Expansion Update:
Here are all the current updates that have been released so far:

The first part to the Expansion update was the introduction of the server partners. Yes, those pink guys that y'all have been seeing on discord recently. These server partners are heads from other servers that MCME are now working with, and NO this is not a merge with any other servers, for more information read this: ~Server Partners~
The next part to the Expansion update is the Promotion programme, this is about making a Promotion for MCME that can be used to promote the server, hence the name promotion, for more information read here:
~Promotion Program~
Next up is the Realism guides! This is the 3rd part to the Expansion update, this is about creating a guide for players to follow to ensure uniformity and quality. For more information read here:
~Realism Guides~
And last(for now) but by no means least is the Instructor programme, this program is the biggest and most unique part of the Expansion update, this programme allows Artist+ to become an instructor due to their leadership, loyalty and building experience, for more information about this programme read here:
~MCME Instructor~

Ship Build
The ship build at /warp shipplots is ongoing, currently focusing on small cargo ships for DA and the surrounding area. The plot build is only open to Aritst+ at the moment but more is coming soon! If you haven’t built ships before or you’re a little out of practice @BWOT and @didi will be around to help you through! There is a set style so be sure to look at the example and the other ships being built.

BWOT has made a plot which has all the technical aspects you need to follow in order to have a plot. Didi has also set up a board on top of the area for the ship build, so if you do want to build a ship; make sure to tell him or BWOT. BWOT or didi will give you details of a ship (richness level, sail color and blocks they would like you to use). BWOT’s plot will show you how to mark that you're done, when you are make sure to message didi or BWOT and they’ll check your ship, accept it and copy!

For a little more advice check out the original post: https://www.mcmiddleearth.com/threads/ship-building.4589/

Become a Patreon
Everyone, this is a link to our patreon page, we would love to see some donations to benefit the community!
q220 are creating Minecraft Middle Earth | Patreon

Looking for Texturers
Calling out to all texturers! We need more people to make the new 32 px textures! So if any of yall are interested contact BWOT on discord or the forums (usually he replies).

If you have not textured before that's okay, contact me and eventually with practise and a bit of guidance you will get better. This can be done by any rank, so if you want to help the server and are not at a building rank on the server this could be your chance.

Looking for experienced builders to revamp Builder School
BWOT here again looking for experienced builders, so that I can form a team with the objective of revamping the builder school. It is going to work with a program which will be released soon by the staff team. However it is not fully ready and still needs a bit more time to plan. Be ready though for some new things.

Soon it’s Easter...

…and I (Finrod) will be abroad enjoying some calm days far off any big settlement at my grandparents house in Austria (no, that’s not the one with the kangaroos), so I most likely won’t really be able to organize an Easter Egg Hunt this year… If anyone always wanted to host this event, feel free to step in, and I promise you: There’s nothing more fun to see other people voluntarily driving themselves insane over some completely trivial riddles.



One rank update and that is going to be @Driffen who is now part of the Purple Legion.
Your Final Challenge plot was amazing, I hope to see some great things coming from you soon!


Players applying for artist: Please update your application or we will not respond as it usually shows you do not have a strong interest for the rank!

Hold on, not so quickly! In fact we do have a rank update and that is the return of @bobingvar! You’ll be seeing him as an Artist for now, but I am sure he’s secretly heading for Eru Ilúvatar...



Now as it will become a custom we have two interviews; the “First Impressions Interview” and the “Meet the Regulars Interview”. BWOT and LegoCellist (our newest editor) will be interviewing a new adventurer about their experience on MCME. But on this edition of the Times, I (awaywind) the true Queen of the server, will be interviewing our regular. Our regular this edition is one of our beloved Commoners, and not one of the annoying ones, Andrewpioneer!

Interview with @Andrewpioneer

Question 1: How did you find MCME?
I found Minecraft Middle Earth on PlanetMinecraft almost a year ago, I was looking for a Middle Earth themed server to explore and maybe help out with.

