Hello everyone!
It has been quite some time since I've been active on the forums and server, but recently I've really enjoyed being back on and playing some games on the Java Network. I've played on CubeCraft since the old days back in 2013, and since then, I've seen many changes occur on the server. As everyone already knows, the future of the Java server isn't looking too promising. I'm making this thread to share my insight and ideas on ways that I believe the Java server can make a comeback. I encourage you to read this thread all the way through and leave your comments/thoughts below!
The Old Days of CubeCraft Java
Back in 2013 and the years following, when the Java server had thousands of players online each day, I felt as though there was a strong sense of community. There were lots of gamemodes where players could just chat with one another. On the Java server today, the only gamemode that really makes for a good environment for this is FFA. Finding new ways to encourage more of a community connection on the Java Network would keep current players interested and involved on the server!
Another good thing about the old Java server was the wide variety of gamemodes. Unfortunately, we've seen these gamemodes slowly disappear over the years. This is partly due to a decrease in players, but also because of a number of broken promises. Years ago, when popular gamemodes like Skyblock, Creative, Factions, original Arcade games, UHC, etc. were brought down for maintenance, we either never saw these games return, or they were brought back in a way that did not receive a very positive reaction from the community. I believe that having more transparency with the community and obtaining more input from players about changes/additions/removals would benefit everyone.
Java Ranks
With the recent announcement that Java ranks are temporarily removed from the shop, there will now be a lack of income from the Java server. Considering that the Java network is already falling behind, removing a key source of income used to support the network is not doing much to help. In the announcement, it was also said that altering and re-implementing the Java ranks was not at the top of the to-do list, with the re-implementation being 2023 at the earliest.
I believe that more time and effort should be spent on bringing back these new ranks so that more revenue can be generated to support the server. The only way that the Java network will redeem itself is if time and resources are spent towards improving it. I've also noticed that the overall tone of the recent Java Network announcements do not give a promising vibe about the future of the server. To me, I get the impression that the staff have already given up. I don't say this to be harshly critical. I say this because I believe it gives players the impression that there is no hope and only hurts player retention rates.
Social Media Usage
Social media is a powerful advertising tool. There are so many platforms that can be used to reach a huge audience. Whilethe current method of using minecraft server lists online to advertise the server is better than nothing, they are not very effective. How many of you actually scroll through minecraft server lists on a regular basis? Probably not many. I feel as though a majority of people who play Minecraft are not avid players, and probably only play for fun every now and then. CubeCraft can and shoud be utilizing social media much more often to advertise the Java Network and promote the server, as social media is guaranteed to reach a wider audience when compared to minecraft server lists online. Below, I'll outline two specific social media platforms and ways that they can best be used.
TikTok:
CubeCraft has a massive following of 144k people on TikTok! There is a huge opportunity to post videos here and reach a massive amount of people! However, the account only posts videos a handful of times each month, and only about half of these videos are actually CubeCraft related. Posting more often and posting more CubeCraft-specific content would be a great way for people to find out about the server and what it has to offer.
Sure, for a small team of social media personnel to manage the account and create content for the account, it would be difficult. To prevent this from being too much to tackle, CubeCraft should open up TikTok submissions to the community. Players can record fun, exciting moments from their time playing on the server and submit them to be posted on the official CubeCraft TikTok. This way, anyone watching on TikTok will get to see real gameplay on the server and get a better sense of what exactly CubeCraft is. This would also be a great way for more people to create video content for CubeCraft and potentially post this content on their own personal social media accounts.
Instagram:
CubeCraft also has a decent following on Instagram as well, with over 28k followers! However, this account is even less active than the TikTok account, with there only being about 2 posts per month (The most recent post is from August 16). This is such a huge missed opportunity! Being active on Instagram is another vital way to advertise the server, as it allows you to connect with such a wide variety of people.
Another thing that CubeCraft can do with their Instagram is post more in-game content. Right now, the Instagram account only posts pictures of builds done by the CubeCraft build team. While these builds are utterly amazing and impressive, this type of content should not be the only thing posted. The account should post more information about in-game events and games. This way, anyone who clicks on the Instagram page can find out tons of information about the server, therefore (hopefully) encouraging them to join and play on Minecraft.
Like I suggested with TikTok, opening up community content submissions would be a great way to both generate pictures/videos to post and increase community involvement. The account can even re-post videos from TikTok as Reels on Instagram.
