Logging on for the first time of the day and finding out your base had been raided while you were offline can be pretty frustrating. Spending too long at a single location makes it that much easier for another player to track your position.

But there are ways to minimize the possibility of that happening to you. Being able to warp into your base and spend as little time as you can to accomplish what you’re there for is one of the most important factors. Two of the most effective ways to counter this is by having an efficient base layout and staying organized.

In this post we’ll go over a couple tips to help do just that, as well as a few efficient base designs. But first, a few things to keep in mind while building and using your base:

• Only keep items you need and dispose of or sell what you don’t on the economy.
• Smaller is better, should you happen to get tracked it’s a lot harder to find a smaller than bigger base.
• Make your base about 10-15 levels above bedrock as that y level often goes unchecked on raids.

PvP Bank

A PvP bank is the place you warp to when you’re pvping, so nothing of too much value should be kept there. It’s used for tossing your loot into and stocking up on supplies. It should consist of a chest or two for armor and weapons as well as a couple chests for food and potions; nothing more. When your loot chest starts to fill up, combine the pieces with lower durability. Doing so will not only save on space but provide you with more usable gear.

Once you’ve made your bank, place a water source where your warp is. This’ll allow you to avoid fall damage if you’re in a situation where you’re
warping to your base while falling.

Vault

Vaults should be the place where you store all of your valuables and rarely go to. Dividing up your items between multiple vaults with one to two dispencers each will minimize the loss should it happen to get raided. Place a water source at head level so you’ll start to drown preventing yourself from staying at your vault for too long.

Enchanter/Salvager/Mooshroom 

This is more or less your “utility” warp with all of the essentials. A full enchantment table, a mooshroom along with a chest for bowls and extra soup, an anvil and last but not least, diamond and item salvagers. Item salvagers play a huge role in keeping down on excess items, by salvaging items for their raw materials you can turn that chest of armor into a couple stacks of iron taking up a fraction and an enchantment table.

Good luck!

The post Base Optimizing on Hardcore PvP appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Lifeline

The kit allows you to use your lifeline to connect to others, creating a visible line between you and the connected person. Right clicking the line on a player will create a healing line, healing them for 25 seconds and has a cooldown of a minute. Left clicking a player will create a draining line, which will drain the person that it’s attached to and heal you instead for 25 seconds, and has a cooldown of 2 minutes. This kit is perfect for being aggressive and self-reliant, or for being a very useful teammate when teaming.

My top tips for this kit include:

• Team with friends. You can heal your team-mates by right clicking, which is particularly useful when they’re in the middle of a fight… or if they are are very low on health.
• Be aggressive. The Lifeline kit also has the offensive ability to drain enemies, this means while fighting, you can heal yourself while dealing damage to enemies.
• Trick other teams! Your draining ability is really handy when confronting enemy teams, especially when solo. Use the kit to tactically kill enemies while healing yourself.

Weekly Update!

Hardcore Games
- A Gold dupe with Salvager has been patched.
- Array and Backpacker have been retired.
- HG Kits have been rotated.
- Lifeline kit released.

 
Capture the Flag
- CTF Games are now Best of 3. No more constant reconnecting!
We’re looking primarily for EU CTF moderators.

Zone Control
- 21 new maps! Which one’s your favorite?

Smash
- The Smash montage contests ends in 2 days! Make sure you’ve submitted it if you made one!

Staff/Moderators
- Instincct and Birdgirl24 are now full moderators. Congrats!
- IraIraIra is a trial moderator for HG.
- NicolasAlacrino and yagoncs are the first 2 Brazilian trial moderators.

The post Lifeline Kit, and Weekly Update! appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

1. Follow the map making guidelines.

When making a map, you will first need to choose the game mode you’d like to make it for. You’ll need to keep different things in mind depending on which game mode you are making a map for. Here are some useful topics for each game mode to guide you through making your maps:

• CTF — Making a good CTF map
• Zone Control — How to Create and Submit Maps for Zone Control
• Sabotage — Map Submission Guidelines
• Smash — What to consider while you’re making a map

2. Make sure you post in the correct forum.

Otherwise you will look like a noob and people will flame you.

• Post here for “Capture the Flag” maps
• Post here for “Zone Control” maps
• Post here for “Sabotage” maps
• Post here for “Smash” maps
• Post here for everything else (e.g. KitPvP and Main spawns, map questions, etc)

3. Include *at least one* picture of your map.

If you do not include a picture, there is a very good chance that your map will be ignored. I don’t have time to download every single map that is posted! And the more pictures the better, as it saves everyone time and makes your map seem more professional. If you are unsure about how to upload an image, please use the following guide:

• Step 1 — Take your screenshot(s)

You can do this in-game by pressing “F2″ (located above the “3″ key) on your keyboard.

>For Windows<
Screenshots will save to “C:\Users\<ACCOUNT NAME>\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft”. You can find this directory by opening the Start menu and entering [b]%appdata%[/b] into the search/run bar. Then select the folder “.minecraft” and then the folder titled “screenshots”. You can also copy and paste, “%appdata%\.minecraft\screenshots” (without quotation marks). If you access the screenshots a lot, then you might want to create a short-cut.

>For Mac<
Screenshots will save to “~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/screenshots”. I have never owned a Mac, so I can’t provide any more information than that.

• Step 2 — Upload your screenshot(s) to the internet

I would recommend using a site like imgur.com. After your screenshot(s) are uploaded, there will be an option on the right side of the page to link the image BBCode that will look like this:

Copy the text there, paste it into your new post, and viola! Your image should now appear when you submit your post. But just to make sure, you might want to click “Preview” at the bottom of your post to see if the you linked the image correctly.

