The Escapecraft Histories

[SneakyPie]

The Escapecraft Story (don’t worry, it’s not too long and it’s got some good bits)
by Lord_Mountbatten and Aflycon

Note: For the sake of easy identification, most names given are usernames, not real ones.
Dates given coincide with the official release date of maps.

In the beginning…
September 24th, 2010
Escapecraft was, like many things, born out of circumstances that, if different, may have left present-day events far flung from what could’ve been. Newer members of the server may not recognise for instance the username “CollinGreen”. They may not even know that Escapecraft had a co-founder. However, if not for Collin, the main founder of Escapecraft, SneakyPie (Sean Green), wouldn’t even have bought Minecraft in the first place, let alone create a server for it. And if not for Collin being unable to host the server himself, the server would not have been hosted by SneakyPie, and may not have gone in the direction it has.

And so, in a sense, Escapecraft began. At this time, neither brother knew that “let’s play together” would result in what would become one of the world’s, if not largest, then certainly well-regarded (if what the staff tells itself every night to keep away the crushing loneliness is to be believed) Minecraft servers, with a community spanning dozens of countries and the vast majority of continents. It would take two more primary map versions, many additions to what started out as a rudimentary staff, and not to mention countless bumps in the road, before the brothers realised what they had created: a large, popular server with something for everyone.

Version 1 (Status: Museum World)
September 26th, 2010
After playing together for a while, it was decided by Sneaky and Collin that it would add to the fun of the game to bring in more players. SneakyPie frequented a website known as The Escapist, and posted the IP address for the server on a Minecraft usergroup. Beforehand this group had had a server for Minecraft Classic, which was primarily dedicated to building creatively. After the original server host, Terkaal, mysteriously dropped out of contact, with his server going down, there was an interim period of time in which the void was momentarily filled by others, before finally the IP for what was to become Escapecraft was posted. The community size at this point in time was nothing like what it has become – passing the 100 player mark was an achievement then.

Despite the fact that many players from the days of Version 1 no longer join the server, there are still some old hands left, many of whom are staff members, such as Beltom1066 or Haxxorzd00d. The latter recalls in an interview: “With such a tight-knit community… it was pretty easy to keep up with exactly where everyone was and what they were up to.” During this period of time SneakyPie and CollinGreen had little administrative tasks to deal with, apart from general moderation and plans for where to take the map next. Griefing was, comparatively, a rarity – the act had been heard of, but wasn’t a common occurrence, though in an interview, Lord_Mountbatten, who is of course not now writing about himself, said that “either people just didn't grief or our lack of logs meant we missed a lot out,” though following that up with, “People still griefed, but it was rare, and often in more spectacular fashion than you'd see today.” As a result the moderating team was originally recruited just to make sure nothing too major occurred, and consisted of individuals personally selected by the founders. This progressed to an application system, which saw its first and last usage just before the map was wiped.

This means of course, as everyone knows, that Version 1’s time in the limelight was to be short-lived; it was erroneously believed that on Halloween, mobs and player health would be fixed – at the time, both groups were invincible, and so mobs were turned off. “The idea to wipe and start over was actually suggested by me in the beginning as practically all structures were not built with Monsters in mind,” was SneakyPie’s reasoning. It was felt that the map of Version 1, with mobs activated, would not be able to cope. Nor would buildings that hadn’t been designed with player mortality in mind help the situation. It was therefore decided that a new map was required, and so the server staff began work on Central City, on the map that was to become Version 2.

Version 2 (Status: Museum World)
October 31st, 2010
“Version Two I think will have a special spot in most of the older staff members,” was what SneakyPie had to say about the early moments of the map. “I remember all of us joining up on a secondary server and building what became known as New Central almost nonstop for a week. That's also not much of an exaggeration. This was a time before all the fancy plugins we have now and everything had to be done by hand. Ask Cho [a senior moderator] some time about how much he enjoys building walls.”

