@CraftyMyner I tried to do something good for the community, it was probably short sighted, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I didn't foresee what was going to come next. It felt like I just said a racial slur on twitter, pretty much everything I did was contested. People, including me, were made fun of in the forums. I don't believe in myself anymore. I do not understand the community or the game well enough to make correct decisions. I tried to take advice from staff and other players but I am still lost.

Just a pre-lude to your questions, don't be too upset, and don't worry. In regards to all the recent kerfuffle I know that for me, and I am going to assume others, it was all a case of timing. I know you were only doing what you believed to be best for the community. But from the point of view of the player I saw basically no changes for literally years, despite raised concerns, and then suddenly one person starts to complain about an issue which next to no people have actually had, and within hours the owner, almost always silent, makes huge changes to the server. For me at least it very much came across as a slap in the face to anyone else who's ever suggested any changes to the server. I think J_a_r_d said something similar in the (now deleted) chat under BirdFrocks post.

Now I've had a bit to calm down I think the changes that were made were actually pretty sensible, just implemented in a rather rushed way. And even then, as I said at the start, It's really nice to see actually changes for the better, even if the first few steps were a little wobbly.

@CraftyMyner If we switch to semi vanilla, all the work I did could be replaced with a few plugins that take seconds to install. That emotionally hurts. It's like entering into a car show where everyone has a sports car and I have a go-kart that was built in the backyard with my dad when I was a kid. It feels out of place. I know I can keep what we have but it's going to feel a bit jank when compared to the offerings available with plugins.

Personally, (judging from other replies my opinion is far from unanimous) I would like to keep the command blocks, as I put originally,

@BingusInc The system we currently have with the command blocks (while I can't pretend I properly understand it) I find to be incredibly charming, and 100% makes the server stand out from the crowd in a sea of plugin-riddled survival servers. And besides, after all these years, it would be a shame to start now and cast aside Crafty's unique command-block legacy.

I very much like the analogy you used with the Sports cars and the Go-Kart, I think it almost perfectly sums up the server, and if it's any consolation, I find that the heart of the server really shines through, and I thinks that's why CraftyMynes has the deep, long lasting community that it has. I find at least that keeping it command block helps to retain that nostalgia I have for Minecraft throughout the years.
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Now then, this is going to be a little difficult now, as I won't lie, I simply hadn't considered

@CraftyMyner The systems behind the scenes are so complex that even when I the creator go to change one thing I break 5 others.

That. As such I'm not really sure what to suggest, because as you say, not everything actually can be implemented properly without issue, and lacking your unique knowledge on the server's inner workings I simply do not know what is a simple request and what is not.

Instead, I suggest that you begin with something that can be changed a lot easier (at least as far as I am aware) the Forums.

People have been very good about sharing thoughts in these comments so far, so I hope that sentiment remains. If a voting mechanic/section could be introduced to the forums any ideas that you see which you think may have some merit behind them could be put to the face of public decision, which and much less likely to go down poorly, and it also lets you see which decisions are controversial ahead of time, saving a situation like last time.

@CraftyMyner I guess the few questions I have are:

Is the lag really that bad, do we even have enough players right now to cause lag?
Is there something we are missing that would make a much bigger difference than semi-vanilla in terms of player retention?
If we go semi-vanilla, it's hard to go back. Do we try to switch categories for a week or month and then make a decision if we see more players?

1) Honestly? Not really. At peak times I can see some strain, but you're right, we rarely have enough players for it to be an issue, however if we can get an player influx again it will become one.

2) Not as far as I am aware. Not to say that there isn't one, I am simply not able to spot it myself, hopefully other answers will prove more fruitful.

3) I think that's an excellent idea, it would be very useful to test if it actually makes a difference.
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To finalise, much like yourself, when I first started playing I was a mid-teen, and now as an adult with a career and other responsibilities, it's harder and harder to truly unwind and find time for the things which bring me so much enjoyment. It's because of that I've been going on these tirades, because I truly believe that CraftyMynes is something special, and I think it's worth my time to attempt to stop it from fading into obscurity.
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Forever your's Crafty <3

BingusIncorporated