Alternatively if you don’t want to use imgur, you can click the icon that looks like this:  at the top of the page in your new post, and then paste in the image URL.

4. Format your post appropriately.

Format makes a huge difference! No one likes a wall of text with no pictures, images, or format. Using BBcode (the forum formatting code), you can make your post look much nicer, as well as get it noticed. Click here to see an example of a well-formatted post.

I recommend using the following text as a template for your own map submissions:

[center]
[size=9][b]Name of Your Map[/b][/size]
(by Your_name_here)
[IMG]replace_this_with_an_image_link_that_overviews_your_entire_map[/IMG]
[/center]
———————————————————————————————–
[size=7][color=red][b]Info:[/b][/color][/size]
A few sentences describing your map. Example: “Hey everyone. So I’ve been busy over the past week working on my new map, “The Emerald Dream.” It’s a large cavern map made almost completely out of emerald, with some alien quartz structures scattered here and there. I’ve added some pictures below in a spoiler so you can check it out. Hope you like it!”
———————————————————————————————–
[size=7][color=red][b]Screenshots:[/b][/color][/size]
[SPOILER]
[IMG]replace_this_with_an_image_link[/IMG]
Optional image description 1. Example: “This is an overview of the map where you can see all the different levels and layers.”
———————————————————————————————–
[IMG]replace_this_with_an_image_link[/IMG]
Optional image description 2.
———————————————————————————————–
[IMG]replace_this_with_an_image_link[/IMG]
Optional image description 3.
———————————————————————————————–
[/SPOILER]
[url=www.replace_this_with_a_download_link_to_your_map.com]Here is a download link of my map[/url] if you would like to check it out for yourself. Thank you!

-Your_name_here

5. Follow proper forum etiquette.

Do not bump your post more than once within 24 hours—this includes double posting to answer questions and thank people for their comments. If you need to respond to multiple questions or want to thank people, do so in the last post you just submitted, unless someone has already responded since then. Creating a bunch of back-to-back posts answering a different question in each one is seen as rude and annoying, as you are essentially burying other people’s posts while racking up a post count for your own in order to draw more attention to your map. This behavior will not be tolerated and I will remove any posts where I suspect that you are abusing the system.

6. Email your map to Sephel@mcpvp.com (optional).

Please do not PM me your maps! Because there are map moderators for every game mode who *also* regulate maps, emailing me will take longer than just posting your map to the forum. I promise you though, that I do look at every single map you guys post on the forums as long as it has pictures. If you do however decide to email me your map, you *must* include the following:

• Your in-game name for Minecraft
• The game mode the map is for
• At least one picture of an overview of your entire map
• The MinecraftBuild map ID# / or / a download link to your map

Please include these things if you do decide to email me, otherwise I will not look at your map. You’ve been warned! I get a ton of emails every day, so it may take me awhile to respond to your questions. Please also note that I may not respond to emails that do not need a response, such as comments and map submissions. But I do read every email!

Thank you for reading, and as always, we look forward to seeing your maps!

The post How to Create and Submit a Map appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

We have recently added a new payment method for purchasing credits, Bitcoins.

A Bitcoin is a new form of electronic currency.  If you are unfamiliar with Bitcoins, check out some of the links below:

• bitcoininformer.com
• bitcoin.org

How to make a purchase using Bitcoins:

Making a Bitcoin purchase on our site is very similar to making a Paypal purchase.  After selecting how many credits you want and clicking the “Buy Credits” button, the payment pop up box appears:

Currently, only credits can be purchased.  We hope to add subscriptions soon!

At the bottom of the box you will see the Pay via Bitcoin option.  Choosing this option will show the payment button.  Click this button to be taken to the Coinbase checkout page:

Follow the directions on their page to complete the payment.  You will have the options to either send the Bitcoins from your wallet, send from your Coinbase.com account if you have one, or setup a new account.  Once the transaction is complete, you will be redirected back to the MCPVP website.  Like Paypal, it may take several moments for the credits to appear on your account.

If you have any problems during the process, please send us an email at: account@mcpvp.com.  Be sure to include your player name in your email.

The post New Payment Method – Bitcoins appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

The most recent Hardcore Games kit is Camel, I find Camel to be really useful. It gives you a very strong advantage in desert biomes, allowing you to easily get ahead of enemy players. If you don’t know what the kit does, look no further!

Camel

Constant Speed 1 effect on sand, you can craft cacti juice (soup) from just 1 cactus instead of 2!

My top tips and tricks for this kit include:

• Use this kit based upon a games terrain and the situation. If the spawn in a desert – and there’s a swamp biome nearby, Camel is a good kit. Everyone will run to the swamp since it’s a more reliable source of soup – but as a Camel in a desert biome – you can have all the cacti for yourself to make easy, easy soup.
• Bring the fights to the desert. Your advantage in the desert can be really beneficial in team fights, speed allows you to strafe your opponent easier meaning you can get more hits on him.
• Get as much cacti as possible. Other players don’t go for cacti – why? Because they need 2 to make 1 soup, however Camels only need 1. It may take longer to gather, but it’s easier to craft and there’s less people wanting cacti.

What’s been happening the past week?

General
- We’re now accepting bit coins!
- All our gamemodes have help books. These can be obtained through the /help command.
- We released a little teaser on our upcoming gamemode!
- Mojang updated Minecraft to 1.6.4, all of our servers are on the latest version.

Hardcore Games
- Help Book! With all the information you could possibly need.
- Camel kit released.
- New Kit Rotation

Smash
- Smash Montage winners announced, prizes awarded.
Sabotage
- We will add maps as we get them, once a week for example, instead of in waves.
Staff/Moderators
- Peceplays is a new BR moderator.
- We’re still looking for more staff. If you’re interested, please apply! Particularly if you’re European, Brazilian or Australian! 

