haloman30

+ Launched the Chaotic United Wiki - Removed Killerteddy

This update includes changes from earlier on in the week. * Updated BoatRace to 1.1.4 * Updated GibCraft to 1.1.1 * Updated CUCraftingPlus to 1.3.19 * Fixed an issue with BoatRace and GibCraft where clicking the join signs would show a sign edit prompt * Fixed an issue where Durite Elytra would not be properly repaired when enchanted with Mending - Removed Killerteddy

+ Added /localwarps command - Can be used to show warps local to the current server + Added an additional checkpoint to Hardcore Temple to aid in navigation * Updated CUBungee to 1.6.4 * Player first join date/time is now displayed in /gseen * Marked several legacy warps as unlisted: benefactor2, chocolaterain, NDsurvival, penisbay - Removed Killerteddy

* Updated PGGrifblock to 1.0.5 * Updated CUMobArena to 1.0.3 * Fixed an issue where Grifblock and MobArena join signs would sometimes allow the sign to be edited - Removed Killerteddy

* Improved performance when loading homepage * News & Announcements topic thumbnails now have new URLs in order to allow for thumbnailing - Removed Killerteddy

This changelog includes changes from the previous several days. * Updated CUCraftingPlus to 1.3.18 * Fixed an issue where Observers would not detect Note Block state changes properly * Restored normal, non-April-fools hub - Removed some personal signs from Semi-Vanilla spawn - Removed Killerteddy

This is actually something we're already planning on implementing relatively soon - SkyBlock will end up with a standard economy, with the ability to buy or sell cobblestone for 1$ per block. The only reason we had the cobblestone economy stuff in the first place was due to a technical limitation we had earlier on, before we migrated to a BungeeCord setup. As of now, however, those limitations don't apply - and as such we're gonna be transitioning SkyBlock over pretty soon, once we get a new SkyBlock spawn completed in order to accomodate a larger shop, along with some other stuff we've got planned.

+ Added new hub which is clearly superior in every way imaginable * Platinum can now spawn in GUI_NUMBER_# (where # can be 0-9) items using /item * Updated CUChestShop to 1.0.1 * Fixed an issue where chestshops could be purchased from in Survival - Removed Killerteddy

+ Added /hookshotplayers command - Behaves identically to /cucp hookshotplayers + Added End Gateway to UtilityBlocks, under Technical Blocks category * Updated CUCraftingPlus to 1.3.17 * Fixed an issue where GriefPrevention claims in Survival would not claim any blocks below Y level 0 * Custom blocks which are non-interactive and Note Block based can now be pushed with pistons * Fixed an issue where blocks with rotation, direction, and/or orientation properties (Observers, Furnaces, stairs, slabs, etc) would not have the correct data when placed against a custom block * Fixed an issue where certain blocks could be improperly placed against custom blocks (many of these blocks will now simply refuse to be placed without sneaking) * Disabled note block update events in paper configuration in Survival (allows for some of the above issues to be resolved) - Removed Killerteddy

+ Added Shoutbox Archive + Added Chatbox Archive (newer Shoutbox from 2016 onwards) + Added links to Shoutbox and Chatbox archives to About > History > Extras page - Removed Killerteddy

* Fixed an issue where Retired could not use unsafe enchantments using /enchant - Removed Killerteddy

- Disabled/hid the second "Store" navbar item - Removed Killerteddy

* Fixed an issue where ranks were not automatically rewarded when purchased from the store * Fixed an issue where valued playtime was not added to a player when purchasing a rank from the store * Fixed an issue where daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly playtime amounts were not being properly saved after a BungeeCord restart * Fixed an issue where in-game broadcasts were not being displayed upon someone making a purchase from the store - Removed Killerteddy

+ Added 'Report a Bug' link to footer navigation * Fixed broken footer navigation link: 'Appeal a Ban' * Fixed broken footer navigation link: 'Submit a Report' * Changed 'Submit a Report' footer link title to 'Report a Player' * Updated Purchase Terms * Updated Donation Rank Perk Guidelines (now referred to as Server Rank Perk Guidelines) to remove references to donations - Removed Killerteddy

* Updated "Donate Now" block on the forum index to no longer use donate terminology * Updated Donate footer links to instead display as Store - Removed Killerteddy

