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Featured Webstore: EcoCityCraft

Entertaining players for a decade and still going from strength to strength, Tebex are delighted to present EcoCityCraft, one of the world's best economy servers. This

by Louise Posted on 06 January 2020
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Entertaining players for a decade and still going from strength to strength, Tebex are delighted to present EcoCityCraft, one of the world's best economy servers.

This blog post is part of a series on some of our amazing webstores. Giving readers insight into what it is like to run a game server, and letting our merchants tell their story as to how they got started in the world of server management. Last time, we checked out Eternal Rust, one of our servers for the super popular RUST game.

About Minecraft

Minecraft, developed by Mojang, is one of the most recent success stories of the gaming industry. Having launched in 2011, after a successful beta period that garnered a ravenous fan base, Minecraft then went on to become the single best selling game of all time. Although it eventually sold to Microsoft in 2014, the story of Minecraft continued, with new game modes, and a massive merchandise range of the much-loved franchise being launched. Fans around the world fell in love with the concept, music, and simplicity of the vanilla experience. Minecraft has spawned a fanbase that has created a plethora of YouTube content, artwork, as well as a vast array of mod packs and texture packs. Minecraft is already, a classic.

About EcoCityCraft

At the time that Minecraft exploded onto the gaming scene, the need for game servers quickly grew at the same time. Players needed a place to play with their friends, and for many, the servers themselves offered the possibility of meeting new people and having a whole lot of fun.

Amongst these servers was EcoCityCraft. One of the first servers to attend the inaugural MineCon, EcoCityCraft is one of the pioneers of the Minecraft server world, entertaining thousands of players over the years and creating a caring and lasting family, that to this day, still stand together.

EcoCityCraft is unique amongst many servers, and in the best possible way. There can be no doubt that the community is one of the driving forces behind this amazing server, we don't say this because we feel any obligation, we say this because we have played there, and playing on this server is an absolute pleasure. Tebex are extremely proud to have supported EcoCityCraft through this journey, and we sincerely hope the journey continues for a long time to come.

If you'd like to check out EcoCityCraft and join the family, you can do so here:
EcoCityCraft Website and Forum
EcoCityCraft Webstore
EcoCityCraft Discord

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The dedicated staff who are the driving force behind one of Minecraft's longest running servers.

Whilst the team work together to bring the world one of the best Minecraft economy servers possible, it is spearheaded by the owner, who has worked hard and tirelessly to create an enduring community:

My name is Andrew and I created EcoCityCraft nearly a decade ago at the age of 20. It is an economy Minecraft network solely focused around towns, markets, shops, and most of all, an extremely strong community, made by the players, for the players.

One of the key strengths of EcoCityCraft is most definitely the strong bonds between the players, some of whom have been around since the very early days of 2011, and still log on for the many events that are coordinated by the very dedicated staff team. These events, as well as competitions the team organise, keep the active player base entertained and engaged. EcoCityCraft’s team consistently works hard on keeping everything running smoothly, all whilst maintaining one of the top spots in the Minecraft economy servers sector. But, how did EcoCityCraft even begin?

I had no intention to ever run a major game server. My biggest little dream when I was a kid was to run a big/active forum. I tried countless things, ranging from fish forums (not kidding, lol), to martial arts communities, to other random stuff. Nothing worked. Eventually I caught my brother playing Minecraft, and at first had no real interest in the game. That's until he asked me to "start a server" for him and his school friends. And so, I hit Google, learned a few things on how it's done, and got started. Eventually, when users started joining, and money started becoming a real necessity to move away from my "at-home basement machine" to a real host, I decided that I'll go for it, pay out of pocket, and post it on some Minecraft forums. Fast forward an entire decade, and we've grown from a starting 5-10 user Minecraft forum to over 33,000 official registered members, and just about 1,000,000 posts!

You may have had no intention of running a major game server, but sometimes magic is created unintentionally! One of the Minecraft server industry's most well-loved and long-established economy servers began with a simple "at-home basement machine", which makes the accomplishments of EcoCityCraft even more impressive.

Through hard work and the support of your community, EcoCityCraft has grown into such a wonderful place to be, and it's no surprise that your loyal players continue to call your accidental server their home.

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Recreation of the Super Mario castle located near spawn. No worldedit, all by hand.

A long way away from that basement machine now, EcoCityCraft has surpassed nearly all expectations and has a large and loyal player base that continually support and care for one another.

This unintentional server has become one of the oldest Minecraft communities in the world. With an active forum and Discord, as well as a busy Minecraft server itself, I imagine it must feel quite amazing to know that something you did for your brother has now made many more people happy.