The post Weekly Status Update, Tips and Tricks on the Camel Kit appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

The newest kit: Backup

Have you seen the latest kit? Backup. Ever been in a situation where you just wish you were an Endermage to take down that final guy in a tower? Or you wish you were a Tank to take down a huge team of 5? Well with the Backup kit you can!

The Backup kit allows you to choose your kit at any point in the game, but only once. Upon choosing the Backup kit, you wont have any special ability – but when you need to change your kit later in the game, you can pretty easily. The kit is a game-changer, allowing you to turn any odd scenario into your favor by simply changing your kit – however, note that you can only change your kit into ones you own.

Here’s my top tips and tricks for the kit!

• When towering with friends, sometimes one of the key kit members dies. Such as an Endermage or Cultivator. If you pick Backup, and an Endermage dies, you could choose Endermage to replace your fallen teammate allowing you to keep playing.
• Playing solo and coming to the last guy, only to find out he’s in a tower with lava pouring down the sides… luckily, you can use your Backup ability to choose an anti-tower kit. Then you can enjoy your easy win!
• Approaching the feast and there’s a huge team there? Choose an anti-team kit. Tank, Berserker or Madman for example. This will stop you using your Backup ability for end-game, but it will help you control the feast.

What’s happened this week?

General

- New McPVP Coder: alexmack – check out the interview here.
- We’ve been testing our new gamemode. Stay tuned via our admins Twitter accounts for information on when you can help us test!

Hardcore Games

- New Backup kit released
- Brazilian YouTuber tournament was played. Check out this little intro!
- Some bugs were fixed. Particularly the Worm and forcefield bug.
- Monster and Summoner are to be retired. Get Summoner at a discounted price of 150 credits! 
- New Kit Rotation! 

Hardcore PVP

- We’re investigating the causes of the lag.

Capture the Flag

- Engineer and Necro were temporarily disabled due to a severe bug which was affecting gameplay. This is now fixed though.

Sabotage

- Brand new Sabotage map added!

Staff News

- Lots of trial moderators added recently. Congratulations to James_is_awesome, LittleMystic, MrZombie_II, CheekiiChap and schmockyy.

The post Weekly Status Update, Tips and Tricks for the new Backup kit! appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

1. Castle Mansion (by ALWAYS_LETHAL)

14921.minecraftbuild.com

While not 100% finished yet, ALWAYS_LETHAL’s world has some pretty sick builds. My favorite was this castle-mansion type building I stumbled across, with architecture that’s pretty impressive to an extent that I can’t even replicate.

What makes this a good build:

Layering: There is a very fine distinction between the first floor and the second. They aren’t the same size, nor do they use the same pattern. As a result, you are able to distinguish the layer differences without even thinking about it. Notice that the middle of the building has a few additional layers, adding to the centralization of the whole mansion.

Material: He used 2 main colors for his materials that work well together, and sticks with them – gray stone and tan sandstone. Notice that the sandstone is used as the “base” of the building, and the stone is used as a “finishing” (i.e. roofs, pillars, and outlines).

Point of Focus: The perfect symmetry, the elaborate brick walkway entrance, the fountain, and the stone pillars holding up the multi-layered middle of the building, are all contributing factors to making this build a nicely “centralized” piece. By this I mean that all these factors bring our eyes to a focal point of the build, namely the center.

2. Venice (by frostedsquids & StanleyKitten)

For those of you who are unaware, “Venice” is actually a Sabotage map that was added a few weeks ago. I haven’t had the chance to play on it much, but nevertheless it holds a spot as one of my favorite maps – with regard to both gameplay and aesthetics. If you’d like to play the map yourself, check it out on our Sabotage servers!

What makes this a good build:

Layering: Once again, layering is such a great way to add some depth to your builds. Here you have the bottom “canal” layer that is just above water level. There are bridges overhead to give the allusion that you are lower than the normal “map level”. Then you have the ground layer that contains all the entrances to the buildings. But it’s not just one flat, continuous layer. It is separated into three what you could almost call “islands” that are connected to one another. Above this you have the terrace level, which includes second story buildings, some of which are connected to each other. This map is just a perfect example of layering done right.

Material & Cohesiveness: While different in shape and size, the buildings all share a similar material – that is, it uses some variation of stone and wood. Additionally, each individual building has a unique touch to it whether that be sandstone, clay, jungle wood, or something else. Done this way and combined with the differing building shapes, it prevents the map from looking dull and assures that no building looks too similar to the next.

3. Western (by MightyToast43)

9536.minecraftbuild.com

If you can remember back to last month’s build showcase, we showed off the impressive “Hobbit Hole” that MightyToast43 build. But that’s not the only neat thing he’s built – check out these western-style buildings. I’ve seen some pretty cool western buildings before, but none quite like these. The nit-picky detail MightyToast adds to his builds is just so amazing and creative. See for yourself, would you have ever thought of half of these things?

What makes this a good build:

Creativity: Creative doesn’t always equal visually pleasing, but here I think it does. I never would have thought to use trap doors, fence gates, ladders, empty signs, and buttons as an aesthetic touch to my builds – let alone make it look nice. Also, stained clay? This brings us to “material” –

Material: Rarely do I dare venture into the land of stained clay to use as a building material. I mean, who would want to use such a plain building material, am I right? But MightyToast uses different colors of stained clay as a “base” for all his buildings – and it looks good. Combined with the log, plank, and fence finishing, it creates one big cohesive strip of western buildings.

Asymmetry: Lately I’ve been learning that your builds don’t need to be perfectly symmetrical to look nice. MightyToast lays out a great example for us in that the asymmetry of his build I think actually adds to the looks of it. It makes it look more realistic. More complex. More original.

