Timeline
From The Shire
2010
October
- Ctshiner creates our first Minecraft server, Fraggle Rock https://youtu.be/4Za3_1hvB3E
- 15th: Ctshiner creates The Shire after Fraggle Rock server files mysteriously disappear. The world file is named "Nippopolis" by ctshiner, in reference to South Park S12E3 "Major Boobage" and the fantastical world depicted in the episode
- Ctshiner creates the "Hi" symbol at the Shire Spawn
- Nebbers and MMerkler join The Shire for the first time
November
- Nebbers and Ctshiner begin work on the Central Plaza
- Castle Wolfen-Neb is started
- The Chamber of Souls is carved out beneath Castle Wolfen-Neb using TNT
- Ctshiner's brother-in-law BPrieur, unaware of Minecraft game commands, builds the "Alpha Pyramid" near the spawn as a way to dispose of his mined cobblestone
December
- The Odd Facade is carved into a cliffside using TNT by nebbers
- 20th: The Shire goes Public with the release of our first Youtube video https://youtu.be/i1Bbqg34m2U
- nebbers' secret stash is made to hide blocks from new players
- A massive forest fire is discovered by nebbers and Akumuko near then-under development Bloodmist (being built by Elathuria)
2011
January
- 23rd: nebbers and Elathuria sketch out initial designs for Belthil
February
- Construction is started on Greg's Castle (built by chocolatemilk2), north of Equos
March
- 3rd: A giant penis built by Tomhix is discovered by moderators and promptly destroyed... but not before they took screenshots. Tomhix was briefly made bakajin
- Belthil is completed by Elathuria and nebbers. The YT video becomes one of the most viewed https://youtu.be/aJqLziC5Iz0
- 12th: The Shire takes a big step forward in Server reform
- nebbers and ctshiner meet over beers to discuss the future of the server: ranks, promotions, management
- Elathuria invents Mr. Wolf, a fictional character who strictly enforces building codes and helps shield individual staff members from blowback. He would go on to evolve into a mythical figure whose sole task is to delete abandoned, unfinished, ugly builds
- The cost of Duke is increased from $5 to $15, primarily to reduce the number of Dukes and limit the number of builders with unlimited free supplies
- The concept of a Tyro "City" or a Tyro "zone" is floated by nebbers, to corral poor builders and reduce staff stress
- 16th: The Great Cuboid Disaster, inflicted by LTTylerJ30, takes place in what would eventually become the Temple District. It is the first major Worldedit error to occur on the server
- 22nd: LTTylerJ30 is promoted to Arbiter
- 28th: the_nom_nom, possibly the Shire's first Bakajin, is finally banned. Though those who experienced his abuse have since moved on, his name still lives on in infamy
April
- Falore is built in secret by AlphaFish. A server-wide search to discover the secret location ensues
- 17th: Lothlorien is established by TubaplayerTX
- A video of Bree, built by Studmuffin713 and his brother Mrstu, is posted. As on 2021, it remains our most popular video: https://youtu.be/XZymtiQwzJw
May
- Shire Transit Authority inter-city link rules and regulations are established, requiring approval and STA supervision of highways and railways connecting between projects
June
- World Border expanded from 2500 to 3000 blocks
- Skyland Map is added
- 27th: AlphaFish is promoted to Lady
- Gintoss, creator of Whail, joins the server
- Pangea is relocated from its own world to the mainworld
July
- WorldGuard is added
- Shirecraft.us domain is registered
- Shire Government Office building is opened to Donators
- Arcticstar, founder of Bork and future Lord, joins the server
- Brohost, our server host, suddenly closed shop, locking out 4000 other servers as well. The Shire's files were nearly lost forever, were it not for a rogue Brohost employee that let us retrieve our server files. The server was finally restored after a week of downtime
August
- Shire Loop 1, a major road through the Mainland, is finished
- Architect rank is created. Shanevr722 and Studmuffin are the first to receive the rank
- Future Architect Lobstrex first joins the server
- With both the warpgate and magic carpet plugins no longer working correctly, the Shire staff relents on their strict 'no flymod' rule and allows players to start flying freely
- Ethompson777 exploits a loophole in the Adminium app, allowing him to OP and promote himself to Lord. He's labeled a Usurper by nebbers as a result
September
- Lawnmower69, creator of Disneyland and early spawn developments, joins the server
