⚠️ NOTICE: We're updating our network to 1.12.2!

[_The13thDoctor_]

RIP 1.8, Hello 1.12!

Can't wait to see these new changes, they will greatly benefit the network! :D

 

[404Owl]

So people whose main version is 1.12.2 can still play normally?

 

[Vindicatør]

Oh yes, I love this change. We’re gonna get some really good new content.

Blocks such as glazed terracotta and concrete.

Mobs suck as husks and polar bears.

Fishing rods actually pull players now (this will be real funny for SkyWars).

And best of all, VINDICATORS!!!

 

[Deleted member 492126]

So people whose main version is 1.12.2 can still play normally?

That is correct

 

[Ouuv]

Hey CubeCrafters!

Today we have a massive announcement to let you all know about! It will be affecting an entire community on our network, which we would encourage you to read about.

Firstly, we'd like to mention how lucky we are to be in this position we are in today, and that couldn't be done without you. We're all super excited for the future of CubeCraft Games, and we can't wait to show you all what we want to do!

Our aim always has been to provide the best experience for our players on our network - from both a game and design perspective. Recent discussions within the team have lead to some really interesting concepts being brought forward, which we're super excited to show you! We want to prove that we can be the best in terms of content going forward.

Minecraft 1.8 was first released on 2nd of September 2014, nearing the 7th anniversary! Since then, eight new versions of Minecraft have been released, with another version release being planned for this summer! Since the beginning of CubeCraft, we've been supporting the 1.8-type PvP - we updated to 1.9 in March 2016 and have been supporting the version for the last five years. Every update that we've planned has had to be restricted to 1.9 features only - with this comes the massive question in the product team: What are we holding on for?

A glimpse into the future!

We've decided to update our entire network to 1.12.2, and are supporting all its content!
Bare in mind, this is Java 1.12.2 content, not Bedrock 1.12.

The prospects of 1.12.2 features can affect every end of our server! Here are some ideas that we've brainstormed, but are not confirmed.

• Colourful lobbies and maps to complement our upcoming loot with Concrete, Glazed Terracotta, and Nether blocks!

View attachment 191088
​

View attachment 191089

An example of a future Team SkyWars map. Imagine what we could do with a whole lobby!
​

• Cosmetics can also be created - new trails utilising new particles, riding Llamas, Shulker boxes as chests in SkyWars, and much more!
• Game specific ideas:
  • Tower Defence - Illager tower, which produces Vexes & Evokers Fangs; Polar bears, parrots, husks & stray waves of mobs!
  • Lucky Blocks - Endless possibilities of new lucky blocks such as spawning parrots and polar bears that help you fight (or attack you!), and lots more!
  • MinerWare - Utilising new mechanics such as fireworks working with Elytras, use a Totem of Undying, snipe a Vex, dodge the evoker fangs, and much more!
  • SkyWars - Curse of Vanishing books to protect your most important gear when you die,
  • EggWars - We’re wanting to experiment with new items in EggWars, specifically in the emerald shop, which updating will help with! For example: replacing terracotta with concrete (more representative of the team colour).
  • Skyblock - Shulker shells sounds pretty neat...

"Why 1.12+?"

We've settled with 1.12+ due to the additional extensive work that would need to be done if we updated beyond 1.13+. This doesn't mean that we won't be considering it in the future, however, this is the first step in making that transition slightly easier!

When also considering the number of player connections on Java, with any versions from 1.9 to 1.12, the number of connections is negligible:

View attachment 191084​

To explain these numbers, this is useful information that we collect on player join, which shows what protocol version you're joining on. Every update, every snapshot, there is a new protocol version which is an internal number for the Minecraft version you're running on. For example, protocol 754 is 1.16.4 and 1.16.5. More information about protocol version numbers can be found here.

