An open letter to ItsJerryAndHarry of 2018

12/31/17


Dear ItsJerryAndHarry Community of 2018:


Another year has gone by. This means that I am writing another long, drawn out, melodramatic thread that most people will skim through and like.


Anyway, 2017 has been an interesting year, a year of trials and tribulations for many people, as well as this server. Above all this has been a year of transition for both myself, this server, and the world. This letter will be discussing this transition and what I think of it. Like the last two letters, I also have a challenge for anyone reading.


Similarly to my past two letters, I start at a smaller, more personal subject matter (me) and move into a broader, more wide scale one (the server).


I should preface this next section by saying I am not a fan of change. I am not someone who enjoys it when big changes come around. This applies to times of transition too.


This year was quite the trasisition. I started the year with my last semester of high school. When May rolled around my time in high school was over. I was fortunate enough to stay within one school system my entire life, so ending my time there was weird. But I did graduate in May. This was the beginning of my transition from high school into college. Over the summer I worked a lot at my Internship. Eventually August rolled around and it was time for me to move into college and begin the next phase of my life.


Moving into college was interesting. You really are on your own. You decide when to get up, what to eat, and what to do. You run your own show. You are also away from your family for an extended period of time. This also means that you are solely responsible for your own actions. Welcome to the real world; you sink or swim on your own. My university, and many others, provide free counseling/guidance services to help you stay on track, but ultimately you decide how to use them. This may not seem like much, but it really does make or break people. I know of multiple people who could not handle the transition and ultimately failed.


The University told us that the average GPA for a first semester freshman is a 2.6/4.0. That’s pretty mediocre, and nowhere near what I need to keep scholarships for next year. With that in mind I knew I had to work hard. I had to keep myself responsible, and most importantly I had to be willing to adapt to change. And so I did. I worked hard throughout the semester. I spent a lot of time in the library studying. My hard work paid off, earning a 3.67 GPA, or only one B.


While the academics went over well, it is not the only major change in college. The social atmosphere changes a lot too. Part of the change is finding new friends and ways to be involved. This is hard for me because I have always been apprehensive to joining new groups. I really had to make a conscious effort to meet new people. This also meant making a conscious effort to cut down on things like Minecraft.


I talked a lot in the past about stepping out of your comfort zone, and that’s what I did. I ended up working for the school newspaper. Now that in itself is nothing too big. I was on my high school newspaper for the majority of my time in highschool, and was an editor during my senior year. However the newspaper at my university was much larger and much more competitive. I was asked to interview the president of the university. That was the most intimidating interview I ever did. However it did not hold that distinction for long because two weeks later I had to cover a pro-life protest at the last minute.


This ended up working out in the end, not only did I step out of my comfort zone and become more aware of the community around me, but I also was asked to come back as paid staff next semester. In addition I was able to find some people that I have common interests with.


I did not stop at newspaper too. I also found a mock trial team to join and a bowling club. One of the people in the bowling club and in mock trial is a manager at a McDonalds near me, and he was able to hook me up with a job over break, which helped me earn some money.


All of this would not of been possible without me being able to adapt to change. I could of easily sat in my dorm room, played Minecraft and moved on. No one was stopping me from doing that. However the consequences of doing so would make having a social life hard, which can make college difficult. This would be being complacent, it never yields long term benefits.


This brings me to my challenge. As many of you near the end of highschool and prepare for the next stage in life, be prepared. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Try something new. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results resolves nothing. As you gain more freedom and responsibility you have to be able to adapt to it, I encourage you to embrace change and learn to handle it. You will fail at times, but all that means is that you have to work harder.


All this I have been talking about is change. 2017 was a year with many changs, and I was able to adapt to them. Interestingly one thing that did not change, that I hoped would, was my rank in 2017. It’s fairly clear by now that I was hoping to earn the Admin rank this year. It is also fairly clear that did not come to be.


I had said in my one year as staff thread that you cannot always think about yourself. Sometimes someone else is more qualified for the position for you. When you look at the two Admin promotions this year there is no denying that I was in no way qualified for the first one. Ezzerland was, quite frankly, the only acceptable option.


I will admit for the second one I thought I had a fighting chance. However, I was not picked. And while it is harder to put it into practice, and so much easier to just say it, let’s apply what I said in my one year thread. YFIOTR, the person who was picked over me and anyone else being considered(assuming I was even considered), got the promotion. YFIOTR has more experience in a lot of aspects. Even though we have both been staff for roughly the same amount of time this go-around (Evan was staff for a while earlier on). YFIOTR has done a lot of good work for this server, work maybe not possible if I was promoted instead of him.


