First of all, thank you for providing an online server that is a safe environment for families to play in. It is much appreciated, and I can only imagine how much time and effort goes into maintaining it.
I've only ever played offline in peaceful survival worlds, and sometimes I play with my grandson in a LAN. Playing on Famcraft with mobs spawning everywhere has been a new (and frightening) experience!
When I first arrived on the server I was greeted warmly and given a wonderful tour. When I finally went through one of the "Random" wilderness gates, I looked for a clear flat area and quickly built a tiny shelter out of whatever blocks I happened to have in my inventory (cobblestone, wood, dirt, wool). I just managed to duck under the roof as phantoms started to attack me from the sky. I was terrified. I spent several days mining under my house at night and fending off creepers outside by day because I didn't have the presence of mind to light up the area around my house to keep mobs from spawning. In the meantime, my homestead is all fenced in and the inside and the surrounding area are lit up with so many torches that I keep running out of coal. I decorated my front door with a chicken head because I am such a chicken. I have decided to leave my house in its patchwork state for the time being as a reminder of those first few days when I was so panicked and was glad to have a roof - any roof - over my head. I did replace the parts made out of dirt and wool and made the house a bit bigger.
I have enjoyed the ability to gather resources in a safe environment at the public farms. One day I was shearing some sheep at the pro farm and a skeleton started shooting at me. I couldn't kill it because I was afraid of killing a sheep by accident, so I fled.
I often have questions, but I hate to spam chat with newbie questions, especially ones that require long explanations. Is it acceptable to do so or better to use the forum? I found this general discussion forum, but I haven't found a forum where players are posting questions. It seems like everyone except me is a pro.
My current questions from yesterday's play session:
I left my house and crossed the river into the woods where I had spawned when I went through the random gate. I found a crafting table. I might have placed it there myself, but I can't remember, so I let it be in case it belonged to another player. I don't need or care about the crafting table, but it made me wonder if it would have counted as griefing if someone had left the table there and forgotten about it and I had removed it.
Another question I have is about villages. I discovered a village yesterday and secured it with a fence and with torches. I spent two nights there and no mobs spawned, so I think the villagers are safe. Are there rules about villages? Is it allowed to "lay claim" to a village by placing a precious gem block and make it a second home? I would hate for someone to come along and kill all the villagers. They are adorable.
