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|'''This page is currently under construction by [[BigArge]] as of April 16, 2013. Adendum: Zburdsal is working on it now, 6/17/14''' | |||
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{{CityExtended | |||
| title = Seneca | |||
| image = [[File:Senecabanner.png|200px]] | |||
| caption = | |||
| server = [[PvE]] | |||
| maprevision = 4 through 18 | |||
| warp = | |||
| coordinates = | |||
| mayors = [[89jase]], [[Archelon2001]], [[Avi_Dangerstein]], [[Betajippity]], [[breadbomb92]], [[Crockoduck]], [[Crossedcutlasses]], [[Diznatch52]], [[Gdavison]], [[Mattman00000]], [[Redwall_hp]], [[The_exemplar]], [[Thefigg88]], [[uh1phil]], [[Twilexis]] | |||
| contributors = >200 at height | |||
| started = PvE Revision 4 | |||
| maprevisionsascity = 4 through 16 | |||
| maprevisionsinexile = 17 through 18 | |||
| spleefteam = The Senators | |||
| colors = white, light blue, and blue | |||
}} | |||
==The Spirit of Seneca== | |||
The City of Seneca has grown from a derelict camp into one of the largest communities on the PvE server. It was not started with any specific mission in mind, but came to embody certain defining principles, including: | |||
* no barriers to entry, anyone can be a citizen | |||
* lots of citizen participation in public buildings | |||
* an open, unwalled city that promotes and provides transportation links to the wider area | |||
==History== | |||
===Beginnings and Rise=== | |||
Revision 4 through Revision 7 marked the foundation of Seneca and subsequent expansion into one of the major cities of PvE. Founded out of Brom's basecamp in Revision 4, this era of Seneca's history was characterized by construction near spawn and by rapid growth due to an influx of new players looking for a friendly community to build in near spawn. Revisions 5 and 6 saw Seneca become the single largest population center on the server and cemented Seneca's status as one of the premiere powerhouses of the server. At the close of this era, Revision 7 Seneca was the first iteration of Seneca to choose a location away from Spawn and hosted the succesful Winter Games. | |||
====Beginnings in Revision 4==== | |||
The original Seneca was created from the remains of the [[Brom Township]] camp of PvE revision 4. Legend has it that WaterSlide, the last to depart the camp on the long walk to the new Brom, presented Chow_D with the keys to the city that was to become Seneca. | |||
Through the hard work and dedication of Chow_D and the residents of Seneca, it became a flourishing town within sight of the mobile spawn balloons of PvE 4. | |||
=====Pictures from Seneca on Revision 4===== | |||
<gallery perrow="3" widths="250px"> | |||
Image:2011-11-29_17.14.02.png|Seneca Tower | |||
Image:2011-11-29_17.14.51.png|Arena | |||
Image:2011-11-29_17.15.44.png|Roller Coaster | |||
</gallery> | |||
=====Setbacks and Hardship===== | |||
Only a couple of weeks before the map was to be reset, a huge techinical issue caused large parts of the map data to become corrupt. The original Seneca was not spared from the great dataclysm, and was lost forever. | |||
In the aftermath, the residents rallied to the cause, quickly replacing what had been lost with a vibrant new settlement that included a memorial tower, a wheat farm, public food chests, a chicken coop ("The Great Pit of Chicken"), a park, a suggestion board for the new Seneca, and many private buildings. Cake was a popular food during this time. | |||
====New New Seneca: Seneca in Revision 5==== | |||
The Rev5 version of Seneca grew organically from a coalition of PvE residents immediately after the server became live for the fifth revision of PvE. As Rev 5 began, a collection of Senecans gathered at the east edge of spawn, and set out into the darkness. Braving the zombies and skeletons of the new swamp biome, they blazed a trail some 300 blocks into the wilderness, and at a flat open stretch of ground created the crossroads around which New New Seneca was built. The proximity to spawn caused the town to explode in size. The version of Minecraft associated with Rev 5 was notorious for Endermen run amok, and the Senecan Task Force scrambled to constantly repair buildings. This rev would also see the birth of the Senecan Free Navy, as UNC_Samurai commissioned the city's one and only battleship. | |||
Under the leadership of UNC_Samurai, a wide road was built from the eastern spawn bridge up to and past a replica of the Seneca Memorial Tower. Known as the East Road, and Main Street in Seneca proper, it was from this base that the City of Seneca grew. | |||
The city included multiple skyscrapers, an excellent red brick town hall, two parks, a public cane/wheat/melon farm, a bakery that dispensed free bread, a jail for all the creepers, a public mine, and many private dwellings. The city also included a population of 78 (and counting) residents, and a community of generous people that would have loved to invite you in for dinner. Due to the proximity of spawn, a Greater Seneca Area sprung up around the city, with many residences outside of Seneca proper. | |||
The Rev5 mayors were [[Chow_D]], and [[UNC_Samurai]], and [[gdavison]]. The Seneca Task Force included gdavison and UNC_Samurai. | |||
Rev 5 Seneca by the end of the revision was the largest city on PvE by population, although the [[Brom Empire]] covered more land. However, Rev 5 Seneca also saw the departure of a group of citizens led by [[Socarch26]], who began as Senecans but went on to found the city of [[Argoth]]. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 5, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p05/carto/#/126/64/-371/-2/0/0 Here] | |||
====The Age of Terraforming: Seneca in Revision 6==== | |||
When Rev 6 began, the core Senecans again ventured into the wilderness, this time north, to a stretch of open ground around a small lake. Adjacent to this lake was the town square, the nexus of civic buildings. As the town grew in size and was limited by spawn-centric development, the mayors and task force engineered a massive terraforming project to level several hills and use that dirt to lay out large plots over open water. On this land was built Downtown Seneca, home to the town's skyscrapers and spleef Arena. The Seneca Stingrays were a strong force in the rev's preseason, though as the regular season progressed the team stagnated. | |||
While Revision 5 Seneca was the first iteration of Seneca to claim a position as a true powerhouse of PvE, Revision 6 cemented that status. Locked in a fierce rivalry with [[Pico]], Seneca in Revision 6 eventually claimed the title of largest city on the server, with a bustling downtown area packed with dozens of skyscrapers surrounded by lowrise residential areas and suburbs further out. Notable builds included an enormous wooden rollercoaster, the spleef arena, a glass enclosed tree-farm, the Seneca City Bridge, and much more. | |||
Future Senecan figures such as [[betajippity]] were seen for the first time near Seneca during Rev 6. | |||
To view the cartograph for Revision 6, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p06/carto/#/128/64/-337/-2/0/0 Here] | |||
====Exodus from Spawn: Winter Seneca in Revision 7==== | |||
For Rev 7, Seneca's leadership agreed upon a radical departure from previous policy; the city would locate itself some distance from spawn, to enable better control over city development. After initially setting up a base camp at the south nether portal, then attempting to locate in a large forest, Senecan explorers found an ideal location in a snow biome valley. Despite losing the ability to use minecarts for some time, the city moved forward with its core builders and a handful of adventurous newcomers, the city carefully laid out its road network and used the central park area as a camp. Civic infrastructure and municipal buildings took precedence over private houses. Once resources were gathered, roads laid out, and core buildings such as farms and sheep pens were built, the mayors carefully laid out the initial residence areas. By the end of the rev, Rev 7 Seneca featured one of the largest and grandest rail stations PvE had ever seen. | |||
Seneca hosted PvE's first Winter Games, a five-sport event featuring 1v1 spleef, chicken hockey, the biathalon, speed skating, and solving the Great Hedge Maze. Darco won the overall medal count for the Winter Games with 3 Gold and 2 Bronze Medals. Seneca came in second with 1 Gold, 3 Silver, and 1 Bronze medals. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 7, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p07/carto/#/658/64/1060/-2/0/0 Here] | |||
===The Era of Turmoil and Rebirth=== | |||
Revisions 8 and 9 marked significant turmoil and change in Seneca in almost every single aspect of the city. Revision 8 Seneca continued the trend of moving away from Spawn, but saw the city shrink dramatically due to a number of factors. Ultimately, geographic isolation proved to be a major threat to Seneca's continued viability; this is a trend that would appear again later in Seneca's history, but reared it's head for the first time in Revision 8. Revision 9 saw the establishment of Seneca as the anchor of the Southwest Portal, a characteristic that would come to define Seneca's later pinnacle era. Revision 9 also saw changes in leadership with the arrival of the generation of mayors that would lead the pinnacle era and the return of previous mayors. The Era of Turmoil and Rebirth was exactly what the name suggests: Seneca came close to being extinguished, but also laid the foundations of one of the largest empires the server has ever seen to this day. | |||
