Survival 5

Survival 5
Survival 4Survival 6
Clockwise from top: The four world spawn points; Corgi, Labrador, Shepherd, and Akita
Server World
Type	Survival Multiplayer
Opened	18th March, 2022
Version(s)	Minecraft 1.18.2 — 1.19.4

Survival 5 was the fifth iteration of Survival Multiplayer worlds on the Dogcraft Server. It succeeded the Survival 4 world and brought with it the update to Minecraft 1.18: Caves & Cliffs: Part II. Launched on March 18, 2022, the season spanned four worlds (an increase of two from the previous season) — Shepherd, Akita, Labrador and Corgi. A few months into the season, the server economy was reset and new systems were put in place for Dogcraft Dollars and Player Homes; a fifth Mall world launched alongside this.

Although the sheer number of worlds split the player-base and induced a lower player count than previous seasons, Cyberdogs rose to the challenge and by its end in late-2023 ultimately defined the season with builds such as the urban metropolis of Leon, the minigame district Puppy Park, and the unprecedented development of coordinated infrastructure projects—both old and new—in the form of the Survival Railway Network, Community Rail Network, Road & Horse Network, Connected Seas Coalition, and others.

History & Development

Announcement & Release

On the 3^rd of January, 2022, it was announced by Headmod  Scooberson that the Dogcraft Server would be updating and that after that Survival 4 would soon be ending to make way for a Survival 5. Some details about the new world were revealed, such as the continuation of two worlds (later changed to four), a total reset of claim blocks (which would be re-earned), purchases and DCD balances, a mall world reset. It was also announced that Survival 5 would update to Minecraft 1.18.1 and later would update to 1.18.2.

A further announcement on the 1^st of March revealed further details. The Survival 4 worlds were to be taken down on the 14^th of March, and Survival 5 would be launchon the 18^th of March. The number of worlds was to be increased to four; named Corgi, Labrador, Shepherd and Akita after the results of a community poll. It was also announced that the server's economy systems (currency, homes, mall) were undergoing a major reconstruction at Rendog's request, and that they would not be ready or present for the beginning of the Survival 5 worlds.

Server Economy

Survival 5's mall. The reworking of the Server economy enjoyed a slightly warmer reception.

Survival 5 launched without the presence of Dogcraft mainstays such as Dogcraft Dollars (DCD) and multiple homes system. Homes could be set by sleeping in a bed and using /home to return via teleport, one per each of the four worlds, a significant departure from the default setting of Survival 4 or earlier 'diamond home' item which provided infinite homes. As per previous worlds which launched without a Mall, a player-run alternative was set-up and become popular quickly. This player-run mall, MOTTO, used diamonds as a form of currency in the absence of DCD.

Three months after the launch of Survival 5, in June 2022, the economy was rebooted. Dogcraft Dollars made a return, but were distributed using a new, more linear formula which is tied to ReNDoG's patreon pledge in order to lower their supply and therefore increase their value: Hourly boost × (your time played in that hour / the total time played on the world for that hour).

Homes were once again available in theoretically infinite amounts, but now at an exponentially increasing cost in DCD for each new one set, so that escaping the vanilla survival movements constraints were a reward for accumulating DCD rather than a baseline feature: Private home cost = 25 * 2^(home count). Public homes also returned, now becoming more expensive for each other public home globally: Public home cost = 2000 * (global public home count).

Reception

Groups such as the Marsh Mechanics consolidated as a team to enable building a diverse array of builds across all four worlds

The number of worlds available during the season—four—had a significant, protracted impact on the server community during the lifecycle of Survival 5. While Survival 4's split to two worlds was brought about by necessity due to poor single-server performance during the launch window (partially induced by high player demand during the COVID-19 Pandemic), the addition of two more worlds for the fifth season was carried out to allow for expanding the scope and capacity of the server in anticipation of increased promotion by ReNDoG.

