How Skyblock is dooming itself.

Discussion in 'Discussions Archive' started by Lz, Sep 30, 2016.

  1. Lz
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    Lz Well-Known Member

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    - Important: This is an explanation on what the problem is, not 'ahh no it's dying hop on the bandwagon and go horses!!' If you are interested do yourself a great favor and read the comments. -

    Hello Skyblockers,

    here I have a controversial topic. Skyblock is slowly loosing its playerbase. Why is this? Well, many reasons. But people fail to see the by far biggest reason: The players are unintentionally dooming Skyblock.

    Throughout the years, everyone could enjoy Skyblock with a fair playerbase and reasonable prices. However this is changing with rarer items that people like to own to feel superior (diamonds, beacons, heads...) becoming more and more expensive. That's the first point. How do you see this as Skyblock dooming itself? You need to look at the second point which connects the two together to make an obvious reason.

    Shops. In the begging of Skyblock, items and supply was scarce so there were plenty of shops which all made good profit. However, naturally, through the years getting supply has become easier and easier. This leads to people who can afford to buy in bulk, like donators and long-time players who are rich make prices extremely cheap. And through these very cheap prices, all the non-donor starter shops started heavily declining since they were more expensive. The implementation of tradeshops was a very handy one - but if you look at the big picture a horrible one. Tradeshops let rich players sell their items 24/7 and not only when their online, eliminating the last chance of profit non donors had; when no big supplier was online.
    But there was a saving point: Competitions.

    People wondered a lot and were angry because people were suddenly charging for competitions. But for the beginners it was the only logical thing to do. They could in no way compete with the bigger shops with extremely good supply lines, so they started making competitions. There are no fully automated skin competitions, so every non-donor can still make profit. But these competitions have been growing worse and worse as non donors need more and more income, making them not worth it to go to. And they have a horrible reputation too.

    So banner shops came. As you may now already catch on, banners could not be sold while offline. So it was obvious that selling them was great. You must understand that banners are not needed in big quantities or wanted - they just got sold because there was nothing else to do. It was a last minute reserve. However over fluctuation is rapidly killing out the banners now too.

    Now that this bad reputation way of earning money is dying, there is nothing obvious left to do leaving starters poor with no money. You can probably see a HUGE increase in begging in the last few months, but most people answer no. And it's not income anyways. This is how all the starters are quitting the server while the donators get richer and richer - dragging Skyblock to it's doom.

    So you can see that with a rise in prices and with ways to earn money quickly floating away that starters would leave. And this is dooming Skyblock. Yes, there are other reasons. Yes, there are bugs.
    But if you think about it, new players could not care less about those. They need a source of income to be able to even play.

    So you can give out free items all you want - it's not a steady and reliable source of income. You can advertise all you want - Yes, players will come. But they can't stay with nothing to live off.


    And before you think I'm blaming the donators or rich players and it's all their fault:
    NO! Definitely not! By donating you are keeping this server alive. It is COMPLETELY logical to open a big tradeshops and make cheap prices. After all, your offering cheap prices to the poor too. And the poor will buy from you. They make bad income, so they need to buy cheap. It's completely logical for donators and non-donators to do this. But it is killing the server. Nobody wants to stay poor no matter what they try while having to buy their items on islands filled with riches. You play the server for entertainment. Being poor is not very good entertainment now, is it?




    This thread should have answered a lot of your questions about the sudden emerging of products like banners or services like skin competitions.


    Also, a great post by Sean explaining how


     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2017
  2. athyrix
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    athyrix Senior Member Premium

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    -Sigh- it's sad because it's true, players have decreased way to much for the standards.
     
  3. alohacc99
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    alohacc99 Well-Known Member

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    Yes indeed. I must agree with this thread. As a greenfield I used to make diamonds here and there by selling dcs of logs and stone. Now, stone is 11 grass per dc and the demand is insanely less. No more jobs,no more challenge, no more fun.
     
  4. megadorkvikki
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    megadorkvikki Well-Known Member

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    Those greenies with a small shop are often out of stock. So more established shops, often run by donors are more likely to have items.

