Freedonian Towns

A Word from the Editor

by FlyingJellyfish

Hi, and welcome to the official newspaper for the MinecraftOnline.com server: Voice of Freedonia!

In this issue we bring you a closer look at just a few of the many towns and cities in Freedonia. Palindrome stepped in for Werdnaz in our economics section to show how having a store in a town can affect town life, and Winx51 interviewed several town founders on their visions for their various settlements.

In the sports section, Jackal brings you the dramatic tale of how pvp shaped the iconic settlement of Lavatown, home of the server's first pigchinko arena and still a favorite location for the weekly pigchinko match.

The travellers reach the historical Lavatown cliffs

In order to obtain the screenshots of the Lavatown landscape as it would have looked when the town founders first saw it, several staff members embarked on an epic journey through a Minecraft alpha 1.1.2 map, walking all the way from spawn to the lavatown cliffs using the moving clouds as a compass.

You can read up on the recent changes around spawn in the news section, including the creation of the spawn wall and what it means for buildings around spawn. Have fun reading, and many thanks as always to my staff and everyone who contributed to this issue!

The editor wishes you happy mining!

Liastrae Lets up on PvP

by Liastrae

We all know that Liastrae has been fond of his murderous rampages, but will this be changing in the future?

After some recent self-reflection, Liastrae concluded that his large amount of PvP had been “damaging the Freedonian community”, and has vowed to stop.

As for his reasons, Listrae says that he “no longer wants to be affiliated with those like dethshok and AlexFD.”

Liastrae

He will instead return to what he did when he first joined Freedonia: building, helping the community, and welcoming players to the server.

 

 

“His large amount of PvP had been damaging the community”

All of this might make you wonder, what is going to happen to the Accord? It may dishearten some to hear it, but the Accord will still exist. However, Liastrae says he will no longer be in main control of PvP, focusing more on building in and developing the town of Vizima. He may eventually leave the Accord or pass on leadership to someone else.

Rise of the Spawn Wall

by Shypixel

Anyone playing over the past few weeks would have had a hard time missing the new addition to the Spawn landscape. A large and imposing wall has been built around the central area, marking the limits of the newly incorporated Spawn City.

The great spawn wall

The Spawn Wall forms a sturdy border for the new city, pierced with several inspiring arches and gates for entry, and studded with soaring turrets and towers. The entire construction was designed and built by Admins Krenath and Drathus42, both of whom have put their unique stamp on the overall style.

Encompassing many historical server landmarks, the 700x700m area is to be become a “survival of the fittest” showcase of high quality builds in a variety of styles and forms. While retaining the free-build nature of any unused land in Freedonia, builds within the spawn wall will be subject to periodic admin review.

“Transforming the city into an architectural and landscaping masterpiece”

The first stage of the Spawn City cleanup will be the removal of a large number of highly deteriorated old buildings and wooden or cobble box constructions. Players with holdings within city limits are encouraged to either improve or remodel or re-purpose their buildings to ensure their survival, or to reclaim their materials before they are removed. Structures that would merit Admin intervention to move would most likely not be in danger of being removed.

After completion of the first stage, all reclaimed areas will be open for development by the general public. Due to the highly probable removal of simple shelters, new players will be strongly encouraged to find their way out of the Spawn Wall before making their homes. Players building in Spawn City should be aware that hasty or incomplete or abandoned constructions are subject to adoption, adaptation or deletion.

A fine view

The goal of this new policy is to foster and encourage the continuing evolution of Spawn, as well as to allow a whole new generation of players to help shape the area. All players are invited to get involved in transforming the city into an architectural and landscaping masterpiece worthy of the very heart of our server. Players with questions about existing or future builds in Spawn City should contact their friendly neighborhood Admin.

Week's News in Brief

by Shypixel

The solidity of the new Spawn City Wall was briefly cracked when a return nether portal appeared embedded in a turret. The offending portals were quickly removed, and a public return portal set up nearby.

The Freedonia Rail System has announced a search for Line Conductors for each of the four main rail lines. Conductors will be responsible for keeping their lines in working order, and handling connection requests and updates, in return for a fancy title and a small weekly stipend.

The FRS has already filled two of the new positions, with Lothendal continuing his long-time care-taking of the Lava Town Line, and The_Jackal_249 being appointed Conductor of the Oriental Express.

The Jazz Lounge, a favored spawn hangout of many players, has moved across the Spawn Pool.

