1. What originally drew you to this server? During that time, what players did you normally roleplay with?
I started playing Minecraft in December of 2010. Singleplayer got boring and I began seeking out multiplayer servers. At the time I was getting very interested in fantasy works and roleplay, so I started looking for a good RP server. Many claimed to be RP as a way of advertising but never actually had real roleplay, maybe just an RPG plug-in. Finding LOTC was the result of a year long search, a genuine roleplay server with races, plug-ins, unique characters and the chance to take part in a grand adventure. The scope and scale of the server was really impressive, especially given how new Minecraft still was at the time. The immersive nature of roleplay and how seriously the server took it on the whole encouraged me to stay and join in.
In Aegis I stayed mostly around Al'Khazar and the VonSchlichten Inn. Through there I met the likes of RHcrow, Axlrose, Bgrape, VeggieDelightful, Scottybleez, Elindor and others. My character became part of the Phoenix Revolution, which led to roleplay with Throdo, Burkester, Ilumtarus, deathmetus, Boiendl and many others who would form Renatus, which is primarily where I stayed in Asulon as well. After that my roleplay decreased and I started to branch out, not sticking in one place but wandering all over.
2. Outside of Lord of the Craft, what do you occupy yourself with?
Reading, a lot. Fiction, non-fiction, whatever I can get. I've got a personal library of almost a thousand books. Writing, too, though I'm not very good. Other hobbies include towel folding and hollow book making. I've also got a presence on other sites like Imgur and tumblr.
3. What's Canada like?
My part of Canada is the suburbs of a large city in Alberta. A lot of the stereotypes are true, like there being snow for six months of the year and Tim Horton's everywhere. Most of us are nice people, too, though a certain pop singer of recent fame proves an exception. We're sorry about him.
4. How did you keep track of your trivia questions? i.e. what questions you've already asked, where to find the answers, etc.
It's all in a Word doc. Each day I'd enter the question, answer and who responded correctly. Using control + f I could find which questions were asked and then avoid asking them again, or tweaking a question slightly so it wasn't exactly the same. Probably 75% of questions came from the wiki, 20% from the forums and the rest from images, videos or other sources. I didn't record where the questions came from but could always dig it up in the case of a dispute.
5. What's your favorite piece of LotC lore?
The Ancient History. It is the backbone of everything else that has been developed on the server and really helps new players to understand some of the most important and fundamental server lore.
6. What aspect of yourself allowed you to attain and lead in so many staff positions? What's your "secret" as to being one of the longest serving staff members?
Dedication, probably. I really did log into the server or forums virtually every day for over three years. In the beginning I was so inspired by the work of other staff members that I wanted to live by their example and try to improve the server for others. This led to helping out in the Wandering Soul Chat, which led me to the App Team, editing the wiki, which led to the Lore Master position, posting trivia, for which I was invited to the Media Team and being active on the forums, for which I was added as a Forum Moderator. Anyone who wants to be staff should know that you need to be active, friendly and helpful.
7. What will you miss about this server? What won't you miss?
The community. There's a lot of good people in it who have been fellow roleplayers or staff members. I've met a lot of really great players that I'd love to keep in contact with. What I won't miss is the community. There's a lot of terrible people who should be banned or removed, but keep coming back and no one stops them. It's definitely a love-hate sort of deal. It is also really frustrating to see the same issues come up again and again, the same topic posts every week, with no resolution. There are a lot of players who are so self-entitled that they don't understand why their opinion has been discussed and rejected in favour of something better. There's also a lot of cliques that make it extremely difficult to have meaningful conversations on changes when everyone wants something different and getting your way means having to bash on other players.
8. Now that you're leaving the server, what are your plans?
Getting a job, for starters. I graduated university in June and am still looking for something. I'll probably never join another server but might keep playing singleplayer Minecraft on and off.
9. Any last words you would like to impart on the staff, the players, or the community as a whole?
It's a game. There's a lot of ways to interpret this, but at the end of the day it really is just that. Losing your items or your village or your forum title won't make much of an impact in the long run. Stay flexible. Hang around with different people. Collaborate. Listen to other positions and find a middle ground. And never, ever feed Alan after midnight.
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I'd like to thank everblue once more for his hard work and dedication, as well as putting in the time for this interview.
Stay updated with the Lord of the Craft tumblr!
What's tumblr, you may ask? Well, it's often defined as a blogging site. People on here put pictures, short thoughts, and videos here for others to see, like, and follow. As the Media team, we use the Lord of the Craft tumblr in a way similar to a glorified status update. Whenever a new update comes to the server, we'll be giving you a notice on tumblr! We'll also be putting in-game screenshots from the community there for others to appreciate!
If you have in-game screenshots, character art, or other LotC-related artwork, send it to us at thelordofthecraft.tumblr.com, and we could use it in a post there!
While you're on the site, be sure to check out some of the other blogs there. There's a lot more to tumblr than our server!
Thanks, and be sure to follow us there!
Some Feedback and Updates
Update: Atheran Badlands
The newest planned expansion for the Lord of the Craft is the Atheran Badlands. Having appeared in previous realms on the server, the Badlands are a special zone where players are encouraged to PvP, capture objective locations, and perhaps even go on ocean expeditions to other small islands! A lot of players are looking forward to this expansion, but we still have time to make changes to it before its release! Leave your thoughts here on the features of the Badlands and take your vote as to how it should work!
Feedback Forums Cleaned
Recently, Kalameet and Readicti went through the Feedback subforum and cleaned out some of the community's comments. Feel free to leave more of your thoughts, but thanks to these two awesome GMs for their work! (link to the post here)
Server Updates by the GM Team
Be sure to check out the recent additions that the GM team has been planning. The Cloud Temple now has more shops for its marketplace, the world mines were edited, and more! Check out the post here.
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Thanks for reading out this edition of the Lord of the Craft blog! More posts coming up soon!
Go bust some boogers!