4. Preview: MCPVP HUB
(by Sephel, with help from H4L3Z)

That’s right folks. If you haven’t heard yet, MCPVP is getting a server hub. Now I know what you’re thinking: “So unoriginal! I liked that MCPVP didn’t need a hub like other servers…” or “I don’t want to be forced to use a hub to connect to the servers!” Calm down, it’s all going to be okay, let me explain. While it’s true that most (if not all) other successful servers use hubs while MCPVP does not, that alone is hardly a reason at all not to use the intuitiveness of a hub to our advantage to draw in and help newer players. And besides, you will not be forced to connect to the hub to access our other servers! It will just be an optional addition for those of you who may prefer it. For example, you will still be able to connect to mc-hg.com like always to log on to Hardcore Games.

The following is a sneak peek of the very-much-not-finished-at-all hub that I’ve been working on over the past few weeks. Though its only about 30% finished, many of you have asked to see what I’ve got so far – so here you go!

Want to submit a map you made on MinecraftBuild for a chance to have it showcased? Connect to minecraftbuild.com and start building! Once you have a map or an object you’d like to submit, send an email to Sephel@mcpvp.com titled “Build Showcase” with the ID of your map and at least 1 screenshot of your map — and if we show it off, you’ll receive a week of PRO!

The post MinecraftBuild Showcase #2 appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

In preparation for Minecon, MCPVP is having a sale on credits!

Right now, you can buy 500 credits for $2.50 — a 50% savings. Go to the HG kits purchasing page to take advantage of this sale, or check it out here.

Act now, this sale could end at any time! 

Plus, the following changes have been made to premium subscription ordering:

• You can now buy one month of any level of premium. The month-to-month subscription and 3-month one-time purchase options are still available.
• We are no longer offering one month trials.

Go to the Order Page to purchase a premium subscription!

Will you be at Minecon? Be sure to stop by our booth! We’ll have lots of fun stuff happening!

The post Minecon Sale Plus New Premium Options appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Can’t get enough MCPVP? Today, I wanted to showcase 5 awesome YouTube channels that feature MCPVP videos. Check out the links below, and make sure to give them some love on their channel!

TheKingsPvP

TheKingsPvP is a channel run by players AeroPvP and DomoPvP. The team usually plays on Hardcore Games and the channel features everything from Let’s Play style episodes, to kit showcases, to random clips. Subscribe and be sure to check out their livestream.

Youtube - Livestream - Twitter
Zephhyre

Zephyyre is an experienced MCPVP player with a channel that features entertaining and informative videos.

Youtube - Twitter
Gayzmcgee

Gayzmcgee likes to party. This is an awesome channel with gameplays, funny videos and random clips. Definitely worth subscribing.

Youtube
Rinoranchero

Rinoranchero is a seasoned veteran of PVP, a great commentator and a regular uploader. Subscribe to this channel for tons of awesome HG videos.

Youtube – Twitter
Flippehh

Flippehh’s channel has a lot to offer. With regularly uploaded Hardcore Games episodes, kit reviews and even a “Real Life HG Trolling” series, this channel is always entertaining.

Youtube – Twitter

Also, make sure you’re subscribed to our Official MCPVP YouTube Channel. We’ve got some really awesome features, including weekly Top 5 Video compilations and kit showcases!

The post 5 Awesome MCPVP Youtubers appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Building a tall tower and camping on it is a popular strategy in Hardcore Games. You’ve already learned 6 ways to take down a tower, now I’m going to tell you about the 5 best HG Kits for towering.

Endermage

Endermage is one of the best — if not the best — kits for towering in HG. As an Endermage, players have the ability to pull anyone below them up to their level, making it really easy to grab people passing under your tower. Once they’re in your tower, you can either kill them or just knock them off. Endermage also works incredibly well with a Stomper teammate: The Stomper can keep jumping off of your tower to stomp people, while you teleport him back up after each stomp.

Buy Endermage – Endermage Review

Stomper

Even without an Endermage on your team, Stomper is a great tower kit. As long as you have enough blocks, you can keep towering up and stomping people. Additionally, if someone is in your tower attacking you, you don’t have to worry about dying from fall damage.

Buy Stomper – Stomper Review

Cultivator

If you’re towering with a team, you definitely want to have a Cultivator with you. Grab some seeds, a hoe and some dirt before towering up, and your team will be set on food for the rest of the game. Although Cultivator is probably the best kit for supporting a tower team, it’s not the best choice if you’re towering alone.

Buy Cultivator – Cultivator Review

Neo

In a tower, you always have to watch out for projectiles. They can easily knock you off, especially if you’re in the middle of towering up. When using Neo, any snowballs, eggs or arrows fired at you will be sent back in the direction they came from. Since you don’t have to worry about long-range opponents, you’re free to defend your tower and keep people from getting up.

Buy Neo – Neo Review

Worm

The Worm kit can break dirt blocks instantly which makes it really easy to collect enough dirt in the first two minutes of the game to build a tower big enough for a whole team. There are also lots of cool traps you can do with Worm and Endermage, since you’re able to break blocks underneath an enemy instantly and make them fall. In addition, your fall damage will be reduced if you manage to land on dirt blocks.

Buy Worm – Worm Review

These kits are the best for towering but that doesn’t mean they can’t be used for other things, too. Now that you know which kits are good for towering, try experimenting with those kits to come up with some tower strategies or traps of your own. There are so many different ways to play each kit.

The post The Best HG Tower Kits appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Have you tried MCPVP’s Maze Runner yet? It’s our newest game mode that pits eight teams of four against each other and the elements. The goal of the game is, simply put, to be the last team standing. You must survive an onslaught of attacks from the other teams while at the same time protecting your princess and avoiding the deadly enemy Grievers.

