1: Q: Why didn't i find this server 3 years ago.
A: Because we kept it secret
2: Q: Why is it so awesome?
A: Assuming that is not rhetorical or sarcastic - This game is a melting pot of various fun but niche types of gameplay and roleplay. On top of that we have had over 25,000 players pass through our server in 3 years - and that was without even advertising the server. God help us when we officially go public.
3: Q: UGH! LAG! WHY.. for the love of… the horror!
A: Well it doesn't lag for me. But then the server is based in Australia running on a 1meg connection - and I connect from Australia. It seems players from Western Europe, and the USA lag a bit. Oddly Canadian players have less lag than Europe. Or they just dont complain as much. Oddly enough the main cause of lag isnt the connection (ye i know whaaa?) you start at an area called the citadel. Which is the most heavily built up area on the server. Not only did people build outwards, they build downwards. (and up in some places) So there is a lot of activity and data to push around. Not to mention all the NPCs are concentrated here. Also sometimes certain staff have been using World Edit a bit more than they should have.. but thats another issue *troll face here*
4: Q: So how can i stop the lag?
A: Just move away from the main citadel - also a good video card can help. With all the data thats a lot of graphic data to cope with. I would also suggest disabling any client side hacks that allow you to fly or look through stone. They work by flooding the server with faked packets and ignoring the packets from the server that request inconvenient things.. like gravity for example. Which can actually CAUSE the lag. Sometimes just for you sometimes for everyone. We have spells that do flying and looking through stone anyway so play a while and you dont need the hacks anyway once you have those spells.
5: Q: 1 Meg Connection.. what?
A: With our current server settings, assuming the ISP doesn't throttle back our speed - we have in testing found that the server can support up to 19 players. However at that level you get a lot of block lag, also known as "rubberyness" so we have set the player cap down to 15 for now. We have plans to go up to a 20 meg connection - which would handle 300 players before rubberyness occurs. However block lag can also occur from plugins, especially if a new minecraft version recently came out and we are forced onto a lot of test releases.
6: Q: 16 planets really?
A: Yes really.. although some of them are more like asteroid belts or outter space areas. We actually have more than 16 now - but they are private worlds or the insides of peoples tardises
7: Q: … Really Really?
A: YES
8: Q: So how do i get to them?
A: There is actually quite a few ways, but the most common is finding a player usable stargate by way of the dark fortress, either via the nether railway, the hidden mine portal, or the hidden Brotherhood teleportation room. These will take you to the joint Brotherhood and Paladin space station facility. Which contains a dialable Stargate.
9: Q: … Wait did you say tardis earlier?
A: yes i did, contributors who help out with the server either by providing funds or resources, or staff can have a tardis setup.. and yes it works very much like the Doctor Who Tardis's even makes a crazy sound and dematerializes.
10: Q: … hang on.. star gates? You mean like SG1 etc etc. … no way
A: yes way. One of our plugins an otherwise unremarkable gateway plugin using block combinations, called creativegates - i discovered that by using pistons and the right permissions it was possible to make a mildly interesting plugin into an awesome one, by building them into Startgates just like the TV show. What I found was on making a "dialing" stargate with pistons, when I set it up like a normal creative gate, by accident i found I could in fact have a gate that could dial multiple combinations (or addresses) 7 combinations give you 128 destinations, 8 gives you 256.. etc etc.. so now we had a stargate network, so I added a bunch of planets setup the same as planets from the stargate tv show.
11: Q: ok this server really is awesome..
A: thats what we think too
12: Q: OK serious question, what is with these darn taxes
A: They are from the jobs plugin, you only get taxes if you forgot to join a job. If you like mining join the miner job, if you like building, the builder, if you chop lots of wood, woodsman kill zombies, hunter etc. Once you have a job the "taxes" run backwards. You actually get given money for having fun.
13: Q: How do you operate a stargate?1
A: there are two main types and a few experimental ones. The main types are the alpha (7 switches - uses binary addresses) and the beta (a set of buttons and some levers, uses numeric addresses) the Alpha gate is easy, you just flip the switch either up or down to represent 0 or 1. So if you have an address like 0001000 that means only the middle switch should be flipped. The beta gate was meant to be easy too. But wasn't :P. It uses +/- A and B (which means +A means turn the A switch ON, -A means turn it off. same for B) There is also a "light" switch which represents a +/- for everything else. Then there are 6 numbered buttons. 1 to 6. So your dial address is a +/- (meaning top or bottom of galaxy FYI) then you have the "sector" buttons 5 and 6 (meaning left or right half of galaxy FYI but thats informal) then there are 4 buttons numbered 1 to 4. you only dial 2 of these. (which would be the Quarter of the half you selected) Now the A and B levers are like a "multiplier" which means it dials up other galaxies. Which I guess means our universe has only 6 or so galaxies!. An example address might be +125+A-B. they can be written differently but thats that. Now two things in common with all stargates is the following: 1: to shut off the gate there is an extra switch that breaks the circle. Once the circle is broken simply touch the worm hole and it will collapse. Return that switch to the normal position, then dial up your address. 2: Once the address is dialled, you need to right click on the diamond block at the bottom of the stargate with a "clock" item. This will cause another wormhole entrance to form. If there is an exit point it should tell you. To travel at this point just walk into the worm hole.
