Hey guys! The March 2015 GSM has just concluded and there are lots of things to announce!
Highlights:
- Screenshot Contest: _Kastle takes first prize with the “MRT Welcome Center” screenshot; over $13,000 in prizes distributed
- New supporter perk: /skull
- Promotions: 4 cities promoted to Senator, 1 to Governor
- Airports: New size limit introduced, some airports are being redone or removed
- Roads: A-class proposal system simplified; numbering system established and finalized
- Next meeting is tentatively set for Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 7pm UTC (private) / 8:30 pm UTC (public)
The public portion of the meeting including a long discussion on the new airport rules can be found here. The new airport rules are in effect immediately, so be sure to give the meeting a listen, or continue reading to find out more.
Screenshot contest proves successful
Thanks to all of you who submitted screenshots for the first Screenshot Contest! We had 30 submissions, 12 finalists, and over $13,000 in prizes. Congratulations to the following winners:
- First place: _Kastle (MRT Welcome Center) – $5,000
- Second place: Ryumitch (Southern Vekta) – $3,000
- Third place: cal76 (Riverend) and MinecraftYoshi26 (Cytus) – $2,000 each
- Fifth place: lalaboy (Kessler) – $500
- Finalists: Aliksong (Kenthurst), autobus22 (Chokster City Borderline Airport), CortesiRaccoon (Airchester), Just_robinho (Marblegate Centraal), kiwirainbow (Mason City Waterfront), Omricon (Welcome to Central City), Ortem (Calm Night) – $100 each
- All others: _frozen, 2DanyMany5, cookiesareedible, enjineer30302, gogojakeo, Gopher, hawksfan1010, hntredtie, jakd2000, JamesGaming, KittyCat11231, malbert911, Music3_0, RedBear47, RLcrafters, Robang592, tarheelscouse, Technological99 – $20 each
The People’s Choice Awards were cancelled because the poll results were inconsistent and rigged: some entries were at the bottom of the list for several days, and then shot up to the top near the end. As such, we did not give out the $500 bonuses.
Overall, $13,560 in prizes was handed out to all of the participants. Congratulations, and thank you for your submissions! We’ll be uploading several of the winning screenshots to the website soon!
Promotions
Out of 15 candidates, 5 cities were promoted up a rank.
Congratulations to the following cities, which were promoted to [Senator]:
- kiwirainbow (Mason City, C12)
- jakd2000 (Lakeview, P27 and EC15-P28)
- Just_robinho (Marblegate, F27)
- Atlanta (Saint Roux, C36-P25)
And congratulations to Tom_Pairs of Achowalogen Takachsin (XE10) on further promotion to [Governor]!
New Supporter perk
We are pleased to announce a new Supporter perk, /skull, that has been activated for all supporters regardless of rank. You do not need re-purchase your supporter benefits to access this perk.
Supporter goal: $657.40 by April 2016
We would like to break even this year (through April 15, 2016) with our operating costs, which if you include the domain minecartrapidtransit.net (and .org and .com), comes out to $657.40 (or $57.84 a month). Though contributions are and always will be optional, your support is greatly appreciated, AND in addition to giving you a warm glow of satisfaction, supporting the server gets you some awesome perks. Full details are available here.
BONUS: For the first $1,000 we raise through our new payment provider (Stripe), we pay no transaction fees! So 100% of your contribution goes into Frumple’s pocket. How awesome is that?
Airports are now limited
Airports are now being limited in size, to prevent the map from being covered in airports like the old world. We know you love your airports, but at the same time, they take up a lot of space. IVY and WHT take up enough space that you could see them from Dynmap even when zoomed out, so they are being scaled down to be more realistic.
Effective immediately, the following Air Transit Policy is in effect for all airports on the new world.
- Airports, heliports and spaceports are restricted to Governors and above. Airfields (very small landing strips and holding areas) are restricted to Senators and above.
