PlayMindcrack

From the unofficial fan-run MindCrack and HermitCraft wiki
(Redirected from Sigils)
Jump to: navigation, search

PlayMindcrack (PMC) was the official Mindcrack-themed public Minecraft minigames server.

History[edit]

The first MindCrack Public Server was open for less than two weeks in April 2012 before it was shut down. A new Mindcrack public server, PlayMindcrack, was announced 8 December 2013 on the Mindcrack Podcast.[1] It was in development before the first spawn war took place in March 2013.[2] OldManWillakers' "Bruce's Gym" server and its games merged into PlayMindcrack.[3]

The server was opened to limited beta on 20 December 2013.[4] During the beta period only patrons could join the server. Initially only the lobby, Barnyard Blitz, Survival Games, Golden Monocle, the Museum, and Dwarves vs Zombies were available. Admins of the server started as Guude, WesWilson, and former "Bruce's Gym" developers, OldManWillakers (Rob) and nisovin.

Hosted by CreeperHost, servers located in the United Kingdom[5] were made public on 2 February 2014.[6] The US servers were later moved to CreeperHost also and hosted in Atlanta, Georgia.[7] Guude had hinted at servers located in Australia if there was enough demand.[8] He announced on 19 April 2014 that the European servers had been closed due to lack of interest.[9]

A number of public statements made by Mojang employees in June 2014 sparked discussions about Minecraft's end-user license agreement (EULA) and the sustainability of large multiplayer servers,[10] including PlayMindcrack. In a Skype conversation made public on /r/minecraft, Minecraft developer Grumm outlined how the EULA would be amended to prevent server owners from monopolizing the game. In the conversation, he declares "nothing is changing -- we're just making it more clear what you *can* and cannot do". He says, "you cannot 'give' people ranks based on an outside payment - it's really simple, money you spend outside of the game cannot reflect inside the game at all", and "if you are on a server, your experience should be the same as every other player". In contrast to the existing EULA, Grumm says "you would be able to charge for access to your server - and take donations".[11] For further clarification, Minecraft's creator Notch put simply "you can charge for hosting servers, but not for gameplay features"[12] and "no, you also can't charge for mods. And no, the EULA hasn't changed. These have been the rules since forever."[13]

In response to Grumm's comments, Rob shared in a post how PlayMindcrack had to resort to selling in-game currency (gold) for real-world currency in an attempt to keep the server running. He says Grumm's idea of not even being allowed to charge for cosmetic items would kill many large multiplayer servers because "we can't exist off donations."[14] His post was linked in an article on The Guardian.[15]

An official statement made by Mojang on 12 June outlined "you are allowed to accept donations", "you are allowed to sell in-game items so long as they don’t affect gameplay", and "you cannot charge real-world cash for in-game currency". The blog contrasts Grumm's initial stance on selling cosmetic items, and also specifies that PlayMindcrack would not be allowed to continue selling gold.[16] A follow-up post on 16 June went into further detail and named 1 August 2014 as the date in which all servers must comply by.[17] PMC did not make any official statements, with Rob saying "we are waiting to see the final eula before commenting on it guys!"[18]

Because the EULA had not been changed by 1 August, PlayMindcrack shut down its online store in an attempt to comply with the blog posts, which were not deemed legally binding documents by Guude's lawyers.[19] Mojang's head of customer support marc said on Reddit that the EULA would not change; the blog post only provided exceptions to it.[20] PlayMindcrack introduced a second in-game currency, silver, which acted as a way to buy cosmetic items. As it didn't impact gameplay, silver could be purchased using real-world currency. Gold could no longer be purchased.[21][22]

Following the EULA drama and his resulting uncertainty on earning an income through PMC, Rob announced on 18 August that he and nisovin would be resigning to move onto new projects.[23] Both Rob and Guude explained that their friendship became broken and disconnected as a result.[24][25] In response, Guude announced a revamp of the server, accompanied by a group of new developers.[24] The admins of the server expanded to include olmok as PMC Manager, Sigils as Development Team Manager, croswat as Moderation Manager, and Azur as Build Team Manager.[26] Sigils' development team included bitjump, gyroninja, Melair, MitchBourke, and wwarcher, all at various times.

