Fixing Creative

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#1
This is going to be long, so I'll try and organize this to the best of my ability.

Although I am a relatively new member of the Manacube Creative community, even I know that the creative server is in dire need of some information updates, bug fixes, and overall quality of life changes that I'm sure every player new and old will love to see happen. After reading all of the discord ideas on how to improve the server and doing some research by myself, I propose these changes/fixes to better the server for the entire community and give creative the makeover that it desperately needs.

Urgent Fixes (needs to be fixed ASAP)
/ranks
This has to be updated now. At this point, this can be classified as false advertising. /ranks is incredibly outdated, they do not include MVP+ or ELITE, and a large amount of the perks each rank claims to provide either don't exist, or are just incorrect. For example, I am a VIP and have achieved a C grade, but only have a total of 7 plots including one I purchased with mana. In /ranks VIP rank claims to give the buyer an ADDITIONAL 8 plots. So if /ranks were accurate, I should be getting a total of 15 plots. This also applies to VIP+ and MVP. I'm not too sure about MVP+ and ELITE because they aren't even listed. These commands/perks listed could be the deciding factor whether someone actually purchases a rank and this isn't fair for the person paying real money for the ranks and not getting all of the new commands and perks that are promised with it. I also checked /playerlist and MVP+ as well as ELITE do not exist there either. All of the players higher Than MVP are just listed as MVPs. So basically all the ranks need to be updated to accurately display the perks that come with purchasing the rank and ELITE and MVP+ need to be added to this list. Here is a list of all of the incorrect perks/commands that claim to be stated in /ranks.

VIP
  • Claims to give 8 plots, gives 0.
  • /gadgets: Unknown command
  • /arrowtrails: Unknown command
  • /tp: Claims to be given when purchasing the rank. However, only A+ users have access to this command. Even ELITEs can't /tp.
  • /glow Unknown command
  • /plot download: prompts for the download, but nothing happens afterward
VIP+
  • Claims to give 16 plots, gives 8.
  • /lore: No response (from what I've been told. I can't really check myself)
  • /banner: No response (so the command exists but nothing happens)
MVP
  • Claims to give 24 plots, gives 16.
  • I honestly don't know if there is anything else wrong with this, because I'm unable to test this myself.
MVP+
  • Doesn't even exist in /ranks or /playerlist.
ELITE
  • Doesn't even exist in /ranks or /playerlist.
Bug Fixes and General Problems

Lighting Bugs
This has been such a bothersome problem for players that use worledit at all, which is about everyone who wants get a grade. If you don't know what this is, whenever you use commands such as //set or tools such as voxel, it usually creates unusually dark shadows where the editing was and there is no efficient way to remove it (besides replacing every block by hand which is pointless). You could use /nv to remove the shadows but they still show to any player not using this command (which you still have to either pay mana or buy a rank to use in the first place), but this doesn't work with shaders because shaders use a completely different light map and night vision just doesn't work with shaders.
I find this to be the most annoying problem gameplay-wise, but hopefully it has an easy fix. I found that even if we were to get the //fixlighting command working again, it isn't that efficient in fixing the bugs. After searching for some solutions, I found this spigot plugin that is very performance light and compatible with all versions the server runs on. It essentially refreshes the light values making the system remaps the light to the correct values. Here is the link to the plugin. https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/light-cleaner.42469/

/plot download
People take pride in what they build here, and they should be able to keep their work and download it to their own worlds for renders and for keepsakes. However, the /plot download command just doesn't work and I'm not too sure why? Maybe some conflicting errors with other plugins or restrictions I honestly don't know. Sadly I'm not too sure how to go about fixing this problem, but maybe someone does.

Plugin Updates
Some of the plugins on the server are fairly outdated, but I think the worst one that needs to be addressed is GoBrush as it is just unusable in 1.13+. Whenever I try to switch the brush types I get kicked from the server without warning and //undo is barely functional with it because it doesn't delete a large portion of the blocks changed while using GoBrush. I believe the plugins should be updated to at least the server version that way the players have access to all of the tools provided to them without having to launch an older version and not be able to see the newer building blocks provided in later versions.

General Bugs
Here is a list of some of the bugs or incorrect interactions with the server that aren't already listed above.
  • The "Grade Example" portals at spawn are not functional.
  • The Santa NPC at spawn cannot be interacted with.
  • World Edit brushes aren't always accurate and can sometimes brush outputs can be placed in random places.
  • Players are getting kicked from the server at random intervals, not too sure of the reason why but it has happened to multiple players, including myself.
  • /inspect does not work for left clicks to get block data. However, it does work for right clicks. (another thing that whenever you deactivate inspector mode, you get a chat spam warning which is pretty funny)
Now that all of the known issues have been stated, I'm going to list some of the ideas proposed by myself and others in the community.

