Solitude - A request for a return.

[Shinyshark]

Ever since Solitude got shut down I've missed it and thought about it. It was a nice server and I, and many others, want it back. In the past week and a half I've been asking several people on teamspeak about if they wanted Solitude back and if they were willing to 'contribute' towards it. Many have said yes, and many have contributed. Wheter it was a small memory or a picture that reminded them; a video that gave them hopes during the gray wasteland or even a map, they contributed.

We, the 35 people who agreed to help me, want Solitude back. I didn't ask everyone and some people didn't quite understand it. I even got support from those who left Minecraft because they were bored of it. We understand that there's no money for a new server and we understand that. The first Solitude was, hands down, the best. A small map; the spirit of just a normal map. Funnily enough you guys made a bigger map and allowed out-side communication. It added to the atmosphere but still wasn't better than that first test, that first place that I will never forget.

We're asking for a weekend server, after the meeting it goes up and on monday it goes down. The map is as simple as replacing grass with dirt and leaves with air; like the first one. We don't desire giant plug-ins and the mushroom soup radiation was the best. Even if it didn't treathen you to die it was still there to torture you; breaking out the sweat as it reminded you of it everytime. How I remember people saying "RIP" when another person died, and how the Enclave kicked in the last day. We blew our chance by cheating the system, we are asking for another chance. We are asking to return Solitude.

The list of people and contributions.

Sploorky- A story.
Shinyshark - A poem.
Peter24 - A map.
asaechao- A picture.
Rosekill - A picture.
paceboys- A picture.
infernofox - Two pictures, divided by the half of his name.
RonaldoSkillz - Wants Solitude back.
Agent2479 - A picture.
combo_express - A picture.
GoldenValley - Wants Solitude back.
Benrune - Wants Solitude back.
JOLTEON42 - Wants Solitude back.
AngelWV - Created a logo.
Moonstar2 - A story.
vgonz123 - Wants Solitude back.
kreeperkilla14- A picture.
JKangaroo ~ To be drawn
Araidian - Drew a picture.
Stam1na- A poem
Jayfeather21 - An old memory, a diary log.
Wateronflamz - Wants Solitude back.
_aperson155_ - Wants Solitude back.
Shande - Wants Solitude back.
63LittlePiggy63 - will bring her pig friends.
Jammy001 - Wants Solitude back.
Jackamel - Wants Solitude back.
Prizyms - Was a former Solitude Dungeon director, wants Solitude back.
Super_Koray - A picture and a song that reminded him of Solitude.
Silvuss - Has never been on Solitude but still misses it.
raxo2222 - Thinks that it's an unique server and wants it back.
Da_Jinks - Didn't have Premium at the time but still wants Solitude.
Marnixxie - Wants Solitude back.
Baker93 - A picture.
Swate - Wrote a word document.

We have all tried our best and out of all the people I asked, atleast 90% wanted it back as an event server. They don't want a big map, they want it back as the first version; a silly german with a small map and his own set of puppets. Because war, war never changes.

GmK

 

[Jayfeather]

Solitude V0 5ever. Small map, dirt, mushroom soup. <3

 

[paceboys]

Very excited for this. Hope this goes over well ^.^

 

[Malcovent]

Many have said yes, and many have contributed. Wheter it was a small memory or a picture that reminded them; a video that gave them hopes during the gray wasteland or even a map, they contributed.

Hold up, I'll go ask our server hosts if they take memories as valid currency.

(Will expand upon this post in a 'wee' bit)

edit - okay, going to try stick to a 'useful' questions rather than attacking everything.

We, the 35 people who agreed to help me, want Solitude back.

> What do you actually intend to do about helping a.) Bring about the server, b.) the two or so days needed weekly to run it as an event.

We understand that there's no money for a new server and we understand that.

> I don't think you quite understand if say you understand and yet went ahead with the post.


Anyway, will discuss it with HA's/German, but in the event this gains any weight - you need to do more than sit there and repeatedly mention about how much you'd like it back and petition us. Because if that's your approach to getting a server back a firm backhand would probably be of more use to us in making that wish come true.

