When you first join a server, I would normally expect to find the rules from somewhere. But all I see is donor rank guides and how to start a new island, and the /rules command isn't implemented yet. Yes there is a villager in the corner selling books but you can't really see him all that well and you'd have to start a new island to get 2 sticks, and you probably wouldn't even bother to go back to spawn to buy it. Maybe starting out with the book on hand when you first join the server is a better idea. Also, it's quite hard for me to get help from the moderators considering the amount of chat/spam going on, so it would be nice if we had a help chat channel where we can type messages around every 5 mins, so that we don't have to see the help spam messages all the time, and it might make it easier for the moderators to find players in need of help. I dunno, just thought it was some issues that I thought worth addressing.
The first idea is a great one, I would think it would reduce people breaking the rules a huge amount. And for the second one, I know I speak for the majority of the staff team when I say that we do our best to reply to everyone that needs out assistance, however we of course do miss some messages. Try sending us a /msg, it stands out a lot more, and if you can't get hold of one of us, there are always the forums help and reports section for you.
The rule books should be made a starter item in the chests of all new islands. I dont think that would be hard to implement. People can do whatever they want with the book, but it gives no excuse to not know where the rules are.
Also, this is kinda off-topic but there used to be a chat plugin called Herochat before I quit playing minecraft, but it let you have different chat channels like local, global and trade chat. Local chat can be only seen from a certain amount of blocks and you could switch the chats on and off. I'm sure many of you guys remember it but is there a chat plugin like that anymore? If yes why don't we use it?
Every 5 minutes? That is quite crazy, though the idea if letting new players learning rules a bit more is quite nice, support for rules.
You guys get alot of messages too so you know... lol (Krissy did end up helping me a few moments later though, thanks ^^) Edit: um you might want to mute that guy TheAmazingEarth lol
So that they don't spam the help chat. I was thinking we could ask for help explaining it simply in 1 line so that they would know what the issue is and able to deal with it much quicker. But I guess /msg works okay aswell.
Usually it's very hard for us to parse through the insane amounts of "does anyone have sugarcane" and "<<<<SELLING>>>> God items for diamonds" to find the calls for help in chat. That is what /msg is for. When someone sends us a /msg, you can see the [<player> -> me] in orange and it stands out more than just any old call for help in chat. We do try our best to respond to every message, but unfortunately Minecraft has a limit as to how far up you can scroll >,<
TabbyChat Mod for Minecraft 1.6.4 and 1.7.4 There's this that I thought would work really well with chat like hero chat that I mentioned, but since there's basically only 1 channel so yeah.. x.x
I definitely think there should be a better way for brand new players to get the rules, either in the chest, or as a starter item when you spawn in. I actually bought a bunch a rule books a while back, and when I see a lot of criminal activity in the chat, just because people don't know the rules, I'll say I'm giving them out for free in chat. I like to think I help out people, cause I actually get a lot of requests for the books. I've had people ask for more than one, to give to friends. That really shows how many people don't know the rules and WANT to know the rules. I really support krissy's idea, of having them as a starter island item, cause like she said, it wouldn't be an excuse in ban appeals to say they hadn't seen or couldn't find the rules, if you start out with them.
Maybe cyp / crew can put a command block at spawn and type ./say Welcome! Here are the rules! (Insert rules here) And cover it up with a pressure plate.