Shopping Centre Boom

The **Shopping Centre Boom** was Seacraft's most popular time period, spanning from the 8th of September 2015 to the 27th of January 2016. The boom is centred around the release and development of the Shopping Centre.

The period is split into three smaller sub-periods: the early boom, the main boom and the late boom. The early boom featured a rise in popularity before the Shopping Centre's release, with some new and some returning players. The main boom began just before the release of the Shopping Centre, which was popular from October to December. The late boom features the tail end of the popularity streak, and its eventual fade into the Intermittent Period.

## During this period

### Early boom

The early boom began on the 8th of September with the joining of ItsMoose to the server. He quickly began to make many contributions around the server, including the construction of Ripped Earth.

The Fire of Sunflower Town occurred on the 11th of September after I\_TROLLED\_YOU turned on the `doFireTick` game rule. A fireplace in Sir\_Azza's house spread to several other neighbouring houses. Fortunately the fire was discovered quickly and the houses were restored. I\_TROLLED\_YOU was briefly banned.

ItsMoose's brother built an 'Invisible Maze' minigame on Ocean Road in Spawn (suburb) some time after, while ItsMoose began work on a DanTDM-style lab in the middle of the ocean. LeMello had also built a giant ocean lab, which ItsMoose also helped with. ItsMoose also built a house for himself south of Magma Mountains.

ItsMoose also built a university in New Town. This became popular with players who began to roleplay in the school as teachers and students.

### Main boom

After having abandoned the Shopping Centre's construction, Im\_Uncle\_Eddy resumed construction, likely with help from zac5 and xX\_Death\_Lord\_Xx.

'Council Members' (now called mayors) were established at this time. Im\_Uncle\_Eddy took on the Mainland Plaza City Council, and xX\_Death\_Lord\_Xx took on the Ocean Isles Council.

The Shopping Centre was completed and opened on the 16th of October 2015. Im\_Uncle\_Eddy and the mayor xX\_Death\_Lord\_Xx presented the opening while zac5 and ItsMoose watched.

The Shopping Centre and council members were officially released as part of Seacraft 2.3.7. xX\_Death\_Lord\_Xx also extended the Auto-Announcer to make room for more announcements, particularly in the realm of shop advertisements.

A small rumour began circulating that community members would be discontinued as a staff rank in Seacraft 2.4. After hearing the rumour from Im\_Uncle\_Eddy, zac5 denied the rumour. It was true (at the time) that some community members would be demoted, but not all of them.

The Shopping Centre quickly became popular with old and new players alike. Oliveriseating returned to the server as RonaldMcDan, building a parody of McDonald's called 'McDan's'. ItsMoose built a couple shops selling player heads. Jakemaster\_360 built a clothes store called 'Spelunky's'. Sir\_Azza built 'Dwarf.Co', a store selling mining goods. Greenharry also built his own store.

Due to the Shopping Centre's popularity, an additional two floors were built. KrabbyPatty21 (formerly xX\_Death\_Lord\_Xx) tried to deny Im\_Uncle\_Eddy the right to expand the Shopping Centre, possibly because Im\_Uncle\_Eddy wasn't letting him help. However, zac5 overruled KrabbyPatty21's denial as owner of the server.

ItsMoose began to establish an area he called 'The Intersection', a few hundred blocks west of New Town. zac5 initially tried to deny the idea since new locations were going to come as part of Seacraft 2.4. However, ItsMoose continued activity in the area, constructing a large suspension bridge from New Town to the area. zac5 eventually let him have the area, but renamed it Moose Forest and dubbed the bridge 'The Intersection Bridge'.

The second two floors of the Shopping Centre were released as part of Seacraft 2.3.9.

### Late boom

The Shopping Centre expansion saw mild success, with existing shops extending into the upper floors and KrabbyPatty21 built an Ikea.

The late Shopping Centre Boom also saw regular server crashes. In an attempt to mitigate these crashes, zac5 reduced the server player limit from 20 down to 5 players in December of 2015. Initially, this change caused some issues as some players were unable to join the server (as was the intention). However, server crashes still continued, and it's unknown if this change had any reducing effect. The lower player limit was not an issue, however, in the coming Waning Era.

## Legacy

It's impossible to deny the impact the Shopping Centre Boom left on the server, being arguably Seacraft at its peak.

## Trivia

* There are only three days in the Shopping Centre Boom in which no players joined the server. These days are September 15, November 25, and December 1.
	+ It should be noted that September 15, 2015, was Seacraft's second anniversary, though this was not known at the time.
* December 2015 is the most popular month in Seacraft's history (based on average daily unique players), featuring an average of 5.58 players per day and a median of 5 players per day.
	+ The next closest is September 2015, with 4.97 players per day average and 4 players per day median.