[Server Discussion][My and Your Suggestions] Getting More Players on ECC

Interesting point on the "Pure/Original" aspect. Didn't think of that.
Will add to our notes.

 

I'd personally like to see more of a focus back on main, I believe that was one of the features that made ECC truly unique (I mean it's an economy server after all) and quite honestly I would and I'm sure other players would play a lot more if main was brought back to life. I haven't really been a big fan of this skyblock transition, I feel like the emphasis has really been put on skyblock now and not the main economy server (I mean even just as a small example on the top of the webpage it says EcoCityCraft Skyblock servers.) While Jamie and Andrew have put in a tremendous amount of time and effort into it which I truly do appreciate and so do many others (you guys really did do a great job and I think it did attract a different playerbase and gave ecc a new perspective) I believe that the focus needs to return back to the main server and what made ECC popular in the first place.


Edit it's 2am there are lots of grammar errors I'm gonna work to fix them now but if I can't I'm sorry

Edit 2 oml the run on sentences anyway you get the idea

 

Going kinda off of what @zr2002 said, what made the main server special was the player run economy: if you don’t want to spend $12 on a stack of dirt, you find someone selling for $11 and so on. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Skyblock and easily spent more of my time there than the main for the past month, but I do believe skyblock killed the main. Hell, I remember when mining reset, there would be dozens of players flock there to try to find temples and Mesa mine shafts etc. Literally I was the only one who attempted to find these in the recent main server mining world reset.

TL;DR I think we need to start to bring focus back to the main sometime. It was truly unique compared to other economy server since the economy was more player based versus server based.

Now, I was having a nice conversation to one of my irl friends who plays on this server on potential ways to boost main server playercount, and here are a few suggestions:
- Take a month after the Skyblock reset where That server is offline so players can experience the main
- imply a one-time skyblock kit for the ranks of the main server. For example, lower ranks such as resident and mayor can get dirt, obsidian, or even the extremely rare blocks. And higher main server ranks can get a one-time Crate key

 

Honestly, a big reason people left ECC (main server) was when SG started dying. More features might dilute main tbh

 

That's why kit Pvp is the the next planned server. It should help with the Pvp aspect of the network (there isn't one atm)

 

Exactly! SG helped give ECC more diversity, thus why Kit PvP is an amazing idea since SG is dead.

 

The whole Idea of main is done.. very little can be done at this point to fix it.. what once made it the envy of all Minecraft “Hardcore” servers has long been gone.

Too many factors over the past few years that have all but eliminated any concept of a stabilized economy mostly due to features and star items that basically ruin the markets.. erepair at no cost was the beginning and then the influx of star everything with the removal of any real risk of getting resources and ECD.

I’ve said it too many times... the only way to fix it would require angering half the players who have donated real money on the features that ruined it. That would be to start over with a whole new “economy” driven server with a strict regulation on markets, keeping it as close to vanilla as possible, get rid of erepair and star items. A true “hardcore” experience. It would require players willing to give up a lot more then I’m sure they would want and/or Andrew to find ways to compensate everyone, which is likely never gonna happen..

There is nothing really that is going to change it.. new players will come.. realize that it is more “pay to win” and not “hardcore” and leave.

 

How do you expect us to pay the bills for the server?
Servers like mineplex who can be eula compliant have tens of thousands of players concurrent. They can afford to have things that are less attractive to players due to the volume of players purchasing. We don't have that.

 

That’s just it.. and is really my point. The main server which is what ECC truly became known for was sacrificed in order to create what we have now. I understand it to some degree, although I still believe there could have been a more effective balance in how it all happened. That’s all...

 

I find the reason SkyBlock was a main priority for the past couple of months was because it was a big addition to ECC, they wanted people to know they had SkyBlock so any new players wouldn't get bored of main, it was ECC's main advertisement for a couple of month as they tried to get as many players as possible which is why they had the default lobby set to SkyBlock, however this has gone on for so long as imo it should be changed to the hub as the main problem is the point in bringing SkyBlock out was to increase players on ECC in general but instead it just killed main and became like main server was before SkyBlock came out, basically just 'transferring' the main server players to SkyBlock.
We need to show new players that we don't only just have SkyBlock but main too because that is more likely to interest players in maintaining their time on ECC in general.
Also about the Advertising, maybe a small percentage of donation money from the ECC shop could go towards creating advertisements on Minecraft Server Lists. I'm not sure if this would help or not but it could do some good for the server and economy by bringing new players to a wonderful server called EcoCityCraft. I'm not entirely sure where/who the buycraft store money goes to but I expect it to be going to @andrewkm or @JamieSinn which is how they and the staff team as well as players keep the server running.
Obviously with KitPvP coming out soon it should increase the player count as it would draw players in who want to play the PvP side of MC instead of the PvE side.
You could also make advertisements of the ECC Webpage to allow players to see what we have available for them before they join.

 

I guess the fundamental problem is that a "hardcore" economy server appeals only to a very small percentage of the Minecraft player base. Generally speaking (massive generalisation incoming - I know), the people who play Minecraft are more of the "instant-gratification" generation and what ECC was originally based on, hard work/dedication etc, doesn't really match up. Throw in the need for the server to pay its bills, pay for devs etc. and you quickly get to the current situation.

it worked well when the player base was working up the chain and building wealth. Now you have an established core who have wealth and that in itself is a disincentive for new players who no doubt join the server and see how much work they will have to put in to catch up.

 

Jamie is right. If we did not have the economy the way it is with Star tools and features etc, ECC wouldn't be able to run, or at least run with a high standard. Again like Jamie said, other big servers with play counts of like 10,000+ players daily, are able to rely on the mass of the players making up for the small prices; ECC doesn't have that ability therefore needs a higher price on the market to keep it running.

 

Agreed, although I seriously doubt that it was intentional. I'm not a skyblock enthusiast -- in fact, I've never even tried it. I mean, aside from that one little build project. Every now and then, I pop back onto the server and look around and think "well, what would be the point of coming back?" Three people on Main. I wander around Zenith or Lancaster a bit and feel like an 8th century Ostrogoth who stumbled upon the dusty palace of the Caesars, and then I go do something else.

I've been inactive for periods of time before, and have always come back for one thing or another. Maybe what happened was inevitable, and I'm certainly not pointing fingers of blame at anyone. But you wanted an opinion of a "Main" player, and for a number of years, that was me. When Skyblock took over everything, I guess that was the end for me. All of sudden, none of the things I had built or done were of any value any more, except for the Skyblock spawn build. In terms of lessons about the permanence of worldly things, +1000. But in terms of bringing players back, it might be better to accept that main is now the past, and focus on the future. On the present trajectory, that future doesn't look likely to include players like me, because the game modes don't really appeal to me. That doesn't mean that they're wrong.

PS. Whoever built the additions to the Skyblock spawn, you've done a fabulous job. That tutorial, especially.