Hi all,
The October 2017 General Staff Meeting has concluded. The public portion recording can be listened to here.
First off, I would like to discuss some serious topics with regards to the server:
United Cities Again
After seeing some serious disagreements and drama from the United Cities spill over on to the server, I have instructed the UC officials to take immediate steps in enforcing a level of respect and decorum amongst the UC members, or risk being suspended or abolished altogether. I do not want the MRT staff do have an active role in monitoring and enforcing the UC, as I do not want to add more burden to them, and that it would not be fair to the staff who are not part of the UC. I am giving the UC a chance to self-regulate and self-enforce their own rules, and I am strongly urging members of the UC to take steps in learning how to debate others more effectively without resorting to personal attacks or emotional escalation. I am quite disappointed in the conduct of some MRT members who, in my opinion, have used the UC as a place to circumvent the MRT rules and a basic code of conduct.
Learning How to Interact with Players on the Autistic Spectrum
From the recent disagreements, it has come to my attention that some MRT members, both old and new, may not be aware that we do have some players on here who are on autistic spectrum. People on the spectrum tend to have some additional difficulties when interacting with others, including:
- Failure to pick up on social cues, such as jokes or sarcasm
- Anxiety when communicating with others
- Tendency to take things very literally
While it is up to those on the spectrum to work harder to overcome these difficulties, everyone else also has a responsibility to be empathetic and understanding of people’s conditions. I would ask those who are not on the spectrum to keep the following in mind:
- Try to communicate and explain things very clearly
- Try to be more patient and not to take offense when misunderstandings occur
With these tips, I hope that everyone will come to a better understanding of each other and that this will lessen the frequency of disagreements spiraling out of control.
Email Harassment
One of our members, VernCow, has reported that he has been receiving threatening emails. While we are unable to trace who sent the emails or where they come from at this time, we would like to state that we do not tolerate this form of cyber-bullying even if it is off the server, and that if it continues, Vern or the staff will consider contacting the authorities.
Now for some amendments to the server rules:
New Rule: Deputy Mayors will inherit ownership if Mayor is inactive
Effective immediately, in addition to inheriting ownership of a town if the Mayor is permanently banned, a Deputy Mayor will also gain ownership if the Mayor has been inactive for at least 3 months. This policy has been unofficially enacted by staff for a while now, but it is now formalized in the rules.
The exception to this rule is for players at the [Premier] rank. Premiers who become inactive for more than 3 months will NOT have their city automatically transferred to their Deputy Mayor. This exemption is in place since Premier cities are more-or-less considered to be “finished” cities, and should not be further developed on. The Deputy Mayor in this case will be considered a “caretaker” who can make minor changes to keep the city working and connected, but they will not be allowed to overhaul or expand the city. Please note that this exemption does not apply to Premier who are banned from the server.
New Rule: Players giving away their assets must notify staff
Effective immediately, any player who gives their assets (including towns, cities, buildings, companies, etc.) must notify staff by email. The player receiving these assets should NOT be the one notifying staff, since the staff cannot confirm the transaction from the receiver alone.
New Rules: Central City Bus Construction
Effective immediately, the following rules will apply with regarding to construction of bus stops and bus terminals in Central City:
Bus stops will be allowed if they satisfy the following:
- They are in between an existing road and an existing building. (You must have permission of the building owner first)
- They must be built within the building plot and not on the road itself. (Do not block the road)
Bus terminals are defined as any larger buildings dedicated to providing bus connections. Before building a new terminal, you must email staff with your plans. Any existing terminals are grandfathered in and will not be removed (except for the Manakau bus tower, of which its top floors need to be removed for being unrealistic). Please note the following when submitting your plan:
- Bus terminals that serve only a single bus company will be subject to additional scrutiny and are less likely to be approved.
- Bus terminals that are shared by several bus companies will be more likely to be approved.
If you have any questions about these bus construction rules in Central City, don’t hesitate to contact your nearest friendly staff member.
New Rules: Rail Line Land Ownership
Effective immediately, the following will apply to all third-party rail lines:
- Rail line owners do not own the land surrounding their lines. Players who wish to build or expand their towns around an existing line are allowed to do so.
- Rail line owners are not obligated to adjust their lines or add stations to their lines for any new towns that are built after the line was constructed.
