Server Spotlight: Blocktopia Rituals of Fire!

Hi guys!

Mario here with another Server Spotlight!

This time it's a Blocktopia server. In case you didn't know, Blocktopia is a community of players who have 7 different servers: 3 Classic Servers (Lava Survival, Zombie Survival and TNT Wars) and 4 Premium servers (Rituals of Fire, Buildbox, Journey to Elysium and Army of Darkness). I'm doing a review on the Rituals of Fire server, which is the Premium version of the Classic Lava Survival. You will basically start in a tutorial which shows you the objective of the game (personally it is my favorite room), shops and different blocks and which ones melt. You will then be asked to right-click a sign to rank up to Player, and I'll explain ranks later.

You start by going through the portal. Here, you will have to collect resources around the map and build a house out of the toughest materials you can collect at the time (Bricks and Stone Bricks survive all kinds of lava, whilst some melt on all kinds of lava). Whilst you're collecting resources, make sure you remember there are several lava spawners underneath the map that keep spawning layers of lava which will then attempt to burn your house down (and Cobblestone will melt on specific types of lava, so don't think you can get away with it that easily). You also want to collect ores and look in chests scattered around the map, as you will need general pickaxes/armor for your journey through Rituals of Fire! Mobs are on, so that makes night time very difficult. Some maps are noted to have a lot of Skeletons spawn, which isn't the nicest thing to come across.
          If you manage to survive a round, you will get a certain amount of cookies depending on your rank, from 10 to all the way up to 300 (300 is top-rank). Using cookies, you can buy certain things from the store. At first, you will only be able to get Wood Tools, blocks, food and a Book and Quill. However, after ranking up, you will get access to more stuff to enhance your game experience. Below now are the different ranks you can get:

Guest
To get Guest, simply join the server by going through the portal in the lobby. Go through the tutorial and then you will be able to rank up!

Player
To get Player, simply right-click the sign after completing the tutorial! Players get access to the base shop with Wood Tools, food, blocks and Book and Quills and receive 10-30 cookies per survived round.

Crafter
To get Crafter, you must purchase the rank from the Base Shop for 250 cookies. It is the first rank that can be bought from the server's shop and they get 30-60 cookies per survived round. Crafters also get access to a new Area in the shop, which will allow them to access Ender Chests, Furnaces, Crafting Tables and various items Players cannot access.

Apprentice
To get Apprentice, you must purchase the rank from the Shop for 1000 cookies. It is the second rank that can be bought from the server's shop and they get 60-100 cookies per survived round. Apprentices also get access to a new Area in the shop, which is an Armory, and allows them to access Tools, Armor, Items and other things Players and Crafters cannot access.

Journeyman
To get Journeyman, you must purchase the rank from the Shop for 3500 cookies. It is the third rank that can be bought from the server's shop and they get 100-150 cookies per survived round. Journeymen will also get access to a new Area in the shop, which is a large room that provides use of levels such as enchantment tables and access to brewing. It also provides items that are very hard to acquire as well as items that are not available in other parts of the shop.

Expert
To get Expert, you must purchase the rank from the Shop for 7000 cookies. It is the fourth rank that can be bought from the server's shop and they get 150-200 cookies per survived round. Experts will also get access to a new Area in the shop, which provides some 'amusing' redstone materials (as the Wiki describes), some first tiered potions and a variety of other useful items in the main area. There is a music disc shop, which includes every disc including the rarely-dropped 'wait'. There is also a preserved portal and a room with brewing stands, furnaces, a Crafting Table, an Ender Chest and two Anvils.

Master
To get Master, you must purchase the rank from the Shop for 15,000 cookies. It is the fifth rank that can be bought from the server's shop and they get 200-250 cookies per survived round. Masters will also get access to a new Area in the shop, which provides diamond equipment, second tiered potions, potion ingredients, enchanted books with a level 30 enchantment table and a variety of staff/other heads. The Master temple also has a private portal and a crafting room with Furnaces and Crafting Tables.

Grand Master
To get Grand Master, you must purchase the rank from the Shop for 30,000 cookies. It is the final rank that can be bought from the server's shop and they get 250-300 cookies per survived round. Grand Masters will also get access to a new Area in the shop, which is yet to be built (I'll update this when it is built, depending on the time span between now and then).

Operator
To get Operator, you must apply on the Rituals of Fire Forum page (click here to go there). After you post it, the staff will vote on whether you become Operator or not. If it is accepted, you will get promoted. If it is denied, you will stay at the rank you were on already. Rarely, players will get handpicked to be Operator.

Veteran Operator
In game your tag will say VetOp. To get Veteran Operator, you must be chosen by higher-ranked staff to be promoted for fantastic work and a drive to make the server a better place. You are still expected to ensure rules are kept, but you get some special commands, such as /gamemode and some WorldEdit commands.

Controller
To get Controller, you must be handpicked by the leading staff on the server. Controllers monitor the Operators to ensure they are doing their job correctly and that rules are met. They also get a choice in specific promotions, demotions and warnings. They are also forum moderators and keep track of ban appeals, map submissions and staff applications.

Director
To get Director, you must be handpicked by the Head Administration of Blocktopia. Directors are also referred to as Admins, and have to watch over all aspects of the server. They have to ensure new maps are added, have a balanced gameplay, they create and edit rules of the server, they decide on staff promotions, demotions, warnings and training. They have the final say on anything on the Rituals of Fire server.

The Lava God controls the lava in almost every way (he doesn't change the way the lava flows). The Lava God has (I believe) 4 states of anger. If the Lava God is Calm, only materials like wood and snow will melt, but everything else is stable. If the Lava God is Annoyed, it means that a few more strong materials will melt. If the Lava God is Angry, it means that blocks such as Cobblestone will melt. If the Lava God is FURIOUS, almost every block melts, apart from a certain few such as Nether Brick, Stone Brick and Brick Blocks. The lava piles on layer by layer every 5-10 minutes until the whole map is covered in lava. Then, you will have to survive around another 5 minutes and the game will end. You will then receive a Cookie reward depending on rank, as well as maybe a few other items (ores).
          Try to set yourself a ton of challenges, because then gameplay will get boring if you just build a house and then sit in it for 25 minutes until the round is up. I'll post a huge amount of challenges for this server, as well as MCInfected and MCSkullHunter, because I support both Super Gaming and Blocktopia more than I've ever supported any server (apart from PvPZone, that was one epic server!).

Ok, I hope you've enjoyed this Server Spotlight! There will be a new page for challenges soon!

-Mariobros980 
Obsidian Miner