Getting used to Maze Runner can seem pretty difficult at first. It’s a complex game at the outset, and it can take some time to learn all the ins and outs. That’s why we’ve put together 5 things you should know before playing Maze Runner to help you get started.

1. Gather Supplies.

It is essential in Maze Runner to be well-stocked on food, supplies, and weapons. There are a few ways you can assure that you are prepared for any situation:

• Gather wood from the trees in the corner of your base. With the wood, you’ll want to make a crafting table and some swords for you and/or your team. Make sure to do this before the walls to the maze open 2 minutes after the game starts, or you risk being defenseless when another team finds their way to your base!
• Take the supplies from the Ender Chest located in the middle of your base. You’ll want to do this every morning, as the chest will refill with helpful items whenever the sun comes up. It can contain things such as bonemeal to help grow your crops quicker, cobblestone to make a furnace, spawn eggs to spawn animals for food, etc.
• Venture into the maze to find better items. Scattered throughout the maze are chests that contain superior items. These chests can contain food, Iron and Diamond Swords, and Iron and Diamond Armor, among other useful items. It’s a good idea to have at least one person from your team going out into the maze strictly to gather and bring back supplies for your team.

-

2. Protect Your Princess.

Your “Princess” is the villager stationed in the middle if your base when the game begins. Your whole team will lose if she dies, so make sure to protect her at all times. Here’s how:

• Keep her well fed! Your Princess is demanding; She needs to eat just like you do! Right-click her while holding food to feed her. If her hunger reaches zero, she will die. Her hunger level is displayed on the right hand side of your screen, so make sure you check it often.
• Place her in a safe location. You can pick her up and drop her by *right clicking* her with an empty hand. You can use the shelter in your base to hide and protect her from enemies.
• Carry her with you into the maze. If no one on your team is available to stay in the base and protect the Princess, sometimes it’s a better idea to carry the Princess with you into the maze. You will however *drop her* whenever you right click on anything, so always double check that she is still with you!

-

3. Don’t Get Stuck Inside the Maze.

The walls to the maze will open 2 minutes after the game begins. You will need to go into the maze to get supplies as well as to find other teams. But with this venture comes a grave danger: The walls will close during the night, trapping you inside and cutting you off from your base.

During this time, dangerous enemy Grievers will roam the maze and attack anyone who comes near them. If you aren’t well equipped, you will almost certainly die. You should therefore make sure you are back to your base before the maze walls close, lest you die a grievous death. Here are a few tips to help you from getting lost:

• Place or destroy vines on the maze walls to mark the path back home. Vines are the only “blocks” that can be placed and destroyed in the maze, so use that to your advantage!
• Climb up vines to peer over the top edge of the maze wall. You might be able to see a nearby base before the explosion knocks you off.
• Throw items on the ground (with “Q”) at the corner of every turn. If no one is following you and picking them up, you can track your thrown items back your base. Sticks are a good item to use for this, as they are cheap and abundant.
• Watch the position of the sun. If the sun is on its way down, perhaps it’s time to head back home.

4. Work Together.

Maze Runner is a team game. Your chances of winning are small if you do not work together with your team. Here are some simple and effective ways to utilize your team well:

• Share extra food and weapons with your team. Just found a Diamond Sword in the maze? Ask your team if someone wants your Iron Sword. Extra food? Feed your Princess or ask your team if they need food.
• Ask a teammate to come with you into the maze. Two minds are better than one in remembering the way back to the base, and likewise two swords are better than one should you encounter an enemy.
• Take on a certain “role” in your team. For example, a “runner” might be a designated teammate who runs into the maze to gather as many supplies as possible before the walls close, whereas a “caretaker” might stay at the base to defend the princess, tend the crops, and provide food for the runner.
• Help your team after you’re dead. When you die, you will respawn as a “Beetleblade” (a silverfish). You won’t be able to attack, but you are able to place down your “Griever Bell” every few seconds. What this does is attract all nearby Grievers to your location. You can use this to distract Grievers away from your team, or to sic them on the enemy team.

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5. Stay Alive!

Should you manage to make it past the first few nights, it will become more and more difficult to survive. After a few day-night cycles, the walls to the maze will stay open, allowing Grievers access to your base at night. When this happens, you’ll need to adjust your strategy to make sure you— and your team —stay alive. Here are some effective strategies at this stage in the game:

• Barricade your walls. Dig out the grass from your base’s floor to make dirt walls at the maze entrance. This will minimize the amount of Grievers that can get inside your base.
• Get off the ground. Go somewhere that the Grievers can’t easily get to you, like perhaps your shelter.
• Fireproof your shelter. The Grievers will be lighting fires left and right which will more than likely burn down your shelter if you don’t take the proper precautions. Place dirt in any areas where fire could spread to your base — or alternatively, build a new shelter out of non-flammable materials.
• Last ditch effort. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. If the game just isn’t coming to an end, there is an extremely risky alternative to win the game. You can enter the Griever Hole in the middle of the map, and navigate through it to the Griever Boss. If you somehow manage to kill him, then your team will win and the game will end. Just make sure your Princess is safe and you are very well equipped, should you ever decide to enter.

Ready to get started playing MCPVP’s Maze Runner? Just open Minecraft and connect to IP: mc-maze.com. Good luck!

The post 5 Things You Should Know Before Playing Maze Runner appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

MCPVP was one of 21 exhibitors during Minecon 2013 in Orlando, Florida. We had a great time at the show, and we wanted to share some of the highlights from our booth at the event.