When Azur left, t3hero filled his position.[citation needed] On 27 August 2015, Sigils announced he would be leaving his position.[27] On 28 November, it was announced that a number of games would be retired.[28] On 31 December 2015, olmok announced that PlayMindcrack would be shutting down.[29] The server went offline on 3 February 2016.[30]

Games[edit]

Name Released Discontinued Description
Mindcrack Survival Games December 2013 February 2016 Classic Minecraft survival games played in excerpts of the Mindcrack Server
Dwarves vs Zombies December 2013 November 2014[31] Players roleplay as dwarves defending their shrine from hordes of monsters in this tactical defense game. Relocated to the Buffalo Wizards server after OldManWillakers and nisovin left PlayMindcrack
King of the Golden Monocle December 2013 November 2015[28]
Barnyard Blitz December 2013 June 2014[citation needed]
Power Juice January 2014 November 2015[28]
Camelot June 2014 November 2015[28] Three teams fight for control of the castle
Revenge of Cookie June 2014 June 2015[32] Survival world played in Ultra Hardcore mode. Players earn points by throwing resources into lava
Pajama Jam Time / Guudeland July 2014 [citation needed]
Missile Wars October 2014 February 2016 Two teams launch missiles at each other in order to destroy the opposing team's portal. Map developed and designed by SethBling and Cubehamster[33]
Regicide November 2014 November 2015[28]
BlackBeard January 2015 November 2015[28] Two teams battle to collect gold that spawns around the map. Map developed and designed by BlameTC and his build team the Broken Buttons[34]
Ultra Hardcore March 2015 February 2016 It's UHC basically
Crack Attack July 2015[35] February 2016 Map developed and designed by Arkas

Unpublished titles[edit]

  • Battle Bane, referred to as Etho's Bane, is a map developed and designed by Etho in his video series "Map Making - Battle Bane" that was planned for released in June 2014.[36] Teams gather resources and teleport to an arena to battle
  • Legend of Jarool, mentioned in June 2014 that this gamemode was developed for maps designed by BlameTC's build team the Broken Buttons[37]
  • Splat, SethBling's map based on Splatoon. Upcoming at time of server closure
  • 9 Lives, four teams race to defeat the Wither and craft a Beacon. Was in patron only beta at the time of server closure.

Mindcrack Museum[edit]

The Mindcrack Museum allowed players to explore previous seasons of the Mindcrack Server. For one weekend in April 2014, the museum was transformed into GoatSim, a plugin based on Goat Simulator that SethBling developed, in which players, in the form of a "goat", wreak havoc on the world's environment.[38]

Plot worlds[edit]

Lords of Minecraft[edit]

Lords of Minecraft was a somewhat Medieval-themed roleplaying plot world that featured members of Mindcrack and the Buffalo Wizards as Lords of the Kingdom of Dong Dank. The world was launched in July 2014, and relocated to the Buffalo Wizards server in September 2014, after OldManWillakers and nisovin left PlayMindcrack.[39]

Mindcrack Island[edit]

Mindcrack Island was a Mindcrack-themed plot world that was launched in September 2014 as a successor to Lords of Minecraft. The world was retired in June 2015 to make way for Tribes.[32]

Tribes[edit]

Tribes was the plot system that was integrated into the lobby launched in June 2015. The area surrounding the main lobby was divided between eight tribes; Classic, Elven, Volcanic, Atlantean, Frozen, Darkness, Terra, and Barbarian.[40]

Towns[edit]

Towns were similar to lobbies but instead focused on creating hang-out locations for players. The towns were created by different Mindcrack members, each with their own theme.

