Blog — Page 6 of 17 — joehills.net

August 21, 2023August 21, 2023

Video on demand

Summary

in season 8 hermits spent months going through seeds, hermits would check to see if the seeds were truly viable and it drove them bonkers
- when it was time for season 9 the hermits had a hermit staff member pick a seed for them.
  - Joe didn’t get to plan his season 9 and neither did we in DS9.
  - Joe wants season 10 to be more of a collective experience for us, so these two build contests will help test things for season 10
- Joe will still be creative lead, but this is our time to test out Joe’s ideas so no one has to be startled and blindsided by them.
  - a few explicit changes, a lot of early season stress was from small world borders. Joe likes being able to promote his server as a bleeding edge flagship server. we’re not part of conversations of updates when we aren’t immediately up to date on updates.
- when hermits talk about problems the number one thing is people arguing about how soon is too soon to update. Joe can put up with the hermits spiraling for 6 hours but not his server too.
  - Joe’s compromise is #feedback-vanilla-smp
Proposal 1: update to the latest jar asap and when available, additionally add quality of life and performance mods
- Joe wants to test a game mechanic that is new in snapshots. We will have it in time for season 10, a feature of random numbers in command blocks.
  - What if: we have a command block that gives you the feather falling effect, teleported you 300 blocks in the air a random set of blocks along the cardinal directions
Proposal 2: At server launch we will prepare for 2 hours and then fight the dragon
Proposal 3: Once the dragon is dead Joe will add 8 cardinal and secondary direction teleporter pads with command blocks that will allow players in small groups to get thrown thousands of blocks away without a teleport back until the end of the contest.
Proposal 4: At server launch a 3 month build contest starts for folks to create neighborhoods. Similar to B’Hala outposts but bigger and without neighbors.
- The theme would be “company town” from a mining town to industrial factory town to space settlement, towns are required to have a main street for parades and places for employees to live and places to buy and sell things, but folks get to decide what their theme is.
  - In the short term everyone gets to have the survival Minecraft experience. folks who join later after the initial contest can join existing towns or pick a direction and go somewhere new if they want to start something new.
  - Joe does not want to encourage centralized planning of nether tunnels
  - Joe wants the free stuff at petitions to slow, the goal of petitions is supposed to be a problem solving thing.
  - Joe recognizes that if someone is using something in a way that upsets other people it is a problem we are here to address
    - Have a focus on talking about things to be able to move on
DS9 multi-month Halloween build contest that has started as of 08/19/23
- teams build a haunted house mansion and landscape around it
- Contest ends late October, tentatively the 21st.
- It must be at least 3000 blocks away from 0,0
- The goal is to be remote and get a feel for what kinds of things you might learn to give good feedback for the teleport system
- No hard and fast rules, very loose, but everyone gets to present cool haunted houses that explore the inside and out.
Another build contest will launch in mid-November. A specific build location with plots for a winter landscape snow globe build contest.
- Plot sizes vary for different sizes of teams and would be judged sometime around January 15th.

