Blog

Posted on

Newsletter for March 28th, 2022

Howdy!

Welcome to our first attempt at a weekly newsletter!

I’m not sure which parts will work and which won’t. Let’s find out!

Expansion!

Thanks to Yirggzmb for piloting our first server operator role on the Deep Slate Nine server. I consider the experimental pilot a huge success, and spoke with Yirggzmb afterwards about setting up a more formal structure later this year.

Folks who played on the server can leave feedback in the Joe Hills Meta > #moderation-processes-and-hiring room in Discord.

Upcoming

Mario Kart practice stream this Thursday night!

I’ll be avoiding April Fools’ spoilers on March 31st by streaming Mario Kart 8 with friends at my normal stream time of 8:30pm US Central.

Confirmed players so far include Samihiggins, Mr. Hardluck, and NJCoffeeJunkie.

Earth Day Parade Float Build Contest with Sean Hills

The Babilar neighborhood from the Season 8 vanilla server will be hosting a parade float build contest for Earth Day on April 9th at 11am US Central Time.

Our musical guest judge will be Sean Hills of “Sean Hills Sings Joe Hills” fame.

All $10+/mo Patreon members are welcome to participate, so get your barge brainstorming underway!

D&D charity stream!

On April 9th at 2pm US Central time, I’ll be joining Quinn Murphy, Ryan North, and Jack Packard‘s D&D party to play for three hours of a 24-hour charity stream benefitting Child’s Play, an organization that helps medical facilities obtain, install, and maintain game systems for children.

Our dungeon master, Saucefire will be live from 11am US Central on Saturday the 9th until 11am US Central on Sunday the 10th at https://twitch.tv/saucefire, so I hope you get the chance to check this out, even if you can’t make my time slot!

Patreon Minecraft Server Planning Discussions

I’ve got a few planning calls with the community scheduled about what kinds of game rules, modpacks, etc. we should consider in the future.

If you’re interested in shaping the agenda for each, you may do so in advance in the appropriate Discord channel.

  • April 10th at noon, US Central: Experimental server discussion based on notes in #2022-experimental-next
  • April 24th at noon, US Central:  Broad server expansion and operator role roadmap planning meeting based on notes in #sustainable-growth (thanks to Aviva for proposing that)
  • May 14th at noon, US Central:  Vanillish “Survival-Comfort” server discussion, based on notes in #tbd-vanillish-next

Conventions

Here’s a few events I’ll definitely be attending. I hope to see some of y’all there!

Books and Media

I’m going to try to write a bit each week about shows, movies, and books I’ve enjoyed.

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

If you like fantasy novels and the Baltimore parts of the Expanse Series, this is the novel for you! That means I really liked it, but I’m not sure how much it would resonate with other readers.

Everstorm Server Obituaries

  • Michaelsocks was killed by a golem he tried to rescue from a tree.
  • seanard was killed when he foolishly opened his front door to a zombie riding a chicken.
  • netcropolis met his end when he decided to cave for the first time in 1.18 on a hardcore server.
  • MisterLantz died making a parrot friend.
  • Gritmonger was killed by a creeper while trying to make a creeper-and-mob-proof tunnel of cobble.

Monthly Petition Notes

These are an edited version of my notes from petitions. I’m sorry.

2022 Experimental Server

  1. Gracious AKA Mantuamaker
    1. Requested: two llama eggs to get pack animals on the server
    2. Add-on request: Mars requests goat eggs
    3. Proposed solution: Seanard wants to expand world border
      1. Joe asks Seanard and Kindalas to get new center and diameter coordinates
  2. Seanard wants to update to 1.18.2
    1. No problems raised
    2. Have to update the mods
    3. Joe queues mod audit updates for mod and jar
  3. Mr. Hardluck presents prox mod request
    1. General caution but enthusiasm
    2. Joe commits to installing in the next 30 days
  4. Michaelsocks asks for otherwise disc and pigstep disk
    1. Traded golden apple for otherwise disk
  5. Mars requests super powers for an hour
    1. Joe grants them and also provides everyone milk
  6. Mars on behalf of maahes wanted a bunch of riptide five tridents
    1. Joe requests a mechanism to provide that in game, and Apoteosis mod is mentioned, waiting on more feedback
  7. Mallora data pack request
    1. Enable bundles recipe from vanilla tweaks
    2. Joe  queues
  8. Shapeless crafting data pack
    1. Joe queues
  9. Mr. Hardluck requests Scar-style hat mod
    1. Joe says that’s not technically feasible because of the way HC does hats, but is open to other suggestions
  10. Michaelsocks requested spyglasses for everyone
    1. Granted
  11. Mallora wanted player head that said slain by joehills
    1. Joe creates one… with a sword
  12. Seanard requests Joe allow players to slay him to earn player head
    1. Granted.