====The Age of Alliances: Seneca In Revision 8==== | |||
In Rev 8, Seneca joined with the Darco region and Pico to create the Southeast Co-prosperity Region. Built around the dual themes of Colonial Seneca and Art Deco Seneca, Rev 8 Seneca accidentally found itself twinned with Pico, each on either side of a great mountain. Located in the border between a plain and a desert biome, Rev 8 Seneca was the furthest Seneca had ever been away from spawn, continuing the trend set forth in Rev 7. | |||
Rev 8 Seneca was anchored by monumental builds, such as JohnAdams1735's tavern, colonial Town Hall, robisONE's art deco quadplex, and snickerpleez's mansion. Alas, Rev 8 Seneca was also home to many incomplete builds. Distance from spawn and from any portals, plus rivaling nearby cities, meant that fewer players reached and settled in Seneca, and as a result, Rev 8 Seneca was the smallest Seneca had been. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 8, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p08/carto/#/1645/64/2486/-2/0/0 Here] | |||
====Claiming the Southwest Portal: Seneca In Revision 9==== | |||
Revision 9 Seneca marked the beginning of an era of resurgence. Starting early in the revision, Senecan leadership founded a new city at the Southwest Portal, starting an era of Seneca as a portal focused superpower. Built overlooking the sea, Rev 9 Seneca became famous for its beautiful harbor bridge, but also became notorious for creating the Molderp. | |||
Revision 9 was a time of great change and turmoil for Seneca; great tragedy resulted in the departure of UNC_samurai as mayor, but great rejoicing was had as well with the arrival of new mayors such as diznatch52 and abdias62. Also during this period, a number of future Senecans first visited from abroad, such as avi_dangerstein, mattman00000, and bigarge, who would go on to become mayors as well, and further rejoicing was had when a hero of old, gdavison, returned to once again help lead Seneca. | |||
While Seneca ended Revision 9 as a growing empire in transition, in the subsequent Rev 10 Seneca would rise to once again become a true superpower of PvE. | |||
While not in Seneca proper, Revision 9 also marked the first appearance of a later anchor of Senecan builds: [[The Swamp Hovel of avi_dangerstein]]. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 9, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p09/carto/#/-1279/64/1544/-2/0/0 Here] | |||
===Empire and Pax Senecus=== | |||
Revisions 10 through 13 marked an unprecedented time of expansion and peace for Seneca. During this era, Seneca was a major anchor portal city in every revision (and was at the SW portal for all but one revision), and was one of, if not the largest, cities every rev. | |||
Revision 10 saw the expansion of the city staff into a strong core that drove continual expansion of the city throughout the entire revision. The city further united during the chaos mode interlude between Revisions 10 and 11; during chaos mode, Senecans, against all odds, managed to establish a secret, prosperus, peaceful city on a mushroom island far out at sea. Revision 11 saw Seneca become the largest city PvE has ever seen, with boundaries encompassing around two-thirds of the entire SW quadrant In Revision 12, Seneca struck an unprecedented alliance with Brom and Endor and constructed a vast, decentralized cluster of settlements that collectively took up around half of the NW quadrant. Revision 13 Seneca was again an enormous portal city that ran all the way to the southern world limit. | |||
====Rise of an Empire: Seneca In Revision 10==== | |||
After a heated dispute over portal ownership with those pinko commies from Bromgoth in the dawning moments of the revision, the valiant Senecans opened their hearts in earnest prayer to the great and benevolent Admins. Lo, in a miraculous and awe-inspiring moment of aboose that will long be whispered of with reverence, the Great Portal was moved from the shores of the sea to rest peacefully on the land now known as Portal Park. With a renewed spirit, the humble and industrious Senecans began working earnestly on the foundations for Mighty Seneca. | |||
Constructed with a theme of Bipartisanship (with public city builds themed after American governmental buildings), Rev10 Seneca's center was constructed around a large, beautiful open park surrounding the Great Portal. Built in tribute to the magnanimous act of aboose witnessed by the early Senecans, the hallowed land surrounding the Great Portal was set aside as a place of solemn contemplation and inspirational signage. Around the Portal Park, Seneca built magnificent stone public farms, a great statue in memory of UNC_Samurai and Seneca's other forebears who left in the Great Migration of Rev9, and a large, well equipped Town Hall. Last but not least around the Portal Park was Bipartisan Spleef, a monument both to sport and to the cooperative spirit of Seneca. Beneath the Portal Park, Seneca constructed a large rail station that quickly became the major rail hub of the southwest. Seneca quickly expanded in all directions and soon surrounded what became Seneca Harbor, complete with docks and ships and beaches and nuclear submarines. To the east, an enormous Seneca Empire Building was built by [[djatomc]], and beyond that Seneca expanded even further. To the south lay Seneca's oldest housing developments, obscured beneath the floating landmasses of Rev10. To the west lay the great [[Snickerpleeze]]an Sponge Museum, the mansion district, and [[Mattman00000]]'s glorious derpirongrinder in the sky. | |||
Rev10 Seneca saw an influx of new citizens that would soon become the core of modern Seneca, and saw an expansion of the city staff to include players such as [[mattman00000]], [[crockoduck]], [[Avi_Dangerstein]], [[betajippity]], and others. | |||
Revision 10 saw the first Swamp Hovel built within the proper city limits, establishing what is now a beloved and long-lived Senecan tradition. Rome has its Coliseum, and Paris has its Eiffel Tower, and Seneca has its Swamp Hovel. | |||
Roads were paved. Houses were erected. Animals were corralled. Rails were laid. Signs procreated shamelessly. Seekirt forward operating northeast bases near Bromgoth were established. | |||
Mighty Seneca was born anew! | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 10, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p10/carto/#/-1130/64/1262/-3/0/0 Here] | |||
====Establishing Peace in a War-torn World: Chaos Seneca Island==== | |||
Between Revs 10 and 11, the admins saw fit to create a period of Chaos. Players slew each other, builds were hastily constructed only to be griefed immediately, lava flowed; 'twas a terrible time. In the midst of the chaos, Senecans banded together along with friends from Port80 and resolved to establish a peaceful refuge for PvE players in an increasingly war-torn world. [[TheRandomnatrix]] created a great Nether Portal hidden in a mountainside, which led him to a small island out at sea hundreds of blocks away from spawn. Here, Senecans and Port80ers banded together to for a first attempt at a Chaos Seneca. The island was quickly expanded to include homes and farms, a skeleton grinder, and even a floating spleef arena. However, hostile players quickly found the island, and the peaceful PvE refugees were forced to flee by boat carrying whatever possessions they could. | |||
After sailing for many a day and night, Seneca's citizens established a second base deep underwater. Constructed with a hidden entrance, the new underwater base was difficult to excavate and resources with short; despite the hardships, Seneca's citizens soon had a new home hewn out of the ocean floor. However, whilst attempting to relay coordinates to allies, the coordinates of this new base were leaked and again Seneca was forced into exile by boat. | |||
This time, Seneca's leadership resolved to establish a final base that would never be discovered; with new stealth communication protocols set in place, Seneca sailed for days on end until they reached a Mooshroom island over 10,000 blocks away from spawn. Here, Chaos Seneca finally found a permanent home, free from the horrors of Chaos. Enormous public farms were soon established to ensure the survival of the PvE refugees, and soon the island flourished with many homes and towers, multiple skeleton grinders and mines, a 4 pod iron grinder, a Mushroom Spleef arena, and even a Seneca Metro system. Half of the island was designated the Crockoduck Peninsula Nature Preserve to protect the mooshis, and an advanced Senebeacon alert system was established around the island in case hostile forces happened upon the island. Fortunately, hostile players never discovered Seneca Island, and thus Seneca Island continued until the end of Chaos, a shining glimmer of hope for PvE players stuck in a chaotic world. | |||
