Minecraft Mania began its first season in October, 2019. As with most servers, it began as a place for a small group of players to have fun playing Minecraft together. The server's goal was to become a long term community of dedicated players. If you are curious, you can find the very first server advertisement here.
The original spawn was small, but it included some community buildings for players. There was a small number of tiny huts for temporary housing, a tiny farm, and a community nether portal. A jail was also included, where a few unruly players spent some game time for various offenses. Because /sethome and /spawn were provided from the very beginning, many players chose to make their own bases far away from spawn. Most players built on their own, and community builds were rare. Events like giveaways were occasionally held by staff, where they would drop items from the sky for players to pick up.
A few months into the server, staff decided that spawn could use an updated look. The original spawn was largely demolished, and a new one was built. A large bed and breakfast style building replaced the original temporary housing. This build included a "Guest Book" where players could write their names after visiting the bed and breakfast. The old netherrack and quartz Nether portal was replaced with a quartz and prismarine church. The nether side of the portal mirrored the overworld build. A library with a public enchanting room was added where the original farms were, and a town hall building complete with a court room replaced the old unused shopping building.
Despite renovations to the server, there was a drastic decline in activity in December. Most of the players who were there at the beginning of the server had decided to leave, and abandoned builds were common near spawn. The End had been extensively raided, and most of the shulkers and elytras were in the hands of a couple of players. Noticing this, staff decided that a new season was the best option to revitalize the server.
Starting a new season allowed staff members to reevaluate the values and the intent of the server. With the goal of creating a long term community remaining, the server was rebuilt. Our new spawn was larger, and it had a much more cohesive building theme. Spawn was designed as a town to give new players something to explore after spawning. Roads extending from spawn helped to provide landmarks for new and existing players. Right away, players found a village near spawn and GreenVille was founded.
Towns have been promoted in Season 2 as a way to encourage community involvement and cooperative building. So far, Season 2 has had a much closer knit community than Season 1. There are currently seven towns, GreenVille, Traemor, Mycelia, Cape Town, Spruce, Formora, and Arialth. Each of these towns has its own unique communities within the larger community of Minecraft Mania.
Season 2 has also brought the first economy for Minecraft Mania. Because the server is meant to be as vanilla as possible, our economy is diamond based. This new economy features numerous player shops, as well as a bank.
The Mini Games district is another new prospect for Season 2. While Season 1 had a pvp arena, no mini games were created. Season 2 has a biome themed pvp arena with multiple traps and hazards. Mini games like Mine-o-poly and Chutes and Ladders are also located near spawn.
As Minecraft Mania has grown, many new players have joined to add to our community. The original players from Season 1 are Tatz, Maplez, Ravyneex, Adam, Cody, and LilGlasssy. Thankfully, many more have joined! Minecraft Mania has grown into a close knit family of dedicated builders. Looking back to our original goals, I am happy to see that we have become the kind of community that we set out to create. Personally, this community is my favorite part of Minecraft. I look forward to welcoming many more new players as Season 2 continues!
Check out the slideshow to see some of the builds from Season 1!