Donator
What does this suggestion change/add/remove:
An official CN Minecraft Server. Ideally the specifics should be hashed out over time by openly gauging community interest (i.e. Should it be modded MC, if so, any specific mods the community are interested in, etc. Lead with figuring out mod interest to then work out mod loader and MC version from there, although based on what I've been seeing, chances are you'll end up with NeoForged 1.20.1 or 1.21.1)
The general outline for pursuing this would happen in stages;
The first being determining community interest and feasibility to see if this is worth the effort.
The second being finalising what the server content will be, mods, plugins, etc. During this stage, open MC Staff recruitment.
The final step would be opening the server to the public, following any necessary technical work and arrangements with whatever hosting provider is chosen.
Here's a point of interest and something I think NL should really think about here - The Network has these long-term ambitions to open new GMod servers, Site-9 we know is still ongoing, we still don't know much about SWRP or DWRP after they were teased but all we can do is assume there's still some form of plan on the table there. Meanwhile in the years since we've been made aware of all these ambitions, the Network has actually scaled back on the servers it operates, with good reason. Rust had to be canned, DRP had to be canned, and MRP ended up having to be canned, leaving CN now with only SCP-RP for the better part of 2 years, now.
IMO if the Network still wants to grow, then it could use a little practice with launching a new server and think it would kinda suck if all the cool development work going into Site-9 ended up with a launch that could go very sideways and result in a potentially preventable, persistent headache. Granted, everything's going to have teething problems, including this. And yes, there's a lot of things here that don't really translate - But given the current state of affairs, I think it's worth considering a small launch of just something so you can go through the motions of getting a new thing up off the ground and getting moderators for it.
There's also other benefits to this venture like I mentioned - The really cool thing about something like an MC server is that this has been very thoroughly explored already; No matter what monetisation setup you go with, there's pretty much some kind of above-board option that easily translates to what you end up with. Even just the existing tiers of donor ranks could translate into server benefits and such, like /kits? I guess the only thing you'd have to be mindful of here is Microsoft's official rules for community servers? Which means no crates, because gambling.
But there are some other aspects that could translate pretty neatly - For example, the model for PAC3 on the SCP-RP servers, if there's a way to similarly lock off access to use a MC Mod called Figura, you could basically implement a 1:1 PAC access scheme to MC (Donate for +30 days of Figura access, or become an MC HMod/GM)
As for the theming, I think any theming would emerge from what server content is settled on. Making things more open-ended allows a larger variety of ideas to form and you end up with this miasma of... Thing. I get that a big part of CN properties is trying to be unique with what they are, and sacrificing that to an extent for getting used to having more than two servers (technically one since things are highly translatable between SCP UK & US) again I think is worth considering.
Only other thing I could think of is 1.01 - One big issue with pursuing MC is that it can potentially bring the wrong kind of attention to the Network in the form of underaged users . We get this to an extent with GMod, but if you believe this may be more pronounced with MC, I wouldn't necessarily disagree. In this manner, expanding outward like this is kind of a double-edged sword. If trying to enforce the rule is too much of a concern to the point where this shouldn't be pursued, I'd understand. Additionally, there are also groups that notoriously target MC servers they consider pay-to-win and try to disrupt their services with the aim of shutting them down - I would understand if the possibility of this deters NL from pursuing this.
To summarise:
It should go without saying, but if you're a community member reading this and find yourself interested in engaging with a CN Minecraft server, you should voice that below! I imagine that if they do go ahead with this, NL will probably try to gauge community interest in some other way that satisfies them - But voicing your interest here I think would help to let them get an idea of what kind of scale of interest they could potentially be tapping into! And remember to vote on the suggestion to show your interest, too!
NL have a lot on their plate and generally if they don't see good enough reason to do something like this, they won't. Remember how long and how many times the Community asked for an SCP Event Server? This isn't really that comparable, but the bottom line is, if you're interested, say so!
An official CN Minecraft Server. Ideally the specifics should be hashed out over time by openly gauging community interest (i.e. Should it be modded MC, if so, any specific mods the community are interested in, etc. Lead with figuring out mod interest to then work out mod loader and MC version from there, although based on what I've been seeing, chances are you'll end up with NeoForged 1.20.1 or 1.21.1)
The general outline for pursuing this would happen in stages;
The first being determining community interest and feasibility to see if this is worth the effort.
The second being finalising what the server content will be, mods, plugins, etc. During this stage, open MC Staff recruitment.
The final step would be opening the server to the public, following any necessary technical work and arrangements with whatever hosting provider is chosen.
