One of the many reasons I loved the dream SMP was 1) because it was comprised mainly of pvpers and speedrunners, with hardly any building or redstone specialists, and 2) entering the End was forbidden and the End never factored into the SMP at any point. It led to a lack of resources and infrastructure that gave the server a medieval feeling to it. Players who accumulated a lot of resources usually did so through solo grinding. No one could make communal resource farms because they'd all be at risk of becoming pieces in the geopolitical war games, and/or being destroyed (I think the only piece of communal infrastructure that survived unscathed was the underground spider farm near the Eggpire). People didn't have elytra, and roads were constantly being destroyed, so the primary method of rapid transportation was Riptide tridents, which as far as I'm aware is pretty unique to the Dream SMP and showcases the really awesome and interesting alternatives that can develop in a no-End lategame. God the dog-eat-dog worlds that a bunch of bored men create are hell to live in and absolutely marvellous to tell stories in. The SMPs with End access and reliable resource reserves and infrastructure just can't compare.
