might just find a way for high-speed transit or something else…stuff like that. More to come!
August 14th, 2012 - 12:17
I’m all for starting over to keep things fresh. a little bummed if no one can see the zoo i am making in ironforge though.
I am wondering if you should wait until they start doing the plugin api in the vanilla server to do a restart or else you might have to do it again in the near future. havent kept up on whats going on in that development area though, so I might not know what the heck im talking about
August 17th, 2012 - 10:38
Don’t worry…we’ll figure something out. I’m still thinking a lot of this through, so I’m sure we’ll all come up with something. I am considering waiting for the plugin API to work through myself, but I have a feeling setting up a Tekkit server right now isn’t such a bad idea. If anything, the Tekkit team will probably keep it going themselves, and we’ll have some form of persistent support. Either way, if we have to go Tekkit, then drop it later, it’d be better than having no server at all.
August 17th, 2012 - 11:33
tekkit looks pretty sweet. I’m all for it.
seems like using it might make updates a lot easier on you.
August 14th, 2012 - 15:16
Well Pete I really like the economy aspect of your server so I wouldn’t do away with too quick but I think chest shop might be a better shop solution it always seems to update right away with each new patch and it would simplify shopping on both your end and ours and allow greater freedom for player shops making a market possible in every town just a thought anyway I do have a really good group of sugestions for you however don’t have time atm to give them to you might just email you them as I have the written out in word somewhere from brain storming my server plan which never took shape after repeated attempts at getting help ppl are so in reliable
August 14th, 2012 - 16:16
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaase use periods and commas >.<
August 17th, 2012 - 10:40
I’d love to hear your suggestions. If you have it written up or something, you can forward it off to my email. I’m not gonna post it publicly on here, but if you check out my wordpress user profile on the blog here, you should be able to find it.
August 14th, 2012 - 16:15
Well Pete, life always comes first.
Tekkit would be fun, if not a head aching pain.
I don’t really have any suggestions lol..
August 17th, 2012 - 10:42
Tekkit is actually not hard to set up on the basic end…I already have the server running. As far as locking it down and everything, that will take a bit of time, but not ridiculously so. It’s just a matter of finding what users should have what. I’m going to rethink user ranks and all that. I like the idea of having user ranks, as it gives incentive to play, but I don’t want to restrict users from doing nothing, either. I’ll find a good balance of “leveling up” and being granted more and more dangerious tools for sure.
If you didn’t have further suggestions, maybe you’ll want to play on the test server for a bit and test stuff out. Details in the next post.
August 14th, 2012 - 19:29
Yesssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No suggestions at the moment.
August 14th, 2012 - 20:26
Me and Nick were Playing Tekkit for a few days. Takes some getting used to but it really is a great addition. Suggestions are pending at the moment. I’m sure i’ll come up with some in the coming days. The only other thing I have to say is, Heck yeah!
August 17th, 2012 - 11:11
So far, so good! I’ve been doing a LOT of reading on plugins in Tekkit, most specifially IndustrialCraft and BuildCraft. I think it’s a great focus to take the server, especially since you know I’m the “big city” builder…and having a myriad of immense creations around will kick ass. I can already see a huge 8 reactor power plant that can not only deliver 40EU/tick per reactor, but also refuel itself by recharging spent uranium. Four reactors would run at a time, and when they are spent, the other reactors would take over. The power lines would charge up to a huge power station that can hold ridiculous amounts of energy. Power lines going to sections of town would stretch out along the roads, with transformers along the way keeping the power loss at a minium. Transformers at users’ locations can regulate current down to ensure everyone gets power at the size they need without killing their shit. Long story short, that’s 3200 EU being generated every second, using reactors that are self-sustainable uranium-wise. Cool, huh?
August 20th, 2012 - 19:57
ok well looks like you got it figured and to be honest my ideas were very plugin dependant and i still might get around to using them myself at a later date when i actually have time to make and run a server properly…………………………………………………………………………….. <————look see periods i am trying
anyway, i looked at tekkit and although it will most likely take me a while to fully get the grasp of it my love of redstone defiantly prevails and i can wait to get the chance to fool around with multi wires and circuit blocks and what not….
August 21st, 2012 - 00:53
So I messed around with Tekkit. Its not for me
I think neph would really enjoy it however.