Listing the versions, their protocol version number, and their connection on a peak day for the last twenty minutes:

• 1.9 - protocol: 107 - 20 connections.
• 1.9.1 - protocol: 108 - 1 connection.
• 1.9.2 - protocol: 109 - 1 connection.
• 1.9.3/4 - protocol: 110 - 16 connections.
• 1.10 - protocol: 210 - 5 connections.
• 1.11 - protocol 315 - 4 connections.
• 1.11.1/2 - protocol: 316 - 5 connections.
• 1.12 - protocol: 335 - 10 connections.
• 1.12.1 - protocol: 338 - 2 connections.
• Total connections for all protocol versions - 64 connections.

When compared to the 1.16.4/5 version of 3,325 connections, it's very low, and we won't be cutting too many people off.

Want to update to 1.12.2 or higher, check out this Help article here: https://help.cubecraft.net/en/article/937qhx

What about 1.8?

Over the last couple of months, we've been monitoring our growth and player count on all of our networks, particularly focusing on the 1.8 network.

As of recent, the 1.8 network is consistently reaching peaks of 650-700 players, and reaching lows of 70-150, as shown by the graph below. (The single outlier being the peak at 1150 players on the 15th of January, likely when larger servers had an outage of some sorts.)

View attachment 190683​

The decline in players is something that could be seen as our fault as out of our 11 stands shown on our 1.9+ server; only four are completely accessible by players on the 1.8 network.

"Make more games on 1.8 - that should boost its player count!"

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. We're at a stage in our growth that updating the 1.8 network is ultimately a time sink - the time put into considering 1.8 on our network, with the limitations it causes and the clear lack of players that it pulls, is something that we’ve been concerned about for the last couple of months. Especially when comparing it to our entire network...

View attachment 190684
Bedrock | 1.9+ | 1.8​

... 1.8 is pulling anywhere between 0.7-1.2 % of our entire player base, and the majority of our decisions in terms of design and gameplay mechanics are being stagnated because of it.

With the removal of 1.8 in mind, we will be able to focus more of our development efforts towards our Bedrock and 1.12+ networks - this includes vital parts such as Sentinel, where 1.8 anti-cheat development can be viewed as a larger cat-and-mouse game, which we, unfortunately, are not able to sustain at this moment.

The possibility of having completely separate networks, so dropping 1.9-1.12, making a 1.12.2+ server, and a 1.8 server would still mean a lot of cautionary measures would need to be made. For example, if we make a new map in the future for Survival Games, Lucky Islands, a new hub, or anything along the lines of that, we'll still need to think about the implementation of these onto our networks. This means that while we're updating our server, we're still limited, which is the opposite of what we're trying to achieve.

Simply put, we have a lot of plans for the future, and we believe that we want to take the next step forward. Which is limited at the moment with the continuous consideration for 1.8. Upgrading to 1.12.2 will allow us to have access to so many new features for both our Java and Bedrock server that we'd love to have at our disposal.

1.8 has been carrying us since the end of 2014 and has brought us success that we have been amazingly privileged to be a part of. However, it's reached a point that it's limiting the capabilities that we can truly achieve.

Our decision regarding 1.8

As a result, we've decided the following:

• For the next couple of months, our 1.8 network will be remaining online.
• On the 15th of June 2021, we will be shutting our 1.8 network.
• On the same day, we will also be dropping support for 1.9-1.11, and will be supporting all versions from 1.12.2 onwards!

"What if I bought a rank because of your 1.8 network?"

If you have made a purchase in the last 14 days and would like to request a refund, please email sales@cubecraft.net, and we can look into it. This does not include used items, such as if you had bought a multiplier and used it, it would not be eligible for a refund.

We still invite you to check out our 1.12.2+ network, packed full of the fast-paced minigames previously on our 1.8 network, alongside our other amazing games, including BlockWars, Among Slimes, Skyblock and a whole featured games system!

If you're still enjoying the 1.8 PvP mechanic, you can also check out our Bedrock server. This is full of the games you know on our Java server, with the addition of custom modelled loot, game-specific lobbies, and a plethora of supporting content coming soon!

Community Talk

We feel like there are concerns that will need to be addressed, which we haven't mentioned.

As a result, we would like to invite you all to a community talk, hosted on our Discord, where we can address these concerns. This will take place on Saturday 17th April 2021 at 6 pm BST. If you cannot make it, don't worry, we'll post notes on the contents of the talk.

