I've been seeing a bunch of discussion about some stuff and I wanted to share my thoughts on this.
- Server slots. People have been suggesting to increase server slots. This is not possible, unless you want the server to lag insanely or crash. Even adding only 20 slots would mean even more lag. Asking for more slots and complaining for lag is very hypocritical. It's like saying I want this bucket with a hole at the bottom to fill up with water. Also, staff has already upgraded their servers, and once you have upgraded a lot you start reaching a point where you reach the limit past which upgrading doesn't do enough.
- KitPvP's P2W and updates situation. Personally, I think going against full diamonds in full iron means death. But it's true that there is /kit daily, and it helps. There are also guides on how to get diamond loot. Ranks do certainly help, and a lot, if you aren't good ranks help, but if you're good at PvP then with kit daily you should be able to get some diamond loot on the floor and then clean some irons. Personally, I see KitPvP as just kill and die, kill and die (or in my case, a noob non, die die die and die again, grand record of 115 deaths and 1 kill). Kit is however pretty much just that, and there's not too much that can be done in my opinion. Something interesting that could be done is adding different kits, such as archer, potion-maker, or something like that.
- Not enough updates / updates adding very little. While it may be somewhat true, remember the dev is only one. Also, for every feature, there are downsides: for Clans it can be teaming, for Minions and such added to Skyblock the players that want the kind of "vanilla" skyblock would leave, and more. You may argue that only randoms and noobs get teamed on with clans, and that who cares about the "vanilla" skyblockers, they'll adapt themselves to the update, but staff needs to keep in mind every single possible downside. (Example: top killers payouts. First of all, to get top kills a rank helps a lot, and that'd make KitPvP more P2W. Also, there can be bugs involved that the top killers exploit. Personally, I think Mega's post about top killers being all cheaters of the system was a little exaggerated, but still, the issue exists).
- Bugs not getting fixed. Again, there is only one dev. Bugs take a while to find, understand what's the cause, and fix. I was dev in a server a while ago, and there was a bug involving items dropping from a plant in a protected area; the plant would drop the item even if it wasn't supposed to, and since it was in a protected area it'd reappear instantly (you're not supposed to break blocks or stuff in protected areas obviously) allowing to dupe the plant drop. It took a while for the owner and dev team to fix. In that server, there was a team of devs. Here, there is only one, and bugs are more complex to fix.
- Staff aren't paying enough attention to players and users on the forums. That isn't true, unfortunately InvadedLands is very big so staff cannot be everywhere, but from what I've seen they are active and they are working on the server. They also have their own lives too. One week for an appeal is a decent time, considering the server size. I don't know too much about in game (but considering the amount of threads with people getting muted and blacklisted, I assume they are active), but on the forums they often choose not to answer certain threads because it would spark a very long discussion. Threads like McDonalds' have already multiple pages of posts, adding a message would just give the thread more attention and more discussion.
- Staff (particularly Skeppy and managers) only care about money. This is a bit harder to answer. InvadedLands costs a lot to maintain, and it's Skeppy that pays. Yet, considering the fact that the server makes a lot of money, charging $240 for a rank in a block game is too much. Hypixel is a lot different from InvadedLands, so setting lower prices is a bit easier, but still the most expensive rank is very little compared to $240. Also, from what I've heard (can't really confirm yet) the ranks are constantly discounted, which means their actual price would be for example $240 for Overlord but prices are raised and then discounted, getting still $240 but with a 20% discount. This is a scummy technique often used to make something appear more valuable and more convenient than it actually is. Again though, I can't confirm this yet.
- Ban/blacklist reset. The people that are blacklisted or banned are often for a reason, and those that are false blacklisted can appeal. Resetting bans and blacklists would mean a wave of new hackers, autoclickers, xrayers, toxic players, bug abusers, scammers, and much more. It would mean an enormous surge in new appeals and punishments, and an overload on staff.
- Scamming. Finding scammers and the proof to get them banned is hard, it may be made up, it's not easy to trace, and it would be an ordeal for staff to check every single scammer and punish them.
- Minimod situation. Almost every new member that tries to help others is called a minimod; I have done some stuff that minimods do, back when I was a new member, but that's because I did not know much of the stuff I know today. I've learned a lot, and I no longer get called a minimod too much. So if you see a new member doing what a minimod does, just calmly point the issue out ("Other people already said the same thing, no need to reply", "This can be seen as minimodding, I suggest you don't do it). The true problem is when people accuse someone of minimodding just because they've answered someone helping them. That is NOT minimodding. Helping is NOT minimodding.
- This is not about staff, but please read the threads in Community Help. They actually help. There is a lot of important info there.