For many Senecans, the days of Senechaos came to epitomize the cooperative spirit of PvE and Seneca, and Chaos Seneca Island maintains a very fond place in the collective memory of Seneca to this day. | |||
[[File:ChaosSeneca.jpg|thumb|center|1000px|The final Chaos Seneca Island, a beacon of collaboration and peace.]] | |||
====Imperial Zenith: Seneca In Revision 11==== | |||
In revision 11 Seneca was again a portal town anchoring the southwest, and grew to its largest size to date with the final population over 250 and a worldguard region that spanned over 1000 meters by 800 meters. At the start of the rev, Seneca's citizens banded together and set forth from spawn to the southwest, following a river inland until a portal was discovered standing in a great grass plain with river on one side and mountain on the other. Seneca's citizens resolved to build a grand new Seneca stretching from mountain to river and beyond; a plateau was soon terraformed beneath the portal to build a town center on. To everyone's enormous surprise and shock, Seneca then shortly found not one but TWO End Portals beneath the city's eastern residences, leading to quick defeat of the Ender Dragon. Seneca also found a second portal in the east of the map in a dense rainforest, but graciously handed the portal over to Endor. | |||
Built with a postmodern theme, Seneca's central portal area was home to [[archelon2001]]'s beautiful postmodern Town Hall, [[Avi_Dangerstein]]'s revolutionary postmodern trapezoidal public farm, and [[89jase]]'s public apartments. To the west of the portal, the city followed a strict postmodern theme and included a number of public facilities, such as Glass Spleef and [[snickerpleez]]'s wildly popular Seneca Public Art Gallery and avi's neighbouring Seneca Outdoor Sculpture Park. The south of the portal area featured a PVP arena and Threef, the first three-team spleef arena on the server. South Seneca was also home to [[BigArge]]'s enormous villager tower; one of the most comprehensive villager facilities ever built on PvE. East Seneca was the largest area of Seneca; with a looser theme, it was home to builds ranging from a large stone t-rex to homes to a sky-limit cane farm. North of Seneca was [[betajippity]] and [[mccahan]]'s Seneca Iron Grinder, an enormous 12 pod grinder that was among the largest of the rev. Later in the rev, Seneca excavated an enormous artificial lake to the south and the east, which hosted boat races and other spectacles. Towards the end of the rev, a second PVP arena and a second FISA spleef arena were built in a new dedicated Arena District, which hosted the rev's FISA Spleef Finals. The Swamp Hovel was built in the residential district east of the central portal area. | |||
Along with being the dominant centerpiece and main rail hub of the Southwest, Rev11 Seneca was easily one of the largest cities PvE has ever seen going all the way back to the enormous [[Brom Empire|Brom]] of Rev5. While in past revs Seneca had seen fierce rivalry with cities such as [[Brom]], [[Pico]], and [[Argoth]], Rev11 Seneca saw a new era of friendly relations with the city of [[Shady Oaks]], established by Brom's citizens. This friendship would plant the seeds of a new alliance in the next rev... | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 11, click [http://www.nerd.nu/maps/pve11/#/-1081/64/645/-3/0/0 Here]. | |||
====Districts And Brom: Seneca In Revision 12==== | |||
Going into revision 12, Seneca struck alliances with Endor and Brom to jointly establish a single, unified region around a portal. Initially efforts were made to establish SeneBromDor at the SW portal, but the SW portal was found to be in the middle of a sandy desert. Acting quickly, Seneca's surveyors turned their attention to the north and located the NW portal as well. Happy with the terrain to the northwest, the SW portal was turned over to Wellspring and work was begun in the NW. A vast swath of forest territory had to be cleared, and FiggHuts were built over a wide expanse of forest in order to mark SeneBromDor's claim (the FiggHut project was so expansive and so succesful that it may have directly led to the ban of this strategy in future revision rules...) | |||
Around the NW portal, Seneca split itself into a number of districts. This meant specific areas for specific themes, such as medieval, Sketchtown, business, and even [[Bräum|Brom]] and [[Endor]] as districts. The portal itself was turned into an artificial island and a large, octagonal town hall was constructed around the portal with the portal itself in a outdoor park in the middle. A number of artificial rivers were dug to separate various districts. To the north was the general unthemed Seneca residential district; to the east were the business district, Endor's forests and Wondrland. To the west was the medieval district. To the south was Sketchtown, the dystopian district, and the enormous European-styled Brom district. An enormous artificial lake was also dug to the south. | |||
Notable builds are the large buildings of the Brom district, such as the zoo and the villager mall, the Uber project to the south largly funded by Seneca and Senecan labor, and also Wondrland in the northeast. Sketchtown was home to this revision's Swamp Hovel, along with other builds such as a native tribal dirt hut, a banana building, and Snickerpleez's Sketchtown Bank. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 12, click [http://www.nerd.nu/maps/pve12/#/-1437/64/-1355/-5/0/0 Here]. | |||
====Seneca Bay: Seneca In Revision 13==== | |||
While Revision 12 was overall a success, the city felt too spread out, and some sense of community seemed to have been lost in building in separate districts. As a result, Seneca decided to return to the model of a single city with a single theme in Revision 13. Seneca once again set out and claimed the SW portal at the start of the revision, and a general Nordic theme was chosen, with timber-framed and stone builds encouraged. The portal was found in the center of a large bay, and Seneca quickly began construction all around what was named Seneca Bay. | |||
Town hall was established on the peak of a large mountain on the southwest shore of Seneca Bay, while various farms and villager centers were constructed on the western shores of the bay. Large residential plots were established on the eastern shore of the bay and eventually expanded nearly a thousand blocks further east; the Spleef Arena, Aypop's potion center, and the main campus of BetaCorp. were also eventually built on the eastern shore. Further in the eastern section, Seneca's first CARBON station was built. On the southeastern shore, another residential district called Swampeca became home to the Swamp Hovel, and yet more residential areas were built on an island in the south of Seneca Bay and to the southwest of Town Hall mountain. An enormous PVP arena was also built to the south. In the northeast, an enormous statue of Talos was constructed, and to the northwest, a series of enormous lakes and canals were dug, and on the northern banks of the artificial Lake Seneca, yet another residential district was built as the others filled up. To the north of the Talos statue, a more modern-themed residential district was also established. | |||
Initially, the portal remained on an outdoor island in the center of the bay, with bridges connecting the island to the eastern and western shores. Later, an enormous, magnificent lighthouse was constructed on the island around and over the portal, complete with a working spinning redstone signal lantern at the top. The citizens of Seneca also constructed a statue of Diznatch52 in the bay across from the portal lighthouse, in honor of the mayor that re-founded Seneca in Rev 9. For much of the revision, the real Diznatch52 proceeded to AFK on top of his statue, fated to disappear following the end of the revision. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 13, click [http://nerd.nu/maps/pve13/#/-1834/64/1621/-4/0/0 Here]. | |||
===Decline and Fall=== | |||
After four consecutive revisions of unprecedented success and expansion came the Decline and Fall era, where a combination of overreach, exhaustion, and unfortunate terrain brought about the end of the Senecan Empire. Revisions 14 and 15 saw a sharp drop in population and staff levels as Seneca found itself in difficult terrain and saddled itself with overly ambitious projects that sapped enthusiasm. Revision 16 marked the first time in 8 revisions that Seneca abandoned the portals and moved closer back to Spawn, but met difficulty in being built too close to other large cities. The end of this era also marked the end of Seneca's continued existance as a major PvE city. | |||
====Overreach and Division: Seneca in Revision 14==== | |||
As Revision 14 loomed on the horizon, Seneca designed an enormous town hall, the likes of which had never been seen before. Easily a thousand blocks wide, this town hall was rumored to be larger than some entire previous iterations of Seneca had been, with vast endless halls of chests and furnaces and offices surrounding and enormous, elegant portal park. At the start of Revision 14, Seneca struck out once again to the SW and quickly found the SW portal near the sea; however, disaster soon struck. The SW portal was in the middle of a huge mesa biome; constructing the town hall and city envisioned would require enormous terraforming and grass planting. Determined, Senecans began flattening land and collecting dirt from afar. | |||