Deep Slate Nine Vanilla Server

  1. Kindalas requests sleeping percentage change
    1. Player vote results
      1. Most popular was 30%, but that did not have a majority of votes
      2. 2nd most popular was 50% with almost as many votes
    2. Judgement: Joe set to 40% for now, with intention to slide to 30% in a month
  2. Kindalas requests committing to no end resets on the server
    1. Benefits
      1. Allow mapmaking
    2. Downsides
      1. Run out of elytra
      2. Run out of dragon heads
      3. Run out of endstone
    3. Joe commits to not resetting the end, as expanding the worldborder later should fix those
  3. 5th Alice requests a rabbit spawner
    1. Stated goal is to open rabbit stew shop without generating lag
    2. Tech analysis shows desert is within worldborder and wouldn’t be a lag issue to build a regular rabbit farm
  4. Meep requests Thorns V on elytra as accessibility offset
    1. Technically not possible
    2. Desirefire suggested protection 5non-elytra armor in lieu 
    3. Thorns 5 on boots, helmet, and pants instead
  5. Crohn requests adding data packs/discord bot to allow discord to repeat audio for visually-impaired players
    1. After discussion of privacy issues with publishing server logs elsewhere and the technical issues of JAWS, MisterLantz is taking point on helping Meep solve the issue
  6. Sami petitions on behalf of soragirl18 for lost items
    1. Crohn44 will offset the loss out of personal inventory
  7. Des requests Discord rooms
    1. #ds9-quarks: spawn coordination text and voice chat
    2. #ds9-holosuites: share works in progress
    3. #ds9-fire-caves-of-bajor: Nether coordination text chat
  8. Phali reports two villagers kidnapped
    1. Other players offer their own
    2. Joe gives everyone a polar bear
  9. 5uperStone requests skeleton spawn egg to convert a spawner
    1. Kindalas offers to offset boon by destroying own skeleton spawner elsewhere
    2. Joe grants wither skeleton spawn egg
  10. NJ requests four unbreakable shields for people who helped her when game started
    1. Sami requests same for CryingRug
    2. Meep has similar add-on request
    3. Solution: /give @a shield{Unbreakable:1,EntityTag:{Invisible:1b},display:{Name:'[{“text”:”Help for the helpers”,”italic”:false}]’,Lore:[‘[{“text”:”This shield was given to you because you helped someone.”,”italic”:false}]’]},Enchantments:[{id:loyalty,lvl:3}]} 1

Possible future sections

I ran out of time to include everything I wanted to in this first newsletter, and I’ve heard a lot of great suggestions for things I’d like to try in future weeks, like a list of VODs with summaries.

Patreon folks with ideas, please leave them in the #feedback-newsletter channel, thanks!

Additional thanks

Thanks to ThatTommyBoii for helping out with this weeks’ newsletter!

Posted on

Reflecting on my first week of my transition to full-time

Howdy, y’all!

Thanks to y’all’s amazing support, this week I began my transition from hobbyist to full-time “YouTuber” by working a mere three-day workweek at my day job!

With those extra two days, I have already been able to do the following:

  • Recorded an incredibly fun collab with VintageBeef and FalseSymmetry
  • Appeared on The Shaft Podcast for only the second time in nine years
  • Ordered parts to build a new streaming/recording PC that I hope will let me record at 1080p60
  • Learned how to add chapters to YouTube uploads
  • Spoke to the organizers of PlayOnCon about hosting the Minecraft build contest again this year, as well as a possible new Animal Crossing home tour event
  • Started compiling a list of all the entertaining and talented folks I have met in the last decade at conventions who I am overdue to invite as interview guests
  • Accepted a guest spot on next week’s Mindcrack Podcast to discuss current events and gaming with hosts Guude and Sev alongside fellow guest and active Hermitcraft member Docm77.
  • Selected a June book for my Patreon book club, which I’ve been too overwhelmed to hold the last several months: NYPL’s Stonewall Reader
  • Researched dedicated server hosting options and provisioned a new E-2288G equipped server to migrate our current Patreon realm, “Seven of Mine,” to later this month
  • Impressed by her recent efforts on the Draw4Charity fundraiser for Child’s Play, I interviewed and hired NJCoffeeJunkie for a few hours per month to help keep me organized and on track as I wrangle about seven years of ideas I never had time for

I look forward to another three-day workweek next week, and once July hits, I look forward to having even more time and energy!

Keep adventuring!

Posted on

Deep into Undermountain

One evening as the sun went down,
And our cooking coals were glowing,
Down the path came a party hiking,
And they said, “folks, we’re all going,
We’re yearning for a portal far away,
In a tavern full of shoutin’
So join us, friends, and let’s descend,
Deep into Undermountain!”