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A wonderful city and market to explore within EcoCityCraft.

Through your various attempts at creating a community, you have learned through trial and error, and now you have successfully created a home for many people to return to after a busy day of work, school, and the real world. If someone were to come to you for advice, with your wealth of experience, what would you say?

My biggest advice would be not to immediately aim for high player counts on the actual Minecraft game server, which so many early on admins are obsessed with, but instead focus around keeping your community together. Whether it be a forum, a discord server, a steam group, or whatever you feel you are most familiar with, use it. Personally, our game server has constantly fluctuated through heavy ups and downs player count wise, but our forum community has always been as active as ever, and that's really what it's all about :) the users staying in touch and making friends! So the advice is, keep your players connected outside the actual game.

The focus on community is one of the main reasons why EcoCityCraft is still going strong all these years later. Through all of the events, competitions, updates and other activities that EcoCityCraft does for the benefit of the player, being able to see your players enjoying themselves and loving what you and your staff team have worked hard on must be such a rewarding feeling. Through my years of running a large gaming community, I understand how satisfying it is to see a player appreciate something you've done, and even more so when you see and hear them laugh, have fun, and experience their joy. In my experience, those moments were one of the most rewarding aspects of the whole endeavour and made harder times bearable.

Rewarding, absolutely! The Minecraft world introduced me to so many other possibilities in life, and after so much time it's changed my life in ways I never imagined. When it comes to providing a fun place for our players to spend their time, that is a major plus for me, however, there's something even more enjoyable, and that is reading up on all the ways our community has changed people’s lives outside of the game. We have had people meet, get married, have kids, form real life long friends, relationships and bonds. We've all watched each other grow through 10 years, and having a family like this online is just amazing. It really isn't just about a game server anymore.

I understand completely. As you have all watched each other grow over the years, I would guess that the demographic might have changed as well. It's a beautiful thing, being able to grow with someone, especially those whom you might have never met before due to distance, cultural differences, or any other divide, as you can learn so much from them. Through passing time, you've all changed as people, and so, I suppose the target audience of the server may have changed as well?

We used to be very kid-friendly, but again, as we are a very old community, I'd say our main audience is anywhere from 16-32 years old at this point. It has definitely shifted into a more mature player base over the years. We do however try to be as kid-friendly as possible where we can, whenever possible.
We are also strictly an English speaking server. Occasionally however we get other languages spoken, and we do offer chat channels for this.
Everyone is welcome!

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More of the EcoCityCraft family.

EcoCityCraft has always been at the forefront of economy servers, and Minecraft servers in general. Your team has put so much work into your family, and it shows, Tebex certainly couldn't be prouder to have you with us and be here with you for your journey. The community should be proud of being such a warm and supportive server for people to spend their time.

Communities like these are incredibly important to the people who are part of them. Separated by distance and joined together through a game, it can be easy to underestimate the impact that you can have on another person when you're behind a screen name. Perhaps something you did made that players day. Maybe by playing with them, you have helped them through a bad time in their life. Maybe you just make every day a little bit better for them by hosting EcoCityCraft, and providing the environment that so many love. By being apart of a community like this, you create a family and are no longer just strangers on the internet who play the same game. What do you think has made EcoCityCraft one of the best Minecraft servers?

The amazing community and the dedicated staff, 100%. We have the best and one of the very oldest online Minecraft communities ever, and if you're looking to make some great friends, all while playing an awesome economy oriented Minecraft server at the same time, this is the place for you. From the moment you join, you will be welcomed, and all those online will gladly help you if you ask for anything. Oh, we also really pride ourselves in the fact that we have been online for 10 years and counting featuring builds made all the way from 2011! As we always say, we will not close down until we have no one left online, no matter what it takes. If you need a place to play that guarantees your creations are safe, this is it.

The dedication to your players is so awesome and I sincerely hope that EcoCityCraft will never close down. A simple look at your forum and Discord shows how hard your team and yourself work on this community. If anyone wanted to know more about EcoCityCraft, it's best to head to the EcoCityCraft Discord and meet the players and team. Perhaps you too will stay to join one of the oldest Minecraft families around.

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Badwolf Castle. What could be hidden in these corridors?

Andrew and his loyal team have built a server that is an absolute pleasure to play and be a part of, and Tebex would like to give you our heartfelt gratitude for sharing your journey with us so far and taking the time to talk to us. May the future of EcoCityCraft be long, and full of amazing things. And pets!

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