Mhykol's Bouncy Castle[edit]

Mhykol's Bouncy Castle was Mhykol's town that was announced on 7 March 2014. Players bounced around in a brightly-colored castle while throwing Mhykol's Minecraft avatar at each other. Mhykol could play the comedic song "Buckle Your Pants" by Stampede using the command /music.[41]

SethBling's Basketball[edit]

SethBling's Basketball was SethBling's town that was announced on 17 April 2014. Players were placed onto one of four teams (iron, diamond, gold, and emerald) in an ongoing, multi-directional basketball game.[42] The town made use of Seth's Bukkit plugin BlingHoops, which he had previously showcased on 12 April.[43]

Calamity Town[edit]

Calamity Town was Zisteau's town. A successor to the Wasteland Village, Calamity Town features an evolving storyline that was influenced by player interaction.

Rules[edit]

PlayMindcrack enforced the defined server rules with a no warning punishment system. Banned players were able to appeal their ban on the server website. Bans for hacked or modified clients were very unlikely to be overruled.[44] Previously, the use of the mod "Optifine" was disallowed, despite giving little to no advantage over other players.[citation needed] On 16 July 2015, croswat posted that the moderation team had pardoned a number of bans for minor offences, including the use of Optifine.[45]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Mindcrack (8 December 2013). "Mindcrack Podcast - Episode 55 with Mr. Slab". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-GB7gDytQ&t=3m50s>.
  2. GuudeBoulderfist (15 January 2014). Reddit. Reddit reply. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/1v8j4w/how_long_has_guudemindcrack_wanted_to_make_this/ceps2vs>.
  3. BruceWillakers (8 December 2013). "Announcement: BrucesGym Merges with Mindcrack!". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b75mDlZ1O0s>.
  4. GuudeBoulderfist (20 December 2013) "PlayMindcrack - Minecraft Public Server - Limited BETA LIVE!". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQfZSMW4tw>.
  5. PlayMindcrack (27 January 2014). Twitter. <https://twitter.com/PlayMindcrack/status/427940914523156480>.
  6. PlayMindcrack (2 February 2014). Twitter. <https://twitter.com/PlayMindcrack/status/430218665313968128>.
  7. PlayMindcrack (22 February 2014). Twitter. <https://twitter.com/PlayMindcrack/status/437393705499369472>.
  8. GuudeBoulderfist (23 February 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/1yo1b6/eu_servers_now_have_their_own_sql_servers_lessno/cfmaiwq?context=3>.
  9. GuudeBoulderfist (19 April 2014). "EU Servers Removed". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/23gcie/eu_servers_removed/>.
  10. BebopVox YOGSCAST (6 June 2014). "Mojang Vs. Community - Minecraft Server Changes". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnSx_Zk8A7o>.
  11. SteveSnowden (5 June 2014). "Is it just me or are some server owners more than just a little greedy over the whole EULA thing.". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/27czed/is_it_just_me_or_are_some_server_owners_more_than/>.
  12. notch (6 June 2014). Twitter. <https://twitter.com/notch/status/474869769301409792>.
  13. notch (7 June 2014). Twitter. <https://twitter.com/notch/status/475206066855497728>.
  14. Rurikar (5 June 2014). "Post got deleted from /r/minecraft so here you go.". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/27fdh6/post_got_deleted_from_rminecraft_so_here_you_go/>.
  15. Kevin Stuart (24 June 2014). "Minecraft: how a change to the rules is tearing the community apart". The Guardian. <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/24/minecraft-how-a-change-to-the-rules-is-tearing-the-community-apart>.
  16. Owen (12 June 2014). "LET'S TALK SERVER MONETISATION!". Mojang. <https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation/>.
  17. Owen (16 June 2014). "LET'S TALK SERVER MONETISATION - THE FOLLOW-UP Q+A". Mojang. <https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation-the-follow-up-qa/>.
  18. Rurikar (17 June 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/28ad1y/update_on_the_minecraft_eula_affecting_servers/ci9i502>.