Whilst the initial creation of Central City may be held by some with a degree of affection, Version 2 wasn’t to turn out as originally planned. It had been believed that the Halloween Minecraft update would fix player and mob invincibility, and Central City had been designed with this in mind. However, the update had not specifically stated that these fixes were to be made, and by the time it had come around and Version 2 had been opened to the Escapecraft community, the staff was faced with the same situation as had been the norm in Version 1 – structures were being built without mobs in mind, both inside and outside the city.

When the health update finally arrived, it was found that Central City was simply unable to cope. Not only did mobs spawn in even the slightest patch of darkness, but Escapecraft had become even more popular, attracting more players, and therefore more griefers. On November 25th, a player named wokka1 logged in: “When I joined the server, it was having a lot of plugin issues, cuboids were derped, so that players could break blocks in a cuboid, but could not place blocks, so Central was in bad shape from griefers, and only mods could fix, players couldn't.” Three days later, he offered to host the server, which at that point was based in Washington DC under the care of a moderator known as rembrandtq. Despite initial apprehension on the part of many staff members, wokka proved such misgivings to be unfounded, working to provide server stability along with a wide variety of other server tasks, devoting his energy to “making a great server”. In the words of Sneaky, “We would not be where we are today without wokka.”

Notwithstanding the host of problems afflicting Version 2, the map is still a source of some nostalgia to many players who had joined the server at this period of time. Central City itself was in fact a sight to see (though looking at some of the plots, “sight” can be interpreted rather loosely), especially when the apportioned plots were filled up; the city “was planned to house up to about 60 individual homes. It had a grid-like road system, with three gates placed along massive walls that surrounded the city.” After the plots quickly filled up, Central City became the place to be in Version 2, a melting pot of – sometimes painfully – different architecture, commerce, and players. Of course, once the plots had filled up it was inevitable that players would spread beyond the confines of New Central’s walls, creating structures outside the physical border of a 50 block radius from the city. However, due to the fact that the health fix hadn’t arrived as anticipated, said structures, just like with Version 1, weren’t built with mobs or player mortality in mind. As a result, when the update finally came, a fair few of these structures were hit badly, though nowhere near as bad as Central which, as has been mentioned, not only had to contend with its size, but also its accessibility to griefers and those who would unwittingly cause damage by allowing mobs to spawn.

Eventually, it was suggested by rembrandtq that the map ought to be wiped, and a thread allowing a public vote on the matter was created in the Escapecraft forums. This is a good example of how direct player input influenced the course of events – quite a few staff members, such as wokka and the never self-referential Lord_Mountbatten, voted against the wipe, though neither were too begrudging of it, wokka stating that he “understood why it [the wipe] was wanted”, and Mountbatten explaining that “the moderating nightmare Version 2 was means I didn't feel too sad about the wipe…” Of course, perhaps the wipe was inevitable, but the vote was quite strongly in favour, meaning that Escapecraft’s playerbase was instrumental in the existence of Version 3, at least in the sense of it arriving sooner, rather than later.

The Escapecraft staff therefore found themselves working on a new iteration of “Escapia”, as the maps are often called. This time though, things would be different.


Version 3 (Status: Retired)
December 7th, 2010
The original plan for Version 3 was for it to be a map with a storyline. Initial trailers were made and the spawnpoint for the map was designed to make it look as though players had just come from a shipwreck. Staff members roamed the map, placing various broken portals and hints of something more (in a narrative sense, that is). The big problem with this storyline however, was that this was the extent that it went to, the map being opened up to the players with little else added. With not much to do story-wise, many players either took to creating their own version of events, or focusing on doing what they did in previous maps: building structures.

Whilst not in essence a bad thing, this highlighted the problems with the attempted storyline. Eventually the idea was scrapped and replaced with an, as of writing, ongoing project (See What’s in Store), and focus was put into the survival aspect of the Version 3 map, which is Escapecraft’s longest-running active map. Another new aspect to Version 3 was the absence of a starting-off city – Version 1 had Central Town, and Version 2 had Central City. When the Version 3 map was first generated, plans for a smaller, unalterable settlement (to act as a starting point) near the spawn had been formulated, but were soon dropped in favour of a different approach: “I [SneakyPie] decided that Version Three would not have a Staff designed city. I wanted the players to actually play Survival rather than us providing them all the tools.” An opinion poll conducted soon after the implementation of the map seems to vindicate this, with 89% of respondents (out of a total of 118) being positive or neutral toward Version 3. Version 3 finally abandoned its obsolete storyline roots altogether with the refurbishment of its spawnpoint on August 22nd, placing the “repaired” ship in a settlement showcasing building talents and possibilities to those joining the world.

