Hey Speed - I agree with some things you said, but I think you're making the server sound worse than it is lol.
The only command I feel is commonly used that we don't have access to (without playtime + money) is /tpa. We
do have access to multiple homes which most other servers I've been on don't allow, which is great! But I don't understand why it's turned off for any registered ranks. I get that it might be there to try and bring the community together or have people form groups and towns. However, there's a lot of instances where being able to use /tpa would save so much time and generally improve the quality of life for players. Running a few thousand blocks every time I want to see my friend's house just makes me not want to visit at all, and I feel it pushes the community apart rather than bringing it closer. If people want to live a bit spread apart but still easily keep in touch with others, I feel they should be allowed to. Yes, the server needs donations to keep it alive - but keeping a command that completely changes how people play and interact (for the better if you ask me) only as something to get after donations isn't cool.
As for claim blocks, you can get them through ranks which you get as playtime is accrued. There are only a few ranks though, so the amount of playtime needed increases pretty steeply. I feel an hourly system with a small amount of claim blocks would work better - especially for those who are at the highest rank and can't get any more claim blocks even though they're still playing. I'm not saying there should be no limit at all, but it takes a lot of time to get blocks as it is now.
This isn't really the thing I have a problem with though; because stealing is allowed from unprotected areas, this makes claim blocks a complete necessity. This poses either two options to players: either keep everything in a small area, or move far away from everyone so you're less likely to get griefed. Not everyone likes to keep things crammed together, me being one of them. Thus, I ran far from spawn because I was afraid anyone could easily find and steal my things. This is where /tpa comes back into play - these two things seem quite counter-intuitive to me. If /tpa isn't allowed to have people be closer together (or if it's supposed to make the game more like survival, then why can we get many homes?), then why is stealing allowed from unprotected areas? Again, being forced to live in a box of claim blocks isn't everyone's idea of fun, so we need a way to get those more easily - or just make stealing not allowed. Either way, /tpa lets people who like to live in different areas stay connected as well, so it's really my main problem with the server.
Lastly, I don't really have a problem with the world border. It makes the server much more manageable and the world is a pretty decent size as it is (hence not wanting to run the long distance to others' homes lol). Anyhow, none of this is a massive issue, this is just how I feel it could be improved. I really like visiting people, so I hope some kind of solution can come up soon. I love this server, and all the people on it
Aand here's a neat picture of my home area I took recently! (Shaders are the best yo) - Also still can't upload a file directly here, so another imgur link it is:
http://i.imgur.com/T2gBmtf.jpg
Hope to see some more people join!
