Hi all,
Finally posting the answers to some questions from the AMA that Fugitive collected a couple weeks ago! Let's get right into it
Q: What led you to start your journey on Op blocks? When did you start playing Minecraft?
I actually joined OPBlocks season 1 when the previous owner Trkey first launched the server! He was showing it to me way back then and I logged on to check it out, but I wasn't a player at the time as I owned another server. I first started playing Minecraft in 2010 I believe but I really didn't play it much, just some single player on my laptop when I was in school. In summer 2019 Trkey was looking to sell OPBlocks as he was very busy with his other networks, and I decided to purchase it and take over.
Q: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This question is impossible! Instead I'll say that some of my favorite meals are steak and potatoes, Parmesan chicken, any type of cake, and certain types of seafood like crab and sea bass.
Q: How did you become the owner or a big minecraft server?
Originally I owned the minecraft network Gotpvp and I created it in 2013 with a friend of mine, but he left soon after and I was the sole owner. It grew up to 3000 players in 2014 and was very successful at the time! I quit Minecraft servers around 2018 when I sold Gotpvp and didn't get back into owning them until 2019 when I purchased OPBlocks from the previous owner. I've just been steady working on it non stop since then improving it every day and every new season!
Q: Pineapple pizza? Yes or no?
Yes, on occasion, definitely not every time. Once in a while type of pizza.
Q: What's your favorite animal?
Penguin!
Q: Do you have any advice for starting a server?
It's a lot of hard work and you need to realize that going in. You need a budget as well. You'll have to host the server through a paid service. You'll need a developer as well if you don't want to use all public plugins. I recommend trying to map out a "business plan" before you ever start one if your goal is to have a monetized network that sustains itself instead of a single fun server to play with your friends.
Q: If you could do anything you wanted for one day without punishments, what would the top 3 things that you would do be.
I am legally obligated to not answer this question.
Q: Other than partnership what will be done to bring more people to play OPBlocks?
YouTube partnerships are the primary methods to grow servers these days. I also want to use sponsored listings on voting websites, which we have done in the past. Organic growth is best though so always invite your friends and get them to join our lovely community!
Q: What's coming in the following updates for when Lollipop and Caramel Prison are reset?
New content! New features! I can't give away any spoilers early you know that
Q: What video games other than minecraft do you play if there is any?
Mostly just Super Smash Brothers Melee for Gamecube, which I play semi competitively with friends. I used to play League of Legends quite often but I take long breaks from playing it and haven't touched it in a while. Occasionally I'll replay some of my classic all times favorites such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or just mess around on Counter Strike Source modded servers.
Q: Will Factions ever come back? I truly enjoyed my experience on factions and it was a lot of fun to play as a team to reach a goal.
Currently there are no plans to add a Factions server to OPBlocks. I know this is something a small portion of the community wants to see added back, but right now it's just not in the cards for us. We need to grow Prison and Skyblock significantly before we can consider adding a third game mode.
Q: If I remember correctly, you've owned/managed minecraft servers since you were about 18. What are some of the largest challenges you've had to overcome during your long time in this sort of position.
Honestly just learning to manage people and get rid of my own ego was the hard part. When you put an 18 year old in charge of thousands of players and dozens of staff members it's not exactly the best recipe for success. I had to learn to grow myself as a person to be able to handle the responsibilities that this type of job entails. It's truly a tremendous amount of work to create high quality game modes, manage a player base, and manage a staff team at the same time; all while also running a development team and working with content creation partners. Luckily I've had many many years to get good at it!
Q: Have you gone on a cruise? If so how many? And what’s your favorite cruise line?
Yes I've been on quite a few cruises since I live in Florida, it's very common for people here to do quick weekend vacations on cruise lines. I've probably been on less than 10 in my lifetime though. I'd say Royal Caribbean is my favorite out of the cruises I've tried so far.
Q: Why don't you buy Gotpvp back?
You might want to check the announcements over there! I didn't purchase the network but I will be in charge of all its operations moving forward.
Q: When in the final development stages of making a server what are the best ways to do testing?