  19. GuudeBoulderfist (1 August 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/comments/2cayoq/playmindcracks_store_is_being_turned_off_at/cjdoi2t>.
  20. Marc_IRL (1 August 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/2cc1rz/about_the_eula_enforcement/cje4534>.
  21. croswat (11 September 2014). "Playmindcrack Changelog: Mindcrack Island". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/2g2rqj/playmindcrack_changelog_mindcrack_island/>.
  22. olmok (14 September 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/2ga9p3/playmindcrack_gold/ckhltvx?context=3>.
  23. BruceWillakers (18 August 2014). "Channel Update: Leaving PlayMindcrack". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfTzaG_uSrc>.
  24. 24.0 24.1 GuudeBoulderfist (21 August 2014). "Minecraft MindCrack - S5E10 - Torch Tuesdays #5 - PMC". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cJ6rKeiTVI>.
  25. BruceWillakers (18 October 2014). "Playmindcrack vlog". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtr5s2eyzno>.
  26. GuudeBoulderfist (7 September 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/2fpsd6/what_will_happen_to_the_supposedly_upcoming_games/ckbpnj7?context=1>.
  27. Sigils (27 August 2015). "Saying Farewell". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/3imz2c/saying_farewell/>.
  28. 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 olmok (28 November 2015). "We're retiring a few games...". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/3umswn/were_retiring_a_few_games/>.
  29. olmok (31 December 2015). "Time to say goodbye". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/3yv4kg/time_to_say_goodbye/>.
  30. AunkMC (3 February 2016). "Rest In Peace, PlayMindCrack". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/441505/rest_in_peace_playmindcrack/>.
  31. croswat (8 November 2014). "DvZ is no longer on PlayMindcrack". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/2ln848/dvz_is_no_longer_on_playmindcrack/>.
  32. 32.0 32.1 croswat (23 May 2015). "Revenge of Cookie, Mindcrack Island, and their future". Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/playmindcrack/comments/3715op/revenge_of_cookie_mindcrack_island_and_their/>.
  33. SethBling (18 October 2014). "Missile Wars by Cubehamster and SethBling". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMCrEs1yW9w>.
  34. BlameTheController (7 January 2015). "Minecraft BlackBeard PvP Minigame Available now on PlayMindcrack". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z74zg_Yd8I>.
  35. Croswat (12 July 2015). "CrackAttack Released!". PlayMindcrack. <http://www.playmindcrack.com/news/crackattack-released>.
  36. BruceWillakers (19 May 2014). "PlayMindcrack: Upcoming Changes to Dwarves vs Zombies". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szNgZ8UCcyE&t=7m26s>.
  37. GuudeBoulderfist (2 June 2014). PlayMindcrack - Camelot - E01 - For the Honor of the Blue Team!". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cShxMY23Rk&t=4m41s>.
  38. SethBling (5 April 2014). "Goat Simulator in Minecraft". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSK_iqDpiuk>.
  39. BruceWillakers (12 September 2014). "Lords of Minecraft | New Changes!". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Yy8hS55qA>.
  40. Croswat (7 June 2015). "The Tribes Update". PlayMindcrack. <http://www.playmindcrack.com/news/tribes-release>.
  41. Mhykol (7 March 2014). "PlayMindcrack - Mhykol's Bouncy Castle!". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9uP3QJBOX0>.
  42. Mindcrack (17 April 2014). "SethBling's Basketball on The Play Mindcrack Server". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1opX7dTPRow>.
  43. SethBling (12 April 2014). "BlingHoops -- Minecraft Bukkit Plugin". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkodzqeojp0>.
  44. "I was banned! What can I do?". PlayMindcrack. <http://www.playmindcrack.com/support/knowledgebase.php?article=22>.
  45. Croswat (16 July 2015). "Reviewing our Bans". PlayMindcrack. <http://www.playmindcrack.com/news/reviewing-bans>.