Hello everyone! The January 2018 GSM has ended. Lots of exciting things happened, so let’s talk about them! This was a long meting, so it’s a long post… sorry ’bout that.

You can watch the public portion on YouTube here.

Guests are subject to additional scrutiny for now

Due to an ongoing incident with former members, Guests are currently subjected to additional scrutiny and restrictions:

• Membership applications are open, but subject to much more strict review than previously.
• Guests’ accounts are subject to verification and integrity checks by admins upon connection.
• Suspicious accounts may, as always, be banned on sight.

Guests who have been banned by mistake should email admin [at] minecartrapidtransit.net to discuss their situation. Guests who would like to use chat, along with all the other features available to members, should apply for membership.

These extra restrictions will remain in place until further notice.

Boat rule clarifications

We are adding a few rules to boat lines to improve realism. The following rules are in effect immediately for boats used as transport:

• Boats must have a realistic method of boarding at each port of call. Docks, piers, and tender ships are all examples of acceptable boarding methods.
• Boats must be able to travel realistically between all ports of call (similar to buses needing roads, and warp train lines needing the physical rail links). This means they must fit through all canals and bridges along their route.
• Warp signs must be placed on or inside the boat itself, not adjacent to it.

Boats that are not in compliance have until March 1 to become compliant. Canal owners and city mayors are not required to modify their canals and bridges to accommodate you, but we encourage you to work together if necessary. (The burden of compliance lies with the boat operator.)

Additionally, note that seaplanes fall under the airport and airfield rules. Cities wishing to build seaplane bases must reach the Senator rank before doing so.

Lottery increases

We are making tweaks to the lottery to increase jackpot sizes. The jackpot will now start at $100 (up from $20) and each player will be permitted to purchase up to 25 tickets (at $1 each). We may tweak these values further if necessary at future GSMs.

Beta server and new plugins

Frumple will be setting up the beta server in the coming days (watch the status page for updates) for everyone to test some new plugins:

• Citizens allows players to add NPCs (non-player characters) to their cities to breathe life into them, or to create characters for adventure maps. These characters can be stationary or can be programmed to move around.
• FastAsyncWorldedit adds some technical optimizations to improve the effects of WorldEdit, hopefully decreasing the amount of lag generated when performing large operations.
• MoveCraft will not be installed on either Epsilon or Beta as we believe it has the potential to increase lag and cause damage if used improperly, though we appreciate the suggestion.
• We will also be enabling the default Minecraft world border for testing. This is a purely cosmetic change; the size of the worlds will not be changing, but we’re testing out what having a marker for the edge of the world could look like. We would especially appreciate your feedback on this.

We’ll post here once the beta server is up and running. Once it is, remember that all rules apply on the beta server, except that griefing is allowed in the context of experimentation and testing plugins. We’d love to hear your feedback – just email the staff if you’ve got thoughts on how we can improve the experience for everyone.

/rangedspy is now available for all staff

Mods now have access to the /rangedspy command, which allows them to monitor local channels from anywhere in the world. This command has historically been available only to admins.

This was a point of great discussion during the meeting. We interpret the local channel as a public forum that players can join without the knowledge of those actively involved in a conversation, similar to a project channel, and therefore the local channel falls under the jurisdiction of mods. (Real-time access to private messages and party chats is available only to admins.) Players wishing to maintain a private conversation with controlled access should do so via PMs or party chats.

MRT Extensions

Two MRT line extensions are in the works, after the successful opening of the Zephyr North extension (ZNX), Desert Line extension phase 1 (DLX1), and Forest Line extension (FLEX).

The first is an extension that I’ll be building in the near future, that was actually approved last GSM, but we forgot to post it. The Western Line North branch and Expo West Extension (WLN and XWX1) will be the next lines to be extended, according to the image below (though final station alignments and numbers are subject to change). This line runs parallel to the Taiga Line at T31 to T36, but not T46-T50. As per usual, stations may not be claimed until the lines are officially opened; I will announce here when they are ready for requests.

The next line to be extended after these will be the Valley Line. godzilltrain will be submitting a more detailed proposal for review at the next GSM.

Roads

We reviewed four road proposals during this meeting:

• The A52, proposed by mine_man_ to connect the A51 (near Matheson) to Elecna Bay, has been approved.
• A modification to the A51, proposed by time2makemymove to move the carriageway underground in Venceslo (ZS20), has been approved. (time2 is the mayor of Venceslo.)
• The B89, a scenic byway proposed by Ardyle to run between New Woodbury and Armada, has been approved.
• An extension of the A230, proposed by FredTheTimeLord to connect the A30 to Kel5’s project near EN17/EN18, has been approved. We did note that there is a similar B230 road/proposal in the area that fffelix_jan is working on, so we would like Fred to coordinate with Felix before building.

