New Feature: Better Pets!

We all love our cats, dogs, and horses, but we all know they can be a little cumbersome when taken out on expeditions.  They're vulnerable to mobs, make poor AI choices, and sometimes it's just best to leave them at home. 

What if you could have a single, more reliable pet of your choosing?  A familiar, so to speak, the comes when called, disappears when not needed, and doesn't suffer environmental damage?  Presenting....

EchoPet is a new plugin we've recently added to the server.  EchoPet basically lets you choose your own Minecraft pet that will follow you.  These pets do not act like normal animals (ex. hostile mob pets won't hurt you) and they cannot be killed, only hidden. As you progress up GazerCrafts ranks, you'll gain more pet options (such as having hostile mobs as pets) as well as abilities, like riding your pet, turning it into a baby, or even wearing it as a hat!  

Use the command "/pet help" to get started.  Here is the breakdown of each pet each group has access to.  These will slowly be added to community rank pages as well:

Settlements: 

Cow

White Sheep

Pig

Chicken

Villages: 

Wolf

Bat

Rabbit

Small Slime

Colored Sheep

+ The option to turn some pets into baby versions of themselves!

Town: 

Villager

Snowman

IronGolem

Squid

CaveSpider

City:

Ocelot

Zombie

Skeleton

Witch

Spider

SilverFish

Slime

+The option to wear any pet as a hat on your head!

Metropolis: 

MagmaCube

Blaze

ZombiePig

Creeper

Enderman

EnderMite

WitherSkeleton

+ The option to ride any pet!

House:

Cow

Sheep

Pig

Chicken

Rabbit

Bat

Villager

Squid

MushroomCow

CaveSpider

Enderman

Spider

Slime

Zombie

Skeleton

Guardian

New Settlement: New Sanctuary

Our third settlement has been founded!  New Sanctuary (based on the ancient Sanctuary of Old Gazer) is led by ThePunisher1028 with Morallybisexual and SirMeatwad in tow!

New Sanctuary boasts a public cobble stone generator as well as a very impressive villager-run market place!  Stop in if you need saddles, emeralds, or any assortment of rare goodies!  Coordinates are X:-415 Z:-780.  Pun has also built a nifty nether portal if you think that might be a better option.

With that news, the last settlement slot has been filled. A new slot will not be open until we either get enough new people on the whitelist to warrant more openings or until one of the current settlements gets promoted (or becomes an inactive ghost town).

New Village: Cerberus

The village of Cerberus has been founded!  This once quiet settlement now boasts a handful of members, including Paul_PickSmythe, Omegabrad, Thundermob1234, Tdizzlenizzle, Mikelikesmen, Zherix, and Otterun -- all led by the noble Fyrd Cassiroll!

The once quaint swamp now boasts a smelting area, town storage, nether portal, wall, stables, farms, homes, and so much more! Feel free to stop by!  The town's general coordinates are 120, 120.  Be sure to also collect the new warp plate to Cerberus, located in the gazebo around 90, 104.

We now have one village slot taken, meaning a settlement slot has opened up!  Who will be next to upgrade?

Poll: Townless-ness

The results are in from last week's poll!  We were toying around with the idea of opening a new spawn building, to encourage players to build away from spawn, but it looks like our current system is fine and traveling is all part of the Minecraft journey.

WHERE SHOULD NEW PLAYERS SPAWN WHEN 1.8 COMES OUT?

In a new spawn building, far away from the current one.	5 (27%)
In the same spawn snowy building we've all come to know and love.	11 (61%)
I don't have a strong opinion either way.	2 (11%)
Another idea! (Post in the news comments)	0 (0%)

This week Otter would like to know your feelings on people leaving new towns and joining new ones.  Do you think it would be fair to put a limit on how long someone must wait before joining a new town?  Some people feel it takes away from the community feel when players are able to hop around from city to city.  Behind the scenes, it's also kind of a pain to move a single person around 3 times in a week.

The new poll question is this:

WHEN A PERSON LEAVES ONE TOWN, HOW LONG SHOULD THEY WAIT BEFORE JOINING ANOTHER?

If you have other ideas or suggestions, please comment on this post or the GazerCraft Skype group to start a discussion!

The Weekly Gaze

The Weekly Gaze

Bridges!

Greetings, Gazers, this week's spotlight focuses on Bridges!

First up, Zotterdale with their water-less bridge! Quite a feat from our favorite admin, Otterun!

Next is the Hotdog bridge, an entry submitted by Sirmeatwad. Quite the charming little bridge!

To sum up our spotlight, a bridge in Arendelle spanning their small pond! It is quite picturesque, I love the roses too!

Next week's theme is interior decor!  Have you been able to repurpose Minecraft items to look like real life decorations?  Have you come up with any clever creations for the inside of your builds?  Send a letter ( /letter) to z2liion ( /post z2liion).  Tell her who you are, what town you're in, what your spotlight entry is, and the coords where she can find it.