- Sea Level is declared to be a universal constant. This ordinarily would not be noteworthy, however at some point after Minecraft Alpha, the world's generated sea level was one block lower and made determining correct sea level a mess
October
- 3rd: Arcticstar is promoted to Arbiter
- 15th: Nebbers attempts to retire. He's pulled back in several months later to upgrade the server
- Jommers, future Architect and Arbiter, joins the server
- Aedesius, prolific builder and architect extraordinaire, first joins the server
- Lobstrex13 is temporarily demoted to Bakajin for leaving trolly signs in someone's build. He would donate and become a duke later in the month
November
- 8th: Zyno is promoted to Arbiter
December
- 12th: Tyrozone is established (replacing dedicated world Tyroland)
- Konstiin, creator of Helvetica, is promoted to Artisan
- Colepuck, creator of Pheldoon, Alsma, and much more, is promoted to Archduke
- Keikei is promoted to Artisan
- About12Eskimos is promoted to Architect
2012
January
- Experimental worlds Kepler (for Artisans and up only) and Flatlands created
- MattGreyDesign joins the server. Although his time on the server was brief, his building style would make a lasting impression on the Mainland and Oranjestad
- GaanSan, Architect and lands of Gaya creator (among many other things), joins the server
- Reddfighter, creator of Sandalvania, Havana, Redtown, and more, joins the server
February
- Flatlands and Kepler removed after server resources couldn't keep up
- Shai-Ling railway station rebuilt
- Darklordmo, creator of The Colony and Darktown, joins the server
- Monkeyman joins the server
- Arcticstar causes the Great Iron Wall Disaster, creating a massive 22-block wide Iron block 'wall' that stretched from Bork to Alqualonde
March
- Andrewpo (CoffeeAndChill) promoted to Lord
- The world is expanded to 4000x4000
- Andrewpo comes up with Building Competitions for the Shire, the first being "Houses"
- Pangea (/warp pangea) is first generated as its own world, exclusive to higher ranks
April
- Maven and Viceroy ranks are introduced
- Senaatorus (AKA DirewolfofDoom), joins the server for the first time
- Legit_Batman, aka Batmins, future retired Arbiter, first joins the server
- /fly is added for players
May
- Skylan Mountain is created and the abandoned Skylan Mall is buried within. (/warp skylan). It's the first of many 'hollow' mountains to enclose old builds
- New Vashon is abandoned by its creator xXAndrew for the first of several times
- DeathCube mini-game added to FridayFunLand
- A campaign to create warps for each rank is launched
- Vegetabol, creator of Rhius, joins the server
- nebbers adds DragonTravel plugin, allowing players to fly on the backs of dragons between destinations. The plugin is shortlived
June
- Skylands map is salvaged for parts after the file is corrupted - Balesgar and Aelous are rescued and moved to main world. StudMuffin's Last Stand PVP map is tragically lost. It can still be seen in this video: https://youtu.be/FDr-o-uOiqM
- Infrastructure Build Competition takes place https://youtu.be/LAw8zMIvTd4
- The_Creamster first joins the server, creator of Disputatio Insulam
- GJRickard first joins the server, one of the founders of Knavobuki and surrounding villages
- The server is hit with a major DDoS attack, just hours after a certain Opera builder had boasted about a DDoS machine he bought. The server IP was blackholed and the world was offline for several days. There have been no convictions for this heinous crime to-date
July
- Oranjestad is founded by nebbers from his Infrastructure Build Competition plot
- The server starts to loosen its strict 'no free items' policy for lower ranks by allowing everyone to use [free] signs. They show up in dozens of stores throughout the world
- The original Tyrozone is finally decommissioned in favor of Tyronak (which would go on to become known as the new Tyrozone). The old zone was around Lothlorien
August
- Rabblerouser0, creator of Rabblegard, first joins the server
- c_plummer joins the server (Hearthstone creator)
- Keikei15, future Architect and prolific creator, joins the server for the first time
September
- Future Lord mtbrgeek first joins the server
October
- Our dearly beloved and much missed friend, arbiter 0031benjy, first joins the server
- The server is migrated from LethalDrive to Xenon Servers
- GaanSan is promoted to Archduke
November
- World border expanded to 5000x5000
- Enderkilla (Enderp), future Arbiter, first joins the server.
