Well, I came back yesterday and resumed playing Minecraft today - And it seems I came back just in time since the update is still due to be released today at some point. Thank you so much for wanting to wait for me before opening the portal to Exoddus though, even though you didn't need to - I appreciate the thought.
We doing the opening tomorrow provided the update comes out and everything works? I'll be around to film it if you'd like.
To respond to the thread:
@Splat: You're wondering who built that castle in the nether? I was going to leave it a mystery, but if I'm going to reveal that, then I might as well reveal it in style. Sort of. I'll just leave this video here and let people judge for themselves:
@Havoc, re: Making the server IP public in order to display an info bar - You make a convincing argument. If you feel it will benefit the server, go for it.
@Dripik, that's an awesome comic, +Rep for making me laugh.
Regarding new land generation after 1.8 & 1.9: If things don't work as we plan, depending on what gets updated and how large our map eventually gets, remember that copying our creations across to a new map using WorldEdit may still be an option.
@ Glitch: Welcome to the MC server, that's some interesting minecart systems you've created there. Seems really complex though. :P
And speaking of the transit system - If we're creating a small village that we're all building together, unlike in Genesis our bases probably won't be spread out from each other, so therefore we won't need a rail system spreading out all over the place. There will be sprinting now too, so minecarts will be a little obsolete. They're still good as elevators, or for travelling set routes or long distances quickly.
If we do need another transit system to get to faraway places, we'll probably only need a few lines rather than the sprawl we have at genesis. It's a lot easier to build them overland on raised tracks through non-populated areas like I've been doing, rather than dig them underground. Half of Genesis's transit system is already underground anyway - Most of the overland parts weren't populated until after I put the transit system in place. That's just how it evolved.
(Besides, it's nice to be able to look at people's creations from the rail lines while travelling between them and moving from the map - Maybe I can change the style of the new rail lines to make them more aesthetically appealing)