However, the task proved to be too much; construction of the town hall continued at a rapid pace, but the sheer size of the build meant that even at a rapid pace, the bulk of construction took many weeks to complete. With all of the city's resources and effort focused on the town hall, little effort was put into establishing residences and the rest of the city; as a result, interest soon waned and as town hall construction dragged into the middle of the rev, even the most determined staff members lost their resolve and dropped away. Of the few builds outside of the town hall, only two were of major significance: the clocktower to the east, and the Swamp Hovel. Soon, Seneca on the mainland was abandoned entirely, and a small contingent of remaning Senecans set sail further to the southwest and established the island settlement of Seneca Minor. As with so many an empire before, overreach and mother nature had conspired to humble even the mightiest of cities. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 14, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p14/carto/index.html#/-2577/64/2840/-3/0/0 here] for Seneca Major, and [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p14/carto/index.html#/-3393/64/3894/-2/0/0 here] for Seneca Minor. | |||
====Return to Spawn: Seneca in Revision 15==== | |||
With much of the city's Empire-era staff gone and one rev of heavy decline, [[twilexis]] took the lead to move Seneca back closer to Spawn in an effort to return Seneca to it's roots as a spawn city. Initial progress was swift, but two revisions of turmoil had taken their toll. Dispirited, Seneca soon saw itself overshadowed by the much larger Brom Corporation's city to the immediate south and various other large settlements nearby. Twilexis soon was forced to depart too by real world circumstances, leaving Seneca leaderless and directionless as the revision closed. Dark times indeed had befallen what once was a great people... | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 15, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p15/carto/index.html#/175/64/-862/-1/0/0 Here]. | |||
====Adrift at Sea: Seneca in Revision 16==== | |||
Revision 16 saw the largest change in the server map that ever been seen; instead of a square map with permanent portals in each quadrant and a few more secret portals, Revision 16's map had portals in a circle around the map that would turn on and off at different times of the day. Unsure of strategy, Seneca set forth to find a portal once more and quickly found the Capricorn Portal in the middle of the ocean. Soon, in the grand tradition of finding two portals, Seneca also found the permanent West Portal. After much internal debate, the decision was made to stay at the Capricorn Portal, where an enormous skyscraper was constructed around the portal from the ocean floor up. | |||
However, building in the ocean again proved to be too much of an environmental hazard and burden, and soon Seneca again resolve and dwindled. A Swamp Hovel was constructed at the bottom of the ocean. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 16, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p16/carto/index.html#/-2237/64/-9/-1/0/0 Here]. | |||
===Diaspora=== | |||
The fall of Seneca ended with the dissolution of the city, and for the first time in 14 revisions, a new revision began without a Seneca on the map. However, the people of Seneca were not gone; they still survived, but now scattered to the winds; the Senecan Diaspora had begun. In Revision 17, Senecans joined a number of other cities and established numerous independent settlements, while Revision 18 saw Senecans begin to coalesce again into larger groups as well as the return of Diznatch52. This era also saw a handful of pretenders to the Senecan legacy emerge; however, perhaps one day Seneca might re-emerge as its people coninue to seek a home in the wilderness of the world... | |||
====Scattered to the Winds: Seneca in Revision 17==== | |||
In Revision 17, a number of Senecans found new homes. In their new homes, Senecans quickly established themselves as productive members of society, looking to improve their new adoptive towns and cities. Below are a few of the most significant groups of Senecan refugees: | |||
=====In the northwest: Raven Rock, Brom, and Pico===== | |||
[[archelon]] led a handful of Senecans to settle in Raven Rock in the far northwest. Built in a series of mountains and valleys, Raven Rock became one of the anchor cities of the north and home to Raven Rock Airport, the farthest elytra network outpost to the northwest. Archelon built a beautiful modern home on the outer fringes of Raven Rock, reminiscent of the modern district of Revision 13 Seneca. | |||
Betajippity initially joined up with Brom, reasoning that Seneca was descended from Brom and was to Brom as America is to Britain. beta helped establish Brom's eastern shoreline and built a Swamp Hovel nearby to the east before heading south to join up with avi_dangerstein. | |||
Avi_dangerstein and Betajippity would eventually build a Bamf Embassy in Pico, complete with a hidden underground Swamp Hovel below the embassy. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Archelon's house in Raven Rock, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p17/carto/#/-1769/64/-2623/max/0/0 Here]. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Brom, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p17/carto/#/-504/64/-1150/-1/0/0 Here]. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Bamf's Embassy in Pico, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p17/carto/#/-1795/64/-1589/max/0/0 Here]. | |||
=====In the central regions: White Oak and Solace===== | |||
[[Redwall_hp]] and others joined White Oak to the north of spawn, whils Wondrland reconstructed the glorious Cheeseburger from Rev 12 Wondrland near Solace and then ventured into the mountains to construct experiments such as the WonderPipes. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 17's Wondrland Cheeseburger, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p17/carto/#/-60/64/-834/-1/0/0 Here]. | |||
=====In the southwest: Bamf===== | |||
Avi_dangerstein headed for the SW portal and found that a new town had been established around the former Senecan portal: Soviet Clearmont, founded by harotoro. Quickly establishing friendly relations, avi then headed to the east and built a Swamp Hovel near Soviet Clearmont, and constructed the Highway to the Dangerzone. Betajippity soon joined avi, and the two built the beautiful rustic forest town of Bamf as a personal project. Avi and beta also dug a river to connect Bamf to the great Southern Ocean. In Bamf, beta built the Senecan Inn and Tavern, a place to remember the glory days of Seneca and to provide a welcoming home to any wandering Senecan happening to stop by. | |||
In the latter half of the rev, Bamf collaborated closely with Soviet Clearmont on a number of projects, including the construction of Soviet Clearmont's CARTS station, the construction of Bamf-Clearmont International Airport and several other airports in the elytra network, and in setting up the NightOak event at the end of the revision. Bamf also established an embassy in Pico, complete with a Swamp Hovel underneath. This embassy in Pico would open the door to a new adoptive home for Senecan exiles in the next rev, although this home was sadly not to last... | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Bamf, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p17/carto/#/-1662/64/1930/-1/0/0 Here]. | |||
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Soviet Clearmont, click [http://redditpublic.com/carto/pve/p17/carto/#/-1909/64/1834/-1/0/0 Here]. | |||
====Empire in Exile: Seneca in Revision 18==== | |||
In Revision 18, more old Senecans from the Empire era returned, and Senecans coalesced into one main group for the first time since the Fall. At the start of the revision, betajippity, naivatkal, and Diznatch52 led a group of Senecans to Pico, which had found the SW portal. Banding together with Pico, farms and a mine were quickly established to serve as the foundation of Rev 18 Pico and as a rallying point for Senecan exile to gather. Soon, avi and beta set off from Pico further southwest to establish another personal project, closely allied with Pico and in a similar Asian style to Pico, while Diz began plans for a small Senecan enclave in Pico proper. | |||
=====In the far southwest: ErShan===== | |||
Setting out from Pico on the third day of the revision, avi, beta, naivatkal, and thelifelessone sailed west and then journeyed south across vast oceans and over mountains until they reached the twin sky-limit peaks at the very southwest corner of the map. On the western mountain, they founded the settlement of ErShan, with a rustic Asian styled village at the bottom of the mountain and monastaries at the top. | |||