The map allowed players to make their own mark in terms of settlements, sprawling cities such as Corinth and what was to become the USSR being constructed, as well as settlements like the inimitable Mill City. This also became a time period in which the server steadily grew in size and popularity. Unlike with Version 2 though, moderating tools were able to adapt accordingly, partially thanks to better plugins being released, and of course the server administration of wokka. As a result, the Cuboid protection system was able to be implemented properly, and those trying to grief structures became much easier to catch and discipline, generally preventing extensive damage from occurring. Plugins also allowed moderators to repair damage quickly and effectively. The moderating staff’s ranks were strongly reinforced by steady promotions when required, altogether making Version 3 not only far more comparatively stable in terms of hardware, but also stable for players wanting to build without permanent trouble.

Finally, after a year and a half of service, a cuboid preventing griefing was extended across the entirety of Terra, effectively retiring it from active duty as an Escapecraft world. Those with land and structures there could and still can receive a free cuboid allowing them access, but the ensuing lack of spontaneity required in an active world’s events would finally allow Terra to enjoy some well-deserved peace and quiet.

Of course, this means Terra has passed the gauntlet to the up and comers of Escapecraft; worlds that will and have already assisted in assuming the responsibilities of playing host to the various wants and needs of the players on the server. As such, it’s only proper that this history moves on from the progenitor to the progeny, not only those that fulfill the roles played by Versions 1, 2 and 3, but also those that fulfill much more specialised roles as Escapecraft’s goals expand in scope.

Future Shift (Status: Active)
February 19th, 2011
Migration date: April 18th, 2011
The first separate Escapecraft map to be created was Future Shift, though it was not the first to be added to the main server. It was run on a separate server by the moderator Haxxorzd00d. “About the time I came up with FS, I was getting a little bored of Minecraft. The next update from Notch was a way off, and there wasn't much going on server-side. So I was looking for something different.” This “something different” became a world influenced by a mod allowing strange new terrain generation, with a post-apocalyptic future setting. After the plugin that could merge worlds was installed, Future Shift went from its own separate server to becoming part of the main Escapecraft one. Though regretful of not having enough time to maintain Future Shift to his liking, when asked about future plans for the world, Haxxorzd00d ended on an interesting note: “…who knows, I may even return to finish (well, start) telling the story of Future Shift soon...”

Fyra (Status: Active)
April 16th, 2011
Fyra came about for a few major reasons. Firstly, resources like Lapis Lazuli had been introduced to Minecraft, and maps like Version 3, since they had already been generated, could not provide them. Fyra was also used as a means of allowing players more space to build in. The name comes from the Swedish word for “four”, as Fyra was to be used as a player-building world and “placeholder”, for Interra (otherwise known as Version 4), which will not be alterable. Fyra proved itself to be a popular map, due to a railway system implemented at its spawn with a crossroad-like design, allowing players to stop off at various sections and get access to land from all across the map. Over time, players would start to migrate to Fyra from the older Version 3 to participate in a drive for resources and land to build on. Fyra is currently a popular map on Escapecraft, boasting impressive, well-run settlements such as Beorn, Tulonville, or specialised ones, like Magmavale.


Hub (Status: Active)
April 26th, 2011
The Hub map was designed almost as a crossroads, allowing players access to all the various worlds Escapecraft had to offer, especially as the staff had been preparing to release several new maps in due course. It also served as a method of impressing players via sheer scale, it being the first world players are taken to after completing Escapecraft’s obligatory tutorial. As a relatively stable and essential map, the Hub doesn’t see the same tumultuous changes other maps may, though it gets to host world unveilings and a variety of different events, with an in-game Q&A session, a jail for interrogating griefers being implemented, a host of trading deals, and even an inexplicably successful (though accidental) player-placed TNT detonation, being just a few examples. To many members of staff, the Hub world’s implementation was a very positive step forward for Escapecraft, SneakyPie’s opinion being, “The multi-world setup proved to be our most successful setup we ever tried before and it finally allowed Escapecraft to reach its primary goal: to offer something for everyone in Minecraft.” The Hub has received a few upgrades and improvements over time and has been successfully expanded to make room for all the worlds Escapecraft now has, with enough room left over for new ones, impromptu or planned well in advance.

