@findekano which high ranking people have't read Tolkien's books (not because it matters, I just want to pester them to read the books).
My 2 cents on the whitelist removal:
Obviously, this is a significant event, although I don't think it's especially problematic. I would think (no verified facts here) that the whitelist was originally enabled when the server was very new, as there were probably no sophisticated anti-griefing plugins. However, we now have WorldGuard and Hawkeye, so it is significantly easier to enforce anti-griefing rules.
I agree that the whitelist somewhat ensures dedication to the server, but it was not super effective. Think about how many people (around 10,000 I think) bothered to fill out the application only to play on the server one or two times and leave. That said, I'm not criticizing the whitelist application, and there was no problem with it, but only stating what happened. With the whitelist removal, the "average dedication" among new players may decrease, but, in my opinion, it will by no means be detrimental to the server as a whole.
Besides, we'll spread our awesomeness to more people
My 2 cents on the whitelist removal:
Obviously, this is a significant event, although I don't think it's especially problematic. I would think (no verified facts here) that the whitelist was originally enabled when the server was very new, as there were probably no sophisticated anti-griefing plugins. However, we now have WorldGuard and Hawkeye, so it is significantly easier to enforce anti-griefing rules.
I agree that the whitelist somewhat ensures dedication to the server, but it was not super effective. Think about how many people (around 10,000 I think) bothered to fill out the application only to play on the server one or two times and leave. That said, I'm not criticizing the whitelist application, and there was no problem with it, but only stating what happened. With the whitelist removal, the "average dedication" among new players may decrease, but, in my opinion, it will by no means be detrimental to the server as a whole.
Besides, we'll spread our awesomeness to more people