Minecraft Forums

I voted to change it. My reasoning is thus:

It simply doesn't make sense that large servers are allowed to keep their topic bumped with whitelisting while smaller servers have to struggle to not break the rules to get noticed. Far too much effort is being asked of smaller servers while large servers hardly have to do anything at all and retain first page and consistent notice all day everyday. Changing this would mean that a topic being bumped via whitelist app and approval/denial is no longer allowed. This would put smaller servers and larger servers on equal footing. This should happen.

I used to play on an amazing server hosted by my friend, but it isn't up anymore because nobody could see the forum topic and join. I didn't want to break forum rules and spam the thread so it could be seen for a mere 5 seconds before it got buried under all the other established servers

Finally! I miss the Starting up new sever section... It's where all the small severs go that can't compete! The big-boii-severs are dominating the small ones or non-whitelisted ones. I would be very happy to see change, and big thanks goes to the MCF-staff for actually listening to us. Thanks buddaizs.

Ok so in my opinion i think there should be different sections for different types of servers like ForgottenRealmsCraft said but inside those sections however i think you should have 2 different parts of it, New/Small Servers and Big/Long Time Existing. Also i think once a post in the New/Small servers gets so big or so many views/ votes you should have it so they are moved to the other topic.

Or

You could have a system where the topic gets voted on and have 2 different sections 1 for small new servers other for big servers and once the small servers reach so many votes they get moved into the big server places

Now about the whitelisting thing, i think you should just let the people have there whitelsiting applications on the fourm post so they dont have to continuously watch 2 topics.

A small server should have no trouble watching two different sections. It all comes down to the dedication of that server and its' staff. But, no one can really filter the dynamic Roleplay servers from the straight-forward survival ones.

On the topic of splitting topics between the topic of the server itself and the white-list for it... That can be a little tricky. Depending on what the Forum Admins have in mind, they may simply make two different forum sections for both white-list and the server post itself; or they may keep it all in one forum section and risk the troubles of all the bumping and small/big servers mixing and the stress of it all jumbled together. It'd be nice to get some feedback of what the Admins can and can't do, as well as their own ideas or feedback on those that have already been presented.

Organization can be a really good factor when it comes to this sort of thing. You don't really do much change if you just divide one thing from another thing when it comes to these forum topics. If you really want the server forums to be more structured, you'll have to have a lot of change. Such as multiple different forum sections with a multitude of different preferences of topics in that section. An important factor here, like said by the others, is splitting the established servers from the newer ones. Create two sections, for example: "Existing Servers" and "Starting-Up Servers", and perhaps use a small description of the two topics below their prior names like "For those servers who are larger and more established!" etc. Most servers will start out in the Starting-Up section where you have both PvP and Non-PvP servers that have under 150 posts. Moving along, that server gets over 150 posts and they are automatically moved into the existing servers section. In the existing server section, you will then have divided sub-topics for both PvP and Non-PvP established servers. This will help players find what kind of server they are looking for without going through a hassle of several different types of servers.

When a server is starting out, dividing them isn't really a major problem. Why not just do it when they are established?


Going back to the topic of separate white-list threads and server threads, that's another story. Personally, my upcoming Roleplay server won't have a white-listing thread because all that will be done on our forums page. But, a forum section like "White-list Topics" would be only an 'okay' change if it was enforced. You'll be cutting out a lot of lazy players though. The thread owners also would have to post a direct link to the topic, of course, wouldn't want people digging around for it blindly. I think separating white-list topics from server topics isn't going to do very much.


There isn't much else to be done other than what has already been said.

What you need is someone to code a custom page for you that loads the forum normally, but with checkboxes with predefined tags (such as PvP, survival, whitelist, geographic locations even, player slots (with multiple options, eg. 1 - 10, 10 - 20 et cetera) and popular plugin names) which appear at the top of the forum. When selected, only threads with an identical tag will be shown.

I reckon that'd be good mate.

I think tags people use in front of their topics (e.g. [TOWNY][FACTIONS][WHITELIST][24/7][NO NUBSAUCE][EPIC 1337 HAXXOR HARDCOER][NO-LAG][PvP] and everything else) should be converted to actual tags that respond better to a search, and you can search by what tag a server has. I know you can do that now with the search system, but in my experience it doesn't work too well.

Quote from Yasashii

If you want to change server organisation I think you should adress the recent problem that is pvp.

Lately, it's been getting increasingly difficult to find non-pvp servers. It might not appear to you like that if you just read the server descriptions because often, there's no information about that. Sometimes you find out that a server is pvp-enabled when you walk out of spawn and see the message: "Now leaving safe zone. pvp enabled".

However if you asked the players if they like pvp, the opinions would be most probably divided. This is why I think dividing the servers into pvp and non-pvp would be a very useful feature. And, if you don't want to do that for whatever reason, you could at least make it obligatory to add an information in the server description about the pvp. Preferably, make a special tag that could be filtered out in the searching to automatize the process of finding non-pvp servers.

I know it might seem like a selfish wishlist but I really believe that could help out many people.

I cannot express how much I agree. I think a possible solution might be for people posting about new servers to list their information in a specific format and then a simple script could go through them so that we could search and separate between pvp/non-pvp, whitelist/non-whitelist, 24/7 / not, etc.

What should be added are tags for the servers specifying what they offer, making it easier to find a server that you really want to play.

Maybe tags like PvP, NoPvP, MCMMO, Jobs, Towny, Adventure, Build, Vanilla, etc. This could make it more competitive amongst the servers that offere the same things.

I've always wanted a dedicated section for Roleplay Server, so i can find them easier, within the sea of servers that makes up the daily bulk of Minecraft Forums server.

I think there should be a separate section for redstone servers and vanilla servers.

Most the time all I want is a small server where you can fight and have fun, but always end up in a big server that as way too many plug in X_X

First I voted as a server advertiser. The 2nd and 3rd votes I am with the majority but for the first option of the first question, "Yes, big and small should be separate" I strongly disagree. Here is the aftermath in my view if you do this.

If you separate the sections, then some people are just going to completely ignore one section or the other. As a server owner this really disheartens me because I really want a convincing players on the other side to see my server. And if you implement choice 1 for question one, then they the majority of people will instantly neglect one side or the other. I almost feel like I'd be losing 50% of potential people that can be convinced to join my server by seeing it. It does help players find the type of server they want better but just as a server owner I disagree with it. As a person searching for a server it's actually probably better, though categorizations tend to lend a helping hand at finding what you would want faster.

In regards to the 2nd and 3rd issues, the white-listing issue and bumping issue are hand in hand. If you don't get bumps, you don't get good advertisement. Over 95% of my forum posts have been in this section and I have been actively using the searching features of this forum for my year+ on these forums. I've seen how servers work. It's a battle to get on the first page. I've looked for servers for about a year and I've recently entered the other end of the spectrum as a server advertiser. I personally learned from the other owner of my server (we both own it together) about how PMC works and I think it's actually very effective as the 3 day updates gives small servers a good chance to get exposure. It is in fact how we gained the majority of our players.

Anyway best of luck on this change!

Having different sections for the large and small servers is something that would help many servers grow, I personally have started my own not too long ago and can attest first-hand how difficult it is to get players without bumping my thread, and I will admit I find and use every excuse I can come up with to do just that so I can get players at all.