Creative (Status: Active)
May 1st, 2011
May 1st was to be an eventful day, with the opening up of three new worlds, those being Creative, PvP and Enigma. The Creative world hearkened back to the days of Version 1 and the first weeks of Version 2, with players once again able to build whatever they felt like without the fear of mobs attacking them. Not only this, but players could also spawn items at will. After this policy resulted in a mass TNT grief of the first Creative map, as well as players placing blocks around at random, a second one was generated, this time mimicking the flat land style of Minecraft Classic maps. Only veteran players were allowed access to this new map, and the most dangerous items were prohibited. This wasn’t the only map to undergo improvements though…

PvP (Status: Active – undergoing renovation)
May 1st, 2011
Many players had expressed an interest in being able to battle and kill each other on the server. Again, thanks to the possibilities plugins granted, this could be done. The staff worked on generating a map dedicated solely toward a Player versus Player experience. This map was also the only map in which the anti-griefing rules were lifted, allowing players the ability to unleash their darker sides. To date, it still is the only map that has allowed this. As a result the areas surrounding the spawn point pretty quickly began to resemble a nuclear wasteland, and players would wait for others to leave the safe zone of the spawn point before ambushing them. Apart from this, the map was only accessible to donating players as a perk, but this resulted in less popularity (this has since been changed, with all players now able to join). It soon became apparent that a new PvP world was required; one that would remove these factors and allow more players to enjoy themselves. As of writing, this new PvP world is still in development, but it promises to improve the experience of those wishing to participate in proper Player versus Player combat.

Enigma and company (Status: Active, with some parts undergoing renovation)
May 1st (approx.), 2011
As some may know, there is another Escapecraft team, one centred around puzzling and “escape-the-room” scenarios. Staff members would every so often have to correct players who were mistaken in their belief that they had logged onto the singleplayer puzzle maps. Eventually, the creators of the puzzle maps were contacted and a deal was made, involving mutual advertisement – the Escapecraft server would host the Escapecraft maps in a section of the Hub known as the Puzzle Annex. This Puzzle Annex now fulfills the role of being the crossroads from which the Escapecraft maps (now redone to work with the latest game version) and the Enigma world’s very own hub can be accessed. The Enigma hub is where player-created puzzles can be accessed. Originally the world started with puzzles like the Labyrinth and its successor but has of writing expanded to include 45 separate puzzles of vastly varying content, all deemed of enough quality to deserve inclusion first by the Enigma staff. Enigma has also been host to many server events, such as the ongoing Big Build or TNT Spleef.

Borjan (Status: Active)
December 20th, 2011
The last full survival map to be released since Fyra, Borjan follows its predecessor in that its name is Swedish, this time for “the beginning”. Borjan also has the distinction of being the first map released after Minecraft became a fully-fledged game in November. The staff worked together to create a spawn city, called Nysta, as well as a refinement of Fyra’s successful transportation system. As with Fyra and Terra before that, Borjan became the most popular survival map, with many players migrating over and creating new settlements, notable ones including Branchscape (with its origins dating back to Terra) and Lord’s Landing. Borjan hasn’t seen the excitement of earlier survival maps due to the greater refinement of the other specialised worlds, as well as the server’s increased ability to utilize new worlds for certain needs. However, it has served the purposes of all those who want to find somewhere to build perfectly, even having a Guest City area specifically designed to help new players get right down to building and integrating into the server more effectively.

