Exciting times are ahead of us, even if we need to wait just a little longer to experience them. Fear not! We still intend on releasing planned/experimental features on schedule.
First of all, thank you to everyone who attended our What's Next? Panel in Discord on Tuesday 20/04/21.
After a slight rescheduling of the time to an hour later, we finally got underway with a good number of players in attendance. In a first for Binstercraft (and certainly not the last) we live streamed the panel to Twitch for everyone to watch back on catch up. It is approx 1hr 30mins in length. We also hope to upload this to Youtube as soon as possible for easier playback.
Watch the replay of panel here. So without further ado, let's take a deeper dive into what we announced and discussed with the community.
When can I expect the Minecraft updates 1.17 & 1.18?
Mojang announced last week that the 1.17 Caves & Cliffs update will be split into two releases. They then later announced that the new world generation that was expected to ship in the summer, would instead be released as 1.18 in the winter holidays.
Full details of these Minecraft changes can be read in their update announcement and complimentary FAQ post.
This announcement leaves us with a slight dilemma.
Traditionally around this time our current season is naturally winding down and fast approaching a new season, and a brand new world to build upon and explore. With the new world generation not coming to the Minecraft community until at least the winter holidays we have outlined a potential plan for our own release schedule.
We will also be 'releasing in two parts'.
The first update to Binstercraft will come in the Summer, as soon after Mojang release 1.17 to the public and our back end systems are up to date.
Season 3 will move into Season 3.5 - Or now officially referred to as Season 3 - Cogs & Gears (S3-CG).
The current world will stay as we all know and love, giving us a rare opportunity to have our longest season ever! We will update the world to 1.17 so everyone gets a chance to play and build with the potential new blocks and Minecraft features. It is our understanding that this means any unexplored chunks have a chance to generate new the content. However, we will be taking this time to move Season 3 in to BETA testing for Season 4. We have lots of new exciting and experimental features planned for Season 4, and we need your help to test these out for us!
Season 4 will officially open in Early 2022 or shortly after the release of 1.18.
Such a major update from Mojang deserves a full new world, new theme and a new season to boot! Further details will be announced as we know more nearer the time. For now we will be focusing on features we are bringing to the survival server.
This also means we will soon be on a look out for our build team for the First Join Area. Traditionally this has always been a showcase to new players of what we can build as a community, set to a specific theme. If you think you are up to the task, start compiling a portfolio of past builds and itemising your skill sets. We must stress that any builds taken from the internet is not preferred, but if you have taken an idea and made it your own, please cite your sources for our reference.
Moving forward then, what new exciting and experimental features are we introducing to Binstercraft?
Voting on Planet Minecraft (PMC)
LIVE We have added a plugin that listens to your votes on PMC. So please vote on our Binstercraft Planet Minecraft page regularly to increase visibility on the website, and give new players the opportunity of finding and exploring our server.
PLANNED We hope to possibly introduce some incentives/rewards for voting at a later date. This will be tested behind the scenes before we announce anything further.
Refer a Friend Programme
PLANNED Similar to voting on PMC, we would like to implement a 'Refer a Friend' Programme to Binstercraft. This may include rewards for inviting your IRL or online friends.
Blue Map
ALPHA We have always wanted a way to show off your incredible creations in an accessible manner outside of the game. Until now we haven't found a viable solution that protects player data. Introducing Blue Map, an interactive 3D render of a world, accessible online via a link, most likely through our website and is fully customisable by the staff team.
You suggested, we listened!
As always we have the #server-suggestions channel in Discord to express your ideas and provide us some feedback on features. Prior to the Season 4 - What's Next? Panel, we asked the community what they would like to see added to Binstercraft and vote on those ideas. Thank you to everyone who got involved in this it was great to see so many of you bring things to the table. You can still provide suggestions for Season 3 - Cogs & Gears and Season 4 with the #S4 at the start of your suggestion(s).
Warp to Shopping District
PLANNED This suggestion had already considered by the staff team prior to the community feedback. More often or not we see the chat flooded with "Anyone at the SD?". We hear you! There needs to be an easier way to get to one of the most used public spaces we have. This will be tested in Season 3 – Cogs & Gears, and most likely carried over to Season 4.