December
- Christmas riddle challenge launched
- Kraghal is founded by Morris (tax_cuts)
- Vetous, director of the Shire Intelligence Agency, first joins the server
- Sammiches822 first joins the server. He would go on to create the New Sammichian Empire and achieve Architect and Arbiter status
- nebbers launches the Shirecraft tumblr as a place to post pretty Shire pics http://shirecraft.tumblr.com/
2013
February
- SlyyPenguin is promoted to Architect
- 20th: Lobstrex is promoted to Architect
- Beloved Shire member Zyno departs for the Armed Forces
March
- Parks/Garden Build Competition takes place
- mtbrgeek is promoted to Arbiter
- Ethompson777, Sambrear, Alphafish, and Elathuria are formally retired
April
- 14th: Morris is promoted to Architect
- The "East Asian" style Build Competition is held. Morris is the winner
June
- Archeval first joins the server
- Implosion222 first joins the server - builder of Stormends
- The "Baroque" Build Competition takes place
July
- High Fantasy Build Competition takes place
- Aethos Cathedral, built by Aedesius, is finished. /warp Atheos
August
- GaanSan is promoted to Architect
September
- Mainland Subway railway line is completed
- Houses Build Competition takes place
October
- Railway line built between Gong-Chengshi and Budapest (Ophion Line, later merged with Quintus Line)
- Railway line built between Spawn and Barad Dur (Hestia Line)
- The Shire Facebook Group is created
November
- RixiePixie and her partner EandJ19 join the server, builders of Mooshoo Island and Eville
December
- Winter-themed Build Competition takes place
- New Forum is launched, transitioning away from Forumcommunity.net
- Bluepolabear completes Blacknight tower (/warp blacknight)
- Bluepolabear promoted to Maven
- 21st: Exton is founded by PsychoX88
- 29th: Leuton, made by lbrewer, and Exton, are linked via the Psy-LB Tunnel
- Forest Meadows is founded by mlhenry
- Shadowfell is built by Aarney74 (/warp shadowfell)
- Implosion222 is promoted to Viceroy
- Work begins on /warp synagogue
2014
January
- The Train Station Build Competition takes place
- 12th: Emerald City construction started
- Mainland Station is completed by Jommers and Aedesius
- The Central District Quiz is written. It remains unsolved
March
- War starts in the Shire. The Overtakers vs. the Liberators. A server-wide campaign of terror ensues led by Sammiches822 https://youtu.be/ifrPXlih8Mk
April
- Implosion222 earns Archduke
May
- Shufflehack starts work on /warp Bucketheadland, the Shire's own Buckethead theme park
October
- https://reddit.com/r/shirecraft is created
December
- 19th: Future Admin OmgHay joins the server
- Modaora is started by OmgHay
- A server-wide banner competition takes place to find a banner that best represents the Shire. Jommers's "blue shard" banner wins
2015
January
- The famous Duncan Quest is written by nebbers, leading adventurous players on a journey across the Shire, tracking Duncan along his quest
- The infamous Blaze Lightyear is created at the Shire Olympics campus
February
- Clementine is highlighted in a german-language IGN article: http://de.ign.com/minecraft-xbox-one/103873/news/bestaunt-eines-der-schonsten-und-detailreichsten
- The Mediterranean Build Competition is completed. MadOx is voted the winner
May
- Laurelian is founded by OmgHay
July
- Lord_Drekar is promoted to Lord
- The "Mother Russia" Build Competition takes place. Master_Chef is the winner
August
- Liandria21 and KuitehKui both join the server
- 12th: Hobbiton is founded by Liandria21 and KuitehKui
- 19th: Havana is founded by Reddfighter
- The Epic Libraries Build Competition starts as part of the Five Year Anniversary Celebration for the server