Rock Bottom

Rock Bottom has joined the ranks of the other villages and it rocks!  This whimsical town looks like it came right out of a Minecraft fairytale!  Be sure to collect the Discovery Warp -- it's located in the boat so you feel like you're traveling there by sea.  If you're interested in joining, talk to Squire Rivalcat!
Coordinates x: 900  z: -1100

Wednesday Where Am I? Winner
We had quite a few participants this round, but the prize goes to the quickest!  This week's winner is SirMeatwad!  Congratulations!  Here's the answer, just outside of Oatmeal's place:

If you want to see the original puzzle, click here. If you want to get in on the next Wednesday game, you can read the competition rules here.  

GazerCraft is on Youtube

Our very own Arrowninja has started a let's play series about his time on GazerCraft.  His soothing voice and quick wit makes it a good watch.  Check it out!

Special Rewards

To encourage villages/towns/tribes/etc. to start making and updating webpages, Z and Otter are offering a special prize to anyone who gets their page together by the end of May!

If you're web savvy, you can make a page from scratch, use a social media profile, OR you can fill out a form and have Otter do it for you.  Read this page for your options:

Make a town page!

If you haven't already, you can also make a town banner for an additional reward.  If your town already has a banner, please let Otter know who created it by writing her a letter.  Read here for instructions:

Make a town banner!

For the time being, only the creators of the page and banner will get the reward, but will be given a little something extra if they feel so inclined to share. :)

Server Status Update

Current list of civilizations:

------------------------------------------------------------------

Stoneheart  400,500

Led by robertej09

------------------------------------------------------------------

Oblivion  -100,-115

Led by Nissan24zero24

------------------------------------------------------------------

Zotterdale  1100,800

Led by ltaggz3

------------------------------------------------------------------

CRMville  -300,-900

Led by CRM31367

------------------------------------------------------------------

Haven  -400,500

Led by tpeep

------------------------------------------------------------------

Settlements & Independents: 

Auriel  -280,-2

Paccina  1020,-420

Mourningwood  1650,-660

Sanctuary  -240,-200

Smoulderhelm  0,800

Koldby -750,350 - Player

Mal's Place -613,-151 - Player

------------------------------------------------------------------

Make a Town Page

Our lovely Nikki (DynamicDolphin) has suggested that each group have the opportunity to create their own page for the site!  To get started, head over to this page (located under "Community Directory" on the right) and fill out the form.  You supply the text and Otter will do the rest!

If you are web savvy, you can also create your own webpage on a different provider and Otter will link it for you under the directory.  Some examples of free hosts you can use are:

• Weebly
• http://www.weebly.com/
• Free Website Builder
• http://www.webs.com/
• Wix
• http://www.wix.com/
• Yola
• https://www.yola.com/
• Webklik (Dutch)
• http://www.webklik.nl/

Or, if you would prefer something a little more user friendly, you can opt for a social media blog:

• Tumblr
• https://www.tumblr.com/
• Facebook Pages
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/
• Twitter
• https://twitter.com/
• Blogspot
• https://www.blogger.com/home

Finally, if you haven't already, don't forget to create a banner for your group.  It's a great way to advertise and get more members, keep your group organized, and let others know about the goings on in your sub-community.

Create a banner!

Here are some fancy examples of what our community has already.

Advertise Your Place!

Would you like a way to advertise your group for free?  Rank (city, settlement, independent tribe, etc.) doesn't matter -- all are welcome to participate!  Create an banner for your group and it will be randomly appear at the top of the server's website as people browse through the pages.

Here's what you do:

1. Right click and save this template.  
   
2. All banner ads must be no larger than 830x50 pixels and should be in the shape of a rounded rectangle.  Transparent backgrounds are appreciated so we don't have those white squared off corners.
3. Create your image.  This can consist of screen shots, words, or your own graphics.  The ad must use appropriate language and images.  While our server chat has a PG-13 rating, banner ads should be G to PG rated.
4. Your group's name must be visible on the ad.  It's also recommended that you include your group's coordinates. 
5. Please do not put the rank of your group (settlement, village, town, city, etc.), just the name.  This way, if your group gets promoted/demoted, you will not have to redo the entire image or have an outdated banner ad.  
6. Save your image as a .gif.  
7. Contact Otterun to figure out how to send the image to her.  

We can't wait to see your amazing banners!

If you need help getting started, try Googling a banner generator.  Here are some free sites you can try:

Banner Fans
http://www.bannerfans.com/banner_maker.php 

Fotor Banner Maker
http://banner.fotor.com/

HTML5 Animation
http://html5maker.com/

Webestools
http://www.webestools.com/banner-animated-maker-generator-gif-banners-free-online.html