Here are some other announcements:
“Far East” Line Naming Finalized
The new MRT line along the far eastern edge of the server will be officially named the Jungle Line, since it crosses through the only naturally-occurring jungle biome on the new world. Since we are out of wool block colours, stations on this line will be constructed out of jungle wood blocks. There are currently no plans to construct this line, but as soon as a staff member volunteers and the plans are available, we will let you know.
A call to members to Name the Lakes
We are looking for proposals from members to officially name the various major lakes, bays, oceans, and water bodies on the server. E-mail your proposals to the staff [at] minecartrapidtransit.net. Proposals can range from all water bodies, or just water bodies that are in a certain region or vicinity of the server. Water body names next to existing cities or towns will be given priority. All proposals will be considered altogether and an official naming will be hopefully be decided at the next GSM.
Now for the results of various proposals for roads, projects, and auctions:
Roads
- A proposal from EspiDev to build B753 and B754 in the vicinity of Pixl, Espil, Gato, and Kernogen has been approved.
- A proposal from time2makemymove to renumber several roads in the southern regions of the new world as well as extend the A5 has been rejected. This proposal needs to be separated and more information needs to be provided: The renumbering proposal requires reasons why, while the A5 extension proposal requires a screenshot map.
- A proposal from LithiumMirnurX to upgrade his B-Road from Janghwa to Kolpino into an A-Road (A746) has been approved.
- A proposal from MegaMC to build a road in the southwest connecting Lowami, Columnville, Paralia, and The Tinimine Republic has been approved on the conditions that the road be given an official number, and that care is taken to respect the landscape around the mountainous areas.
Projects
- A proposal from LIthiumMirnuriX to extend the original regions map into the expanded new world has been rejected. Instead, we will be asking thomasfyfe, the original creator of the map, to create a new version.
- A proposal from BernCow to build an MRT Zoo Community Build at EN17 has been approved. Please contact BernCow if you would like to get involved in this project.
- A proposal from AlfiePops for a warp center that allows for travel to all MRT stations has been rejected.
Auctions
- XW20 – C89 has been awarded to SoaPuffball.
- Downsview (ZS21) will remain owned by the mayor, Ardyln. time2makemymove will have building rights within the town.
- Shadowpoint (C6) has been awarded to Mercury203.
Let’s do some promotions:
City Rank Candidate Batch #18 Results
The candidate batch for October has concluded. The feedback document for this batch can be found here. In this batch, 5 new senators have been promoted, with no governor promotions this time around. Here are the towns that were promoted:
- Venceslo – time2makemove
- Norwest – ModernArt
- Schillerton – chiefbozx (town only)
- Waterville – PtldKnight
- Amestris – I_90
Congratulations to all new [Senators]!
Premier Promotion
The staff at the GSM did a live review of 3 Premier candidates. The feedback document can be viewed here. Please note that a Premier promotion requires unanimous or near-unanimous approval from the staff present.
Out of the 3 candidates, only one was approved. Congratulations to godzilltrain for achieving the rank of [Premier] for his city of Segville! Below is a speech that he hastily prepared for the GSM:
“After playing on the server since pretty much the start, It’s honestly an honour that I’ve been accepted as one of the Premiers. Being not an exceptionally good builder, I hope this sets an example that even with mediocre skill, enough effort can still be recognised with the highest rank possible. While I hope to carry on with Segville in the future, I hope this also allows me to help others around the server, working on more community projects. Right that’s the speech done, if you were expecting anything better, blame the staff who gave me 20 minutes to finish this speech before the end of the GSM.” – godzilltrain
Finally, here are some announcements about some upcoming events:
Central City Retail Building Competition
Frosty_Creeper10 will be organizing a retail building competition, located at a mall near the Central City SW terminus. The competition will be held from Sunday, October 29th at 12 am UTC to Friday, November 10th at 3:59 pm UTC. Judging will take place the next day on November 11th. The judges will be frogggggg, London150, and ModernArt. Please head to that mall or contact Frosty_Creeper10 for more details on how to apply.
November GSM: Asia-Pacific Edition
The next General Staff Meeting will be held a special time to allow for staff and members who are in the Asian and Australian timezones to attend. The meeting will be held on Sunday, November 19th at 12 pm UTC. For those in other timezones, here are some conversions:
- 4 am PST
- 7 am EST
- 8 pm Singapore
- 11 pm Sydney
As a reminder to players, please submit your proposals for any upcoming GSMs at least 48 hours from the meeting time. After the 48 hour cutoff, we will only accept corrections to any existing topics in the GSM, or if you wish counter-bid for a town that is available for auction.
That is all for now.
Thanks,
Frumple