- There is a maximum of 1 airport and 1 spaceport per city. There is no limit to the number of airfields or heliports a city may have (but don’t take that as a dare).
- Heliports, spaceports and airfields do not need to be approved through email, but a courtesy ping is appreciated.
- All airports must be approved by the staff through email. Please send a proposal to staff [at] minecartrapidtransit.net with the details on where you will build your airport. Include a dynmap screenshot if possible.
- The total amount of land that an airport takes up must be, at most, half the area of its corresponding city. For example, if you have a city with approximate area of 100 square chunks, then you may build an airport up to approximately 50 square chunks in size.
- This land includes all terminal buildings, gates, runways, hangars and air traffic control towers.
- Dense cities may be permitted more land, but these will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
- Staff won’t be taking a tape measure to your city, but please be honest and reasonable with your requests.
- Airports can be built smaller than the allotted amount of land.
- There is no limit to the number of gates an airport may have, however you’ll need to be creative to fit the planes in! You’re only restricted by the amount of land the airport can take up.
- Cities in a shared municipality may elect to build a combined airport, however special rules apply:
- Shared airports may be larger – half the combined area of the cities they serve. For example, if to cities (with areas 75 and 145 chunks) shared an airport, it can be no bigger than 110 chunks in size (half their combined area).
- Any city which builds a combined airport forfeits its individual airport.
- So, to reiterate: cities in a shared municipality may choose to build a small airport for themselves, or a larger airport for the combined cities, but not both.
- Expansions will be permitted as the city grows. Please give the staff a heads-up before expanding your airport.
If you have any questions, please ask the staff.
Existing airports
To comply with the new rules, IVY (Ilirea-Vermilion International) has been demolished and will be replaced by two smaller airports. In addition, WHT (Whitechapel Sky Harbor) is being downsized.
EIA (Epsilon International) and ZAQ (Zaquar Airport) are not required to do anything.
A-class roads
Much work was done to overhaul the systems of creating and identifying A-class roads.
Creation of roads simplified
If you want to build an A-class road, here’s what you need to do:
- Send the staff your proposal for where your road will go, what you (or the cities and/or MPOs the road passes through) would like it to be numbered, and how much it should be worth once completed.
- The staff will approve or reject your proposal at the next GSM.
- If approved, you may choose to begin building your road immediately, or delegate the project to someone else. (If you delegate it to someone else, please let the staff know.)
- Once the road is completed, everyone who participated in its construction will receive an equal share of the agreed-upon amount, and the road will be owned by the server. (These terms can be negotiated in the proposal, but we will assume these unless you ask otherwise!)
There are no active road proposals at the moment, so please send yours in!
Road identification
A- and major B-class roads are identified with a system similar to the UK’s motorway numbering system, to better help you understand where in the map the road is (rather than where the road is relative to other roads).
The first digit in a road number is region in which the road travels roughly the greatest distance, or where it terminates (if it goes to Central City). Regions are determined by this map:
The second, third and fourth digits can be recommended by the MPOs and cities the road passes through. For example, roads in the IVY region will usually start 75; roads near Whitechapel may start 89, and roads near the Epsilon region may start 31. At the GSM, staff will make the final decision regarding what number will be assigned to a road.
Existing A-class roads have been re-numbered as follows:
- Central City Ring Road: A0
- Central City to Whitechapel: A8
If your city has signs that refer to these roads, please update them accordingly.
Next meetings
The next staff meetings are being scheduled! Here’s what to expect:
- April 18, 2015 at 7pm UTC: Promotions to Senator, Governor and Moderator, and review of road proposals.
- May 2015 (date TBD): Promotions to Senator, Governor, and Premier
- Cities at the Governor rank as of today’s meeting are eligible for Premier. Cities promoted at the April GSM will not be eligible.
That was a lot! Please let us know if you have any questions about any of it, we’re happy to help you out.
Thanks,
Chief