Due to an unfortunate incidence involving a Crockosmelter, Diznatch and CROCKODUCK found themselves banished from their new home. With this new rift and tensions still high, Diz, Crock, and other Senecans decided to pivot and traveled south to ErShan as well; Diznatch rerouted his Seneca Rails project, aiming to connect ErShan to Rose at the S portal rather than Pico at the SW portal. Meanwhile, Diz and Beta began scheming up a new plan for a Seneca Island in Rose modelled after Chaos Seneca Island. | |||
====Hovelton and Farallon Island: Seneca in Revision 19==== | |||
Revision 19 marked the 10th revision since the first appearance of the famed Swamp Hovel of Avi_Dangerstein on the server, which has existed on every revision since Rev 9. As such, beta and avi decided to honor the swamp hovel by building the town of Hovelton, constructed entirely out of swamp hovel variants. Hovelton's site was found early in the revision as beta explored the southwest quadrant, seeking a suitable location. Near the very northernmost border of the southwest quadrant, beta sailed into a beautiful small cove surrounded by deep forest. Here, the town of Hovelton was founded initially as a small hobbit hole under a hill on a beach. | |||
Meanwhile, to the far far southeast, Archelon founded the quiet, idyllic island community of Farallon Island along with Herr_Fawkes and others. Farallon Island contains large farm lands, beautiful contoured roads, and is home to Archelon's House, another classic Senecan build that has since reappeared on a number of revisions, much like the Swamp Hovel. | |||
===Future=== | |||
Whether or not Seneca will reunite and return as a single city in future revisions remains unknown, but rumors swirl that former Senecan staff members and citizens can once again be seen around the server, collaborating and searching... | |||
While Seneca as a major city is still gone, as long as Senecans continue to build together and seek adventure together, the spirit of Seneca lives on... |
Latest revision as of 05:53, 19 January 2017
Location | |
---|---|
Server | PvE |
Map revisions | 4 through 18 |
Creators | |
Mayors | 89jase, Archelon2001, Avi_Dangerstein, Betajippity, breadbomb92, Crockoduck, Crossedcutlasses, Diznatch52, Gdavison, Mattman00000, Redwall_hp, The_exemplar, Thefigg88, uh1phil, Twilexis |
Citizens | >200 at height |
Timeline | |
Started | PvE Revision 4 |
Map revisions as city | 4 through 16 |
Map revisions in exile | 17 through 18 |
City Info | |
Spleef Team | The Senators |
City Colors | white, light blue, and blue |
The Spirit of Seneca
The City of Seneca has grown from a derelict camp into one of the largest communities on the PvE server. It was not started with any specific mission in mind, but came to embody certain defining principles, including:
- no barriers to entry, anyone can be a citizen
- lots of citizen participation in public buildings
- an open, unwalled city that promotes and provides transportation links to the wider area
History
Beginnings and Rise
Revision 4 through Revision 7 marked the foundation of Seneca and subsequent expansion into one of the major cities of PvE. Founded out of Brom's basecamp in Revision 4, this era of Seneca's history was characterized by construction near spawn and by rapid growth due to an influx of new players looking for a friendly community to build in near spawn. Revisions 5 and 6 saw Seneca become the single largest population center on the server and cemented Seneca's status as one of the premiere powerhouses of the server. At the close of this era, Revision 7 Seneca was the first iteration of Seneca to choose a location away from Spawn and hosted the succesful Winter Games.
Beginnings in Revision 4
The original Seneca was created from the remains of the Brom Township camp of PvE revision 4. Legend has it that WaterSlide, the last to depart the camp on the long walk to the new Brom, presented Chow_D with the keys to the city that was to become Seneca.
Through the hard work and dedication of Chow_D and the residents of Seneca, it became a flourishing town within sight of the mobile spawn balloons of PvE 4.
Pictures from Seneca on Revision 4
Setbacks and Hardship
Only a couple of weeks before the map was to be reset, a huge techinical issue caused large parts of the map data to become corrupt. The original Seneca was not spared from the great dataclysm, and was lost forever.
In the aftermath, the residents rallied to the cause, quickly replacing what had been lost with a vibrant new settlement that included a memorial tower, a wheat farm, public food chests, a chicken coop ("The Great Pit of Chicken"), a park, a suggestion board for the new Seneca, and many private buildings. Cake was a popular food during this time.
New New Seneca: Seneca in Revision 5
The Rev5 version of Seneca grew organically from a coalition of PvE residents immediately after the server became live for the fifth revision of PvE. As Rev 5 began, a collection of Senecans gathered at the east edge of spawn, and set out into the darkness. Braving the zombies and skeletons of the new swamp biome, they blazed a trail some 300 blocks into the wilderness, and at a flat open stretch of ground created the crossroads around which New New Seneca was built. The proximity to spawn caused the town to explode in size. The version of Minecraft associated with Rev 5 was notorious for Endermen run amok, and the Senecan Task Force scrambled to constantly repair buildings. This rev would also see the birth of the Senecan Free Navy, as UNC_Samurai commissioned the city's one and only battleship.
Under the leadership of UNC_Samurai, a wide road was built from the eastern spawn bridge up to and past a replica of the Seneca Memorial Tower. Known as the East Road, and Main Street in Seneca proper, it was from this base that the City of Seneca grew.
The city included multiple skyscrapers, an excellent red brick town hall, two parks, a public cane/wheat/melon farm, a bakery that dispensed free bread, a jail for all the creepers, a public mine, and many private dwellings. The city also included a population of 78 (and counting) residents, and a community of generous people that would have loved to invite you in for dinner. Due to the proximity of spawn, a Greater Seneca Area sprung up around the city, with many residences outside of Seneca proper.
The Rev5 mayors were Chow_D, and UNC_Samurai, and gdavison. The Seneca Task Force included gdavison and UNC_Samurai.
Rev 5 Seneca by the end of the revision was the largest city on PvE by population, although the Brom Empire covered more land. However, Rev 5 Seneca also saw the departure of a group of citizens led by Socarch26, who began as Senecans but went on to found the city of Argoth.
To view the cartograph for revision 5, click Here
The Age of Terraforming: Seneca in Revision 6
When Rev 6 began, the core Senecans again ventured into the wilderness, this time north, to a stretch of open ground around a small lake. Adjacent to this lake was the town square, the nexus of civic buildings. As the town grew in size and was limited by spawn-centric development, the mayors and task force engineered a massive terraforming project to level several hills and use that dirt to lay out large plots over open water. On this land was built Downtown Seneca, home to the town's skyscrapers and spleef Arena. The Seneca Stingrays were a strong force in the rev's preseason, though as the regular season progressed the team stagnated.
While Revision 5 Seneca was the first iteration of Seneca to claim a position as a true powerhouse of PvE, Revision 6 cemented that status. Locked in a fierce rivalry with Pico, Seneca in Revision 6 eventually claimed the title of largest city on the server, with a bustling downtown area packed with dozens of skyscrapers surrounded by lowrise residential areas and suburbs further out. Notable builds included an enormous wooden rollercoaster, the spleef arena, a glass enclosed tree-farm, the Seneca City Bridge, and much more.
Future Senecan figures such as betajippity were seen for the first time near Seneca during Rev 6.
To view the cartograph for Revision 6, click Here
Exodus from Spawn: Winter Seneca in Revision 7
For Rev 7, Seneca's leadership agreed upon a radical departure from previous policy; the city would locate itself some distance from spawn, to enable better control over city development. After initially setting up a base camp at the south nether portal, then attempting to locate in a large forest, Senecan explorers found an ideal location in a snow biome valley. Despite losing the ability to use minecarts for some time, the city moved forward with its core builders and a handful of adventurous newcomers, the city carefully laid out its road network and used the central park area as a camp. Civic infrastructure and municipal buildings took precedence over private houses. Once resources were gathered, roads laid out, and core buildings such as farms and sheep pens were built, the mayors carefully laid out the initial residence areas. By the end of the rev, Rev 7 Seneca featured one of the largest and grandest rail stations PvE had ever seen.
Seneca hosted PvE's first Winter Games, a five-sport event featuring 1v1 spleef, chicken hockey, the biathalon, speed skating, and solving the Great Hedge Maze. Darco won the overall medal count for the Winter Games with 3 Gold and 2 Bronze Medals. Seneca came in second with 1 Gold, 3 Silver, and 1 Bronze medals.