* Changed Wither Hunter challenge to always drop a Nether Star on completion and repeat, rather than being restricted to a 5% chance - Removed Killerteddy

* Changed "Sales Goal" block title to "Purchase Goal" * Increased purchase goal from $50 to $160 - Removed Killerteddy

* Changed "Donate" navbar item to "Store" * Changed Store navbar item link from https://donate.chaoticunited.net/ to https://store.chaoticunited.net/ * Updated most references to "donate" on MC store to be analogous to "purchase" * Changed store subdomain from donate.chaoticunited.net to store.chaoticunited.net * Updated Purchase Terms (formerly Donation Terms) - Removed Killerteddy

Hey, everyone! Today, we're introducing some changes to our donation store - or more accurately, our Minecraft store. While these are mostly minor changes, they're representative of more of a shift in how we want things like disguises, ranks, etc. to be viewed - which as you'll find, is also not really much of an actual change at all. What exactly do I mean by this? Well, let's dig in and find out. The Donation Store The biggest change you may or may not notice is that, in most places, the store is no longer referred to as a "donation store", and purchasing ranks is no longer referred to as "donating" - instead, it's just a store, and you're buying ranks. This is something that we're going to continue to gradually refer to the store as going forward - though after over 10 years of using the donation terminology, you're likely to catch myself or someone else slip up now and again. It also turns out that this is something we've actually formally announced before - almost four years ago to be exact - and then I simply forgot. Whoops - better late than never So - why the change? What was the issue with the donation terminology? After all, I'm a big fan of avoiding needless change, and it's easy to read this as minor, needless change - and some might see this type of change as not even warranting a dedicated announcement either. Inaccuracy and Dishonesty Well, for starters, it's dishonest and inaccurate. In the earlier years of Minecraft servers, it was common for donations to be marketed - and in some cases this was even true - as being used to help fund the server. The implication that came with that is that, if there weren't enough donations, the server might not stick around. Some servers even used this as a means of avoiding having to report these "donations" on their tax returns - which is of course against the law. While smaller, obscure servers that didn't get much, if anything in donations, didn't really have any reason to worry about this - for medium to large servers (or servers which brought in a more meaningful amount of revenue), this is a much bigger issue and could result in legal action (though technically, even small and obscure servers are required to report them regardless - I am not a lawyer, so don't use this as legal advice). Clearly, though - that isn't the case here. Chaotic United isn't going anywhere, with or without a bunch of frequent donations. Would it be great if we could reach a point where donations could solely fund the server costs? Of course, and this is even something we hope to see happen someday - but for the time being, and likely for the foreseeable future, the server is going to stick around despite that. Profit Motives The other big part of this is that, in many cases, the "donation" terminology is something used by non-profit organizations. Here's the thing, though - effective last year, Chaotic United is, effectively, part of Elaztek Studios - a legally registered, honest-to-goodness LLC, which is most certainly a for-profit company. This doesn't have any practical effect, of course - I'm the sole owner of Elaztek, and this is something that will almost certainly never change for as long as both it and myself exist. It does mean, however, is that we do need to be at least a bit more careful with this type of stuff. It's somewhat risky to use the term donation in the way that we use it - and many servers over the years specifically went the route of calling their purchases "donations" for tax purposes. Trouble is, that doesn't actually work, and isn't valid - it's revenue. And unless you do in fact operate a server as a real non-profit organization, it doesn't matter what you call it. The Reality The biggest piece of the puzzle, though, is that it just isn't representative of what these purchases actually are in the first place. For as long as I've been Owner, these "donations" aren't inherently used to contribute to server bills or server-specific improvements. I've always reserved the right, at least up until early 2020 to do what I please with "donation" money. The flipside of this coin, however, is that I'll continue to spend money out of my own pocket to keep things afloat. In essence, the same amount of dollars are going to the same places - it's just that in the case of CU, there's basically zero consideration or care as to where those specific dollars came from. This did change very slightly in early 2020 - where it turned out that we had poorly communicated this fact, both to players and even some staff members - which resulted in some strong reactions from both. Comparisons were even drawn with Killerteddy1 - the previous and infamous owner of Chaotic United from 2011 to 2014 - who was known to have abused donation money. For a brief period of time, it looked as though I was doing the same exact thing - which saw both a temporary offer for a donation refund - regardless of purchase time - as well as the introduction of a new option during checkout. The option asked the user to select where they wanted their donation to be directed - either towards the server, or to whatever I deemed appropriate, with the specific example being "a pizza or whatever". This option was mostly ignored, with a select few opting for their donation to go directly towards the server - and technically, this is what happened. However, meaningfully, this didn't really have any tangible impact for the same reasons outlined before. The costs to operate CU are not small, and have mostly only grown with time. Approximately $160 USD is spent monthly for all core service costs as of writing, not accounting for the various domain names we hold. The reality is that any purchases and donations brought in are absolutely not sufficient to cover this - which is okay. As mentioned - we've always operated on the assumption that, to properly keep things funded, we have to be able to eat those costs personally. This was a decision I made at the start - with the idea being that perhaps we could avoid an over-reliance on donation funds, which could lead to disaster if we reached a point of success, only to then have those funds dry up. The Changes So - with all of that said, what's actually changing? For starters, as stated before - we'll be moving away from using the term "donation" in relation to the ranks, disguises, any any future items that are made available on the store. You might still see it here and there - but in general, we'll be avoiding using the donation-specific terminology going forward. Additionally, we'll be removing the "How would you like the donation to be used?" question during checkout. It's largely been useless for a while, regardless - and going forward, we won't be making any promises or guarantees as to where the funds from various purchases are directed. They may go towards Chaotic United bills, they may go towards Elaztek Studios expenses, or they could end up being withdrawn and set aside for personal use by myself or others. If that's something you aren't cool with, I understand - however, in this case, the only guidance I can provide is simply to not purchase anything from the store. That may seem a bit harsh perhaps, but there's no real alternative. And as I've said before - in essence, at this small stage, nothing meaningfully changes as a result of this change. Lastly, the primary URL for the store has been changed from https://donate.chaoticunited.net to https://store.chaoticunited.net/. The old https://donate.chaoticunited.net has been configured to redirect, and that's likely how it'll be staying. Along with this, we've made some minor revisions to the Donation Terms (now referred to as Purchase Terms) - mostly in order to migrate away from the donate terminology, but also to clarify and add a couple other details as well. One thing that will not be changing, however, are the rank names - while they're mostly based on the donation terminology, there's no legal issue here - and we believe it's still quite clear that you're purchasing a rank, regardless of what it might be called. Plus - these rank names date back to the old Chaotic United, as far back as 2011/2012 - so it's a bit late to change them, right? So, yeah - that's pretty much it. It might seem like a pretty long-winded post for seemingly such a minor change, but we believe it's important to be transparent and open - and we can easily imagine that some folks might in fact see this as a more significant change, and as such, we don't want to just silently sweep it under the rug without being upfront about the changes, and why they're being made. If you've got any concerns or questions, feel free to reach out, either here on the replies below or on our Discord server!

