Server Future & Donations

The the survey results I posted yesterday can basically be summed up by the following few points:

1. About half of the players have tried the DiggyVerse modpack/server, and virtually all of those now spend more time on that server than the Tekkit Classic one.
2. Virtually all the players that have tried the DiggyVerse modpack/server think we should stop hosting Tekkit Classic and concentrate on DiggyVerse.
3. About 20% of players who haven't tried the DiggyVerse modpack/server think we should stop hosting Tekkit Classic and either run a vanilla server or automatic game server.

The 'other feedback' question also had some interesting responses;

• Some people clearly have strong feelings about the Tekkit Classic server and most said they would consider donating towards running costs in the future.
• A few of people suggested that maybe the Tekkit Classic map and/or mods could be ported over to the DiggyVerse server. Unfortunately this is not possible, 1.6.4 compatible versions of many of the mods simply do not exist or if they do they are very different, which would cause a lot of random block replacement across the map. Even if we removed all the affected blocks from the map the format has changed significantly since 1.2.5 and the map would likely corrupt to some extent, in fact the current map is now around a year old, which is very old for a public Tekkit Classic map and even if the server stays open the map will corrupt/fail eventually.
• A few people suggested that we make a modpack based around machines. Most existing modpacks are based around machines, the aim of DiggyVerse was to do something different and to minimise lag. We felt that the best way to accomplish both these goals was to stay away from advanced machine type mods, which also has the added bonus of minimising the chances of dupes, severe glitches and map corruption issues. We are looking at adding more mods and features to the pack in time, and even upgrading the MC version at some point but the addition of advanced machines is not planned.

So what does the future hold for the Tekkit Classic server?

As I've said before I will continue to host the Tekkit Classic server for as long as player donations cover hosting costs. However, the hosting is due for renewal on 16th February and as things stand at the moment the donation fund is empty as no players have donated since around November. We've also seen a gradual drop in player numbers over 2014, with numbers currently at around 60% of what they were this time last year.

Hosting costs for 2015 are just over £200, which could be covered by just 8 VIP donations over the year. I have switched the payments to quarterly (3 months) for now so basically just 2 VIP donations before 16th February will keep the server open until 16th May, 4 VIP donations would keep it open until 16th June etc etc. 

Both Donator & VIP rank donations are now 'lifetime', with 'multi-server' ranks available from 16th January. If players do donate but the server closes at some point during 2015 due to not enough funds being raised those players will be compensated on the DiggyVerse server.

So basically the servers future in your hands and rests entirely on your donations.

If the server does continue beyond 16th Feburary those players who donated to keep it going will also be given a say in who should be promoted to Helper & Moderator ranks in place of the staff that no longer play Tekkit Classic.

As an added bonus any players who donate before the 'multi-server' ranks launch will be upgraded to 'multi-server' free of charge on 16th January, saving up to £10!