BadBoyHalo, Wiki_Kiki, sephel, hclewk, telegramsam, lvnick, rachelmcpvp and thenerdswife at the end of the convention.

The MCPVP Minecon booth featured a retail area with T-shirts and mousepads for sale, along with the chance to purchase premium subscriptions. If you missed out on the merchandise, don’t worry! We have plans to sell it online in the near future.

Two of our biggest fans sporting the MCPVP shirts they won in our Maze Runner tournaments.

We also ran 16-player tournaments of our newest gamemode, Maze Runner. We are so excited about this new gamemode, and the reception that it received from Minecon attendees was really positive. Tournaments took place all day Saturday and Sunday, and we featured the games on our MCPVP Livestream.

We loved meeting all of you who came out to support MCPVP. It was a great convention. Look for the alpha release of Maze Runner soon!

The post MCPVP at Minecon 2013 Recap appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

The Spellmaster kit was released a few weeks ago, however I really enjoy using it and thought I’d share my top tips on how to use the kit to its full potential.

The kit is perfect for countering large-scale teams, since everyone within 20 blocks of you receives a negative potion effect. This can be Instant Damage (1 and 2), Poison, Hunger, Weakness and Slowness. After activating the kit, it will go on cooldown for 2 minutes. It’s quite a long cooldown, but when used correctly, you’ll be glad you played as the kit!

Top Tips For Playing Spellmaster:

• Teams are a common thing in the Hardcore Games — and this is perfect at scaring them off and making it easier to kill people. When you run in, or you’re within 20 blocks of a large team, activate the ability, switch the item out for an extra soup, and fight! In many cases they will be really low from the damage, making them easy to kill, or they will run away after losing a lot of health.
• Controlling the Feast is sometimes hard when there’s so many people around. You shouldn’t make it your priority to get to the Feast first; instead, you want to arrive when there’s around 45 seconds until the Feast starts. This way, players that got there early will have died – and other players will have used a lot of soup in the progress. When you arrive, you can activate your kit to win the feast and get some diamond and potions from the chests.
• If you enjoy teaming, I advise not doing so with this kit. Spellmaster works best when you are a solo player.

Do you have a cool tip or strategy for the Spellmaster kit that I missed? Post it in the comments!

Status Update:

It’s been a while since we had a status update, here’s a bunch of stuff that’s happened recently that you should know about.

General
- We were at Minecon! It was super fun and we really enjoyed meeting everyone. Special thanks to everyone who came and hung out at our booth!
- We’re currently in Open Beta for our new gamemode, Mazerunner.
- Our servers won’t be updated until Bukkit 1.7.2 comes out. Sadly we do not know when this will happen, but we will keep you informed via our homepage.
Hardcore Games
- Kit Rotation!
- New Kit: Spellmaster
- New Kit: Vacuum
- PRO rank players now have access to retired kits.
- Archer and Chemist are being retired!

Capture the Flag
- The Assassin class was nerfed a while ago. This is only temporary – the class will be improved after 1.7.2.

Smash
- Unfortunately, the gamemode has been retired.

Sabotage
- New maps, Floating Isle and Pumpking Patch added.

- Bunch of Sabotage bugs are now fixed!

Kit PVP
- There’s a new, less laggy map. The caves and ores were removed from under the map, making it more playable.

Staff
- Congratulations to KiwiTaco, Crowhart and Zephhyre on becoming trial mods.
- tealfox and NicolasAlacrino were promoted to full mods.

The post Status Update, Plus Tips and Tricks for the Spellmaster Kit! appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Today we changed the way our autoban system figures ban lengths.  Previously, all bans were 30 minutes.  Our new ban system will use variable length bans according to a user’s past history.

The new system will have this effect:

• Bans will be shorter for first time offenders and for players that don’t cheat but may have been caught by a false detection.
• Repeat cheaters will be banned for an increasing amount of time the more they cheat.

How it works:

1. All players will start with a first ban of 10 minutes.
2. When you are auto banned, the ban length will show in the kick message.
3. After your ban has expired, you will enter a “redemption period”.
4. If you are banned again in your redemption period, the ban length will double.  It will continue to double as long as you are in a redemption period.
5. If you are not banned during your redemption period, your ban length will be reset to 10 minutes.
6. You will not know the length of your redemption period and we will not release how it is calculated.  The more auto bans you have in the last 90 days, the longer your redemption period will be.
7. As before, when you try to log in and you are banned, the remaining time of your ban will be displayed.

The post New Autoban System appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

We’ve decided to change the kit release schedule, so a new kit was not released this week. Now, kits will be released every two weeks, instead of the usual one per week. This is to ensure that we carefully test kits before their release. With that said, I’m going to give you some tips on the Souper kit which was released a while ago. It’s a great all-round kit!

The Souper kit starts off with bonemeal (renamed Growing Essence). Right click the essence on a mushroom to make it grow a giant mushroom. Right click on cacti to make them grow three blocks taller, and finally, right click your on cocoa beans to make them overgrow – causing them to pop out 2-4 beans.

• This kit is perfect for a game that doesn’t have a good swamp. You can use your essence to boost the amount of soups you get, allowing you to last longer and have a very important advantage over your opponents. In games where swamps are hard to find, players usually don’t have much soup. With this kit, it allows you to stock up and have soup to refill giving you the edge in fights.
• Souper is good for teaming, since it allows your teammates to get more soup than they usually would. There’s no better way to protect your teammate than giving him free soup. Sharing is caring!
• You can try and pull off some elusive traps by using your essence on mushrooms. You can cause them to be trapped within the mushroom, taking damage.

Status Update

A lot of updates from Hardcore Games this week, but not too much elsewhere.

General
- New Autoban System means shorter ban time for legit players.