Quality of Life Changes/Improvement Ideas

World Edit Selection Changes
This has been a fairly annoying feature for people who are working in larger scales. The number of blocks that can be edited by a command or tool in a single selection is 500 thousand, which may seem like a lot, but air blocks are counted in the selection and is actually surprisingly small when making large adjustments to your plot or relocating your plot to another location. I suggest giving players with higher grades a larger limit of blocks they can edit in a selection, as players with better grades will generally be working on a larger scale and need to be making large selections often.

World Edit Command Additions
There are some commands with world edit that players do not have access to such as //curve and //deform rotate. I'm not really too sure as to why no one has access to these commands but I feel that all of the world edit commands used for building should be added as they would improve the versatility of building options by a fair amount.
Version Update
I think this is the change that will most likely be the hardest to implement, but it's the change that everyone wants. the newer versions of the game provides more blocks to use for building and more efficient, bug free plugins. If we were able to pull this off it would greatly improve the overall quality of the server but completely understandable if this takes a longer time to implement than other suggestions.
Rank Changes
In my person opinion, I feel fairly satisfied with the current state of ranks and don't really believed that a lot should be touched about them at the moment. However, I toured the other servers on Manacube and I've noticed that some of the more popular servers, such as Parkour and the Olympus Prison Realms, have their ranks in bold. Maybe this change can be implemented into creative to give the ranks a bit more of an important and refreshing look as the bold text is satisfying to see. For example [VIP] should be changed to [VIP].
Draw Distance Changes
I believe the entity draw distance should be increased by a reasonable amount. Whenever you are on a plot with multiple people and have to meet each other at a certain point, it can become a scavenger hunt to find each other as the entity draw distance is some absurdly low number (I think 4? Correct me if I'm wrong.) I think increasing the draw distance will fix this problem and won't cause too many performance issues as there aren't many entities on creative. This is a fairly annoying problem to deal with but I understand if it cannot be changed if the performance impact changes a significant amount.
Grading Feedback
This is a change I would love to see added to the server. I know that mods are very busy with other things so I'm thinking that a plot should receive feedback if the plot owner is applying for a grade (from C - A+) that would need the feedback on how they can improve in case they were unable to achieve their desired rank. I don't think the feedback should be excessively long, just a few short explanations on what they can improve on to make the plot better. Some examples can be "needs more organics", or "The color pallets for the buildings are a bit plain".
Plot Inactivity
This is a change that I think would just overall improve the quality of the game and not have any pointless plots that have just stayed empty since 2015 for no one to use. I think that if a user has not logged onto the server for more than a year, their plot should be deleted and open for a new player to claim.
Crates
I think this is a decent idea proposed by Samara earlier this month. On other servers, players can purchase a key and crate and have a chance to win items, titles, or other prizes from them. In creative, this is a bit harder to execute but I think it is doable. you could receive crate exclusive titles, commands, and perks not achieved by higher ranks, if you already have the prize that you got from your current crate, it will be converted to mana instead. This is a fairly new idea that needs some more thinking over but I believe that it can eventually be implemented into creative for it to be able to generate an income for the server.


Conclusion
I love this server, its qualities, and the community that it provides. I would appreciate if some of these changes were implemented that way all creative players will have a more enjoyable experience and be able to build in the way that they would expect. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and have a great day and a great Christmas!

(This is an edit after posting. I didn't know that some of the colors don't show after posting. Just imagine they're there I guess.)
 
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LiLKayla

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#2
Howdy!

I love seeing players giving feedback on our servers! Even more so servers I staff. As you and others may know I have bene trying to gather suggestions and reach out to the creative player base more recently. At the moment the creative staff team is small and I want to ensure that you guys are still getting the attention you deserve. I enjoyed reading this post and will reflect over the things that you have suggested/reported to see where they fall best. I cannot make any promises that anything will be changed or when it would be changed if accepted- however I can promise you that I will try to push for the changes and suggestions that creative wants and needs.

Now I will reply to a few things that you said just for clarity, some of these bugs if not all have been reported in the past. I will ensure to check our reporting system for this and update/report any that have fallen behind. Also, regarding the version update this is something very difficult for us to do as block IDs can change between versions. I don't see our version changing soon, I would love to use the snazzy 1.16 blocks but it could cause more issues than we assume. At the moment we do not remove inactive plots, if you have a plot that you would like to move away from you can contact a mod and nicely ask them if they are willing to move YOUR plot. We will not move others plots for you. This is just out of fairness and a concern that old players may return.

Two of the things I have the most to say about are crates and feedback for grades. Regarding crates it is difficult to ass crates to creative but many of us are looking for an active solution. Since it is a creative server our crates could not be openable by a held item- which is what all other manaucbe servers do. It just makes it more complicated and not possible with the current way we do crates. Regarding staff feedback I know I plan on giving feedback more frequently, I was doing it only when asked but I realize now that not everyone is super active in game or uses discord. With this being said, any player is more than welcome to contact me in game or out to game to talk about their grades/builds or really anything for that matter. I will try my hardest to give you guy great feedback and staff support as often as I can.

Once again, thank you for your amazing feedback and suggestions, I hope my reply added some context and comfort to your concerns. If you or anyone else needs or wants to contact me you are welcome to start a conversation on the forums with me, message/mail me in game, or contact me on discord. My discord is lilkayla#4335.

best, kayla
 
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Joined
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#3
Howdy!

