I kinda like the skyways higher because we almost always have footpaths for the city areas. I don't really care much about looking at the trees and such when going from one major project area to another. Maybe make them go higher in the less populated areas...
I love the train systems and certainly think we can have them underground as we did for some parts. In the city area maybe we should consider not cutting straight to bedrock as most of us do now. Maybe figure that the rail system be -10 or so blocks below the lowest point of the surface. Go around people's houses and such and try to stay close to inline with the food paths.
Giving out stuff from Nether is something I have no problem with at all. Personally I don't care if we even have an exchange where something has to be exchanged. If you want it I'll give it unless it's been decided by the masses not to. I'll go with majority rule on this one. But this is from the guy who's planning the next armory and tool shed.
Upgrading the drive to an SSD (adding really and we move backups to the HDD) is something I'd love to see.
Click here to donate now. That being said, I would personally chip in too and if everyone donates a little it should add up quickly. Lowest cost with highest performance is the goal here. Capacity isn't really the biggest factor since it doesn't need to be that large. The one Brad linked to looks like a great fit.
This is my personal dream however. I have good taste.
Don't worry, I don't expect anyone to chip in for that lust.
New members... I'm not so open though more open than before. The one nice part about our server is it's a "safe place" that our stuff doesn't get messed with or messed up. Then again it sometimes seems dead from the lack of activity. I think we need to limit to personal referrals at the least. Then again, what's the worst they can do? Make us revert to backup? Is there an audit plugin we can run Brad?
My final concern is that we become a typical City Council that takes the fun out of the game because of rules about how tall my grass can be and how this can be done and that must be done etc....As long as we all remember, we're here to have fun and enjoy ourselves.