To view the cartograph for revision 7, click Here
The Era of Turmoil and Rebirth
Revisions 8 and 9 marked significant turmoil and change in Seneca in almost every single aspect of the city. Revision 8 Seneca continued the trend of moving away from Spawn, but saw the city shrink dramatically due to a number of factors. Ultimately, geographic isolation proved to be a major threat to Seneca's continued viability; this is a trend that would appear again later in Seneca's history, but reared it's head for the first time in Revision 8. Revision 9 saw the establishment of Seneca as the anchor of the Southwest Portal, a characteristic that would come to define Seneca's later pinnacle era. Revision 9 also saw changes in leadership with the arrival of the generation of mayors that would lead the pinnacle era and the return of previous mayors. The Era of Turmoil and Rebirth was exactly what the name suggests: Seneca came close to being extinguished, but also laid the foundations of one of the largest empires the server has ever seen to this day.
The Age of Alliances: Seneca In Revision 8
In Rev 8, Seneca joined with the Darco region and Pico to create the Southeast Co-prosperity Region. Built around the dual themes of Colonial Seneca and Art Deco Seneca, Rev 8 Seneca accidentally found itself twinned with Pico, each on either side of a great mountain. Located in the border between a plain and a desert biome, Rev 8 Seneca was the furthest Seneca had ever been away from spawn, continuing the trend set forth in Rev 7.
Rev 8 Seneca was anchored by monumental builds, such as JohnAdams1735's tavern, colonial Town Hall, robisONE's art deco quadplex, and snickerpleez's mansion. Alas, Rev 8 Seneca was also home to many incomplete builds. Distance from spawn and from any portals, plus rivaling nearby cities, meant that fewer players reached and settled in Seneca, and as a result, Rev 8 Seneca was the smallest Seneca had been.
To view the cartograph for revision 8, click Here
Claiming the Southwest Portal: Seneca In Revision 9
Revision 9 Seneca marked the beginning of an era of resurgence. Starting early in the revision, Senecan leadership founded a new city at the Southwest Portal, starting an era of Seneca as a portal focused superpower. Built overlooking the sea, Rev 9 Seneca became famous for its beautiful harbor bridge, but also became notorious for creating the Molderp.
Revision 9 was a time of great change and turmoil for Seneca; great tragedy resulted in the departure of UNC_samurai as mayor, but great rejoicing was had as well with the arrival of new mayors such as diznatch52 and abdias62. Also during this period, a number of future Senecans first visited from abroad, such as avi_dangerstein, mattman00000, and bigarge, who would go on to become mayors as well, and further rejoicing was had when a hero of old, gdavison, returned to once again help lead Seneca.
While Seneca ended Revision 9 as a growing empire in transition, in the subsequent Rev 10 Seneca would rise to once again become a true superpower of PvE.
While not in Seneca proper, Revision 9 also marked the first appearance of a later anchor of Senecan builds: The Swamp Hovel of avi_dangerstein.
To view the cartograph for revision 9, click Here
Empire and Pax Senecus
Revisions 10 through 13 marked an unprecedented time of expansion and peace for Seneca. During this era, Seneca was a major anchor portal city in every revision (and was at the SW portal for all but one revision), and was one of, if not the largest, cities every rev.
Revision 10 saw the expansion of the city staff into a strong core that drove continual expansion of the city throughout the entire revision. The city further united during the chaos mode interlude between Revisions 10 and 11; during chaos mode, Senecans, against all odds, managed to establish a secret, prosperus, peaceful city on a mushroom island far out at sea. Revision 11 saw Seneca become the largest city PvE has ever seen, with boundaries encompassing around two-thirds of the entire SW quadrant In Revision 12, Seneca struck an unprecedented alliance with Brom and Endor and constructed a vast, decentralized cluster of settlements that collectively took up around half of the NW quadrant. Revision 13 Seneca was again an enormous portal city that ran all the way to the southern world limit.
Rise of an Empire: Seneca In Revision 10
After a heated dispute over portal ownership with those pinko commies from Bromgoth in the dawning moments of the revision, the valiant Senecans opened their hearts in earnest prayer to the great and benevolent Admins. Lo, in a miraculous and awe-inspiring moment of aboose that will long be whispered of with reverence, the Great Portal was moved from the shores of the sea to rest peacefully on the land now known as Portal Park. With a renewed spirit, the humble and industrious Senecans began working earnestly on the foundations for Mighty Seneca.
Constructed with a theme of Bipartisanship (with public city builds themed after American governmental buildings), Rev10 Seneca's center was constructed around a large, beautiful open park surrounding the Great Portal. Built in tribute to the magnanimous act of aboose witnessed by the early Senecans, the hallowed land surrounding the Great Portal was set aside as a place of solemn contemplation and inspirational signage. Around the Portal Park, Seneca built magnificent stone public farms, a great statue in memory of UNC_Samurai and Seneca's other forebears who left in the Great Migration of Rev9, and a large, well equipped Town Hall. Last but not least around the Portal Park was Bipartisan Spleef, a monument both to sport and to the cooperative spirit of Seneca. Beneath the Portal Park, Seneca constructed a large rail station that quickly became the major rail hub of the southwest. Seneca quickly expanded in all directions and soon surrounded what became Seneca Harbor, complete with docks and ships and beaches and nuclear submarines. To the east, an enormous Seneca Empire Building was built by djatomc, and beyond that Seneca expanded even further. To the south lay Seneca's oldest housing developments, obscured beneath the floating landmasses of Rev10. To the west lay the great Snickerpleezean Sponge Museum, the mansion district, and Mattman00000's glorious derpirongrinder in the sky.
Rev10 Seneca saw an influx of new citizens that would soon become the core of modern Seneca, and saw an expansion of the city staff to include players such as mattman00000, crockoduck, Avi_Dangerstein, betajippity, and others.
Revision 10 saw the first Swamp Hovel built within the proper city limits, establishing what is now a beloved and long-lived Senecan tradition. Rome has its Coliseum, and Paris has its Eiffel Tower, and Seneca has its Swamp Hovel.
Roads were paved. Houses were erected. Animals were corralled. Rails were laid. Signs procreated shamelessly. Seekirt forward operating northeast bases near Bromgoth were established.
Mighty Seneca was born anew!
To view the cartograph for revision 10, click Here
Establishing Peace in a War-torn World: Chaos Seneca Island
Between Revs 10 and 11, the admins saw fit to create a period of Chaos. Players slew each other, builds were hastily constructed only to be griefed immediately, lava flowed; 'twas a terrible time. In the midst of the chaos, Senecans banded together along with friends from Port80 and resolved to establish a peaceful refuge for PvE players in an increasingly war-torn world. TheRandomnatrix created a great Nether Portal hidden in a mountainside, which led him to a small island out at sea hundreds of blocks away from spawn. Here, Senecans and Port80ers banded together to for a first attempt at a Chaos Seneca. The island was quickly expanded to include homes and farms, a skeleton grinder, and even a floating spleef arena. However, hostile players quickly found the island, and the peaceful PvE refugees were forced to flee by boat carrying whatever possessions they could.
After sailing for many a day and night, Seneca's citizens established a second base deep underwater. Constructed with a hidden entrance, the new underwater base was difficult to excavate and resources with short; despite the hardships, Seneca's citizens soon had a new home hewn out of the ocean floor. However, whilst attempting to relay coordinates to allies, the coordinates of this new base were leaked and again Seneca was forced into exile by boat.
This time, Seneca's leadership resolved to establish a final base that would never be discovered; with new stealth communication protocols set in place, Seneca sailed for days on end until they reached a Mooshroom island over 10,000 blocks away from spawn. Here, Chaos Seneca finally found a permanent home, free from the horrors of Chaos. Enormous public farms were soon established to ensure the survival of the PvE refugees, and soon the island flourished with many homes and towers, multiple skeleton grinders and mines, a 4 pod iron grinder, a Mushroom Spleef arena, and even a Seneca Metro system. Half of the island was designated the Crockoduck Peninsula Nature Preserve to protect the mooshis, and an advanced Senebeacon alert system was established around the island in case hostile forces happened upon the island. Fortunately, hostile players never discovered Seneca Island, and thus Seneca Island continued until the end of Chaos, a shining glimmer of hope for PvE players stuck in a chaotic world.