I knew that if either myself or YFIOTR where promoted the admin team had sizable potential to improve. And while I still hope to earn the Admin rank, as I still believe I could be of great use, I’m also not going to be upset over the fact I was not promoted. I realized that both YFIOTR and Ezzerland where better, or at least just as good options, and that in turn will make the admin team better.


This points to something I have said multiple times. It’s okay to want something. In fact having goals is healthy. What is unhealthy is being obsessed over it to the point where you become selfish or bitter over not getting what you want.


While my status on the server was stagnant, the server was not. This year was a bit of a rough year for the server. No way around it, numbers are down. From the drama in the summer, to mini games that kind of flopped (build battle), and a change in (arguably more involved) leadership, Granted the last part was not bad. Nevertheless 2017 was kind of rough for the server. I think everyone can agree 2018 will be a critical year for the server.


I’m not going to blame the owners for the changes. Jerry and Harry have had a very successful server with far fewer resources than any other big server. They both work very hard in keeping this server alive. It is very easy to sit back and point out what is going wrong from a spectators point of view. However you (and even myself) do not really know how this server works. One reset, update, or game is not going to change the server from dying to thriving. Anyone who thinks that is mistaken. What the owners have to do is figure out what works best, and the the history of the server shows that they have had some success in doing so.


But aside from that, what do I feel might be good to help the server? Keep in mind I don’t write mini game code or pay for the server, so I don’t know for sure how to fix it. I’m not some Gordan Ramsey of Minecraft servers, so I’m not going to try to be. However I do have ideas that might help. Take of them for what you will.


As I said earlier one thing that kills servers or any organization is being complacent. History has shown time and time again that those who fail to adapt, those who think doing the same thing over and over again and change nothing is the key to success, will fail. Those who ignore or are unable to identify the problems will fail. This is seen in business’ like Blockbuster, Blackberry, Kodak, Circuit City, Sears (Sorry; only American brands) and many more. However this is also found in Minecraft servers too. Servers like McGamer or Shotbow. Servers that were once popular and have now closed. One could make the argument that all servers are dying, but that does not explain servers like Velt (notice I’m not using the Hypixel example).


See the demand in servers has shifted from mini-game type stuff to more competitive PvP games, and if it’s going to be a mini game, it has to be well done, or original, which is what Hypixel does. Velt or servers like Velt offer a competitive atmosphere for competitive PvP games. Both Hypixel and Velt have a competitive advantage that other servers don’t.


The demand in what people want out of a server is changing, the question becomes how can this server stay relevant with these changes. What this server needs is to find a competitive advantage that other servers don’t have. That’s a lot easier said than done. We also need to find what works on other servers and find our own version that is unique to us, something that offers an experience that is not available on other servers. This is why Farmking and Skyblock remain popular.


None of this is easy. There is no magic machine that spits out good ideas. And most likely this server will try something that flops. These are all challenges in running a business. As I said earlier, all this means is that we to work harder.


It also means that the community has to be willing to support the server. Making constant posts about how “the server is dying” and “the owners don’t care” aren’t helpful. In fact I would argue it actively discourages positive change.


As I said this is very easy to say from someone who is not the one making decisions. Almost everything I said is easier said than done. Change also don’t happen overnight. However, this is what I believe could be steps in a positive direction.


And even if none of this works, even if the server is heading for certain death, complaining about it does not really change anything. For now the server is still here, let’s enjoy it while we still can.


2017 has been a year of transition and change. I encountered many changes in my own life, and had to learn to take them on successfully. I hope that what I discussed will provide some advice to anyone reading this. I also talked about how the staff team has changed. While, in some ways, it was not beneficial for me I do believe that the staff team will be better based on the two new admins and change in leadership that is more involved. Lastly I talked about the changes to the server along with the changes to Minecraft.


2018 will be an interesting year. I will continue college, and become more and more independent. I am unsure what will happen next, but I am becoming more prepared for the changes that are to come.


Thanks to anyone who read, and happy new year.


Sincerely,


MC_Scout

 

Scout you are one of my favorite staff members. I'm probably biased. I love your open and honest perspective.. but again.. I'm biased. <3