Through my 200+ hours on islands, I have found that people are often confused with what islands is and mainly, how to start making money fast (without begging others for spawners and food). This post talks about a good way to get a jump start on your islands career, and also explains the things you shouldn't buy in the beginning.
So the first thing you do when you join islands is you choose your island type. This is not particularly influential in your future money making, and is more out of preference. Keep in mind that the hardcore island is a small plot of land with 1 tree, while the normal island is bigger with more blocks to clear. These could be factors that influence your choice, but aren't large factors in the future as you will most likely level your island out.
The next thing that I suggest doing is voting. Though it doesn't give you piles of cash, it does provide you with a small boost in economy and gems. You can get around $2,000 and about 8 gems. Doing this daily gives you some money and will eventually allow you to get some upgrades from the /gemshop.
The next big thing is the challenges. It might start out slow but it also gives gems and money. My main point about the challenges would be to get to at least Competent and complete the "Tree Cutter" challenge. I would suggest buying the materials needed for this challenge because in the end you will be making enough money to get it back in not time at all. The reason for completing this challenge is that it gives you saplings, but mainly Spruce Saplings. This is key to making money. I have played for 200+ hours and tree farming still gives me a large amount of my income. Since Islands has mcMMO as a feature, it makes tree farming quite easy. You right click with your axe and then break a block on the tree and the whole tree breaks. In the beginning it will be slow as your tree feller ability will only last a few seconds, but it will grow as you farm more trees. In addition to the tree breaker, your axe also has the ability of a double drop chance, meaning that each time, each block has a chance to drop 2 logs instead of 1. As said before, it will start slow but will eventually increase as you continue.
Now that you have a steady income from trees, you will be able to afford more items from /shop. The first spawner I recommend buying is the cow spawner. If you look in shop, leather sells for $3 a piece and raw beef sells for $2.5 a piece. This is the best spawner to buy as the cows drop both item while other spawner will only have 1 sellable item. In addition to being able to sell the products from the cow, it also provides you with food. These 2 things I find are the challenges facing new players. They don't have money nor food and will constantly ask older players for them.
As said in the beginning of this post, I will also go over what not to buy. In my opinion buying spawners other than cow and pig at the beginning are a waste of money, and continue to be a waste later on. There is of course the exception of you wanting to build a second grinding paradise (the first is at /is warp yell). You shouldn't really need to buy other spawners because you can use the ones there. I also don't recommend buying expensive blocks at the beginning. You should stay focused on getting started and generating income. There is no point in pointlessly spending on things you don't need. Lastly, don't worry about island level just yet. The players on /is top have played for months and spent hours and hours adding to their island. I suggest not worrying about it until later.
I hope new players will find this helpful and hopefully they will read this before going on and getting frustrated by not being able to get money and get better.
So the first thing you do when you join islands is you choose your island type. This is not particularly influential in your future money making, and is more out of preference. Keep in mind that the hardcore island is a small plot of land with 1 tree, while the normal island is bigger with more blocks to clear. These could be factors that influence your choice, but aren't large factors in the future as you will most likely level your island out.
The next thing that I suggest doing is voting. Though it doesn't give you piles of cash, it does provide you with a small boost in economy and gems. You can get around $2,000 and about 8 gems. Doing this daily gives you some money and will eventually allow you to get some upgrades from the /gemshop.
The next big thing is the challenges. It might start out slow but it also gives gems and money. My main point about the challenges would be to get to at least Competent and complete the "Tree Cutter" challenge. I would suggest buying the materials needed for this challenge because in the end you will be making enough money to get it back in not time at all. The reason for completing this challenge is that it gives you saplings, but mainly Spruce Saplings. This is key to making money. I have played for 200+ hours and tree farming still gives me a large amount of my income. Since Islands has mcMMO as a feature, it makes tree farming quite easy. You right click with your axe and then break a block on the tree and the whole tree breaks. In the beginning it will be slow as your tree feller ability will only last a few seconds, but it will grow as you farm more trees. In addition to the tree breaker, your axe also has the ability of a double drop chance, meaning that each time, each block has a chance to drop 2 logs instead of 1. As said before, it will start slow but will eventually increase as you continue.
Now that you have a steady income from trees, you will be able to afford more items from /shop. The first spawner I recommend buying is the cow spawner. If you look in shop, leather sells for $3 a piece and raw beef sells for $2.5 a piece. This is the best spawner to buy as the cows drop both item while other spawner will only have 1 sellable item. In addition to being able to sell the products from the cow, it also provides you with food. These 2 things I find are the challenges facing new players. They don't have money nor food and will constantly ask older players for them.
As said in the beginning of this post, I will also go over what not to buy. In my opinion buying spawners other than cow and pig at the beginning are a waste of money, and continue to be a waste later on. There is of course the exception of you wanting to build a second grinding paradise (the first is at /is warp yell). You shouldn't really need to buy other spawners because you can use the ones there. I also don't recommend buying expensive blocks at the beginning. You should stay focused on getting started and generating income. There is no point in pointlessly spending on things you don't need. Lastly, don't worry about island level just yet. The players on /is top have played for months and spent hours and hours adding to their island. I suggest not worrying about it until later.
I hope new players will find this helpful and hopefully they will read this before going on and getting frustrated by not being able to get money and get better.
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