August 21, 2023August 31, 2023

2023 Q3 Meeting Minutes

Emoji
- Emojis approved emojis will be added this upcoming Wednesday, if not next Wednesday.during a craft stream.
- /o/ \o\ dance emoji approved but will be two separate emojis, not animated.
- Xiexie emoji asked to be more legible, request being considered but not guaranteed
- Good point emoji will be workshopped on crafts with Cleo stream
More channels
- New word-games channel has been created
- Games that interest Joe will have channels pop up out of cycle and be archived out as needed.
- The discord channels feel unorganized to some, we’re taking suggestions on how to improve it.
  - We will not have the discord become a community server as that opens us to potential threats such as bot accounts.
- Fashion channel is not feasible right now
  - Financial concerns mean Joe does not feel like he can handle the additional stress currently as the fashion channel requires more moderation.
YT Stream notifications
- The new calendar feature on joehills.net has helped Maahes0 as well as others
Website usability and changes
- The changes to website have been well received
- Links at the top of the page will be added for the /soon page and the /live page.
Moderation philosophy review
- Tommy’s suggested system would work well if we had more funds for staff but we don’t
- Problems that happened over time happened because Joe did not allow for time for staff to have meetings like he originally intended,
  - Having not all staff attend the meeting and having minutes available would be beneficial for Joe
- Joe doesn’t want this server to be like others, he wants it to be genuine and unique.
- Utilizing Discord’s new timeout feature will help with edge cases
- Staff will be using a spreadsheet to help see patterns in bad behavior
- Feedback still welcomed in feedback-moderation-and-rules
- Joe has added Modmail to the Patreon invite message
  - The Modmail tutorial will be updated
- Joe will be stepping in to tell folks to chill when needed
- Joe takes responsibility for issues falling through the cracks but we’re feeling optimistic about the future
SMART goals
- Finishing the pinball machine is really important to Joe
  - Immigration paperwork caused issues for Joe and took away his focus for the build
  - Some projects may not get as much attention, such as Halloween builds, but the goal is not in any danger
- Losing the car is endangering Joe’s goal of meeting fans for signings and TCG games.
  - If Joe can get sponsored to go to local conventions that would be helpful
    - This is dependent on Joe reestablishing connections he has
    - Getting sponsors would help relieve stress for Joe
  - Joe will still prioritize going to events for meeting fans and hanging out
  - In theory TCG games could start being played in December
  - If Joe gets a day job that allows him to travel on the weekends it might be viable
    - Ideally he wouldn’t have to get a day job
- Relying on twitter and where to move functionality
  - In the short term joehills.net will be the best place to find info on Joe
    - The HermitCraft website is not run by Joe, and is made in databases and languages he does not work with.
  - Realistically, if Joe had to spin up a discord alternative we could
  - Joe has been and will continue to post links to his social media posts.
- 2024 Launch of Vanilla SMP Season 10
  - Long term build contest with teleporters to encourage spread of players instead of condensing around spawn or one area
  - Feedback-vanilla-smp channel available for feedback
- Postpone having to start a new day job
  - Joe was able to avoid cutting the discord thanks to folks on Tumblr supporting Joe on Patreon.
    - Joe is avoiding expenses and pairing down where he can
  - Joe needs to avoid losing money during the hiatus between season 9 and season 10.
  - Alternative revenue ideas Joe had are off the table for now
  - There is no scenario here where Corrinne starves but Joe may need to return to a day job if things get bad enough
    - This is a continuous concern until Joe gets a day job or things take off for Joe in season 10 of HermitCraft
  - The problem is one good month of money doesn’t stretch forever
  - If Joe had to lay off staff and close most of the discord he would need to know to do so now and not later.
  - The best time to get a new job is after the start of season 10
    - The second best time is mid August.
  - Joe trusts Tommy enough to run the discord full time, but does not have the funds to do so
    - Until then, Joe intends to focus on improving his art.
  - Feedback-revenue created for folks in the community to suggest revenue ideas.
    - Considering something like kickstarter for something during the hiatus

August 14, 2023

Newsletter #57 for August 14th, 2023

Howdy folks!

It’s Tommy time! Community Liaison ThatTommyBoii reporting for newsletter duty!

If you’re ready to hear the news you’re in luck, here it is!

TCG cards update

Joe’s made a post over here on Mastadon about signing his TCG cards! He and the other Hermits have been signing cards like mad and sending them back to Creo, so we’re one step closer to folks being able to get their signed cards!

2023 Q3 Quarterly Meeting

The meeting is this Saturday, August 19th at 3pm US Central time! I will see folks there and as always stream it to my twitch channel for folks to watch it live. The VOD and meeting minutes will also be made available for folks at a later date and time.

Current 2023Q2 Agenda

Emojis
- When will be adding the new emojis approved at past meetings? -Tommy
- /o/ \o\ Animated dance emoji -Maahes0
- Good point emoji – Nepeta
  - Fair point image created by Quill
More channels
- #fashion -Ad-Astra
- #word-games -Tommy via Dahlia’s suggestion
No YT stream notifications – Maahes0
- Stream announcement channel -BadgerSpanner
Website usability and changes -Joe
Moderation philosophy review -Joe
SMART goals – Joe
- Complete pinball machine by end of season
- Sustainably meet fans for signings and TCG games in 2024
- Identify where we are reliant on twitter and move that functionality in-house or elsewhere
  - Website usability and changes
  - Monthly newsletter cross-posted to Patreon
- Prepare for the 2024 launch of Vanilla SMP Season 10 by experimenting with game design concepts during the final months of 2023
- Without having to change Corrinne’s schools midyear, postpone having to start at a new day job until after season 10 launches so I can attend the first recording sessions.

