Expected server outage

This is still a ways off, but I need to make sure everyone has advanced notice of what's going on with the server. I expect to be moving the server in mid-to-late December. This process will mean that the server will be down for at least a week, if not longer; however, I fully expect to return to normal operation (maybe 1.8?) by our 2nd birthday (Jan 1st). Do not be alarmed if during this period the server is down for a prolonged period, we will return as soon as possible.

Also, thanks again for all the hundreds of regulars that have joined us over the years. It's been fun (most of the time) and I hope you'll play with us in the future. We're always trying to update the server to make things entertaining and challenging and if you don't like what we're doing, then let us know (don't whine though, it takes a lot of effort on top of our lives to keep a community going) and just wait to see what we do next.

As always, you can email us with questions, concerns, and complaints. Or use in-game mail or hit up the Twitter feed.

Golden Grail

Congrats Annie, who found the Golden Grail on Planet X!

The Facility

Robot detected strange energy readings from a Facility, which has appeared in town.

Find this place, solve this mystery.

The Hut on Planet X

This hut is on Planet X, and it is filled with gold. Will you be the one to find the treasure? Better hurry, time is running out...

Check out twitch.tv/Robot2600 for clues to the location.

Cactus Prices

As many of you know, Cactus prices have been reduced to their old prices. This is a good thing, because Cactus farming is awful and everyone knows it. It is creating tons of lag on the server, and you'd be better off doing something more productive and fun.

Starting December 1, 2014, you will no longer be able to sell Cactus. The structures can stand as ruins to the past.

If any other form of automated farming becomes a problem, that market will also be removed.

As mentioned earlier, the main concern is lag. But the admins also feel that, in general, it just is not a fun way to make money.

Rest assured, ye Paladins, that ever more lucrative methods of making money are in the works...

...this week...

Personal update

Hey guys, it's your least favorite owner here!
Just wanted to make a little post about my absence lately. It started out as a little bit of boredom with vanilla, so I started playing some small mod packs to liven it yup. Unfortunately, I never had time to finish the balancing and boss work I had planned, because my work schedule has become very intense. It doesn't look to be clearing up anytime soon, but I'm still involved and plan on bringing everything to fully functioning soon.

August Status

First, I wanted to thank you all for sticking with us through the strange month of August.
McMMO updates ruined the old files when trying to get ready for the new uuid things coming in 1.8. I appreciate the patience on dealing with the database issues. We had to go through four builds of the plugin until it was resolved. Let me know if something isn't right!
Next, if you are immediately disconnected on joining (and it doesn't say banned) then let me know by email. We're having an issue of chunk corruption, which is forcing me to replace region files with the most recent back up. You may lose some recent progress, but we can work together to get you back to speed.
Finally, cactus prices have been reduced. AFKing is going to be a less valid strategy got making money, despite however much effort went into in originally. I think I've found a solution for bosses, which will allow the implementation of two new dungeons.
Thanks again and happy building.

The Bosses

Hey guys, been awhile, but I thought I'd give an update on why the bosses are having trouble lately.
We switched boss plugins during the big Spring Cleaning section because the old one (Epic Bosses) has stopped development. Our new plugin (Mythic Mobs) handles much better, aside from an overactive internal clock. But.
That's the issue, that but. Either in the plugin's author's attempt to clean up the timings (greatly appreciated) or in spigot's trek to optimize, timers that fail to spawn mobs just die, because there's no mob to reset the timer.
This issue is not limited to us! It will hopefully be resolved with the 1.7.10 patch.
Thanks for being patient with us during this boss-defective period.

*cough* New dungeons coming soon. *cough cough* Arena is coming back. *clears throat*

Thanks for playing with us.
Have fun, or else.

8 Hours of Micro Mayhem

The Dwarf Fortress non-stop stream continues today! We streamed for 6 hours yesterday and I want to break that record today.

The bridge is down, the food is short, and the drink doesn't exist. Looks like its going to be even more fun than yesterday, so come by my twitch channel and check it out.

I'm going to rock the Dwarf Fortress and the 8-Bit music all day long. 8+ hours of non-stop micro and mayhem.

We are working with over 170 Dwarfs and 8 military squads. I have to tackle to food situation first, and some design flaws are starting to manifest with more dwarfs.

It's gonna be a challenge, but so what?

Twitch.tv/Robot2600

You can watch on 8-Bit City via this plugin. Probably better to go to twitch though!

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="378" width="620" id="live_embed_player_flash" data="http://www.twitch.tv/widgets/live_embed_player.swf?channel=robot2600" bgcolor="#000000"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.twitch.tv/widgets/live_embed_player.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="hostname=www.twitch.tv&channel=robot2600&auto_play=true&start_volume=25" /></object><a href="http://www.twitch.tv/robot2600" style="padding:2px 0px 4px; display:block; width:345px; font-weight:normal; font-size:10px;text-decoration:underline; text-align:center;">Watch live video from Robot2600 on www.twitch.tv</a>

Things Minecraft needs

1. Campfires
2. Chairs and tables
3. Seasons
4. Bees
5. Castles
6. Durgans
7. Butterflies
8. Pirates
9. Sharks
10. Non-craftable emerald gear

More Price Increases!

