Creative Server - Ranking system

Hey,


I've recently came back to Mega and been watching how the ranking system is currently working. I've noticed that people have improved in building so much that I feel like I don't deserve the rank "Architect" anymore. I made my architect plot I believe 2 years ago and a lot of stuff has changed in that time, what used to be "in" back then is totally out by now. After noticing that my own architect build was no where near the current architect level I started thinking about other people and their builds. First thing that came to my mind was killerkwile and his plots, honestly his artisan and architect plots wouldn't fit the requirement for even designer anymore. Something needs to be changed.


Since I've been away for quite a while, I really have no idea how the server development is currently working. I've only heard rumors that nothing is really being done on the creative server. I would like to be informed if the development of the creative server is still up and going or if it's just going to stay at it's current state. (I assume that the development is still some what active, just slow due the lack of Blue's time. Correct me if I'm wrong please.)


Anyways, I'll be listing few of the things that I feel like have problems right now and also try to come up with some kind of solution. Also you can (would be nice if you do) continue discussing and sharing your opinions about these topics in the comment section.


Ranking system:

As I already said earlier, the builder community is becoming better and better all the time. This also means that the requirements are going up as well. Something that was worth architect rank year ago, may be worth only designer if even that today. This leading to my first suggestion.. I feel like there should be some changes made to the ranks, their requirements and how they function.

First of all lets start off with the lowest ranks. The Builder rank requirements at the moment are these:

1. Make sure 1/4 of the plot is filled.
2. Have moderate detail in structures

I've noticed that people don't really use the smaller plots even though they were added on the 1.11 update. I think this is partly because people aren't well informed about these plots and how the ranking works on those plots (/ranks for designer only says to fill the whole plot, is this only for bigger plots or also for the smaller ones since we do have them now). Wouldn't it be better to have a builder plot made on these plots rather than having 3/4 of the big plots empty. This said, I don't know if you're able to gain ranks from these plots at all. These smaller plots usually allow person to focus on a smaller areas and create much more detailed creations than what you would usually do on 145x145 plot, making it easier for you to build and judge the plot.

I really think small plots should be implemented (Or if they are already on the system, inform the players better about it) to the ranking system, at least up to Designer, possibly even Architect in some rare cases.

Then...

I'll be talking about Designer and Architect at the same time because these two are the middle ground of the ranking system and they aren't really that different from each other.

Designer requirements:

1. Make sure all of the plot is filled
2. Have a good detail in structures
3. Have good quality terrain and trees

I recently built little terrain plot and submitted it on my alt for Designer, the plot had no structure work what so ever and first got denied. The feedback on the submit simply told me to just improve it and to try again tomorrow. I added some more trees to the top of the island and resubmitted it. Later asked the person who denied it what did I need to improve and they told me "add structure". I didn't since I already submitted it after I improved it by adding trees and a river. Without any structures on the plot, next morning this same person who told me to add structures to the plot, had promoted me to Designer. This proves the fact that at the moment you don't really need to follow the requirements for each rank as long as you have good terrain and few organics on the plot.

Architect requirements:

1. Make sure the entire plot is filled
2. Have VERY GOOD detail in STRUCTURES
3. Have good custom terrain and trees
4. Having organics can also HELP towards ranking

I've noticed that organic plots have become very popular within the builder community and there is no wonder why, they simply look amazing when they're done right. However, as the /ranks say for architect "Having organics can also HELP towards ranking". This however isn't really the case at the moment. It seems like you're able to simply replace the structure work with the organics now. I know this may seem harsh to you organic builders but I think structure work should still be one of the main creations on the plot, while organic only helping with the ranking. So if you would make an ratio of how important terrain, structure and organics are on the plot when ranking up, it would be something like this: 2:2:1. (1 being organics)


Now we're heading to the last rank, which is Artisan. It's requirements are these:

1. Make sure the entire plot is filled
2. Have outstanding detail in structures
3. Have amazing terrain, trees & organics

Artisan at this point is pretty much a joke. Don't take me wrong, there are also very talented people who have achieved the rank and who do deserve it. However, there are also some Artisan that in my opinion should get their rank removed. I would like to have Artisan to stay as a rank that says that this person is truly one of the best builders on the server. My suggestion for Artisan is to limit the positions that are open for achieving the rank. Lets say there are 10 Artisan spots open, once they're all filled and someone wants to become artisan, the person who submits the plot will be compared to the other 10 plots and decided whether the plot is worthy of the rare rank. This in my opinion would bring back the respect that the rank once had. (Another option would be a new rank above artisan which would be this competitive rank)


I believe that is going to be enough talking for today.. I was going to talk about few other things such as the "/Rate" command and little bit about the activities such as build comps etc. I'm gonna leave those topics for later and end this thread here. Hopefully my time writing this wasn't complete waste of time and I hope you guys enjoy at least 1 word from the thread.

Best regards,
Jeqqee

 

Although I'm not much of a builder myself I can agree that the ranking for builds has not been sticking to strict criteria, and I think people have been putting less concentration into structures and focusing more on things which seem to have grown in popularity (organics) to get them the rank. Just doing organics may be attractive - I certainly think so - but does not demonstrate that the builder has skills in all areas of building, by this I mean structures.

I also think that the "criteria" in /ranks is a bit vague and does not specify how "good" detail is different to "outstanding" detail. Due to this, people looking at building and determining whether to award ranks will inevitably interpret "good" in a slightly different way to another person, therefore degrading the system to almost luck-based.

 

Hey Jeq,

I must agree with you on this. The standards for building have differed a lot in the past months. I remember blue trying to create a system but the community wasn't really up for a change like his system. I must say though that I would like to get a better and a more "accurate" system when it comes to accepting builds. But, for that to be done we need to have good examples of plots that people can look at. Now when someone says "Hey, how do I get a rank?" people always just assume to say "/ranks".

If you're ever on when I am I would like to try and speak with you a little more in depth about how you feel we can improve this system as I have not really been focusing on creative as I have been working on Skyblock. But, I know that the system has become a little problem for some people.