Warp to Spawn
PLANNED Spawn needs a little bit more love! This could be a great way to meet up with new players and/or friends in a convenient location. In Season 4, we may also incorporate an equivalent of yt_slurpy's awesome 'Binster City' near to spawn.
Warp to OP Loot Shop
REJECTED As ever we do not want players teleporting in and out of the OP Loot Shop, as that completely negates the point of a questline to unlock the area. Therefore we will not be adding a warp to the OP Loot Shop.
Set Home
PLANNED Bases are far and wide across the world, and we hope to make it slightly easier to get back home. This could potentially available to [Regular], [Patreon Tier 1] ranks and above who would be able to set a single home. It is possible that we add an additional home for [Community MVP], Tier 2 and above Patreons.
A key thing to note is that this is very much an idea. Major testing is required to see how this interacts with /back and /back on death.
What are we keeping from Season 3's OP Loot Shop?
The general consensus from the community is they like having a questline to unlock the shop. However you all said the level of difficulty was too high, confusing, and finding the correct shrine let alone all 26 of them was sheer luck! We will be retaining the questline for Season 4, but will be making significant changes to create a
smoother and less frustrating experience.
Key things that made the cut include but are not limited to...
Combination Lock
This will stay as the standard way to enter the OP Loot Shop from Season 3 onwards. We must stress more than ever that you do not share the code in public chats. If you work as a group to complete the quest, then ensure the code does not leave your group.
Location
It will remain close to spawn once again and still be marked by the Takarabune airship, as has become tradition across the seasons.
What are we introducing or changing to the OP Loot Shop in Season 3 - Cogs & Gears & Season 4?
We aim to implement a plugin called ClueScrolls to handle the entire OP Loot Questline, from start to finish.
This should make it easier, clearer for all players to understand where to start, progress forward and complete the quest to unlock the shop. Currently the quests are handed out at random, however Vylendis is in conversation with the developer to enable a way to create a clear linear path throughout the quest.
The following video is a demonstration of the plugin in action as it is now from the developer!
Season 3 – Cogs & Gears will bring a brand new mini questline (TBC).
PLANNED As a way to test this new plugin, we plan on a devising a mini quest to test out the capabilities of ClueScrolls. This will lead up to the new season as a teaser, and enables us to expand the server lore.
New Armor & Tools (TBC) These new pieces will not be implemented until Season 4 rolls around.
PLANNED For months and we mean months on end, you have all been asking for a 'Netherpunk' Hoe. We know. It is not useless. It has a purpose.
So let's fix that.
PLANNED There are many Elytras available for sale at the current OP Loot Shop, however we would like to introduce the extremely extortionate practically unbreakable 'Netherpunk' Elytra. We do not know how powerful these shiny new sets of wings will be, but we will for sure be doing the nearest Elytra Flying Course to test them out!
Last but by no means least, drum roll please... Announcing the official Binstercraft Wiki! BETA
In an attempt to declutter our Discord and help you get to the information you need faster we want to create an easily accessible, fully searchable resource that you can view from anywhere in the world!
Here is how the wiki looking so far...
⚠️ Indicates a page/subgroup under development.
Now, this is no mean feat. It is a huge task. Currently, we are in the process of transferring all the important data; and also writing new documentation for almost every aspect of Binstercraft from Season 3 onwards. If you would like to assist in writing the wiki, please contact Vylendis#5353 in Discord.
Opportunities on the Horizon
Vylendis is on the lookout for a Binstercraft design apprentice. If you have skills in graphic design and would like to get on board, please send a portfolio of your work to her. All the graphics and other media for Binstercraft are done voluntarily.
Requirements:
Proficient in Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop.
Preferable: Able to redesign textures in any platform that suits yourself. If graphics are not your thing, we would love to make an official team of content creators to produce videos and such other media to output onto Discord, PMC, and other Social Media sites.
Congratulations! You made it to the end of the update post.
Thank you for either taking the time out of your day to watch the panel back, or for reading this article. A lot of time and effort has been put into this kind of content and we would really appreciate if we received further feedback from the community. See you in game, and as always... Happy Crafting!
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