 

[Jayfeather]

I wasn't really thinking about this idea becoming a reality until Shiny posted the thread, and a few minutes after that I reminded myself we barely meet donations every month without ofthalmapatee, so I don't know how we could get another server running. I s'pose this would have to be some sort of long term wish rather than a tried and true method to bring solitude back. e.o

 

[Shinyshark]

Hold up, I'll go ask our server hosts if they take memories as valid currency.

I know that noone is going to take memories and pictures as payment, that's not how the worlds works and probably never will. We did this to show GmK that we don't just whine to get a server back but that we put effort into it. Even if it wasn't a usefull question in your opinion it does matter. I've sat there knowing that we didn't have an extra server and if it weren't for it being a surprise, I would've asked you already.

> What do you actually intend to do about helping a.) Bring about the server, b.) the two or so days needed weekly to run it as an event.

I love Solitude dearly and would try many ways to make it known to the world. I would try and advertise where it's allowed to and I know that a lot of the friends that I have on-line would want to play Solitude. Advertising is always hard because the two effective ways are either paying for an advertisement or making an extremely popular sort of content of it known. If for example a famous youtube user such as PewDiePie played on Solitude and posted the IP in the description then the server would be flooded with people. I don't intend on trying to bring back the server and then only work on it for two days. I want make Solitude a popular server because it has an effective way of becoming popular; the game plays with you aswell.

> I don't think you quite understand if say you understand and yet went ahead with the post.

I can try to raise money if that is what you mean. I know this is all very sudden and doesn't really help much, I jumped that gun a bit in not asking GmK because I was going to ask him, and to my knowledge he had a Dedicated box that he used while he was testing it and I presumed we could use that to run the server on that Two Day period.

Anyway, will discuss it with HA's/German, but in the event this gains any weight - you need to do more than sit there and repeatedly mention about how much you'd like it back and petition us. Because if that's your approach to getting a server back a firm backhand would probably be of more use to us in making that wish come true.

I will try everything to make the server come back. I am sure that everyone who helped me with this is also willing to help and advertise the server in any way they can. I'm not just asking the server to come back up for myself, but as a community fun-time.

 

[Swate]

I will try everything to make the server come back.

The nostalgia of it all :C

Spoiler

NEW HAVEN I MISS YOU Dx

 

[Duffie]

The nostalgia of it all :C

Spoiler

NEW HAVEN I MISS YOU Dx

Oh god... Is that the town Kap was mayor of?

Anyway, I have to say, I was a bit quiet about wanting Solitude back. I always thought it was gone for a reason, but I never knew the reason to begin with. I have to say that this was one of the servers that gave me the most enjoyment.

If we have this whenever, I'd be glad to take place in the possibly overfilled server that I will probably never be able to get into.

 

[Baker93]

Would it be possible to take down one of the premium servers down to run such events? I know its a controversial idea but it would remove the cost element (although would probably require more work). Simply because people are probably more willing to sacrifice a server for a weekend than donate to keep a whole new server up for 2 days a week. As for helping, tell me what you need and I shall do whatever I can to help you in any way.

 

[Duffie]

Would it be possible to take down one of the premium servers down to run such events? I know its a controversial idea but it would remove the cost element (although would probably require more work). Simply because people are probably more willing to sacrifice a server for a weekend than donate to keep a whole new server up for 2 days a week. As for helping, tell me what you need and I shall do whatever I can to help you in any way.

Didn't we do this when we started Solitude out, as well?

 

[Fatalis]

The nostalgia of it all :C

Spoiler

NEW HAVEN I MISS YOU Dx

Ah, I remember New Haven. I also remember I came back the last day on Solitude and it was a deserted ghost town, and I hid in the mountains.