14: Q: Can I be op/staff/owner
A: Short answer no. Long answer - most staff/ops/owners are associated with or work at the shop hosting the server - or have made major contributions of hard work, time, money and parts to the server project. There is a player-voted staff rank called Inquisitor. But to be honest being staff is no fun. We put the effort in so playing is fun.
15: Q: Can I have creative?
A: No. At least not on the main world. One of our planets is a dedicated Creative world. But to get there you first need to earn about 1 million of game-money - then figure out the dial address of the planet. The planet you want is called "projects moon" in the game story it is a moon colony of sorts - only it has been sort of terraformed.
16: Q: AWWW come on pleaseeee
A: If you nag you will never get it. But some staff, and long term players have been granted temp access to creative mode for one log in session; or on a particular planet in order for them to complete any large projects they have planned. If you wish to do this you need to submit details of your project, and assure us you wont simply fill your inventory with treasure and sell it for money; or wont build unrealistic buildings out of solid gold, emerald or diamond.
17: Q: So what if i want to build some epic thing that will look awesome just over there on the main world.
A: If you build it in projects, staff can copy it to the location of your choice in the main world. However they will check it first for restricted (ie treasure) blocks and replace them with dirt, or wood/log/stone etc first. No point even hiding them, we can run a command to automatically change them all on copy. (We can also open all the chests.)
18: Q: How do I rank up?
A: Some ranks can be done with NPCS like paladin, assassin, knight, citizen. Other require you doing and knowing certain things specified to qualify for thet rank, and asking a staff member to look at them for you and rank you up. Refer to the support section on forums for details.
19: Q: Can you just spawn me a stack of X block..
A: NO. And if it is dirt you're asking for, the first time you ask you will be given a shovel, the second time you ask you will be demoted. The Third time you ask, you will be given an all expences paid vacation on mars - where unfortunately the space ship back home broke down.... cya
20: Q: Why cant I TP/TPA/WARP etc would be awesome if you let me use it.
A: Firstly people were using TPA to troll, harass, stalk and find places to grief. Secondly although we have a server with a homeworld over 70000x70000 in size, with 16 other worlds; and about 60 citys and towns; and hundreds of awesome things. Nobody ever found anything; had no idea where anything was, and never even tried. So other than a skeleton set of warp signs. We installed a plugin called fast travel. This has two good features. Firstly, it allows you to travel to anywhere you have previously discovered. Secondly, assuming you are a high enough rank; should you find something cool - you can create your own fast travel sign to get there. This promotes exploration over ghettos.. in theory! We also have homes, railways, the stargates, warps, and teleportation circuits to travel but they obviously all work in different ways. Since we had so many more interesting ways to travel; we removed TPA. Note: Donators get a time lord rank, and can make a tardis, this can be used to teleport to players if you learn how to operate it.
21: Q: Any other cool things on here?
A: At the time i wrote this we had Dungeons. They work a bit like jobs in that you get money from them when you explore and kill monsters. There is also survival (aka hunger) games. Also been trying to get a galactic war thing going but our plugins there keep going out of date before we make progress. You can also trade via signs, npcs, or directly using the /tm command. When our NPCS work we also have a number of quests, and there is a mostly ignored faction war going on between Assassins, Dark Assassins, Paladins, and the fallen kingdom. Even ignoring all that, you could just explore. The server world is quite large. You can also explore the other planets which contain ruins you are allowed to plunder for treasure if you are more into the Indiana Jones sorta thing. One planet is an entire dedicted funpark too. Whatever rocks your boat. A lot of stuff favours team play, but a lot works solo too.
22: Q: Hey I am an awesome builder type person, you got any interesting projects going on?
A: Check the forums here [[http://cybernexus.proboards.com/board/19/current-projects-events]] or just ask in the general forum section if any players have anything happening.
ZZ: Q: Why isn't my question in the FAQ?
A: I dunno try asking us on the forums, and we will add it.