I love seeing players giving feedback on our servers! Even more so servers I staff. As you and others may know I have bene trying to gather suggestions and reach out to the creative player base more recently. At the moment the creative staff team is small and I want to ensure that you guys are still getting the attention you deserve. I enjoyed reading this post and will reflect over the things that you have suggested/reported to see where they fall best. I cannot make any promises that anything will be changed or when it would be changed if accepted- however I can promise you that I will try to push for the changes and suggestions that creative wants and needs.

Now I will reply to a few things that you said just for clarity, some of these bugs if not all have been reported in the past. I will ensure to check our reporting system for this and update/report any that have fallen behind. Also, regarding the version update this is something very difficult for us to do as block IDs can change between versions. I don't see our version changing soon, I would love to use the snazzy 1.16 blocks but it could cause more issues than we assume. At the moment we do not remove inactive plots, if you have a plot that you would like to move away from you can contact a mod and nicely ask them if they are willing to move YOUR plot. We will not move others plots for you. This is just out of fairness and a concern that old players may return.

Two of the things I have the most to say about are crates and feedback for grades. Regarding crates it is difficult to ass crates to creative but many of us are looking for an active solution. Since it is a creative server our crates could not be openable by a held item- which is what all other manaucbe servers do. It just makes it more complicated and not possible with the current way we do crates. Regarding staff feedback I know I plan on giving feedback more frequently, I was doing it only when asked but I realize now that not everyone is super active in game or uses discord. With this being said, any player is more than welcome to contact me in game or out to game to talk about their grades/builds or really anything for that matter. I will try my hardest to give you guy great feedback and staff support as often as I can.

Once again, thank you for your amazing feedback and suggestions, I hope my reply added some context and comfort to your concerns. If you or anyone else needs or wants to contact me you are welcome to start a conversation on the forums with me, message/mail me in game, or contact me on discord. My discord is lilkayla#4335.

best, kayla
Thank you so much for the quick response. That post took nearly a day to write because I wanted to make sure the information I gathered was accurate and can easily be referenced and tested yourselves. As for everything you said and certain things I learned after making this post, I had no idea the creative team consisted of only 3 staff? Im not entirely sure how the system works but I'm sure you guys are trying to do everything you can to make the server higher quality with the power you are currently given.
I completely understand that the version update will most likely be the least prioritized fix out of these issues as it takes a great deal of time to make sure everything goes smoothly.
As I said earlier in the post, the crates are still a new idea. Hopefully someday we will find some way to implement them into the game without issues. As for the plot removal, I understand as well that there is a chance that players will return, and a respect the decision of you not wanting to mess with their possessions on this server in the hopes that they may return.
All of the suggestions were just from my point of view on how to make the server better. Although not unanimous, I'm hoping we can come to agree to some ideas and hopefully see them implemented successfully in the future and come to a cleaner, and more enjoyable experience on the creative server. Thanks so much for clearing up all of the unclear factors. Wish the small staff team the best and to continue looking out for us.
 

LiLKayla

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#4
Thank you so much for the quick response. That post took nearly a day to write because I wanted to make sure the information I gathered was accurate and can easily be referenced and tested yourselves. As for everything you said and certain things I learned after making this post, I had no idea the creative team consisted of only 3 staff? Im not entirely sure how the system works but I'm sure you guys are trying to do everything you can to make the server higher quality with the power you are currently given.
I completely understand that the version update will most likely be the least prioritized fix out of these issues as it takes a great deal of time to make sure everything goes smoothly.
As I said earlier in the post, the crates are still a new idea. Hopefully someday we will find some way to implement them into the game without issues. As for the plot removal, I understand as well that there is a chance that players will return, and a respect the decision of you not wanting to mess with their possessions on this server in the hopes that they may return.
All of the suggestions were just from my point of view on how to make the server better. Although not unanimous, I'm hoping we can come to agree to some ideas and hopefully see them implemented successfully in the future and come to a cleaner, and more enjoyable experience on the creative server. Thanks so much for clearing up all of the unclear factors. Wish the small staff team the best and to continue looking out for us.

Yes! the creative staff team for server staff only is currently me and ashleymarie. Kingaroo is on break and our other mod was promoted to factions manager. So at the moment creative only has 2 server staff.

And thank you again for the feedback, it is all greatly appreciated.
 
Joined
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#7
Thank you for posting this. I've been playing on creative a lot recently and this issues continue to pop up. I'm glad attention is being brought to them so creative can become a better server for everyone. Its also super nice to have all the bugs in one location lol.
 

Dnho

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#8
//gmask >grass_block also breaks worldedit entirely
 

caleb!

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#9
I realize this thread is quite old, but I would like to thank you for making it! Some of these bugs/suggestions were unreported so I have passed them on. Really appreciate all of the work you put into this. Great work!
 

49ersDude

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#10
yes I know for a fact /glow doesn't work