Hardcore Games
- The Vacuum kit was permanently removed. Players who purchased the kit were refunded 250 credits.
- Miner and Urgal are now retired.
- Mini Kit Update, with kit nerfs and buffs and some bug fixes and gameplay tweaks.
- We hosted our Quarter Quell event. The top 120 players were invited into a tournament to win some awesome prizes. (Tourney is over!)
- New kit rotation

Capture the Flag
- Winter CTF Map contest (ends 23rd December!)
- A few class tweaks will be uploaded to our test server in the coming few days.

MinecraftBuild
- We’re currently investigating issues with loading maps.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend!

The post Weekly Status Update, Plus Tips and Tricks for the Souper Kit! appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Hi everyone! We have had a lot going on on Hardcore Games in the last month. This post will bring you up to date on pretty much everything that happened to HG in November.

Kit Releases

- Spellmaster

Cast potion effects on people in your radius

- Rhino

Knock away your enemies in a furious stampede

- Acrobat

Acrobat is currently in beta (PRO-rank only) and will be released on Friday, November 29th.

Kit Retirements

- Warder & Milkman | November 8th

- Neo & Analyzer | November 15th

- Archer & Chemist | November 22nd

- Miner & Urgal | November 29th

After the retirement dates, those kits are no longer available for purchase. If you purchased the kits before they were retired, you will still have them forever. PRO-rank users have access to all retired kits. These kits may also be featured in kit rotations, and it’s possible to get these kits when using the Surprise kit.

Hardcore Games Mini Update

The Hardcore Games Mini Update was a small patch that included some kit nerfs, buffs and bug fixes as well as a few general gameplay changes.Be sure to keep an eye on the HG Announcements section of the forums, as we’ll be posting about more updates there as we work on them.

The Quarter Quell

On Friday, 29th November, the top 120 Hardcore Games players were asked to participate in an invitation-only tournament for some pretty sweet prizes. The best Hardcore Games players were determined by their profile stats. Sixty players were invited based on their total win/loss ratio (minimum of 100 games). The other 60 players were determined by their win/loss ratio over a set time period.

Click here to read the outcome of the Quarter Quell.

The post Hardcore Games Updates | November 2013 appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

There are two groups that most Minecraft users fall into when it comes to Minecraft graphics. There are those who want to make Minecraft run as fast as possible and get maximum frames per second (fps). Then there are those who want Minecraft to look as nice or as fancy as possible. Whichever camp you fall into, here are a few steps to optimize your graphics or just make them really fast.

Note: Before we continue please recognize that most of these steps will ultimately depend on the speed of your computer and the graphics chip inside your machine. Upgrading those is the best way to increase performance but if that is not an option then the following tips should help you.

How to optimize your graphics for quality:

Step 1: Install Optifine

Download link: http://optifine.net/downloads.php (Make sure you download the version that matches your Minecraft client.)

Optifine is a mod which can be used to either increase the quality and look of Minecraft or increase its speed. Regardless of what you’re trying to do, it’s a good mod to have.

Step 2: Configure Quality Settings

Run Minecraft then go to Options > Video Settings, and change your settings to look like this:

The boxes outlined in red are what you should focus on. Everything else is just personal preference and won’t really affect the look of the game. After you have set those, go into details and match the screen to look like this:

After you have done that you’re done. You’re free to mess around with the other settings in quality and the other parts, but this is the basic stuff that will give you the most increased look in the game.

Step 3: Pick a Stylish Resource Pack

Resource packs are divided into groups based on how large they are. Most texture packs are 16×16 but if you want a resource pack that’s more detailed, you can get some that are 32×32 or 64×64 bit.

I highly recommend Faithful 64×64 which you can get here.

You can also check out a Resource pack website like this one. Where they have hundreds of awesome texture packs for you to choose from.

Step 4: Shaders

If you really want to make Minecraft look amazing, then getting shaders is the way to go. Shaders are a third party mod which makes the shadows and colors in minecraft look a lot more real and vibrant. They can also make leaves and water look much more realistic.

Download Link

Here is a video showing the before and after for what shaders can do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOIHZlV2uhk

How to optimize your graphics for speed:

Step 1: Install Optifine

Download link: http://optifine.net/downloads.php (Make sure you download the version that matches your Minecraft client.)

Just like before, Optifine will be a big help in making Minecraft run much faster.

 Step 2: Lower Graphic Quality

Follow the same steps from above for optimizing your graphics, but instead you’re going to do the reverse. Set all your Minecraft video settings to as low as possible. Turn off all details you can, like rain and snow, and turn your render distance down to as low as it can go. The fewer details you have showing, the faster Minecraft will run.

Step 3: Choose a Simple Texture Pack

Instead of picking a 32×32 or 64×64 texture pack, choose one that is 8×8 or 4×4. These texture packs will run the fastest and will give you the least amount of lag. The smaller the texture pack numbers are the faster it will run. However, keep in mind that the smaller texture packs don’t look as nice as the more detailed ones.

Step 4: Run a Smaller Window

If you still find Minecraft running a bit sluggish, try running it in window mode or shrinking the window a little bit. Running Minecraft in window mode v.s. full screen mode should give you a nice FPS boost.

Closing any background programs you have open while running Minecraft will also help it run faster.

Hopefully these tips will improve your minecraft quality or give you that speed you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a balance between the two, feel free to try steps from each to get maximum quality with maximum speed.