Question 2: What was your experience like as an Adventurer?
I found my experience as an adventurer to be quite enjoyable. Everyone is helpful and I found when I first joined the were a lot more job opportunities, especially in Moira: ruining houses in the Chamber of Light. I was only an adventurer for a short period of time, about 4 days or so, so other then my first two theme builds and the jobs I did with Thomas I don't have many other experiences as an Adventurer.

Question 3: What made you want to become a Commoner?
I wanted to become a commoner mainly due to the fact that whenever I would join the server so many people were in Freebuild so I guess I’d say that was what gave me the drive to want to become commoner the most, being able to use freebuild.

Question 4: What is your favorite thing about being an Commoner?
My favorite aspect of being a commoner is to be able to build in freebuild at my leisure and I also like the balance struck in the role: I’m able to help out in jobs fairly regularly but am not expected to fulfill any major tasks around the server. I think it’s the perfect place for me and I have no plans on changing it.

Question 5: Where is your favorite place on MCME?
I think my favorite place on MCME would have to be Edoras. I’m a big fan of rustic builds, especially structures with thatch roofs, and I find that it’s one of the few places on MCME that is built in a style similar to the ones I use outside of the server.

awaywind: Edoras is such a beautiful city, thank you!

Question 6: Who is your favorite character in LOTR or the Hobbit?
I’m not the biggest Tolkien fan as I haven’t read any of the books and haven’t explored the extended universe, so most of what I know and love about Arda comes from the films. I’d have to say my favorite character is Gimli though. I don’t have any clue why, there’s just something about him I quite like.

First Impressions Interview

This is this week's “First Impressions Interview”, by BWOT and LegoCellist. This is not the newest adventurer on the server, but big thanks to @blessinjae31 for being available, willing, and for taking the time to answer these questions.

Question 1: How did you find the server?
I found it on the web as I looked for reconstructions of Middle Earth. Needless to say, I found what I looked for.

Question 2: What were your impressions of the community on the server when you first joined?
The community was super friendly, but what really distinguished it was its knowledge of the lore of the Lord of the Rings and the mutual cooperation and respect the players had for each other, working together to build projects.

Question 3: What was your impression of our finished projects; Minas Tirith and the Shire?
The finished projects are absolutely beautiful. My favorite is probably Minas Tirith.

Question 4: What was your impression of our current projects such as Dol Amroth, Moria and technically Mordor?
I really like Dol Amroth, I just can't wait for it to be less laggy. Mordor and Moria, I'm very excited to see what direction they take in the future.

Question 5: So overall what was your impression of MCME?
My overall impression of MCME is that it is extremely well-coordinated and one would need a lot of passion to put so much time in it. I hope to see it continue to grow in the future.

Thank you again @blessinjae13!
-LegoCellist


So we got some good ones as always. Make sure you show some special recognition towards the winners of the week! They’ve presented exemplary displays of our server’s creative potential! Give a hand to these winners!

MEDIA OF THE WEEK:
This weeks media of the week goes to…*Drumroll please*...@JustJoren. This is a stunning picture of the West Side of The Anduin. So congrats Joren for this awesome picture.



THEME-BUILD OF THE WEEK:
This edition we will still have two winners as that means one for each week and therefore thembuild. For the themebuild of last week, Palace of the Grey Havens we have @Neuton88. He did a great job at creating his own version of the palace, well done!


Now for the winner of the Morgai bridge theme-build …. It’s @UrmelAusDemIce. He did a magnificent job in creating this theme-build so congrats to him!


Hey everyone I (super) am back again to make another announcement about theme-builds. Please, please, people can you at least try to work or complete your theme-builds! (and no I will not stop until I see more and more theme-builds to choose from for the times)

Another thing is that these have to be used in Artist Applications so it's better to practice if you want to become a builder on our server.

FREEBUILD OF THE WEEK:
For this Edition’s “Freebuild of the Week”, I (Super) would like to showcase Denbigh Asylum, built by @Robz. You can find this amazing build at /warp asylum.