All in all, these two social media platforms, among others, are really good ways to advertise CubeCraft. In my opinion, there is so much potential to turn the current CubeCraft social media accounts into the main advertising method for the server. It would reach a bigger audience and keep the community more engaged by opening up the potential for player-created content. Perhaps CubeCraft can expand their staff team to bring on some social media managers/assistants to run these accounts.
Server-wide Events
As I mentioned earlier, CubeCraft has removed many gamemodes over the years that are no longer available on the server. I believe that bringing these games back for short periods of time would be a great way to encourage both older and newer players to come online and try them out again.
One potential event could be the return of the original Arcade Games. The event could last for 1-2 months and would bring back games such as Hide and Seek, Parkour Minigame, Hourglass, QuakeCraft, TNT Run, Spleef, and many more nostalgic games. While these games would most definitely need to be re-developed for more updated versions of Minecraft, they are not overly complex games and likely would not need a massive amount of time and effort to be produced.
Another potential event could be the return of a creative server. This creative server could have the original plot-style setup, allowing players to fly around and look at other player builds. The creative server could be brought back around a specific time such as the winter Holiday season. A Holiday build competition (just like the good old days) could be announced for the return of the creative server, which would encourage players to spend time building. Small prizes like low-tier ranks, point multipliers, or miniatures could be given as rewards for the build competition.
These events do not need to happen frequently. They could happen once or twice per year, allowing the staff/developers to have a generous amount of time to plan and prepare. Social media should be heavily utilized to announce and promote the return of these limited-time events to help reach both new and old players of the server.
Conclusion
For any staff member reading through this thread and thinking "this is way too much for our team to handle," I completely understand. What I've written above are merely suggestions and are by no means perfect. I understand that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes which I do not know about, meaning that some of my suggestions may not even be possible. All of these things could not be implemented overnight either. However, I believe that the entire CubeCraft community, especially the players from the Java Network, would be more than happy to help out in any way we can to save the Java server. The sooner that CubeCraft starts utilizing social media more heavily, the sooner players can start creating and submitting content to be posted.
If you've made it this far, thank you. As I mentioned above, please leave your comments/thoughts below. I, as well as other players I'm sure, would love to hear any other suggestions you have about what can be done to help out the Java Network. As always, please reach out/private message me with any further questions about what I've suggested above!
Best,
Simbaaa
It has been quite some time since I've been active on the forums and server, but recently I've really enjoyed being back on and playing some games on the Java Network. I've played on CubeCraft since the old days back in 2013, and since then, I've seen many changes occur on the server. As everyone already knows, the future of the Java server isn't looking too promising. I'm making this thread to share my insight and ideas on ways that I believe the Java server can make a comeback. I encourage you to read this thread all the way through and leave your comments/thoughts below!
The Old Days of CubeCraft Java
Back in 2013 and the years following, when the Java server had thousands of players online each day, I felt as though there was a strong sense of community. There were lots of gamemodes where players could just chat with one another. On the Java server today, the only gamemode that really makes for a good environment for this is FFA. Finding new ways to encourage more of a community connection on the Java Network would keep current players interested and involved on the server!
Another good thing about the old Java server was the wide variety of gamemodes. Unfortunately, we've seen these gamemodes slowly disappear over the years. This is partly due to a decrease in players, but also because of a number of broken promises. Years ago, when popular gamemodes like Skyblock, Creative, Factions, original Arcade games, UHC, etc. were brought down for maintenance, we either never saw these games return, or they were brought back in a way that did not receive a very positive reaction from the community. I believe that having more transparency with the community and obtaining more input from players about changes/additions/removals would benefit everyone.
Java Ranks
With the recent announcement that Java ranks are temporarily removed from the shop, there will now be a lack of income from the Java server. Considering that the Java network is already falling behind, removing a key source of income used to support the network is not doing much to help. In the announcement, it was also said that altering and re-implementing the Java ranks was not at the top of the to-do list, with the re-implementation being 2023 at the earliest.
I believe that more time and effort should be spent on bringing back these new ranks so that more revenue can be generated to support the server. The only way that the Java network will redeem itself is if time and resources are spent towards improving it. I've also noticed that the overall tone of the recent Java Network announcements do not give a promising vibe about the future of the server. To me, I get the impression that the staff have already given up. I don't say this to be harshly critical. I say this because I believe it gives players the impression that there is no hope and only hurts player retention rates.