Non-automatic farmables are getting another buff today.

Carrots x64 = $3000 (Up from $2000)

Potatos x64 = $2000 (Up from $1500)

Wheat x64 = $2000 (Up from $1000)

Hay x64 = $20000 (Up from $10000)

Coco Bean x64 = $2000 (Up from $1500)

Farm on, ye Paladins!

Casino Restocked!

I run a little casino on the server with 9 slot machines. Each machine has a chance to spit out treasure or a deadly monster. Do you have what it takes to gamble... with your life?

/warp casino

Do it now!

The Quest for the Forgotten Keep

THE FORGOTTEN KEEP IS IN NEW ADVENTURE.

X: 2000 - 3000
Y: 60
Z: 1000 - 2000

This is the Quest for the Forgotten Keep! Somewhere in the land is an unimpressive outpost... expect for the treasure hidden inside.

The reward? Gold-- tons of it. I will give a 1000x1000 area at 7:00p.m. Inside the square kilometer lies the keep. Are you up for a challenge?

Everyone is guaranteed a lesser prize if they complete the Quest, but the first person to find the cache is looking at 1.5 million in gold. Enough to buy 15 bedrock...or more.

I will update this post at 7:00.

Brewing in the Deep

The Deep has no nether, so how are you supposed to brew potions without blaze rods or nether warts?

You can't. Luckily, McMMO fishing has a chances for the player to fish up blaze rods, so you'll have to use fishing if you want the real ultimate potion power. Using a special sign, you can trade one of your blaze rods for a nether wart at the trade nexus of /warp deep. Find soul sand by excavating sand (another McMMO rare drop) and your alchemy apocalypse can begin.

So that's it. Just start fishing!

Bumming Around

Took some screenshots of some players bumming around the server today. You can see the Chapel of the Black Knight above, and the Temple of Robot below! 

Got any cool screenshots of the server? Send 'em to us! Email on the sidebar.

Fishmonger Updated

The 1.7 change added some new fish to the game, so I've updated the Fishmonger in Shady Town to include the new fish and make fishing more profitable in general.

You can sell fish at the following prices:

Fish - $1000 (Up from $250)
Salmon - $2000
Pufferfish - $3000
Clownfish - $5000

Fish on ye Paladins.

New World: The Deep

Heads up to all Paladins, there will be a new world launching tonight so don't miss it!

UPDATE; The new world is open. Basically, wood and food are very expensive in the beginning, but you can sell ore for inflated prices. It's a Subterra world, so instead of empty sky there exists an extra 100 layers of stone. You can't use some commands, and you can't set a home point.

You can, however, /warp deep

Good luck!

Farmer's Market Payout Increased

To balance some of the recent changes to gold and iron, a few items at the Farmer's Market have had their price increased. Hopefully this will make farming these things more viable.

Carrots $2000 x 64 (Up from $1000)
Nether Warts $2000 x 64 (Up from $1000)
Poison Potatoes $2000 each! (Up from $500)
Leather $32000 x 64! (Up from $4000)

Happy farming!

New Dungeons and Quests!

Hey guys, it's Robot here with his first blog post. Hope to do more of these, but for now here is what I've been working on.

The Quest for the Chapel of the Black Knight
--------------------------------------------
Players journeyed over 20k to find the Black Chapel and the relics of the Knight who there rested. This was a one-time event, with a legendary sword, axe, and armor found in the tomb of the Knight hidden in a maze of catecombs.

The Great Library
----------------
A new dungeon appears! No warp exists to this dungeon, you have to find it on your on at x:3500, y:-4666 in QUEST. Learn the secrets of fire and read from deadly volumes of cursed lore. Read from the Book of Life and Death that the Necromancers guard so well...

PLANET X
--------
A new realm outside the normal flow of time and space. Planet X is not connected to the rest of the  worlds on the server. No items may enter or leave Planet X. Start fresh and compete for resources without the help of the town! You can get to Planet X from the main steet.

Happy Birthday Paladins!

Today (Jan. 1) marks the first day that Paladins opened to the public. It was very slow going then and a very different place than it was today, but I think the core of the server remains the same.
I want to thank all the players (more than 4 000 unique logins so far) that have made it possible and made the server such a great place to spend time. I've added a new building in Spawn, where the Farmer's Market used to be. Be sure to collect everything you're entitled to.
We've had our ups and downs this year, from crashes and griefing raids to holiday dungeons and mega events, but I think we've come out a better place than we started at and hopefully will continue building and expanding in the future.
Happy New Year!