Themed Build
Theme: Great chamber of Thór
Resource Pack: Dwarven
Duration: 1 week
Link: #11/18 - Great Chamber of Thrór


MCME Audiobook
The Audiobook, hosted by @TI_020601 is taking a break as TI has now completed reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and refuses to read the Silmarillion as it is “too boring” therefore the Audiobook will not continue on Saturdays unless announced otherwise in this thread: The New Audio Book



Hello! Lore master Smaug here. When I was asked to write the lore section this week, I was stuck for ideas. So, to challenge myself, I asked for any random topic. That topic was boats, so therefore I am now writing a lore section on boats!

Boats
Although I could write many more things about boats, such as the Swan Ships and Vingilotë, I only have time to write one thing so I am writing about possibly the worst boating disaster in The Shire! One day, Frodo’s parents Drogo and Primula were out boating on a river and they suffered a terrible accident and unfortunately they both drowned. However, they was a lot of speculation in the Shire of whether it really was an accident? Some hobbits say that it was Drogo’s very heavy weight that sank the boat which caused the couple to drown. Other hobbits say that one pushed the other in the river and they got pulled in with them.

What do you think happened? Voice your opinion and reply to the thread, or send @Smaug_Niphredil your opinion on the forums or Discord.



VICTIM MISTOOK JEWEL THIEF FOR A STRIPPER

Local property owner Morgoth Bauglir, formerly Melkor of the Ainur, claims that he didn’t have any suspicions about an unnamed woman who bypassed the security systems of his dark fortress and got all the way to his living room before attracting attention.

“Look, I thought she was a stripper,” Bauglir claimed. “She danced really pretty, and she did this thing with her hair in front of her face, and she even sang – no of ******* course I don’t remember what it was about, do I look like I keep track of those kinds of things? Why are you even still here? Why is no one looking for my Silmaril?”

Primary suspect Luthien Tinuviel and an unnamed accomplice, a mortal man tentatively identified as trespasser and would-be kidnapper Beren Camlost, escaped Bauglir’s home with a jewel rumored to be worth the loyalty of four Fëanorians. Camlost allegedly slept through the heist, though Tinuviel woke him in time to make their escape.

Further damages were incurred to Bauglir’s face and his prized guard-dog Carcharoth, last seen fleeing the scene with a bloody mouth. Tinuviel is also suspected of arson at Tol-in-Gaurhoth earlier this month.

Bauglir’s lieutenant, the groundskeeper of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, could not be reached for comment.

Written by RaisinCaiin and saliache for the ‘Tater’, Beleriands finest news source!


Howdy folks, just want to let you guys know that we do have multiple platforms that represent MCME. One of those being Twitter! If you have an account, make sure to follow MinecraftMiddleEarth (@MCMiddleEarth) | Twitter for some additional content revolving around the community!

For those of you without Twitter, fear not!!! We are also represented on Facebook! Like us here: Minecraft Middle-Earth

Now, make sure you give us a diamond on Planet Minecraft! The more popular this thing is, the more help we receive Minecraft Middle Earth Minecraft Server


Artist
Want to leave your mark on MCME in a blocky way? Apply for artist on the forums today!

If you have any questions about becoming and being an Artist, then please ask any designer, we are 50% of the time willing to listen to you , or any current Artist.

Guide
Just to reiterate the message from last week, the Guides are looking for more members in the rank of teal. What could you gain from being such a rank on a BUILD server you may ask yourselves?

A plethora of things. You are the face of MCME! Without the rank of guide, we don’t attract nearly as many new players and those responsibilities are shifted onto busier shoulders. We are here to keep people interested and make MCME as fun as possible without distracting the focus of the server. Think that sounds like you?
Just click Guide and apply today!


Hey everyone. Now as a community we rely on each other, we help others daily, but it seems that our community has lost its inspiration, it's time to turn that frown upside down and to help out, practise in theme-build: don’t be afraid to ask for other opinion, apply for positions in the community, there are also many other opportunities to help out the community than building so investigate those on the forums. Hope that we will all have more prosperous weeks to come! Thank you everyone who participated in making this TIMES possible.