The post How to Optimize Minecraft Graphics appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

The latest Hardcore Games kit to be released is Acrobat. This kit allows you to turn blocks that you can walk through (such as signs) into solid blocks. It’s a great trap kit, and is perfect for teaming with friends. Here are my top tips for using the kit:

• Make a staircase up to a tower, and put 5-6 signs in a line with nothing underneath them. Wait for an enemy to come, and lure them up the staircase. Hold the second disc you spawn with — this makes the signs look like blocks to other players. As your enemy comes closer to the signs, switch to the first disc — this makes the signs look like blocks to you, and just you. Now, your enemy will fall through the signs, hopefully dying from fall damage.
• Make a maze from signs around a jungle or plains biome. Your enemy is likely to get frustrated with constantly getting stuck and will go after someone else.
• You can team with a Fisherman to make a clever trap with lava. See the video below from PvPTraps for a tutorial on how to make it.

Video courtesy of PvPTraps.

Weekly Status Update

General

- The website has a new design that’s much more colorful. Do you like the change? Let us know!
- Bukkit recently updated to 1.7.2, which means we can soon make progress into updating our servers to the latest version. We will keep you informed on our progress via Twitter and the forums.
- We’re currently thinking about switching forum hosts.

Hardcore Games

- The Acrobat kit has been released. You can purchase the kit for 250 credits here.
- Ghost and Plague have been retired. If you are PRO or own the kit you can still play as them.
- After being teleported up by an Endermage, you will not take fall damage/suffocation damage for 5 seconds.

Capture the Flag

 - Engineer, Soldier, Medic and Chemist have had some minor changes to them for a balance update. Read about the changes here!

Hardcore PVP

- The servers will be reset once we have updated to 1.7.2. There’s not an ETA right now, but we’ll try and get this done as quick as we can.

Staff

- We’re always looking for more staff. If you’re interested and would like to help out, please don’t hesitate to submit an application.
- More European moderators have been added to the HG and Kit PVP servers on a trial basis.

The post Weekly Status Update with Tips and Tricks on the Acrobat Kit appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

With the holidays quickly approaching, we wanted to share a few Minecraft gift ideas. Whether you’re looking for a stocking stuffer or something to wrap for under the tree, you’ll find a some fun ideas for Minecraft fans on this list.

**Note: Some of the prices listed are sale prices. Check the product website for accurate prices at any given time.**

Minecraft LEGO Microbuild – $34.99

Play Minecraft IRL with this microbuild set from LEGO. This set sold out during the holidays last year, so order it early so you don’t miss out.

Get it here.

EnderToys Custom Figurine – $11.49

 These posable plastic figures come printed in your own custom Minecraft skin — upload your skin to their website, and voila! You’ve got a small version of your Minecraft self. They also sell keychains and larger figurines, if you want to go big.

Get it here.

Minecraft Fan Bundle – $79.99

This set from Think Geek contains the tools every Minecrafter needs — a foam pickaxe and sword, torch and Redstone nightlight. You can also purchase these items individually on their website.

Get it here.

Minecraft Cow Throw Pillow – $36.00

Add some Minecraft flair to your living space with this custom throw pillow. They have many other designs, including Blaze, Notch, Villager, and Slime pillows. Check out the rest of their shop for Minecraft-themed shower curtains!

Get it here.

Creeper Zip-Up Hoodie – $71.99

Sssssssstay warm this winter in this premium hood that doubles as a costume. Creepers never looked so good.

Get it here.

Glow-in-the-Dark Canvas Creeper Shoes – $37.50

These custom-painted canvas shoes glow in the dark — a really cool and unique gift.

Get it here.

Minecraft Porkchops Kids T-Shirt – $14.99

Show your style in this shirt that only other Minecraft fans will understand. Porkchop, anyone?

Get it here.

Grassy Block iPhone Case – $19.99

The perfect case for fans of Minecraft – Pocket Edition. Play in style!

Get it here.

Minecraft Socks – $12.99

Show your Minecraft style all the way to your feet with this set of three socks.

Get them here.

Diamond Pendant Necklace – $14.99

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right?

Get it here.

MCPVP Shirts – $14.99

The perfect shirts for MCPVP fans, featuring some of our most popular kits.

Get it here.

MCPVP Premium Subscription – $5-$20 per month

Give them what they really want: Extra perks on their favorite server!

Get it here.

See anything on the list that catches your eye? Share it with us in the comments!

The post Minecraft Gift Ideas appeared first on McPVP.com - News.

Setting up a trap is a great way to win Hardcore Games matches. It takes a lot more patience and strategy compared to hunting, but it’s much more rewarding. A lot of good kits are underestimated simply because they’re trap kits, but with a little bit of skill, winning with a trap can be easy.

Here are five videos showing off flawless traps:

Jackhammer Sand Trap – By EliteHG

This an example of a perfectly executed sand trap. This type of trap is actually doable without the Jackhammer kit, but as you can see, it speeds up the process quite a bit.

Kit: Jackhammer

Worm “Spleef” Trap – By wake25board

This is a really simple trap using the Worm kit. Setup is quick, and you can do it more than once with ease. Be careful though, this trap can be pretty dangerous.

Kit: Worm

Switcher Trap – By Zephhyre

This is one of many traps made possible by the Switcher kit. Zephhyre pulls it off perfectly. Compared to the last trap, this one is really safe but has a longer prep time.

Kit: Switcher

Watermage Trap – By PvPTraps

This is a creative take on an Endermage fall trap. PvPTraps uploads tons of awesome trap videos so you should definitely subscribe if you like traps.

Kit: Endermage

Launcher Trap – By Elementamos (Flippehh)

This is an awesome trap made with the Launcher kit.

Kit: Launcher

A lot of kits have more uses than you may think. Here’s a list of kits that can be used to make traps. Try to be creative!

- Burrower
- Demoman
- Digger
- Endermage
- Fisherman
- Hulk
- Kaya
- Switcher
- Thermo
- Worm

The post 5 Awesome HG Traps appeared first on McPVP.com - News.