So, the MRT had its forth GSM since moving to the new server(and the final GSM this year). Also, Chief hasn’t updated their website yet with the results of the GSM. Hopefully it’ll be soon.
Here are the highlights…
Things I don’t care about
-Some people got promoted to the Senator rank, this includes an Admin(remember, they aren’t exempt from building towns to “rank up”).
-Some people that promoted to the Governor rank. This was also a moment in history; one was a non-staffer, and one was a staffer, and they’re the first to get this rank.
-Small Stadiums(Little League ball parks, etc) can now be built by any rank. It’s not just Senator and up. Large Stadiums still do require the rank.
-Mention of a ‘screenshot contest’ for next year. Winner gets ingame money and their picture(s) on the website.
Things I kind of care about
-Expansions to the MRT are “relatively soonish maybe”(says Chief) planned and worked on. The first could come a southern extension of the Zephyr Line, to connect a member’s station that’s near the bottom of the map border. They’re also planning perimeter lines(Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western). My island will not be affected, they say. So that’s good.
-Due to overwhelming complaints from some members, suggestive comments are now banned on the server, and mostly banned in Mumble. Also, players may now be warned if their suggestive themes in building names, offend people enough. Also, it’s now allowed to make a password-protected channel in Mumble by any registered member(so the dirty-minded people won’t have to deal with whiners).
-Upgrading to 1.8 could be hard to do, as Bukkit is “dead”(aka, not updating or supported anymore). It may be possible the server could switch to Spigot (or even this new ‘Sponge’ system once it’s done). The Admins say not to be surprised if the server stays in 1.7.10 in six or more months. However, you’re free to update to 1.8 in your client and still connect.
Things I fully care about
-The discussion on how roads will be connected. Right now, it’s just “we don’t know who’s going to own these roads right now”. I feel it will eventually be based on Mayor and up, leaving me even more of ‘a relic of the past’. I’ll discuss this later.
-Frumple will.. one day release the schematics and a video of MRT v5. He will ‘try'(keyword try) to get this done after Christmas, but no promises. Hope he does. This will help the W2TS move forward via inspiration of realistic station exterior designs.
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Right. Back to roads now. As it currently stands, it’s going to take the Admins another GSM to hopefully decide on how InterMaps(Class A roads) are going to be handled on the new map.
This pretty much will boil down to getting as many high-ranking members as possible. I believe this is one reason why they’ve been putting off talking about roads. But the second more obvious one, they’re just waiting for more towns to popup.
Yet I feel that once they have a good roster of Mayors and up, they’ll have control linking roads to neighboring towns. But, I also feel they’ll have an option to hire road contractors if they don’t feel like it.
Since I’m still [Trustee], and you need at least [Councillor] to build roads to other towns(which you have to build a town and a good one at that)… that leaves me shit out of luck. :/
I pray I can talk to Chief about this later, and see if he could possibly understand that I’m NOT nor will I EVER be a fucking town builder! I hope he will see of what I’ve done for the server, and help me out.
But even if he was to give me an exemption to allow me to build roads to other towns(with permission, of course), it still won’t be the same. I’ll be nothing more than a ‘road builder for hire’. Just like that stupid franchise idea I had a few months ago. And I feel I’ll also be forced to advertise in a desperate attempt to build InterMaps again(cause if I don’t, others will take it from me).
Some say “Ohh, Benie! They’ll pick you! You’re good with roads! Don’t worry about it!” To be honest, I actually hope they’re right. But really, it’s not that hard to build a road(compared to a realistic city).
I mean, take Cortesi for example; the first non-staffer to get the Governor rank. This is the second highest rank you can get as a town builder. His road system is pretty amazing… though his choice of a Semi-Directional T is a bit too compact. However, giving with what limited space he has, he did what he could.
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The second thing I want to discuss, is the banning of suggestive comments. On one hand, this could be seen as “tailoring to whiny kids”. On the other hand, insulting a person with suggestive to borderline racist comments, is totally NOT ok.
Also, if you must do it in Mumble, you must make a password-protected channel. Though this also in ways, can feel like a blacklist to some members who are curious of what’s going on, or feel mature enough to handle suggestive things, banned from joining them and feeling “So, this is the ‘cool kids club’. I see. :P”
Overall, I’m happy with the decision. And that’s about it.