Projects

• A proposal by Purrcat2010 to preserve the swamplands in the far northwest of the Epsilon expansion as a nature preserve has been denied.
• A funding request for a hotel building competition at ZN39, organized by time2makemymove, has been approved and enhanced. Notably, we are increasing the grand prize from the proposed $2,000 up to $5,000, along with increases in all other prize amounts. Check the wiki page here for more details. time2makemymove also has the right to name ZN39 Station once the contest finishes. Players can build between 3am UTC on January 24 and 3am UTC on February 12, and voting will occur the week after. (All dates are also on the events calendar for your reference.)
• The Breckenridge Recreation Area, a winter-themed resort planned by shadowboarder between ZN5 and XE3, has been approved on the condition that the mountain is kept to a reasonable height.
• A proposal by Minecrafts000 to build a canal between ZS15 and Loch Lyman has been denied. This proposal may be re-submitted once all towns along the route have granted permission. We would also prefer a more direct routing if at all possible.
• _Kastle’s proposals of canal work in the east have been denied as the proposed routings cut across large swaths of land. Some counter-proposals were made that we believe would suit the area better; these have been pre-approved, but _Kastle is welcome to resubmit his own proposals for a future GSM if he can better integrate them into the land.
• SilverBubble’s proposal for a space navy base in his town has been denied as spacecraft fall under the airport rules, and SilverBubble has not yet reached the rank of Governor. Additionally, large spaceships are meant to be built on the space world; spaceports on the main world should only be for research and/or transport to the space world.

Auctions & Asset Transfers

We considered proposals for the following town transfers:

• C12 Mason City: Transferred to hnt. We have awarded Mason City to hnt as we believe his proposal more closely aligns with the original vision of the town. However, we recognize that AlfiePops, the other contender, has been patiently waiting for the staff to review this auction for a long time, so hnt will need to start doing a visible amount of work to the town by the Spring Break Edition GSM (likely in March or April). If no significant activity occurs before then, the town will be automatically transferred to AlfiePops at that GSM.
• NW26-T50: Transfer denied, up for general auction. ModernArt proposed taking ownership of this town, however due to his history of taking and abandoning towns, plus the checkered history of this town in particular, we have denied his request. We are opening this town up to requests from all other players as it is currently located at the terminus of two MRT lines, so if you’re interested, please email the staff.
• V21: Transfer denied. Aldranster may re-apply for the town once his town at V22 expands northwards. XtremeCoder’s request was denied because he has not yet reached the rank of Councillor (which this town would give him a substantial head start towards), we would like to see him start a town from scratch first. We may open this town up to general auction at a future GSM.
• D25 Bikini Bottom: Transfer denied. This town does not qualify for auctioning as the mayor, TrainDood, has recently returned to active status.

Premier Cities

We received three candidates for Premier: the City of Evella (M10-M12), Quiris (ZN15-ZN16, NW2), and Elecna Bay (I21-I24). The staff feedback and votes can be found here.

LDShadowLord has been promoted to Premier for the City of Evella, and his acceptance speech is as follows:

Many have died, in the pursuit of perfection. But that was a risk I was willing to take.

Evella has been a journey, from the very beginning. Those that knew me before the switch to Gamma, knew that my city there was “Sublime”, a city very similar in style and scope to modern day Evella. With Evella I sought to finish what I had begun with Sublime, a modern, brutalist city. Quick to rise, faster to fall.

Evella is the combination of thousands of hours of my work, and others. Evella would not be the city it is today without the franchises that garnish the city streets, and the businesses that form the core of this financial behemoth. So thank you, to all of you who put up with my bullshit and put a Franchise in Evella despite my oppressive building regime. The city, nor the server, would be the same without you. And not you but thank you to the people who visit or present at the Evella Expo. I can promise that you have not seen the last of the Evella Expo, and I seek to make Evella the number one place to be for major events.

Thankyou for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful community, and thank you to the staff that voted me to this rank and giving me recognition for my labour of love.

And mine_man_ has also been promoted to Premier for his work on Elecna Bay, with the following improvised speech:

I’ve been on the MRT for just over three years now, and when I first joined I would never have expected myself to end up where I am. The people I’ve met on this server are some of the most amazing people, and some friendships I’ve made on this server are going to last way past the length that this server. To me that’s one of the things’t that’s the most amazing about this community, and some of the things people have said to me when I’m not in the mood to continue Elecna Bay and to get me to continue it, and now I’m Premier, I think I can really appreciate everything that everyone has said to get me to where I am now. So thanks!

Congratulations to the both of you!

Holiday Town Decorating Contest Results

Thanks to everyone who participated and voted in the Holiday Town Decorating Contest this last month! Congratulations to the following winners:

• 1st place: Amber_Pine
• 2nd place: Narnia17
• 3rd place: shadowboarder
• 4th place: MikeRoma
• 5th place: zomghi5

Prize money has now been distributed to all participants

Upcoming Events & Next GSM

Our next GSM will be held on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at the usual time of 7pm UTC. Topics, including cities wishing to be promoted to Premier, must be submitted by Thursday, February 15 at 7pm UTC.

While we will accept submissions in all topic areas, note that we are not actively seeking new moderators.

In addition to the next GSM there are a few other events happening:

• CRPB 21 finishes on January 31, with promotions on February 1. Cities that wish to be considered in CRPB 22 should be submitted here by 11:59 pm UTC on January 31 to ensure they are included.
• The Amazing Race Season 8 has its next session on January 27 at 7pm UTC.
• time2’s hotel building competition construction period runs between January 24 and February 12 (UTC). Check the events calendar for the specific start and end times for this contest!

Thanks all! As always, please contact your nearest staffer if you have any questions.
– Chief