 

[HarmakAnna]

If possible, I'd be more than happy for it to be back. Primarily the aspect where when you died, you were dead. No third chances, and you would have to wait for a week (more or less). The first Solitude was possibly my favorite server (event), bar Zombie. If it can be brought back,, I'm all for this, but if it can't, that's fine. But I'd prefer for it to be back. c:

 

[GmK]

What would be the difference to current SMP, except a deathban? You can create the same towns, cities, stories, etc, on the current SMP.

 

[HarmakAnna]

Solitude gave the aspect of survival and being able to know what to do to not die. SMP feels like it has less of that. Less communication made it more of a decision to become an assassin or an ally since it would be harder for others to warn besides face-to-face meeting and signs placed in random spots. The radiation also made it feel like time was running out.

There's my two cents on the matter. Take it as you will.

 

[Duffie]

Also, without the death notifications, and days going by, you don't really know who's dead and who's alive. So, if you're living with other people, you can't really know if they're alive until you wait for them to log in, or as we always called it, wake up.

Basically everything Harmak said, too. It forced us to stock up on mushroom soup, so we didn't have Death clinging onto our shoulders everytime the radiation counter went up... Or, at least, to delay his arrival.

And what I like most is the localized chat. Having to be near people to speak with them makes you have the feeling of, pun intended, Solitude. It makes searching for people very hard, or for the opposite effect, not finding people very easy.

I also very much enjoyed that you can be the mysterious Marauder, or a Crazy Mayor who makes a super crazy exit as things go wrong from the start. But I found this only to be possible with the near-empty ruleset. You could grief, you could steal, you could be a dick. And the thing is, you could get away with it. All for the fun of the game.

And the one life you get changes everything in the game. You HAVE to keep an eye on yourself. Watching your back and all that. But, then again, so does everyone else. So you could be that guy, who goes around killing people, being an evil raider of sorts. Of course, I always liked the unbanishment after a week or so. When you come back, you're in a whole new world.

... But, to conclude it all, I think what made this type of server great in the end, to me, was the stories we made, as we strolled along with our very, very limited, and very, very fragile lives. Reading the journals and diaries were great fun.

The only reason people used the extra life system back then was because everyone who had known about them thought they were a secret, implemented for us to use. Had we known they weren't supposed to exist, I'm sure we would have given up the lives we used.

 

[GmK]

Thank you Duffie - the first proper explanation why I should consider it :)

 

[Shinyshark]

What really made Solitude special for me was the atmosphere. You were all alone and it took away the crowded chat that you'd normally see in any other server. You felt alone yet you knew that something could happen any second now. Every individual in the server felt like a random event litteraly making it a game that plays with the player, instead of being played by the player.

The chaos in the server was also fantastic. When everyone spawned you'd be able to find atleast one individual and depending on wheter it was a friend or an enemy your story was set quite quickly. Together with that friend you'd settle and find more friends or enemies. It was always random because this was the first time a server like this had been set up, local chat with radiation and death bans. It was an endless loop of fun because it was always diffrent and you had to act the situation, not prepare it.

I agree completely with Duffie on her view on Local chat. In normal SMP you'd say "I'm going mining, cya in a minute or 10" and randomly scream "Oh shit, zombie! Guys help!" In Solitude you had to find your friends before you could such a thing and you couldn't know wheter they robbed the shit out of you or betrayed you. Even though you could be surrounded with people but you would still feel alone.

And the traveling trough the bare wasteland looking for survivors to take into your group whilst Louis armstrong was singing 'A kiss to build a dream on' felt amazing. Every survivor you found would make you proud, and every raider you killed would give you the feeling that the world became a bit safer. Reading back on their reactions on the diaries felt amazing and even if outside communication wasn't allowed you could still enjoy everyone's playthrough as if it were a let's play.

And even if you weren't able to play or were out of the server you were still participating. Making a possible target or being the person that was needed felt very satisfying. And don't forget about the diary entries you could read if you had no time to play or couldn't play because you had died.

The thing I definitely liked the most was that broadcast giving you something to do, a challenge! It was definitely the best part of the server. I remember when the Broadcast sent troops to attack the Vault I made with others and how we were forced to abbandon it. How most of us went our ways and how we all ended up in a diffrent town with diffrent people. If not for the Broadcast we would probably never have seen much else of the world because most of us were too afraid to go outside.