The new jazz lounge

The funky music den built by Nodoka_Miyazaki can now be reached by using a traction lift next to the Post Office. Visitors will be happy to see a similar decor, enhanced by a new terrace overlooking Spawn.

A new and unusual weapons shop has appeared in the mythical city of Avalon. The shop is rumored to be selling enchanted weapons with other-worldly powers not available by any other means. Avalon is a fusion of three NPC villages with the artistic flair of SlowRiot and FlyingJellyfish, along with a host of other contributors.

“The shop is rumored to be selling enchanted weapons with other-worldly powers”

Repair and re-route work on Freedonia's Boat Routes continues. Nosefish has completed a series of large scale repairs to several of the the popular routes necessitated by repeated biome changes resulting in ice blockages. As always, players building roads and rails over water are encouraged to leave sufficient space for boat travel to help keep the routes clear.

HellFireForge

by Winx51

HellFireForge started out as a settlement made by Zaphod000 and Igotzasniper, originally named Necropolis. They changed the name to Hellfireforge. Over time, though, newcomers turned the area into a hotspot for PvP riots. Most of the residents moved out due to this, and the area became a ghost town, leaving Zaphod to wander its lonely streets. I spoke with him on his thoughts about the town’s abandonment, and what he sees for its future.

The ghost town

• In your opinion, what is HellFire's best quality?
• The actual HellFireForge itself and the amount of space you are allowed to build in.
• How does it feel knowing that your city has turned into a ghost town?
• It's okay, I just haven't been around to attract new people, advertise it, or improve upon its appearance.
• Who or What do you think contributed the most to the downfall of the town?
• When we first got the warp, the newcomers would always come and start riots in the area.
• Do you hope for it to one day become one of the most popular towns on the server?
• Yes, and that is a hard task with it competing against DrumCity, and all the new warps that have been added recently. I'll work hard on patching the city and hope that the others and I succeed in the end.

Stromisle

by Winx51

Stromisle is a peaceful settlement founded by Stromhurst. It is a completely natural-looking place, and has an overall serene feel.

The Stromisle windmill

Strom had originally intended for a private island, but it has become generally public due to the placement of a warp in the area. I spoke with him on his thoughts about this, and what he would like to see on the Isle.

• What was your inspiration for making StromIsle?
• Something that reflects me in real life I guess. Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant... Just a place I can feel comfortable within.
• There's been talk of you wanting to make Stromisle more private... Is this true?
• It was originally supposed to be private, until it got its own warp. I tried to keep the warp shut, and then I got a rail... but that's beside the point. Let's just say, everyone has their own particular mind set. Some like to build bold, and some like to build small, some like to build for good comments, some like to build to satisfy their creative side, some build for purpose, some build for no reason at all.

  “I don't want the Isle to have a boom of population and then be stagnant”

  Some people are right there in between all those extremes, somewhere modest. That's the kind of builds / residents / community I'd like on Stromisle. It's not private, I just want visitors to respect the builds and residents there.

• Are you upset about it not staying as private as you'd originally wanted?
• The influx of new people is a welcomed one. I am in no way upset, rather thankful to people for contributing to Stromisle. Nearly everything on the isle, other people have helped build. I could never have done any of the things living in isolation.
• People are interested to know, will you be allowing more public building to commence on the Isle?
• Public building leads to crazy mining tunnels underneath the Isle, causing the land to become 'hollow'. No coherent theme or anything remotely similar arise from public builds. I want to build a community here, for every Stromilian to feel responsible for StromIsle's foundation. Public build leads to everyone thinking by themselves and no one willing to step up to take responsibility. I don't want the Isle to have a boom of population and development and then be stagnant when it's all filled up and the 'public' starts leaving and therefeore leaving the Isle without resources, building land, or life, just like all the other major towns. I'd rather it be a slow progress, but a prolonged and stable one. Every MC'er has their own cup of tea.

  

  The natural beauty of Stromisle

  Having people of like mind is better than all people combined. Considering it's a game, and not real life, we should have some control over the game we play.

NovumCulta

by Winx51

The city centre

The floating city of Novum Culta started out as a base of Ldog, founded where he landed after typing /wilderness. Broncoskip and mottbro thought the idea of a floating city was interesting, so they donated materials to the project and people began asking to build there. Soon Lower Novum was added by nhbdy4ever, further increasing the population. The city is still growing, and I spoke with Ldog about how the city came to be so popular, and where he sees the city going.