For many Senecans, the days of Senechaos came to epitomize the cooperative spirit of PvE and Seneca, and Chaos Seneca Island maintains a very fond place in the collective memory of Seneca to this day.
Imperial Zenith: Seneca In Revision 11
In revision 11 Seneca was again a portal town anchoring the southwest, and grew to its largest size to date with the final population over 250 and a worldguard region that spanned over 1000 meters by 800 meters. At the start of the rev, Seneca's citizens banded together and set forth from spawn to the southwest, following a river inland until a portal was discovered standing in a great grass plain with river on one side and mountain on the other. Seneca's citizens resolved to build a grand new Seneca stretching from mountain to river and beyond; a plateau was soon terraformed beneath the portal to build a town center on. To everyone's enormous surprise and shock, Seneca then shortly found not one but TWO End Portals beneath the city's eastern residences, leading to quick defeat of the Ender Dragon. Seneca also found a second portal in the east of the map in a dense rainforest, but graciously handed the portal over to Endor.
Built with a postmodern theme, Seneca's central portal area was home to archelon2001's beautiful postmodern Town Hall, Avi_Dangerstein's revolutionary postmodern trapezoidal public farm, and 89jase's public apartments. To the west of the portal, the city followed a strict postmodern theme and included a number of public facilities, such as Glass Spleef and snickerpleez's wildly popular Seneca Public Art Gallery and avi's neighbouring Seneca Outdoor Sculpture Park. The south of the portal area featured a PVP arena and Threef, the first three-team spleef arena on the server. South Seneca was also home to BigArge's enormous villager tower; one of the most comprehensive villager facilities ever built on PvE. East Seneca was the largest area of Seneca; with a looser theme, it was home to builds ranging from a large stone t-rex to homes to a sky-limit cane farm. North of Seneca was betajippity and mccahan's Seneca Iron Grinder, an enormous 12 pod grinder that was among the largest of the rev. Later in the rev, Seneca excavated an enormous artificial lake to the south and the east, which hosted boat races and other spectacles. Towards the end of the rev, a second PVP arena and a second FISA spleef arena were built in a new dedicated Arena District, which hosted the rev's FISA Spleef Finals. The Swamp Hovel was built in the residential district east of the central portal area.
Along with being the dominant centerpiece and main rail hub of the Southwest, Rev11 Seneca was easily one of the largest cities PvE has ever seen going all the way back to the enormous Brom of Rev5. While in past revs Seneca had seen fierce rivalry with cities such as Brom, Pico, and Argoth, Rev11 Seneca saw a new era of friendly relations with the city of Shady Oaks, established by Brom's citizens. This friendship would plant the seeds of a new alliance in the next rev...
To view the cartograph for revision 11, click Here.
Districts And Brom: Seneca In Revision 12
Going into revision 12, Seneca struck alliances with Endor and Brom to jointly establish a single, unified region around a portal. Initially efforts were made to establish SeneBromDor at the SW portal, but the SW portal was found to be in the middle of a sandy desert. Acting quickly, Seneca's surveyors turned their attention to the north and located the NW portal as well. Happy with the terrain to the northwest, the SW portal was turned over to Wellspring and work was begun in the NW. A vast swath of forest territory had to be cleared, and FiggHuts were built over a wide expanse of forest in order to mark SeneBromDor's claim (the FiggHut project was so expansive and so succesful that it may have directly led to the ban of this strategy in future revision rules...)
Around the NW portal, Seneca split itself into a number of districts. This meant specific areas for specific themes, such as medieval, Sketchtown, business, and even Brom and Endor as districts. The portal itself was turned into an artificial island and a large, octagonal town hall was constructed around the portal with the portal itself in a outdoor park in the middle. A number of artificial rivers were dug to separate various districts. To the north was the general unthemed Seneca residential district; to the east were the business district, Endor's forests and Wondrland. To the west was the medieval district. To the south was Sketchtown, the dystopian district, and the enormous European-styled Brom district. An enormous artificial lake was also dug to the south.
Notable builds are the large buildings of the Brom district, such as the zoo and the villager mall, the Uber project to the south largly funded by Seneca and Senecan labor, and also Wondrland in the northeast. Sketchtown was home to this revision's Swamp Hovel, along with other builds such as a native tribal dirt hut, a banana building, and Snickerpleez's Sketchtown Bank.
To view the cartograph for revision 12, click Here.
Seneca Bay: Seneca In Revision 13
While Revision 12 was overall a success, the city felt too spread out, and some sense of community seemed to have been lost in building in separate districts. As a result, Seneca decided to return to the model of a single city with a single theme in Revision 13. Seneca once again set out and claimed the SW portal at the start of the revision, and a general Nordic theme was chosen, with timber-framed and stone builds encouraged. The portal was found in the center of a large bay, and Seneca quickly began construction all around what was named Seneca Bay.
Town hall was established on the peak of a large mountain on the southwest shore of Seneca Bay, while various farms and villager centers were constructed on the western shores of the bay. Large residential plots were established on the eastern shore of the bay and eventually expanded nearly a thousand blocks further east; the Spleef Arena, Aypop's potion center, and the main campus of BetaCorp. were also eventually built on the eastern shore. Further in the eastern section, Seneca's first CARBON station was built. On the southeastern shore, another residential district called Swampeca became home to the Swamp Hovel, and yet more residential areas were built on an island in the south of Seneca Bay and to the southwest of Town Hall mountain. An enormous PVP arena was also built to the south. In the northeast, an enormous statue of Talos was constructed, and to the northwest, a series of enormous lakes and canals were dug, and on the northern banks of the artificial Lake Seneca, yet another residential district was built as the others filled up. To the north of the Talos statue, a more modern-themed residential district was also established.
Initially, the portal remained on an outdoor island in the center of the bay, with bridges connecting the island to the eastern and western shores. Later, an enormous, magnificent lighthouse was constructed on the island around and over the portal, complete with a working spinning redstone signal lantern at the top. The citizens of Seneca also constructed a statue of Diznatch52 in the bay across from the portal lighthouse, in honor of the mayor that re-founded Seneca in Rev 9. For much of the revision, the real Diznatch52 proceeded to AFK on top of his statue, fated to disappear following the end of the revision.
To view the cartograph for revision 13, click Here.
Decline and Fall
After four consecutive revisions of unprecedented success and expansion came the Decline and Fall era, where a combination of overreach, exhaustion, and unfortunate terrain brought about the end of the Senecan Empire. Revisions 14 and 15 saw a sharp drop in population and staff levels as Seneca found itself in difficult terrain and saddled itself with overly ambitious projects that sapped enthusiasm. Revision 16 marked the first time in 8 revisions that Seneca abandoned the portals and moved closer back to Spawn, but met difficulty in being built too close to other large cities. The end of this era also marked the end of Seneca's continued existance as a major PvE city.
Overreach and Division: Seneca in Revision 14
As Revision 14 loomed on the horizon, Seneca designed an enormous town hall, the likes of which had never been seen before. Easily a thousand blocks wide, this town hall was rumored to be larger than some entire previous iterations of Seneca had been, with vast endless halls of chests and furnaces and offices surrounding and enormous, elegant portal park. At the start of Revision 14, Seneca struck out once again to the SW and quickly found the SW portal near the sea; however, disaster soon struck. The SW portal was in the middle of a huge mesa biome; constructing the town hall and city envisioned would require enormous terraforming and grass planting. Determined, Senecans began flattening land and collecting dirt from afar.