We want CubeCraft to be the best and offer the greatest content-driven gaming experience. In order to push these boundaries, this is the next step forward.

Thank you for reading!

Thumbs up from me :)

 

[404Owl]

That is correct

Then I am super hyped. In eggwars if you replace clay with concrete that would be super epic since it has way more vibrant color. I would also like to request a new main lobby which uses glazed terracotta, it looks epic.

Anyway, nice job staff! I get that it was probably hard to drop 1.8 but I think it was the right decision.

PS. In eggwars you said you were thinking of new items to the emerald shop since you can add 1.12.2+ stuff now. Please, o god PLEASE do NOT add a totem of undying or end crystals. I really do not want to see eggwars pvp turn into crystal pvp or 2b2t pvp. that would really suck

 

[Deleted member 511644]

Can someone say that in short pls

On June 15th, the 1.8 network will be closing their doors, and the versions you can join CubeCraft with will change to:
1.12.2 -> Current/upcoming version(s)

 

[Kazwa]

I'll miss 1.8, but I understand why you made this decision! I'm excited to see all new possibilities :)

 

[Frontlane]

CubeCraft is one of the first big Java servers to make this step, and I think it's going to work very well. Being innovative is key and is something the team definitely does not lack. Looking forward to this "happy 1.12.2+ day"!

 

[josepadgui]

I still play using the 1.8 version on Java, I understand the reason why they are doing this and I support the Cubecraft developer team. But now I'll have to familiarize with the pvp system of 1.9 versions and higher. No doubt it will improve a lot the content quality and will bring a lot of new players to the network.

 

[ItsAzien]

RIP 1.8, I play on 1.8 everyday. The new combat system is ok but RIP! :(

By the way, I will get hang of the new combat soon! Also, now we can use block from WORLD OF COLOUR UPDATE!

 

[BubbleF1sh]

That's awesome!

 

[maxlol200]

Im on Bedrock and Im still very happy for Java. Even if I would play on Java, I would still only play 1.9+ pvp. I hope that everyone can live with this decision

 

[Velocidad]

as a 1.8 player im very sad, F 1.8

 

[ThoriumFluoride]

so essentially what you're saying is that you're scamming the people who bought ranks only for the 1.8 network and that the 1.8 server was a cash grab from the beginning. You're not exactly covering yourselves in glory here.

 

[ElectricSweden]

I like this decision! Looking forward to see all the new cosmetics, maps and possibilities this will bring!

 

[Mats3209]

so essentially what you're saying is that you're scamming the people who bought ranks only for the 1.8 network and that the 1.8 server was a cash grab from the beginning. You're not exactly covering yourselves in glory here.

1.8 just limits the server (not a cash grab??), and people still own the rank on 1.12.2+. 1.12.2 holds more amazing gamemodes and you can use your rank on 1.8 for that. You also can refund the rank if you bought it the last 14 days.

 

[ExBoyfriend]

Mockery. Just Leave The 1.8 servers alone. You haven't done anything for it for the past 2 years or so and you decide to suddenly delete it. We play 1.8 because we like the PvP system you can't expect us to suddenly switch to a new one! This is stupid!!!

 

[SanCookie]

Mockery. Just Leave The 1.8 servers alone. You haven't done anything for it for the past 2 years or so and you decide to suddenly delete it. We play 1.8 because we like the PvP system you can't expect us to suddenly switch to a new one! This is stupid!!!

but there will be llamas

 

[Technosword]

so essentially what you're saying is that you're scamming the people who bought ranks only for the 1.8 network and that the 1.8 server was a cash grab from the beginning. You're not exactly covering yourselves in glory here.

How is it a scam? Your rank is not disappearing, and by buying a rank we never guaranteed that the version you bought it for would always be around. 1.8 was never a cash grab, as it wasn’t planned to be shut down until recently. I encourage you to look at the new 1.12 server as versions that are 5+ years old are quite limiting and I think you’ll enjoy the new features :)