Has something similar been suggested before? If so, why is your suggestion different?:
No. If CN did ever have an MC server in the past, I wouldn't know and I imagine people would bring it up in the replies. Regardless, I think now is an appropriate time to begin this discussion.Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):
- + A more simple endeavour to derust (no pun intended) and 'relearn' expanding after a while - See last section
- + A new potential revenue income stream for the Network
- + A potential vector for improving outreach & bringing new people to the community - "Did you know we also do Garry's Mod?"
- + A lot of the existing community would probably want to engage with a CN Minecraft server in some capacity
Possible Negatives of the suggestion:
- - Dev time
- - Would need more Staff to moderate - Additionally, moderating an MC server is a whole different beast
- - Theming - An MC server wouldn't really have a 'theme' like CN's more successful servers have had and a more sandboxy type server that MC is conducive to, may fail on that front, especially if Rust is to be seen as a precedent
- - The other general expenditures usually associated with operating a server & venture of this nature
Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
Let's talk about it. So personally I've been on kind of a Create + Cobblemon kick recently, and I had thought of this idea before, but dismissed it out of hand because I mentally weighed it as not something NL would be able to feasibly consider at this time, but then I saw a discussion in #mess-hall a little while ago about Yeke's shenanigans with MC server hosting, how proficient they are with it, etc. and it got me wondering how viable this idea actually is. Although I understand that there's a massive difference between hosting an MC server for friends and hosting a generally larger public MC server.Here's a point of interest and something I think NL should really think about here - The Network has these long-term ambitions to open new GMod servers, Site-9 we know is still ongoing, we still don't know much about SWRP or DWRP after they were teased but all we can do is assume there's still some form of plan on the table there. Meanwhile in the years since we've been made aware of all these ambitions, the Network has actually scaled back on the servers it operates, with good reason. Rust had to be canned, DRP had to be canned, and MRP ended up having to be canned, leaving CN now with only SCP-RP for the better part of 2 years, now.
IMO if the Network still wants to grow, then it could use a little practice with launching a new server and think it would kinda suck if all the cool development work going into Site-9 ended up with a launch that could go very sideways and result in a potentially preventable, persistent headache. Granted, everything's going to have teething problems, including this. And yes, there's a lot of things here that don't really translate - But given the current state of affairs, I think it's worth considering a small launch of just something so you can go through the motions of getting a new thing up off the ground and getting moderators for it.
There's also other benefits to this venture like I mentioned - The really cool thing about something like an MC server is that this has been very thoroughly explored already; No matter what monetisation setup you go with, there's pretty much some kind of above-board option that easily translates to what you end up with. Even just the existing tiers of donor ranks could translate into server benefits and such, like /kits? I guess the only thing you'd have to be mindful of here is Microsoft's official rules for community servers? Which means no crates, because gambling.
But there are some other aspects that could translate pretty neatly - For example, the model for PAC3 on the SCP-RP servers, if there's a way to similarly lock off access to use a MC Mod called Figura, you could basically implement a 1:1 PAC access scheme to MC (Donate for +30 days of Figura access, or become an MC HMod/GM)
As for the theming, I think any theming would emerge from what server content is settled on. Making things more open-ended allows a larger variety of ideas to form and you end up with this miasma of... Thing. I get that a big part of CN properties is trying to be unique with what they are, and sacrificing that to an extent for getting used to having more than two servers (technically one since things are highly translatable between SCP UK & US) again I think is worth considering.
Only other thing I could think of is 1.01 - One big issue with pursuing MC is that it can potentially bring the wrong kind of attention to the Network in the form of underaged users . We get this to an extent with GMod, but if you believe this may be more pronounced with MC, I wouldn't necessarily disagree. In this manner, expanding outward like this is kind of a double-edged sword. If trying to enforce the rule is too much of a concern to the point where this shouldn't be pursued, I'd understand. Additionally, there are also groups that notoriously target MC servers they consider pay-to-win and try to disrupt their services with the aim of shutting them down - I would understand if the possibility of this deters NL from pursuing this.
To summarise:
- I believe there is sufficient community interest in this
- I believe this is a viable commercial venture for the Network if monetised appropriately
- I believe there is enough existing technical experience with this that would make starting one up a considerably easy endeavour, when compared to pursuing new GMod properties like CN currently plans
- I believe pursuing this would be beneficial for the Network overall
It should go without saying, but if you're a community member reading this and find yourself interested in engaging with a CN Minecraft server, you should voice that below! I imagine that if they do go ahead with this, NL will probably try to gauge community interest in some other way that satisfies them - But voicing your interest here I think would help to let them get an idea of what kind of scale of interest they could potentially be tapping into! And remember to vote on the suggestion to show your interest, too!
NL have a lot on their plate and generally if they don't see good enough reason to do something like this, they won't. Remember how long and how many times the Community asked for an SCP Event Server? This isn't really that comparable, but the bottom line is, if you're interested, say so!
Last edited:
Core Developer
Senior Developer
Head Moderator
Resources Team