Deep into Undermountain,
There run dungeons hot and cold,
Where the monsters surge in pushes,
And the youngest runes are old,
Where the mimics all lie waiting,
And the goblin werebats roost,
All the wisps and wasps,
And the mezzoloths,
The hidden pit,
Where we’ll all plummet,
Deep into Undermountain

Deep into Undermountain,
All our blades will sing like choirs,
As our arrows strike like drumbeats,
And our green flame pops in pyres,
Our barbarian will stomp a brute,
As the rogues dance shadowplay,
O we’re sworn to go,
At a great tempo,
We’ll chant our spells
As we now delve,
Deep into Undermountain,

Deep into Undermountain,
You’ll always find new gear,
And your old mundane accoutrement,
Can be handed down, don’t fear.
The magic items you’ll attune,
And the artifacts you’ll find,
There’s armor with gems,
And weird potions,
And a propeller hat
that lets you ascend,
Deep into Undermountain.

Deep into Undermountain.
The Mad Wizard stood gates,
So folks can open portals,
He left clues to activate,
He has a thing for puzzles,
And he likes to throw his voice,
We’re going to delve,
To where he dwells,
To the lowest tower,
To seek his power
Deep into Undermountain.

I’ll see you there, the lowest lair,
Deep into Undermountain.

Posted on

Existential love

Are love and beloved commutative?
You are beautiful and I love you!
I love you and you are beautiful!

What about loved but beloved?

Is that something one can even say, or something one must show?
Or something one must hear,
Or something one must see?

If we are made in God’s image, is he disappointed when we follow his example the way we are with our children when they follow ours?

Does the Lord feel what parents feel when their children copy their vices each time I harden Pharaoh’s heart?

Does he shake his head when you command survivors of ethnic infanticide to remove their sandals?

Does he plug his ears when we command our session trumpeteer to blow his fifth horn and our vocalist to belt out, “Woe! Woe! Woah!”

Does he hide his face as we cover the earth with water?

And where are our faces?
Why don’t we reflect the light we feel,
Do our contorted masks distort photons,
Like planes skew radar,
Our profiles misleading and shrunken,
While our bellies are exposed to any naked eyes looking up at that moment,
as our backs are exposed to sky,
And what do we have to show for it?

But where are our faces?
Why don’t we feel the light we reflect?
Do the photons scatter like outstealthed radar from our false smiles,
Our cross-sections lighter than air,
While the heavens and the earth envelope us completely and form a shape around us that we push through each day wondering why we feel such resistance?

Are endure and endured commutative?
You are cruel, and I love you.
I love you, and you are cruel.

Posted on

Like your enemy

I made war on the sea and became the waves.

I made war on the peaks and became the stone.

I made war on the heavens and became the sky.

I made war on my neighbor and died, flesh and bone.

Posted on

Where in these Chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?

Where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?
Well, he builds around the island,
From Modern to Medieval,
He’s a sticky-piston-pusher from build height down to bedrock.
He’ll take you on a flight to the Convex Cathedral.

Tell me where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?

Swipe your soul sand from the nether,
Make the village golems bubble,
From our redstone to Grian Tag, he’ll be dealing abuse.
I never Tennessee him steal from his base to the portal,
Tell me, where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?
Tell me, where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?

He’ll go from village to void space,
From the end to Iskall’s base,
From Mumbo’s to TangoTek’s fountain, and back!

Then he’ll ban half Hermitcrafters,
Run a gauntlet, jewel-encrusted,
Then he’ll have the Convex plunder,
And go prank Python’s Pots.

He put the mail in malefaction when he tampered with my postbox,
Tell me, where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?
Tell me, where in these chunks, tell me where can he be?

From mob spawner to far lands,
From spawn via Pirate Land,
Tundra to jungle to iTrade to loot you.

Well he swims beneath the seas,
Just to sell immoral coral,
He’s a bubble-breathing brigand with a flair for dolphin speed,
His shulker box is loaded up with maps for his mural,
Tell me where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?
Tell me, where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?
Tell me, where in these chunks is Cubfan of the Convex?

Here’s me performing this terribly:

Posted on

International Space Station

We saw the ISS tonight—it was really quite far out.
Reflecting sol’s more distant light, and as it arced its route,
It passed beyond some nearer cloud, and faded out of sight,
But dad and daughter didn’t frown, it really made our night.

Posted on

City of Brotherly Love

In my heart I was glad, but the city preys at night,
So I was walking angry, looking angry,
Seeming mean past Ben Franklin’s darkened grave,
Past his mint too toward my hotel
When across the street I saw
A bus shelter sheltering someone,
Heaped defensively under dirty blankets,
Sleeping buried trying to stay warm,
I couldn’t see anything about the stranger,
Except that they too didn’t want to be disturbed,
And that they weren’t a bus.
We have bus shelters on every other corner.
Maybe we need more people shelters too.