Minecraft Servers

Reminder to folks that Joe will be announcing a new long term build contest this Saturday August 19th at the DS9 petitions! Feedback is still welcomed pre and post petitions over in Joe Hills Meta > #feedback-build-contests.

Following this is the National Independent Worker Day parade, starring our beloved musical guest Quinn Hills!

DS9 event schedule

DS9 Petitions
- Saturday, August 19th, Noon US Central Time
National Independent Worker Day, hosted by Team Deztiny
- Saturday, August 19th, 1pm US Central Time
Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day, hosted by Team Warden Hunters
- Saturday, September 23rd, 1pm US Central Time

Everstorm July closes

The last obituary of the world:

SuperStone explored the Terralith biomes and died running from skeletons in a forest, having never learned what to break to get armor.

The survivors of last month’s Everstorm share these final reports:

Laxmi13 joined last minute to die but enjoyed random loot too much to give up.
SalemOleander had a delightful and spreadsheet-filled time on their first Everstorm!
Gritmonger showed up late, but survived, and went on to light up one of the new style villages Seanard discovered.
Void got a headache trying to remember loot-drops and returned in time to get the final hit on the dragon.
Magenta made a house of chaos and ventured to all four corners of the world.
ruffboi showed up VERY late, and did little, but figured out how to get the elusive phantom membrane.
MJ worked through the randomization to build a Zelda inspired house. He explored a desert city, floating sky island, and rescued a villager trapped at sea.
Kindalas took advantage of the starter kits put to gather by Gritmonger and traveled to the End to help put an end to the Ender Dragon.
Beyr33 tried to turn the world purple without success after helping killing the dragon.

Everstorm August opens

The next Everstorm is here again! The parameters for this iteration have been selected by Joe and his wonderful daughter Corrinne! It’s up to folks to hop on the server and find out what’s new! If you’re interested the info to join is under Realms and Servers > #everstorm-aug-2023.

Also as a reminder to folks, this Everstorm and all the future ones to come will be synced to the monthly newsletters! The Everstorms will conclude within the last week of the month and the obituaries and survivor’s posts will go up in the newsletter that is posted at the beginning of the month following.

August’s Everstorm is set to end on Thursday, August 31st.

Pinball FX Weekly Tournament

Week 6: Junk Yard

Toxxic gets another congratulations for his 6th win in a row!

1st: ToxxicGlitter. 2nd: JoeHills. 3rd: Mr.Hardluck. 4th: jsparker77. 5th: ButterflyGirlKMC. 6th: R1X5.13. 7th: ferretterrier. 8th: Laxmi13. 9th: narya. 10th: eggandsuch. 11th: alpacatastic.

Week 7: Black Rose

Avast! Come play some pinball with us! You can join in this week by using the code available under Activity-Sign-Ups > #weekly-pinball-challenges!

Tournament Standings

Here’s the standings for week 6!

You can also see how your best scores compare and where you place in the full tournament! Take a look at that over here!

HermitCraft 9 Videos

Streams

Upcoming Streams

You can see a calendar of all Joe’s upcoming streams over at the new page here!

Notable streams

Crafts with Cleo!

TCG Tuesday!

Upcoming conventions

Music City Multi Con tickets sales have still not opened. Fall dates for TGD have been confirmed, so you can mark that on your calendar! We still have a tentative date for Spring TGD.

September 15th-17th in Nashville, TN: Tennessee Game Days
October 27th-29th in Lebanon, TN: Music City Multi Con
Tentative: February 29th-March 3rd in Nashville, TN: Tennessee Game Days

So long for now…

Next week is our last weekly edition of the newsletter. We’ve come so far thanks to folks like you who read these and stay updated. Thank you so much!

This has been TommyBoii reporting for newsletter duty.

See you around!

August 7, 2023

Newsletter #56 for August 7th, 2023

Howdy folks!

It’s Tommy time! Community Liaison ThatTommyBoii reporting for newsletter duty!

We’re getting this newsletter out despite Joe’s internet suffering this thunderstorm season! Woo!