• Okay, so I've been wondering, and a few others have too, what exactly does “Novum Culta” mean?
• It's extremely poor latin. I just put together two random Latin Phrases. These are stand-alone phrases that independently mean 'new' and 'civilization' in Latin, and 'Culta' was a typo, it should be 'Cultu'.
• How did you come up with the idea for a town in the ocean?
• I wanted to do something unique, as well as utilize the vast ocean from the new terrain generation, as most towns were clustered in the old generation.

  

  Lower Novum

  I wanted to make something that pioneered into new territory. Also, landing there every time I typed /wilderness helped.

  “I set off with a pick, cobble, and an idea”

  So, I set off with a pick, cobble, and an idea for Novum Culta, a very popular city frequented by over 20 players.
• What do you think makes Novum so unique?
• Well, it's the first large scale community far out in the ocean that wasn't built off an island. It was built from absolutely nothing. This city is also one that has a distinct, “floating” feel to it, as it's only connection to the seafloor is one column.
• What do you hope for Novum to become in the future?
• I hope for it to become a bustling city with many new people who will hopefully better it.

Empathy Enjo

Where Enjoku gives free advice

• Dear Enjoku: I want to make a town, but how do I make it popular for people to come to it?

  -Anonymous

• Dear Anonymous: To make your town popular you have to make some sort of attraction. Dozens of people will build houses in your town, but game and activity areas will convince them to stay. Make a spleef arena or get someone to help you build a pigchinko. This should bring your town some popularity.
• Dear Enjoku: Would people hate a town made of nothing but cobble?

  Anonymous

• Dear Anonymous: Does a midget hate tall people? Yes to both.

Have a question or a problem? Email it to Enjoku at

Horoscopes

by mobster_ie

Halipleunom (the wanderer): As you travel, you discover and in discovery you find enlightenment. Your travels bring many rewards of course, but the problem is you're being stalked by some irritating pvp'er who keeps killing you and stealing your stuff. CURSE HIS EYES!!!

Commercari (the trader): Deals are always difficult - Should you sell at bargain basement prices or rip-off ignorant players? Only you can decide the answer. Just remember: the universe forgives you but pissed players usually don't, so expect Karma to get you with a nice fire aspect sword in the back!

Inflectum (the fighter): Adventure is afoot! But are you up to the challenge? You may feel confident in your abilities but are you SURE? I mean that might look like a nice innnocent noobie but how do you know you won't be running away screaming and on fire? I mean we all appreciate the entertainment value of such images but is it worth it?

Minerae (the miner): Things may seem dark for you today, and you may even feel lost and uncertainity abounds. Should you go in this direction? or perhaps this way is better, we all find ourself asking these questions in life. Just don't go THAT way!?! oh no too late...........

Extruo (the builder) Extruo you are the most productive sign, you also are sociable as you offer your services to help build great things. But did you really have to help build the stupidly large pink castle?

Ingeniarii (the engineer): I'm afraid to say ingeniarii, the next few days do not look good for you, you will have to keep a level head, the technical is always difficult. Luck may not be on your side but experience is! Just keep a level head and try not to mess up too many servers!

Local Shops in Freedonia

Across Freedonia, a common presence is that of the player shop and the malls and shopping districts which house them. We have all used them at one point or another, be it for a large-scale project or simply for a few loaves of bread. What few pause to consider in their quest for the best deal for their diamonds is the story behind that local mall or shop. These enterprising individuals each have their own challenges and motivations, desires and outcomes. Here we go beyond the massive Diamond Mall and look toward those establishments found in towns and settlements.

Eiremall, a Story of Mixed Success

by Palindrome7

An example of a historical town which embedded itself into the Freedonian economy is the Nordic-themed Cherath, founded by former player Rayzion. After the initial announcements, the common "boom town" effect occurred as many people rapidly came in to build a house. Unfortunately for the settlement, few of those houses became homes and a large portion were left vacant.

In an attempt to boost population and create a draw to get folks into the town, Rayzion constructed EireMall, a large shopping facility meant to house the wares of citizens.

The grand Eiremall entrance

Not all went smoothly though, with the creator describing the acquisition of vendors as "nearly impossible" due to Cherath’s distance from transportation hubs, the greatest hurdle EireMall faced.