Second Year Reflections
As this iteration of the history mostly served as a means of updating the first, it has not been nearly so extensive as it could’ve been given the sheer amount of worlds that the server now encompasses. The research and interviews of the first history have not been conducted again and the author is thoroughly ashamed of himself (but he’ll get over it). Certainly there is a negative indication from lack of occurrence, but the author would like instead to employ his powers of spin in order to highlight the fact that such lack of time to devote the attention a far-reaching and extensive version of Escapecraft’s histories deserves is a result of his spending a much greater degree of his time in server-based work. Surely an author so busy, so devious and so self-referential is a sign of there being much to do at Escapecraft and therefore an indication that the server itself is alive and well after yet another year.

Not only is the author busy though – the staff of Escapecraft, without whom the server would not be here today, are just as busy, and very soon you, the players, will be seeing the proceeds of this collective effort, and we think you’re going to like it. And so it is with immense surprise and suspicion that this author wishes Escapecraft a happy second birthday, and once more raises a glass to the server’s future. And now that that’s over and done with, it’s back to work for me.

Sources¹
¹A bit stale now that a year has passed

[Byroe]

this thread brings back so many memories.

[MrWhales]

Y U REMIND ME of things I miss...

I still can't find my monastery in Ver1 :'(

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

I found my old obsidian house in ver2. I never noticed just how bad it looked untill now. Kinda sad really, I put a lot of time into that.

[Infesord]

Yeah, so many memories. I still felt kind of ashamed when in Ver2 when health and mobs became active I hated it and gave Minecraft a break for a long while. Glad I came back later though I guess after all said and done. Too bad my Super Hotel became a breeding ground for monsters.

Also 1 day I need to rebuild my Super Tower 2.0 that black burnt down (twice) in Ver1 when those maps become active again.

[michaeld20]

as well as settlements like the inimitable Mill City.

Are you implying something? Mill city is quite neat and pretty now :/ You just have not seen it!

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Are you trying to suggest that Mill City is no longer inimitable, as in it has lost its uniqueness? It could be changed to the "perfectly average" Mill City if you prefer.

[michaeld20]

Are you trying to suggest that Mill City is no longer inimitable, as in it has lost its uniqueness? It could be changed to the "perfectly average" Mill City if you prefer.

No, I just assumed he was calling it ugly by calling it one of a kind =3

[Milo_Windby]

in·im·i·ta·ble
Adjective:
So good or unusual as to be impossible to copy; unique.
Synonyms:
unique - incomparable - matchless

Not sure how ugly jumps into the picture .-.

[michaeld20]

in·im·i·ta·ble
Adjective:
So good or unusual as to be impossible to copy; unique.
Synonyms:
unique - incomparable - matchless

Not sure how ugly jumps into the picture .-.

This... I just assumed he was calling it ugly by calling it one of a kind, And I know what inumitable means... Jeez

[aflycon]

I have an idea, let's continue fighting about it..

[random980]

I have an idea, let's continue fighting about it..

Or we can change subject, like how awesome and big the USSR has become over the months.
Seriously it was once just simple Saphiri (not even) now its grown to a huge empire and all within less than a year.

[vallorn]

you want to talk about the USSR eh?

Spoiler! :

from an outsiders point of view its an overbearing government who throw a tizzy every time somone leaves the empire and constantly say how awesome they are while creating ridiculous hoops for new members to jump through.

if you are of an emotionally sensitive disposition. i am not a fan of the USSR (or most of the big "Empires") so don't open the spoiler.

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

Lol. Yeah, I'm not really a fan of large settlements. I've always liked building unnecessarily large structures, and usually live on my own or with only a couple other people.

[MrWhales]

To slightly necro. The last bit of the history is out-of-date now And I've never lived with anyone in-game

[venomm2]

i find it dissapointing that equestria was not mentioned anywhere.... awesome history tho

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Why would it be mentioned?

[The Bum]

i find it dissapointing that equestria was not mentioned anywhere.... awesome history tho

Why would it be mentioned?

What is equestria?

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

What is equestria?

No, don't! It's a trap!

[Spyboticsguy]

[arogon343]

Draconax was a pretty big city in version 3... ._.

[vallorn]

Draconax was a pretty big city in version 3... ._.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Well, since the second year anniversary event is coming up tomorrow I've updated the histories. What fun.