- 30th: Liandria and Mieshoa are married in a ceremony held in SlyyPenguin's church in Brutalpest College. https://youtu.be/VV1Wy93nxmc
September
- Sammiches822 is promoted to Arbiter
- The Shire Grand Ampitheatre is created by KuitehKui and Liandria21 (/warp ampitheatre)
- Vetous, director of the Shire Intelligence Agency, holds the first ever Shire Census
- The Shire participates in CubedCon, a virtual Convention of Minecraft servers
- Phobiphantom, creator of Phobean, first joins the server
October
- The Epic Libraries Build Competition concludes. In First Place: Lord_Drekar and Unfitfuzzball. Second Place: Enderp and GJRickard. Third Place: Sammiches and Mieshoa. For the record, Nebbers and MadOx were ROBBED
- Mieshoa organizes the Shire Event Committee (SEC) to plan a celebration of the Shire's Five Year Anniversary. The celebration takes place in the Mainland Opera House, which is still decorated for the event to this day
December
- 19th: OmgHay's city Laurelian is declared 'complete' on her one-year Shire anniversary
2016
March
- ShireCon London takes place between OmgHay, Arcticstar, 0031benjy, CoffeeandChill, Lord_Drekar, and Mieshoa
June
- Several esteemed players join the server following a viral post on Reddit:
- TrizerKC joins
- ciaran114 of Dawnton fame joins the server
- SimCS, Architect and Clementine co-director, joins the server
- SpareChromosomes joins the server, builds Sargoth, and disappears
- Antheus of Riverwood fame joins the server
- Alex_0493 joins
- LSTS joins
- Crotenis of Hwales fame joins
- Respected player Kieran joins
- 26th: Antheus promoted to Yeoman
- Riverwood construction started
- Albast is founded by LSTS
- Firenze is founded by Alex_0493
- Tomoya is founded by several members
July
- Respected dutch-style builder Wuggeh joins the server after seeing us on Reddit
- 27th: Paarsdam is founded by Wuggeh
August
- The Nightlife themed Build Competition takes place. Smoot is voted the winner, and Lucasrc1999 and iwantcoal come in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively
- Work begins on Shire Castle (aka Medieval Dreams), created by DreamingAtDawn03
September
- Dawnton (aka Claradia) is founded by Ciaran114
October
- Dirt roads are created throughout the Shire by nebbers, interlinking nearly all builds in a full network of paths
December
- Smoot is promoted to Architect
2017
January
- The Winter-themed Build Competition takes place. Smoot takes home the Gold, with Dawn in 2nd and Master_Chef in third place
- nebbers writes the Oranjestad Challenge, a trivia and scavenger hunt. DreamingAtDawn03 will go on to win
February
- 5th: Antheus promoted to Viceroy
April
- Master_Chef is promoted to Architect
- Liandria21 and Maghion have ShireCon Orlando
May
- The Sci-Fi themed Build Competition takes place. Dawn takes first place, followed by DirewolfofDoom and Archeval
June
- Osiria is started by Crotenis (/warp osiria)
- Liandria21 finally finishes LIKEA Oranjestad, complete with its unusual and disturbing secret underground
July
- Salenia is founded by Tech0tron
- 16th: The Shirecraft DISCORD is opened
August
- 1st: Wuggeh promoted
September
- Antheus unilaterally creates the Shire Aviation Administration and declares himself the sole Board Member. The SAA is never heard from again
- The "New Blocks" Build Competition takes place. First place went to BitBirds, followed by Liandria21 and Smoot
November
- The Shire Fitness Bet starts. Participants must work out 3 days each week (with some exceptions) - failure to do so means being forced to create an interior for Naoki or Sol
December
- Myth themed Build Competition takes place. Master_Chief is declared the winner. Preysley earns second place, followed by Jay_Boz
- Shire members participate in a Secret Santa! Nebbers never receives his gift.