This is a two fold question. The best way to test initial issues is to get your staff team online and run through all your plugins, anything that has changed since the last season, any new code, etc. You need to insure that everything functions as it should and test for "edge case" scenarios that might not normally occur, but a player may be likely to find by using the feature incorrectly or attempting to exploit it. The second part is that some things just can't be tested before launch. Many time you really can't see how code performs until the server is under load from hundreds of players, and in that scenario you're kind of stuck having to optimize and make changes after the fact.
Q: What is your favorite part about being the owner of OPBlocks?
Receiving positive feedback and happy messages from players that enjoy the game modes we create
Q: What do you do everyday, and what do you do for the server?
Well just like anyone else I eat, sleep, hang out with friends, play video games, watch movies, etc. The server is my full time job so I'm usually online a solid 10-12 hours a day working on it or just being available for players / staff / whoever needs me. The main portion of my tasks are working directly with the development team to coordinate feature creation, bug fixes, player reports, etc. The other portion is working with admins to develop new ideas and resolve staff or player issues. I also am in charge of handling partnerships with content creators such as Jerome.
Q: Will perks bought from the store carry over to next season?
Yes, all perks purchased on the store carry over to next season including ranks, titles, cosmetics, commands, etc. The only things that do not carry over are consumable items such as crate keys, servants, mob/crop hoppers, etc.
Q: Do you really own a yacht? And can I have a ride on it if you do?
Ha! Where do these rumors even start? Staff members see me on a big boat on Snapchat one day and suddenly assume I own a yacht. Crazy, heck no, I wish.
Q: Has anything you learned in school helped you with your job or day to day life today?
School for me was more about "learning how to learn" for the rest of your life. I was lucky enough to have a private school education at a very good school and that was the philosophy they pushed on all their students. Teach the student how to teach themselves and they will be a life long learner with a thirst for self improvement and knowledge. I wouldn't say I learned any particular skills in school that help me in my job, but I did learn some methodology that I agree with and try to use in my life.
That's gonna wrap it all up everyone, thank you for submitting questions and I apologize if your submission was not answered, but many of them were repeats and some were inappropriate! Thanks for reading
Finally posting the answers to some questions from the AMA that Fugitive collected a couple weeks ago! Let's get right into it
Q: What led you to start your journey on Op blocks? When did you start playing Minecraft?
I actually joined OPBlocks season 1 when the previous owner Trkey first launched the server! He was showing it to me way back then and I logged on to check it out, but I wasn't a player at the time as I owned another server. I first started playing Minecraft in 2010 I believe but I really didn't play it much, just some single player on my laptop when I was in school. In summer 2019 Trkey was looking to sell OPBlocks as he was very busy with his other networks, and I decided to purchase it and take over.
Q: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This question is impossible! Instead I'll say that some of my favorite meals are steak and potatoes, Parmesan chicken, any type of cake, and certain types of seafood like crab and sea bass.
Q: How did you become the owner or a big minecraft server?
Originally I owned the minecraft network Gotpvp and I created it in 2013 with a friend of mine, but he left soon after and I was the sole owner. It grew up to 3000 players in 2014 and was very successful at the time! I quit Minecraft servers around 2018 when I sold Gotpvp and didn't get back into owning them until 2019 when I purchased OPBlocks from the previous owner. I've just been steady working on it non stop since then improving it every day and every new season!
Q: Pineapple pizza? Yes or no?
Yes, on occasion, definitely not every time. Once in a while type of pizza.
Q: What's your favorite animal?
Penguin!
Q: Do you have any advice for starting a server?
It's a lot of hard work and you need to realize that going in. You need a budget as well. You'll have to host the server through a paid service. You'll need a developer as well if you don't want to use all public plugins. I recommend trying to map out a "business plan" before you ever start one if your goal is to have a monetized network that sustains itself instead of a single fun server to play with your friends.
Q: If you could do anything you wanted for one day without punishments, what would the top 3 things that you would do be.
I am legally obligated to not answer this question.
Q: Other than partnership what will be done to bring more people to play OPBlocks?
YouTube partnerships are the primary methods to grow servers these days. I also want to use sponsored listings on voting websites, which we have done in the past. Organic growth is best though so always invite your friends and get them to join our lovely community!