Social Media Usage
Social media is a powerful advertising tool. There are so many platforms that can be used to reach a huge audience. Whilethe current method of using minecraft server lists online to advertise the server is better than nothing, they are not very effective. How many of you actually scroll through minecraft server lists on a regular basis? Probably not many. I feel as though a majority of people who play Minecraft are not avid players, and probably only play for fun every now and then. CubeCraft can and shoud be utilizing social media much more often to advertise the Java Network and promote the server, as social media is guaranteed to reach a wider audience when compared to minecraft server lists online. Below, I'll outline two specific social media platforms and ways that they can best be used.
TikTok:
CubeCraft has a massive following of 144k people on TikTok! There is a huge opportunity to post videos here and reach a massive amount of people! However, the account only posts videos a handful of times each month, and only about half of these videos are actually CubeCraft related. Posting more often and posting more CubeCraft-specific content would be a great way for people to find out about the server and what it has to offer.
Sure, for a small team of social media personnel to manage the account and create content for the account, it would be difficult. To prevent this from being too much to tackle, CubeCraft should open up TikTok submissions to the community. Players can record fun, exciting moments from their time playing on the server and submit them to be posted on the official CubeCraft TikTok. This way, anyone watching on TikTok will get to see real gameplay on the server and get a better sense of what exactly CubeCraft is. This would also be a great way for more people to create video content for CubeCraft and potentially post this content on their own personal social media accounts.
Instagram:
CubeCraft also has a decent following on Instagram as well, with over 28k followers! However, this account is even less active than the TikTok account, with there only being about 2 posts per month (The most recent post is from August 16). This is such a huge missed opportunity! Being active on Instagram is another vital way to advertise the server, as it allows you to connect with such a wide variety of people.
Another thing that CubeCraft can do with their Instagram is post more in-game content. Right now, the Instagram account only posts pictures of builds done by the CubeCraft build team. While these builds are utterly amazing and impressive, this type of content should not be the only thing posted. The account should post more information about in-game events and games. This way, anyone who clicks on the Instagram page can find out tons of information about the server, therefore (hopefully) encouraging them to join and play on Minecraft.
Like I suggested with TikTok, opening up community content submissions would be a great way to both generate pictures/videos to post and increase community involvement. The account can even re-post videos from TikTok as Reels on Instagram.
All in all, these two social media platforms, among others, are really good ways to advertise CubeCraft. In my opinion, there is so much potential to turn the current CubeCraft social media accounts into the main advertising method for the server. It would reach a bigger audience and keep the community more engaged by opening up the potential for player-created content. Perhaps CubeCraft can expand their staff team to bring on some social media managers/assistants to run these accounts.
Server-wide Events
As I mentioned earlier, CubeCraft has removed many gamemodes over the years that are no longer available on the server. I believe that bringing these games back for short periods of time would be a great way to encourage both older and newer players to come online and try them out again.
One potential event could be the return of the original Arcade Games. The event could last for 1-2 months and would bring back games such as Hide and Seek, Parkour Minigame, Hourglass, QuakeCraft, TNT Run, Spleef, and many more nostalgic games. While these games would most definitely need to be re-developed for more updated versions of Minecraft, they are not overly complex games and likely would not need a massive amount of time and effort to be produced.
Another potential event could be the return of a creative server. This creative server could have the original plot-style setup, allowing players to fly around and look at other player builds. The creative server could be brought back around a specific time such as the winter Holiday season. A Holiday build competition (just like the good old days) could be announced for the return of the creative server, which would encourage players to spend time building. Small prizes like low-tier ranks, point multipliers, or miniatures could be given as rewards for the build competition.
These events do not need to happen frequently. They could happen once or twice per year, allowing the staff/developers to have a generous amount of time to plan and prepare. Social media should be heavily utilized to announce and promote the return of these limited-time events to help reach both new and old players of the server.
Conclusion
For any staff member reading through this thread and thinking "this is way too much for our team to handle," I completely understand. What I've written above are merely suggestions and are by no means perfect. I understand that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes which I do not know about, meaning that some of my suggestions may not even be possible. All of these things could not be implemented overnight either. However, I believe that the entire CubeCraft community, especially the players from the Java Network, would be more than happy to help out in any way we can to save the Java server. The sooner that CubeCraft starts utilizing social media more heavily, the sooner players can start creating and submitting content to be posted.
If you've made it this far, thank you. As I mentioned above, please leave your comments/thoughts below. I, as well as other players I'm sure, would love to hear any other suggestions you have about what can be done to help out the Java Network. As always, please reach out/private message me with any further questions about what I've suggested above!
Best,
Simbaaa
