MCSG's current situation which I'm not too fond of as it is...
He says as we continue to grow everyday...
Well, yes, in a way it is. So many people are leaving, and mods are resigning. But, let's not start a flame war and get back on topic.
You say so many are leaving but I have to tell you we actually lose them on the Forums but in game actuality we are rising. Sure YOU and SOME others don't like the update but with it being limited to a number of serves first it allows the Devs, Admins and Chad to see what works and what doesn't so dependent upon what happens really at the Moment it could go both ways. Essentially its gone back to the V1 Style, the Thing that lots of People complain is missing.
I believe that the chest update makes "Good Players" have a harder time to win the game and it also encourages teaming! Which in my opinion is great!
As of right now MCSG is more of a P.V.P-STYLE game rather than a SURVIVAL-STYLE game.
-- Maybe I will be able to beat you soon
-- Also its Called SURVIVAL GAMES so yes I agree with you on the Fact that before the chest update it was more PVP style and now with the New Chgest Update it Personally becomes more interesting among players because not you actually have to survive to do something not like before a few chests and food till the end of the world.
QUICK BREAK-DOWN FOR ITEMS IN THE CHESTS...
CLOCK - NO. IT'S USELESS. GET THIS GARBAGE OUTTA HERE.
COMPASS - NO. I would say take it out but... Okay you know what. It might help for players who don't study the maps and want to go back to spawn.
MAP - NO. IT DOESN'T EVEN WORK. AND EVEN IF IT DOES, AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. Learn your maps or just get DirectionHUD mod to help guide you on your travels!
TNT - YES. Great item that will allow you to escape from teams!
LESS ARROWS - YES. EVERY SHOT COUNTS NOW.
BONE - NO. USELESS. REPLACE IT WITH SOME BETTER FOOD LIKE CARROTS <3
SHEERS - NO. They aren't necessary in survival...
-- These are all True in My Opinion.
STRING - NO. No one is going to make a fishing rod or a bow which requires 3 valuable sticks + string to make... when you can find these 2 items in a chest. The other item you can make with string is a Wool Block... which is USELESS.
ROTTEN FLESH - NO. It's a freaking troll food that will make you more hungry than you already are. But hey, you gotta eat what you have to survive.
WHEAT - NO. No one has time to craft a freaking bread.
CRAFTING TABLES - MAYBE. Once you place it down, it stays there the whole game. It is kind-of useful if you don't know where the crafting tables are in the map and if you don't want to travel back to spawn to craft. I'm "diggin" it.
String, I've actually needed before (A majority of my games(v1 Flash Backs)) as I could never actually find a Bow... I did actually get enough string most games to make one.
Rotten Flesh, Well to tell you the Truth that's save my life so many times in V1 also it does seem like a troll but that depends if you have the time to wait or do you have to take off because if you can wait 30 seconds its not bad at all, especially if you eat it in large quantities.
Wheat, well that's one of the maybes because it takes 3 to make a Bread but it can be found a lot at times. Its Helpful if you need to have food and wheat is all you can find but that's a Maybe on my Part.
Crafting Tables, I'm a Maybe too but If you can have a Place-able crafting table and it stay the Whole game it seems a little unfair so I'm not Sure.