Q: What's coming in the following updates for when Lollipop and Caramel Prison are reset?
New content! New features! I can't give away any spoilers early you know that
Q: What video games other than minecraft do you play if there is any?
Mostly just Super Smash Brothers Melee for Gamecube, which I play semi competitively with friends. I used to play League of Legends quite often but I take long breaks from playing it and haven't touched it in a while. Occasionally I'll replay some of my classic all times favorites such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or just mess around on Counter Strike Source modded servers.
Q: Will Factions ever come back? I truly enjoyed my experience on factions and it was a lot of fun to play as a team to reach a goal.
Currently there are no plans to add a Factions server to OPBlocks. I know this is something a small portion of the community wants to see added back, but right now it's just not in the cards for us. We need to grow Prison and Skyblock significantly before we can consider adding a third game mode.
Q: If I remember correctly, you've owned/managed minecraft servers since you were about 18. What are some of the largest challenges you've had to overcome during your long time in this sort of position.
Honestly just learning to manage people and get rid of my own ego was the hard part. When you put an 18 year old in charge of thousands of players and dozens of staff members it's not exactly the best recipe for success. I had to learn to grow myself as a person to be able to handle the responsibilities that this type of job entails. It's truly a tremendous amount of work to create high quality game modes, manage a player base, and manage a staff team at the same time; all while also running a development team and working with content creation partners. Luckily I've had many many years to get good at it!
Q: Have you gone on a cruise? If so how many? And what’s your favorite cruise line?
Yes I've been on quite a few cruises since I live in Florida, it's very common for people here to do quick weekend vacations on cruise lines. I've probably been on less than 10 in my lifetime though. I'd say Royal Caribbean is my favorite out of the cruises I've tried so far.
Q: Why don't you buy Gotpvp back?
You might want to check the announcements over there! I didn't purchase the network but I will be in charge of all its operations moving forward.
Q: When in the final development stages of making a server what are the best ways to do testing?
This is a two fold question. The best way to test initial issues is to get your staff team online and run through all your plugins, anything that has changed since the last season, any new code, etc. You need to insure that everything functions as it should and test for "edge case" scenarios that might not normally occur, but a player may be likely to find by using the feature incorrectly or attempting to exploit it. The second part is that some things just can't be tested before launch. Many time you really can't see how code performs until the server is under load from hundreds of players, and in that scenario you're kind of stuck having to optimize and make changes after the fact.
Q: What is your favorite part about being the owner of OPBlocks?
Receiving positive feedback and happy messages from players that enjoy the game modes we create
Q: What do you do everyday, and what do you do for the server?
Well just like anyone else I eat, sleep, hang out with friends, play video games, watch movies, etc. The server is my full time job so I'm usually online a solid 10-12 hours a day working on it or just being available for players / staff / whoever needs me. The main portion of my tasks are working directly with the development team to coordinate feature creation, bug fixes, player reports, etc. The other portion is working with admins to develop new ideas and resolve staff or player issues. I also am in charge of handling partnerships with content creators such as Jerome.
Q: Will perks bought from the store carry over to next season?
Yes, all perks purchased on the store carry over to next season including ranks, titles, cosmetics, commands, etc. The only things that do not carry over are consumable items such as crate keys, servants, mob/crop hoppers, etc.
Q: Do you really own a yacht? And can I have a ride on it if you do?
Ha! Where do these rumors even start? Staff members see me on a big boat on Snapchat one day and suddenly assume I own a yacht. Crazy, heck no, I wish.
Q: Has anything you learned in school helped you with your job or day to day life today?
School for me was more about "learning how to learn" for the rest of your life. I was lucky enough to have a private school education at a very good school and that was the philosophy they pushed on all their students. Teach the student how to teach themselves and they will be a life long learner with a thirst for self improvement and knowledge. I wouldn't say I learned any particular skills in school that help me in my job, but I did learn some methodology that I agree with and try to use in my life.
That's gonna wrap it all up everyone, thank you for submitting questions and I apologize if your submission was not answered, but many of them were repeats and some were inappropriate! Thanks for reading