However, the task proved to be too much; construction of the town hall continued at a rapid pace, but the sheer size of the build meant that even at a rapid pace, the bulk of construction took many weeks to complete. With all of the city's resources and effort focused on the town hall, little effort was put into establishing residences and the rest of the city; as a result, interest soon waned and as town hall construction dragged into the middle of the rev, even the most determined staff members lost their resolve and dropped away. Of the few builds outside of the town hall, only two were of major significance: the clocktower to the east, and the Swamp Hovel. Soon, Seneca on the mainland was abandoned entirely, and a small contingent of remaning Senecans set sail further to the southwest and established the island settlement of Seneca Minor. As with so many an empire before, overreach and mother nature had conspired to humble even the mightiest of cities.
To view the cartograph for revision 14, click here for Seneca Major, and here for Seneca Minor.
Return to Spawn: Seneca in Revision 15
With much of the city's Empire-era staff gone and one rev of heavy decline, twilexis took the lead to move Seneca back closer to Spawn in an effort to return Seneca to it's roots as a spawn city. Initial progress was swift, but two revisions of turmoil had taken their toll. Dispirited, Seneca soon saw itself overshadowed by the much larger Brom Corporation's city to the immediate south and various other large settlements nearby. Twilexis soon was forced to depart too by real world circumstances, leaving Seneca leaderless and directionless as the revision closed. Dark times indeed had befallen what once was a great people...
To view the cartograph for revision 15, click Here.
Adrift at Sea: Seneca in Revision 16
Revision 16 saw the largest change in the server map that ever been seen; instead of a square map with permanent portals in each quadrant and a few more secret portals, Revision 16's map had portals in a circle around the map that would turn on and off at different times of the day. Unsure of strategy, Seneca set forth to find a portal once more and quickly found the Capricorn Portal in the middle of the ocean. Soon, in the grand tradition of finding two portals, Seneca also found the permanent West Portal. After much internal debate, the decision was made to stay at the Capricorn Portal, where an enormous skyscraper was constructed around the portal from the ocean floor up.
However, building in the ocean again proved to be too much of an environmental hazard and burden, and soon Seneca again resolve and dwindled. A Swamp Hovel was constructed at the bottom of the ocean.
To view the cartograph for revision 16, click Here.
Diaspora
The fall of Seneca ended with the dissolution of the city, and for the first time in 14 revisions, a new revision began without a Seneca on the map. However, the people of Seneca were not gone; they still survived, but now scattered to the winds; the Senecan Diaspora had begun. In Revision 17, Senecans joined a number of other cities and established numerous independent settlements, while Revision 18 saw Senecans begin to coalesce again into larger groups as well as the return of Diznatch52. This era also saw a handful of pretenders to the Senecan legacy emerge; however, perhaps one day Seneca might re-emerge as its people coninue to seek a home in the wilderness of the world...
Scattered to the Winds: Seneca in Revision 17
In Revision 17, a number of Senecans found new homes. In their new homes, Senecans quickly established themselves as productive members of society, looking to improve their new adoptive towns and cities. Below are a few of the most significant groups of Senecan refugees:
In the northwest: Raven Rock, Brom, and Pico
archelon led a handful of Senecans to settle in Raven Rock in the far northwest. Built in a series of mountains and valleys, Raven Rock became one of the anchor cities of the north and home to Raven Rock Airport, the farthest elytra network outpost to the northwest. Archelon built a beautiful modern home on the outer fringes of Raven Rock, reminiscent of the modern district of Revision 13 Seneca.
Betajippity initially joined up with Brom, reasoning that Seneca was descended from Brom and was to Brom as America is to Britain. beta helped establish Brom's eastern shoreline and built a Swamp Hovel nearby to the east before heading south to join up with avi_dangerstein.
Avi_dangerstein and Betajippity would eventually build a Bamf Embassy in Pico, complete with a hidden underground Swamp Hovel below the embassy.
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Archelon's house in Raven Rock, click Here.
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Brom, click Here.
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Bamf's Embassy in Pico, click Here.
In the central regions: White Oak and Solace
Redwall_hp and others joined White Oak to the north of spawn, whils Wondrland reconstructed the glorious Cheeseburger from Rev 12 Wondrland near Solace and then ventured into the mountains to construct experiments such as the WonderPipes.
To view the cartograph for revision 17's Wondrland Cheeseburger, click Here.
In the southwest: Bamf
Avi_dangerstein headed for the SW portal and found that a new town had been established around the former Senecan portal: Soviet Clearmont, founded by harotoro. Quickly establishing friendly relations, avi then headed to the east and built a Swamp Hovel near Soviet Clearmont, and constructed the Highway to the Dangerzone. Betajippity soon joined avi, and the two built the beautiful rustic forest town of Bamf as a personal project. Avi and beta also dug a river to connect Bamf to the great Southern Ocean. In Bamf, beta built the Senecan Inn and Tavern, a place to remember the glory days of Seneca and to provide a welcoming home to any wandering Senecan happening to stop by.
In the latter half of the rev, Bamf collaborated closely with Soviet Clearmont on a number of projects, including the construction of Soviet Clearmont's CARTS station, the construction of Bamf-Clearmont International Airport and several other airports in the elytra network, and in setting up the NightOak event at the end of the revision. Bamf also established an embassy in Pico, complete with a Swamp Hovel underneath. This embassy in Pico would open the door to a new adoptive home for Senecan exiles in the next rev, although this home was sadly not to last...
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Bamf, click Here.
To view the cartograph for revision 17 Soviet Clearmont, click Here.
Empire in Exile: Seneca in Revision 18
In Revision 18, more old Senecans from the Empire era returned, and Senecans coalesced into one main group for the first time since the Fall. At the start of the revision, betajippity, naivatkal, and Diznatch52 led a group of Senecans to Pico, which had found the SW portal. Banding together with Pico, farms and a mine were quickly established to serve as the foundation of Rev 18 Pico and as a rallying point for Senecan exile to gather. Soon, avi and beta set off from Pico further southwest to establish another personal project, closely allied with Pico and in a similar Asian style to Pico, while Diz began plans for a small Senecan enclave in Pico proper.
In the far southwest: ErShan
Setting out from Pico on the third day of the revision, avi, beta, naivatkal, and thelifelessone sailed west and then journeyed south across vast oceans and over mountains until they reached the twin sky-limit peaks at the very southwest corner of the map. On the western mountain, they founded the settlement of ErShan, with a rustic Asian styled village at the bottom of the mountain and monastaries at the top.
Due to an unfortunate incidence involving a Crockosmelter, Diznatch and CROCKODUCK found themselves banished from their new home. With this new rift and tensions still high, Diz, Crock, and other Senecans decided to pivot and traveled south to ErShan as well; Diznatch rerouted his Seneca Rails project, aiming to connect ErShan to Rose at the S portal rather than Pico at the SW portal. Meanwhile, Diz and Beta began scheming up a new plan for a Seneca Island in Rose modelled after Chaos Seneca Island.
Hovelton and Farallon Island: Seneca in Revision 19
Revision 19 marked the 10th revision since the first appearance of the famed Swamp Hovel of Avi_Dangerstein on the server, which has existed on every revision since Rev 9. As such, beta and avi decided to honor the swamp hovel by building the town of Hovelton, constructed entirely out of swamp hovel variants. Hovelton's site was found early in the revision as beta explored the southwest quadrant, seeking a suitable location. Near the very northernmost border of the southwest quadrant, beta sailed into a beautiful small cove surrounded by deep forest. Here, the town of Hovelton was founded initially as a small hobbit hole under a hill on a beach.
Meanwhile, to the far far southeast, Archelon founded the quiet, idyllic island community of Farallon Island along with Herr_Fawkes and others. Farallon Island contains large farm lands, beautiful contoured roads, and is home to Archelon's House, another classic Senecan build that has since reappeared on a number of revisions, much like the Swamp Hovel.
Future
Whether or not Seneca will reunite and return as a single city in future revisions remains unknown, but rumors swirl that former Senecan staff members and citizens can once again be seen around the server, collaborating and searching...
While Seneca as a major city is still gone, as long as Senecans continue to build together and seek adventure together, the spirit of Seneca lives on...