2018
February
- 11th: Antheus promoted to Archduke
March
- nebbers' account is stolen. His username was changed and his skin was turned into a naked man. Mojang assists and its returned 3 days later, but the scars never fully heal
May
- nebbers abandons the Oranjestad colonies, selling off all holdings, including Reeder, Anchorhead, Rex Kwon Do, and many others. Only the original core Oranjestad city remains
July
- The "Adjectives" Build Competition takes place. SlyyPenguin is declared the winner
October
- 5th: The Shire is updated to 1.13
December
- Smoot promises to never move Naoki again
2019
April
- The Omegabrain himself, Spaicol, joins the server. He would go on to revolutionize Shire gardening as we know it
May
- The Utopia Build Competition takes place. https://youtu.be/xmsl-mkbCxw
July
- Malaclord joins the server
- A massive effort to remodel and update the entire Mainland area was kicked off, led by Enderp, Jimmy, Spaicol, Nebbers, Malaclord, and Jenner, with many other participating
- 30th: long-time member hardworkwc was promoted to Viceroy
- Shirecon Wilmington NC occurs between nebbers and Architect Mechanophobia (it was just a meet & greet really)
August
- New Spawn railway station is opened
September
- An unnamed abandoned town started by NickTDrizzy is annexed by Riverwood. Antheus begins redeveloping the area into Jommerstown
October
- ShireCon Bavaria takes place between Jommers and CoffeeandChill. It's recognized as the Longest Shirecon Event
November
- Hulduhóll construction started
December
- Nàgrannabænum construction started
- 24th: The Shire is updated to 1.14.4
2020
January
- The server is updated to 1.15.2
February
- Cresent_Kid promoted to Archduke
March
- AnotherViking promoted to Maven
- Spaicol promoted to Archduke
- 21st: Antheus promoted to Engineer
- Mt. Kokana construction is started by Koolads
- 29th: The server is migrated from Databank Cloud services to Digital Ocean
April
- Mandolin Island is completed by Keikei15 (/warp mandolin) https://youtu.be/RidbWg7cjHc
- The Shire Easter Egg hunt takes place in Anchorhead, Groenevelden, Naoki, Venice, and Spawn. Malaclord would go on to win with a score of 8350, followed by CoffeeandChill with 7018, and Antheus with 5997
May
- CoffeeandChill adds DARK MODE to the forum
June
- The server is updated to 1.16.1
August
- The server is updated to 1.16.2
- The Shire's donation funds are stolen by a malicious bot. It was eventually recovered
October
- Spooky building competition takes place. Keikei is voted the winner, followed by MinorMajor.
- Sveppahverfi construction startedy 2nd with 362 points, and Theta108 is third with 291 points
November
- 14,000th unique player connected to the server
December
- 10th: Zhenya17 promoted to Viceroy
- Beauregard is founded by nebbers
- 20th: The Festive Treasure Hunt is launched in Aetheria, Hulduholl, Spawn, and Zhensk
- Shirebuilds Instagram account is launched https://www.instagram.com/shirebuilds/
- Bluepolabear/Lunalion completes Jimmy the Crab, in the waters outside Emerald City
- 31st: The Festive Treasure Hunt is closed and Zhenya wins with 8540 points. Nebbers is second with 4508 points, and BorisCraft is third with 2222 points
2021
January
- Bridges competition takes place
- 25th: Trizer is promoted to Archduke in a traditional Spawn Stage ceremony
- 28th: In a radical change, CREATIVE mode is made available to all Yeoman
February
- The remodeling of FridayFunLand starts, led by Suntinfunny and Seagullsrule
- 2nd: Kieran is promoted to Viceroy in a traditional Spawn Stage Ceremony