RE: Admin magic. Has anyone else ever thought about having a currency system so when you need rare and unobtainable stuff, you can "buy" it from Brad and turtle? The currency would, of course, be slimeballs, and the major sources of money would be killing slimes, trading with other players, and the casino!
We could have set prices, and charge by the stack. A stack of logs or cobble would be 1 slimeball, stuff like sand, glass, wool, flower dyes, coal and iron would be in the 2-16 slimeball range, stuff like lapis and diamonds could be 32, or more. It would also make trading with each other easier, because we wouldn't be bartering anymore.
I think it would be fun to have to save up for (or try and win) stuff like Glowstone and Netherrack. Or you could just use it to buy diamonds if you're lazy. But in practical terms it would mean that no material is unobtainable and it would add a new layer of fun to the game. I know a lot of servers use currency systems for exactly this purpose and whenever it comes up in forums and/or r/minecraft, people seem to praise it.
Also, currency means that we can "charge" other players various goods and services. For instance, I think it would be cool if you had to pay slimeballs to use turtle's armory. In fact, currency makes the entire turtle compound way more fun
It would also mean we would need a bank, and the bank's security would consist of the honor system. It's worked okay so far, though, and stealing slimeballs wouldn't do you any good since their value lies in being able to redeem them.