This server's ability to retain players has, for the last few years, been terrible. We all know this, and it's easy to blame this on the server. The developers aren't doing enough, or the staff isn't trying hard enough to get players to stay. But, looking back at how the server has operated on the community side, I believe there's a pattern that desperately needs to be changed.

Looking back at ~2013-2016, during the time MeepCraft was most popular, players had actual towns. Someone would make a town, use a few plots for themself, and then give the rest to other players. When I started, my town had about 8-10 people. It was small, but I would often hang out with the other town members. I have memories of making some small builds with them, or fishing with them, chatting and generally having fun. This is around the time when I remember MeepCraft being the most fun.

So, what happened? The server became more oriented to focusing on getting meebles. Jobs made it so there is a direct thing to do where doing it gets you meebles. Before jobs, most people just got meebles by selling to admin shop, or doing minigames, or doing tasks or getting materials for others. So, now, instead of just doing what seems fun at the time to make meebles, players just do the thing you're supposed to do to get meebles. The process of making meebles had fun optimized out of it, and most players resolved to making bases that are designed to do jobs as efficiently as possible.

But, where did all the new players go? We were still getting new players when jobs was introduced, but making a town was discouraged by jobs. Because of this, CluelessKlutz and the staff of his town, Legend, monopolized community towns. Almost every new player came to Legend. They would join the server, be invited to the town, be guided to their plot, and, if they're lucky, get a briefing on how the server works. The player would then pretty much be on their own, able to ask questions but not knowing what questions to ask. They eventually get bored, and quit. Now, Legend is gone, and, despite some efforts from towns like Kingscliff, most people don't help out new players at all. We got too comfortable and selfish.

We should fix this. I think that we should use our excess plots to make small towns. We need to bring back how it worked in 2013-2016, where you would have small towns where you have a small community you feel welcome in and are willing to bond with. I, personally, will make a 50 plot town, start inviting new players, and helping them understand how the server works. I HIGHLY encourage everyone who is able to to make a small town as well. It's fun to make a town! Meebles aren't worth anything with how we play, so why not start spending some meebles on making these towns and generating a bigger community? I think this can work. We still have some new players trickling in every once in a while, and if we are friendly and supportive of them, they can start bringing their friends and grow the community. We all want this server to succeed, so why not help out instead of generating money to gamble away? Let's have some fun, and let's make this server a towny server again.

This is a Towny Server