The conclusion to my argument is that the server played with us more than we could play with it ourselves. Nothing was guaranteed to happen and you couldn't predict anything that would happen either! I loved the server for that and I still do.

If anything has to be done for the server to be able to come back then sign me up, I will do everything that I can do.

 

[Duffie]

And the traveling trough the bare wasteland looking for survivors to take into your group whilst Louis armstrong was singing 'A kiss to build a dream on' felt amazing.

I totally forgot about that suggestion, to listen to some Fallout music while playing! It fit so well, being alone most of the time, in a barren wasteland, just like in Fallout, usually.

The only thing that would make it better is the ability to somehow bring the music into the game, so you could emit the music from radio towers, while people holding radios/pipboys, being the compasses, could listen to some music.

Of course, with what I know of MineCraft, that's almost impossible.

 

[Araidian]

I still haven't forgotton the Brotherhood of Steel vs the Enclave. Now that was a battle you couldn't recieve from normal pvp.
My favorite expirence in minecraft thus far.
From Solitude. c:

 

[balloon98]

I remember the first day it came in the first really laggy version that was an event day. I spawned and saw Nazza and atfirst ran but then joined him and others too like Jolt Brick furion and we were all having so much fun and even found a fallout building thingy. I remember it being funny in that version.

Besides SMp is mainly about joining clans or cities then getting diamond to protect yourself and thats it.
As for solitude we had new maps every so often that it made it fun to know that you could have a shot to rule the land then instead of someone killing everyone in their path forever. And again with the dying concept with 1 life and that it gave it a special touch to really think about decisions. Instead of like on SMP where all you really can worry about losing is exp or if you just came back from mining. Solitude made it worry about losing everything since once you came back in a week its near impossible to find your stuff or its gone. Unlike SMp where you can just go back to you chests full of resources.

 

[Swate]

Solitude was my best ever experience with MineCraft, period. Not only was the entire world unpredictable, it was fun. I mean, sure, other games are fun and all, but a game where anything is possible, there are no rules or restrictions and even radiation poisoning? MA FETCH THE MUSHROOM SOUP. :)

The whole vibe of the server, I felt, really made it feel like an actual radiation apocalypse in real life would be (new record for the word "real" used in one sentence). People were running around like crazy, it would start acid raining and you'd have to burrow into the ground like an insane mole-Foxararma hybrid... there were even opposing clans that were founded by the very players playing, making the clans volatile to collapse and disperse at any second like a sandcastle at high tide.

Solitude was just an amazing experience which I am very happy to have been a part of. More so, I would love to be a part of this unbelievably realistic action again - I have the most fondest memories of it. :)

 

[Deadl0ck]

ok, let's say if we DID consider this, how harsh should it be?

You die means you are banned from the map untill the next map? You die you're banned for just the weekend? What are you all thinking?

As for the "only during the weekend" part, a new map every weekend? Or do we keep the map going for a month, so 8 days of uptime? Do we keep it going ad infinitum?

I'm not sure how it was in the last server in regards to materials and minerals, but minerals would be a lower density as well, I should think.

 

[Baker93]

I would suggest that you upon death you are banned for 1-2 weeks, I feel a month may be too long although the bans could be progressive, so for example On first death - banned for one week, second death - 2 weeks and so on and maybe reset it every map?

As for map rotation 1 month would be ideal as to prevent a few people wandering around in OP shit raping and pillaging anyone/anything they come across.

Also, regarding the mineral scarcity, if there was a way of altering the number of diamond/iron etc in the map, that would probably be a good thing.

On another note, what about man made dungeons and/or the goodie filled underground shelters seen in the last solitude implemented into this one?

 

[GmK]

implemented into this one?

Who says we will have a 'this one'?

 

[Deadl0ck]

Yeah, pretty much what GmK said. I have a personal intrest in Solitude, and just want to see where you guys think it should go. don't get worked up folks.