Although initial reaction to the addition of further worlds was fairly muted in comparison to the more pronounced criticisms the initial Survival 4 split faced, popular opinion by the end of Survival 5 among various group base and project circles was that the extra worlds considerably divided the community, stretched public works projects thin, increased tensions among players, and led to an overall less-developed and more dilute demography. This was reflected in the server's player count, which dropped drastically on weekdays by the final months of the season. A lack of promotion by ReNDoG and the server's launch at the tail-end of the COVID-19 pandemic as players began to return to their daily routines further exacerbated these effects.

While the number of worlds drew criticism from portions of the player-base, other changes to the server were received more warmly. The economy system's scaling home/public home pricing system helped promote the use and development of public infrastructure, and concerted efforts to improve the organisation of public community projects culminated in the merger of the .Path Network Group and Road and Horse Network, who set about building a vast number of shelters to promote building across all four worlds. The Nether Transport Network scaled to the challenge of four worlds, building four complete Nether ice-boat systems, while a return of the Cyberdog News Network, spearheaded by  Txp_ and  Montenator led to the formation of a dedicated media unit in the Staff Team, helping consolidate a sense of community in spite of the increased digital barriers of division.

Builds & Projects

Though players were separated across a number of worlds, Dogcraft's long-lasting multi-faceted server culture endured, and the four worlds included a number of settlements, group bases, and large-scale transport infrastructure projects that were already landmarks of previous Survival worlds.

Settlements

Leon Central Station in the community-built metropolis of Leon

The City of Leon, a metropolis founded by  ashapink,  eybwam,  strawberrysham, and  zacattack2097 on the launch of Survival 5 became commonly regarded as the de-facto "capital city" of the season thanks to its impressive scale, quality of builds, and meticulously planned layout. Leon would play host to a number of server events, including New Years 2022 and a Capture The Flag event. It also served as the headquarters and backdrop of the CDNN.

Other settlements on Survival 5 included Caelon, the spiritual successor to Gaia on Survival 5; and the Allay Grove built by  FaeryElise,  Genesis1224, and  PhoenickRoxs.

Infrastructure

Infographic outlining transport networks that are connected to a Spawn in Survival 5 as of November '22

Player-run transport networks were once again a major part of the Survival 5 landscape, and varied across all four worlds.

The established Survival Railway Network (SRN) was joined by the newly formed Community Rail Network at the launch of Survival 5, created to ease the burden upon having just a single project be responsible for public railways across so many worlds. The establishment of the CRN, however, started a season-long breakdown in communication between server and SRN leadership, partially confounded by the transition of both server and project leaderships and successive restructurings of both the SRN and Dogcraft Creative Team (DCT).

The Nether Transport Network also returned, serving the nether dimensions of all four worlds, while the Connected Seas Coalition returned to provide immersive boat transport infrastructure between the many seas of the worlds. The number of different projects led to the emergence of several transport hubs, combining multiple modes of transport.

Group Projects

The Fire Forge, by the Marsh Mechanics

The Marsh Mechanics — led by  TrueAxo and  CanadianSteampk further grew as a well-known name on the server following their establishment in Survival 4, and the group built a significant number of bases and led a range of projects from early on in the season through the dog days in early-mid 2023. Their builds, across all four worlds, included their Headquarters on Corgi, The Fire Forge built underground in Akita, Coral Sand Heights in Labrador, and the Windswept Kingdoms in Shepherd.

Puppy Park, an area for minigames established on Corgi by  H_Di_Chemici,  XPModder, and  Xambaka features twelve complete games and opened officially in late 2023, accessible by its own CRN Station. Other, established player circles such as the group builders of the Home Tree on Survival 3 and Emerald City on Survival 4 worked on projects in a more private manner, while the Staff Team also collaborated on an area for staff located near the headquarters of the DCT, which includes meeting facilities, HeadMod offices for the different branches of staff, and moderator roster statuettes.