> Like many great projects, RakuPlays was born from unexpected circumstances.

> During the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdowns, I found myself on furlough for two months with more free time than I had ever experienced before. Rather than sit idle, I decided to immerse myself in something I had always been fascinated by: building online gaming communities.

> At the time, that journey began with Minecraft.

> What started as simple experimentation quickly became a passion. I spent countless hours learning the ins and outs of running a server—administration, plugin development, configuration management, performance optimisation, community building, and everything else that goes into creating a place where players can gather and have fun together. Before long, I rented my first VPS through PebbleHost and transformed a personal learning project into a live multiplayer experience.

> As the community grew, I met other talented and passionate individuals who shared the same enthusiasm for gaming. Together, a team of eight of us built the first true iteration of what would eventually become RakuPlays. The server, known as Rakutenzetsu.net, became a thriving home for players, creators, and friends from around the world. For over a year, we built adventures, created memories, and formed friendships that would leave a lasting impact long after the project itself came to an end.

> When that chapter closed, it didn't mark the end of the journey—it became the foundation for the next one.

> Armed with everything I had learned, I launched a new project called Mythic Ark Craft. Several members of the original team returned, and together we connected with an entirely new generation of server owners, developers, content creators, and gaming enthusiasts. The project enjoyed its own successes, but like many ambitious community ventures, it demanded an enormous amount of time and dedication. Balancing server management alongside a full-time career eventually led to burnout, and I made the difficult decision to step away from community management for a few years.

> But passion has a funny way of finding its way back.

> Today, I'm proud to be back, bringing with me years of experience, lessons learned, and a renewed excitement for creating gaming communities. While Minecraft remains an important part of our history, RakuPlays has grown into something much bigger.

> RakuPlays is no longer just a Minecraft server.

> It is a growing collection of gaming experiences, communities, and events built around one simple goal: bringing gamers together.

> Alongside our upcoming Minecraft experiences built on the cutting-edge Folia platform, we're also home to dedicated servers and communities for classic and modern games alike. Whether you're reliving the glory days of Unreal Tournament 99, jumping into a few rounds of Quake III Arena, joining our regular Valorant evenings, hunting ghosts in Phasmophobia, or exploring one of the many other games we support, there's always something happening within the RakuPlays community.

> And we're only just getting started.

> One of the projects I'm particularly excited about is FruitBasket, a browser-based game developed specifically for the RakuPlays website. It's the first of several original gaming experiences planned for the future, representing our ambition to create not just communities around games we love, but games of our own as well.

> RakuPlays is a place for veterans and newcomers alike. It's a place where old-school multiplayer gamers can revisit beloved classics, where aspiring server administrators can learn the craft, where developers can share ideas, and where friends can simply enjoy gaming together.

> Most importantly, it's a community built on friendship, creativity, learning, and a shared love of games.

> Whether you've been running game servers for decades, are taking your first steps into hosting a community, or simply want a welcoming group of people to play with, you're invited to join us on this journey.

> Come and be part of the next chapter.

> Join our Discord community, take part in our game nights, share your ideas, learn something new, and help us shape the future of RakuPlays together.

> From a small lockdown project to a growing multi-game community, the adventure continues—and we're delighted to have you here.

> Welcome to RakuPlays. Let's play.