The mall did help in the expansion of the town to an extent, but it did not become the "blooming city" Rayzion hoped it would be. The fate of the Cherath community is now up in the air after Rayzion's departure from the server.

A New Face in the Market

by Palindrome7

The nascent village of Vizima may not be a familiar name to some readers, but its founder, Liastrae, hopes that will soon change. Growing around the base of the Accord headquarters, Vizima is viewed by its creators as a future hub of social and economic life in Freedonia.

A Vizima shop

One unique planned feature is a shopping district that does away with the stalls commonly seen in other towns and offers up personal buildings for merchants to proudly display goods from.It is hard to say how these shops will impact the success of Vizima, but Liastrae believes that "Being able to purchase materials in the same area you live helps people expand."

“Vizima is viewed by its creators as a future hub of social and economic life in Freedonia”

His goal is to attract both single player shops as well as the newly developing chain stores, such as the Purple Emporium, to strengthen a new community within Freedonia, much like Rayzion's goal was with EireMall.

A shadow does hang over Vizima and Liastrae’s endeavors, however. There is a widely acknowledged reputation for intensive PvPing surrounding the Accord which is housed here. Such actions and associations have left a sour taste in the mouths of many Freedonians, and could potentially impact the growth of this marketplace.

The market at night

In fact, Purple Emporium co-owner Ldog540 was initially reluctant to open a store in Vizima, thinking that the type of people expected to congregate in Vizima would be unsavory at best. However, he changed his mind, and the Purple Emporium currently has a building reserved.

To combat such ideas, Liastrae has stated a clear intention of focusing on building, both with blocks and with the community, far more than PvPing. He does not consider his reputation to be an issue for this budding settlement.

The Birth of Lavatown

by The_Jackal_249

The current day Lavatown cliffs

Deep in the countryside of Freedonia lies a beautiful and appropriately named town. The flowing lavafalls that coat every inch of Lavatown's iconic cliffs have become an easily recognizable feature of the Freedonian landscape. Today it is a peaceful place, but the story of the town's birth is one of PvP, death, inspiration, and lots of lava!

The Lavatown cliffs before construction

It all began when the town's founders, Shypixel and MrDax, joined Freedonia on March 10th 2011. Seeking untouched land on which to build, they went to the distant Caverns warp, and spent their first night in a small cobble box before adventuring out into the world the next day. Soon, as Shypixel said, they came across "a mountain with all these cool overhangs", and began to happily build a home on top and settle in.

“Whenever Charles tried to climb the mountain they would hurl lava down from the top”

But their happiness was cut short with the arrival of Charlesbaechler. "If you knew the old Charles, the pre-mod Charles - he was a murderer, a looter and an infamous bandit" explains Shypixel. Shypixel and MrDax fought bravely, but they were not able to keep the well equipped and more experienced Charles at bay, and both Shypixel and MrDax were ruthlessly murdered numerous times as they tried to build their home.

The view towards pigchinko

Finally, MrDax had an idea. Armed with buckets and torches, Shypixel and MrDax descended into the caves beneath the mountain to bring up bucket after bucket of lava. Whenever Charles tried to climb the mountain they would hurl lava down from the top, forcing him to take a different way up. The battle continued over a whole weekend until every single block of the mountainside was covered in flowing lava, making any attempts at climbing completely impossible.

And so, thanks to the ingenuity of MrDax, the two adventurers succeeded against charlesbaechler's bloodthirsty schemes, and earned their peace. The mountain, of course, became the well known Lavatown, and is currently owned and run by Shypixel. But he has never forgotten the dark days that led to its forming.

The Week in Pigchinko

by The_Jackal_249

After a break of a week, it was finaly time for Pigchinko again, and what better place to hold Pigchinko than Lavatown, the original Pigchinko arena! The beautiful, if somewhat dangerous, mountain glowed in the background as the pigs and their riders ran around the board, scoring points galore.

Lavatown pigchinko

Shypixel was back at the helm, the last Pigchinko having been run by Grand Marshal Sergeant at Arms of Pigchinko The_Jackal_249.

It was a lovely Freedonian summer day, and this week's tournament went almost flawlessly, apart from a large amount of PvP, mainly aimed at rollo123. Our sources say that it was to prevent him from PvPing himself.

Werdnaz was again absent from the games, and serious questions are now being raised with regards to his comitment to the sport. Enjoku walked away the victor in the end, while Liastrae got the highest score of 3200 points!