    This is because resources are limited to those just starting out. And new players don't know how to get items.

    If greenies could do /warp, they could produce better shops.
     
  5. ILostMyKeys
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    ILostMyKeys Active Member

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    I remember when Skyblock(.NET) was actually decent. We had dedicatd players, fun people, actually well done shops, and people actually cared. Like vikki said, we have run into a state where greenies have no stocks, and donors dominate the field. If there's a solution to this, I want to come back ;~;
     
  6. MyNamesJeff
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    MyNamesJeff Active Member

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    Donors actually need to start helping out greenies. like Leon3ppp said, donors have gotten richer and richer. i think its about time the donor community start giving at least things they dont need to starters.
     
  7. Ecstaxi
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    Ecstaxi Active Member

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    Agreed
     
  8. Ecstaxi
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    Ecstaxi Active Member

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    Skyblock was on top 5 on the minecraftservers website. Now, Idk LOLLL
     
  9. Lz
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    Lz Well-Known Member

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    But the thing is just giving a few items away won't help. That's not a source of income.
     
  10. megadorkvikki
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    megadorkvikki Well-Known Member

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    There used to be a /warp FAQ that had info on how to make different types of cobble gens, grinders, how to Lockette, etc.
    Even if it were still there, it wouldn't be of much help.
    Only donors have /warp.
     
  11. Cyk753
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    Cyk753 Super Moderator Super Moderator Staff Applicant Advisor

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    Leon, I think the server problem is more basic than that. New players just don't get their basic questions about the server answered. We need a new and improved /warp faq or something. We knowledgeable about this server just cannot answer every single player that comes by. That's the unfortunate part. People join all the time, but the server does not try to win over their loyalty. People come, try it out, and give up from frustration.

    I started playing on this server because I liked the idea of starting with a very frugal amount of blocks and working up from there. Unfortunately there was not a lot of help from the server starting out, even though at that time all the warps were on signs at the old spawn, which included /warp faq. I had to ask tons of questions in chat and use google and search through forums for my answers. It is much worse now with no list of warps for players and no /warp faq.

    The thing about running a shop is, you have to be willing to put the time in collecting items. I had a shop as a non-donor when I first joined, and I earned my way shearing sheep at /warp animal, and my simple cobblestone generator I learned how to make from /warp faq, and growing trees on my tiny field of dirt blocks. I relied on donors for repairs, same as other people. And I still put the same prices up as other players, usually 64 stuff for 1 grass, because I understood that was the common price for these things. I had quite the banner shop too which I collected slowly from other player stores.

    Leon, I only stayed on this server because I am not a child and have the patience to find answers for myself. Most kids nowadays want instant answers. If they don't, then they lose interest. They are raised in a culture of instant gratification. If they are not satisfied with the server right away, there is no way they'll want a steady income or be willing to work towards that.

    If the owners want to keep new players and possibly have a source for new donations, then they need to make this place as welcoming as they can, because older players and mods can't do it all for them.
     
  12. megadorkvikki
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    megadorkvikki Well-Known Member

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    Maybe having /warp illegal and /warp rules integrated into a new /warp FAQ would be helpful.
    If the server plugins could handle it and no lag is produced, why not a tutorial like the one on Mineplex?

    I've seen that some servers require you to go through a tutorial before you can start to play. And if the player decides to race through it, it would be cool if there were a way to go back to it for a refresher course.
     
  13. Cyk753
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    Cyk753 Super Moderator Super Moderator Staff Applicant Advisor

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  14. Sean
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    Sean Senior Member

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    This is the life of an economy server with no way for items to vanish. The only time things go missing is when they're used or dropped and CLAG takes them. Balancing 'eco' servers is hard because if it's unfair, people will leave, but if it's easy, they leave as well. When small issues aren't addressed, they begin to grow, and grow, and grow until they turn from that small issue into one that's towering over everything else.

    This server was once very popular, and it's grasping the fame and players that it had, but no new players are coming in for a lot of reasons.

    1. Plugins are outdated. This is a massive reason why players are leaving/not joining. Nothing new is added to the server. There's very little that you can actually do in SkyBlock besides expand your island.