Accepted! Thank you for applying, you've been accepted! Enjoy your time here at Chaotic United! For a list of the perks you get for registering, check out this page. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! Also, please make sure you've read the rules found here and you can vote for us here. Notes:

Includes changes from 3/14 and 3/15 + Added ability for Nether Gold Ore to generate when breaking Netherrack in SkyBlock, with a 3% chance + Added ability for Ancient Debris to generate when breaking Netherrack in SkyBlock, with a 0.1% chance + Added ability for Soul Soil to generate when breaking Netherrack, Gravel, and Soul Sand in SkyBlock * Blue Orchid is now obtainable via Glassmaker challenge in SkyBlock * Increased buy/sell quantity of Prismarine Shards in SkyBlock from 4 to 16 * Reduced sell price of Oak, Dark Oak, Jungle, Spruce, Birch, Acacia from 32 to 16 * Reduced chance of generating Nether Quartz Ore in SkyBlock from 5% to 3% - Removed Killerteddy

* Changed CAPTCHA type from reCAPTCHA v2 to hCaptcha - Removed Killerteddy

Accepted! Thank you for applying, you've been accepted! Enjoy your time here at Chaotic United! For a list of the perks you get for registering, check out this page. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! Also, please make sure you've read the rules found here and you can vote for us here. Notes: