Essay writin time.
I do not like this suggestion. Making an entirely new survival server is a great way to split the communities, and in general it would lead to less players on each, which sucks for everyone. In my opinion, Pika splits servers too much as is. We have two OP factions, one "classic" factions, and a Galactix Factions. We have two skyblock servers. We don't need to split servers more. We need to fix the servers we have (ie. Make Survival Great Again [not a trump supporter]).
In my opinion, the glory days of survival was back when boopboopMC was essentially the head admin for survival. Kaos and Severed were admins, and ZombieD was a super cool mod. Back then, survival had a real teamspeak presence. I can't seem to find this same community or presence on teamspeak anymore for survival. At this point, we had the economy system, which I prefer, but I digress. At this time, ranks weren't crazy OP like they are now. Ranks were given value more on the commands they had and not by kits. The kits at that time for the highest rank were only the /kit blocks we have now, and a small kit with 5 diamond, gold, and iron blocks. These kits weren't overpowered, but instead just gave donators a little headstart on wealth. The ranks were less diluted than they are now. We only had three, donator, donator+, and donator++ (Ninja, Samurai, and Warlock). Survival didn't and does not need a ton of ranks, especially not ranks worth $200. Staff involvement was minimal. ZombieD ran some mob arenas. Occasionally Kaos would run an event at Kaosville, These events were small and felt more close knit. They didn't have crazy rank or webstore prizes, but instead ingame prizes because items were rarer and cooler back then. Staff did their best not to get too involved, and didn't let players create warps. Instead, player shops sprung up, and players were soon known by the community to run shops, wherein they went and collected their own items. No staff spawning or heads or anything like that. It was just them supplying themselves and advertising themselves. Survival was actually difficult, and you didn't instantly get everything you needed. It was extreme enough that older players were able to make money creating hotels or small villages for beginning players to spend their first couple days getting set up. All in all, even with the economy system, survival managed to be harder and promote community. This was when I most enjoyed my time and when I saw the most returning players. Many of these players have quit/moved on to other servers because of what survival is nowadays
Nowadays, Survival is basically the exact opposite of what I considered the golden ages. Inbetween today's survival and the golden age, staff became too involved. They began creating player warps, giving players items, and running their own stores with creative spawned items. This killed the community. Players stopped interacting with each other and instead spent time in these staff run mega stores. Player run stores couldn't keep up with the creative supply these warps had. This is what killed player trade and ultimately the community that had been built up. Many people blamed it on the economy system, claiming that making money was too easy. The economy system was not the problem. When the store was small and player trading existed, having a ton of money didn't matter, as you still had to get your items or find players to buy from. You couldn't spend all your money in a /shop like we have this reset. Players complained switched to the emerald system, thinking this would increase player trading. It didn't, because mega staff stores and warps still existed. Players just continued buying at warps, just with a different currency. Then came the staff crash. Staff dropped left and right, and higher ups cracked down on the creative supply shops and the staff run anythings. All of a sudden, the floor fell out beneath players and no one had anyone to buy from. Players complained that it was impossible to get items, since these staff run stores stopped existing and staff in general had disappeared. This is when we changed to the money system we have now. They call it the emerald system, but that is a complete lie. We are using the economy system. They just call the dollars emeralds instead, and ignorant people still claim we are on the emerald system. Players begged to get items easier since they thought it was impossible without a Skyshop or Kaosmart etc. and so they created the /shop that is the problem today. It's too easy, and just like the staff run warps, it kills player trade. Remove everything, reset the server (I know I know. Your builds will be lost. We need to reset to remove the stockpiles already made from the kits and /shop we have now), and force players to start trading and talking to each other again.
The other problem with today's survival is rank saturation. Some idiot decided a server meant to be basic and simple needed $200 ranks, so he ruined the balance of the kits. I bought donator before they ruined the kits. I played for two days, and I now have everything I need. God set of armor, god tools. Anything I could want. Survival shouldn't even think about spawning you armor. Collecting a god set of armor is meant to be a difficult and rewarding task, but with armor kits, its pointless. God tools are just as pointless. The kit even spawns you with 20+ books. There is no reason to enchant, as everything but silk touch is spawned for the lowest ranks. All the fun achievements of survival are immediately removed with these OP AF kits. I have a $50 rank, and I was super happy to just get the fancy building blocks and minor amounts of ores I got before during the "golden age". Now, I hate my kits. It gives me nothing to do. The kits do every for me. They need a complete nerf. Make buying the next tier rank about commands, or maybe even claim blocks. Don't make them about the kits.
Which brings us to the starter kit. What the actual f**k were you thinking? It's survival, not OP factions. In factions, the kits have god armor in them, but the starter kit is leather armor. THAT IS A SERVER COMPLETELY ABOUT PVP AND FIGHTING, AND ITS SENSIBLE ENOUGH TO GIVE STARTER ARMOR AS LEATHER ARMOR. WHY ARE NEW SURVIVAL PLAYERS STARTING WITH ENCHANTED DIAMOND ARMOR. WHAT IDIOT IS RUNNING SURVIVAL RIGHT NOW?? end minirant.
Fix survival, don't make a new one
~Lexi