    2. Minecraft, in general, is losing players.

    3. 'HUB' servers are now the rage, ones such as MineVerse. Single servers such as this aren't as popular as they used to be.

    4. The toxicity of some players. Some are given diplomatic immunity simply because if they get banned, they leave. A lot of bans are overturned, despite judgement, because the server needs the players.

    Cypriot is a good admin -- scratch that... he's a great admin -- but there needs to be another. I understand that trust is a massive issue, but is it worth seeing the server collapse because things can't be done? Moderators lose permissions. If we can't fix a grief instantly, the person is going to leave.

    Think of it this way.

    You begin on a server and a day after you join you get griefed. Somehow, a person you trusted breaks that trust and destroys hours upon hours of work and then leaves. They get banned, sure, but your buildings are destroyed and the items gone. You ask for help and get redirected to the forums, where help doesn't happen instantly.

    I'd leave. If I'm not being helped and the staff are saying that only one other person can help, the chances of me seeing that person are slim. Even if the person was on every day for twelve hours! Conflicting schedules.

    Fixing it isn't as simple as tossing another admin into the mix, but it's a start and it'll restore faith to the players.

    List of stuff to do.
    • Another administrator with perms to help those in-game.
    • Tie the forums to the actual server. Give people rewards for being active.
    • In-game loyalty rewards. Spend two hours online? Have some free grass. Spend 1,000 hours online? Have a coupon for donator.
    • Completely revamp the kit system.
    • Completely revamp donator perks. As much as I love /god, it needs to go. Dying should, no matter what, clear your inventory. It'll also allow for mini-games to be added without them being exploited. /God could be changed into /heal, which has an hour cd and resets your HP.
    • /warps need to be revamped and made harder. If I go to /warp mob, I want to be scared of dying.

    I could keep going on and on about what needs to be done. As for the forums, I have a list triple that size.
     
  15. Lz
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    Lz Well-Known Member

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    Thank you a lot for the response! Well written, I agree.
    A list triple the size for the forum? Interesting, I'd be happy to see it. It's your choice to write though, that is already well written.

    Also, do you have any other ideas on removing items? Removing /god is great, but with /fly people will definetly still live.
     
  16. alohacc99
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    alohacc99 Well-Known Member

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    ^ Agreed
    I made a appeal for my alt, as cyp banned it for "nick change" yet, its nick is its ign which is the same for years. No vulgar or sexual references used, clearly an incorrect ban. Yet cyp ignored or didnt see it for a month and a half now. We need more people with power. At least give Smods perms to unban chargebacks etc.
    I recently paid cyp for a rank transfer and he didnt transfer the full rank, i feel scammed, powerless and helpless, yet i cant point fingers at cyp as i know that will get me banned (This post might get me a warning or ban too) Just because of this, i started finding another server and plan to move on. Like come on , just an unban, cant any mods do it? I can change my nick to whatever u like. I understand that cyp's ban, only cyp can unban. Yet the reason.... any mod can do it as its easily changeable.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2016
  17. koipin
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    koipin Well-Known Member

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    Another active admin would be good. I asked Cyp on 3 occasions if I could get a custom named on some placed pumpkin heads I had for a donation of some kind - I didn't get as much as a "no chance" from him. I'm D400 so I have nothing to gain by donating to the server other than for the pure support of it. I've said this loads but the more players that reach the donor ceiling, the less donations will be made. Give me stuff that's worthwhile and I'll buy it to support the server but don't make it a one way thing.
     
  18. vfhuuuuu
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    vfhuuuuu Active Member

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    Just so you know, Minecraft isn't losing players. If anything, its getting more players now than ever. Here's a website that allows you to see Minecraft sales statistics.
    minecraft.net - Sale stats
     
  19. corn doggo
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    corn doggo Experienced Member

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    The amount of copies sold is falling. Minecraft is dying.
     
  20. vfhuuuuu
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    vfhuuuuu Active Member

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    No its not. If you divide the total amount of minecraft copies sold and divide it by the amount of days since it was created. You will get about 9280 copies sold per day. That's about the equivalent of the amount of copies sold per day now.
     

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