Bitti is a Minecraft server supported by The Guides and Scouts of Finland. The idea for the server came from The Guides and Scouts. Their goal was to develop virtual leisure activities in reaction to the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus. The project implementers were found through The Guides and Scouts’ official Discord channel.
[Aerial photo of the Bitti Spawn]
Bitti is not an actual scout camp, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. The main difference comes from Bitti being a Minecraft server that can be used whenever it is running. At the moment, it is running 24/7.
Minecraft is a game in which players try to survive by collecting resources and building themselves a shelter. Thanks to servers, the game can also be played with friends, making it a more social experience. Bitti offers players a common server.
I am one of the administrators of Bitti. As an admin, I am in charge of moderating, testing and problem-solving. People also contact us admins when they need help or answers to a variety of questions.
Bitti was built together
Bitti needed server space, which was provided by a person going by the name David Johnson. He also became the project leader. The server project began in late April, early May 2020. The server was set up by me, ErkkoMakioja, and Suppi, Sxnttunardo and, of course, Johnson.
We had a lot of fun setting up the server, and everything looked good during beta testing. When the server was finally launched officially, a flood of people wanted to register the very first day. At the time I write this, a total of 1,163 players have registered on the server. This figure includes those who have registered more than once, apparently under the assumption that this will give them faster access to the server. The unexpected number of registrations revealed that the server was not powerful enough to accommodate so many players. We reacted to the demand by immediately replacing the original server with a more powerful one.
Bitti got off to a good start, and it also attracted interest from outside the scouts. We were pleasantly surprised on 20 May, when Bitti was mentioned on the morning TV show of YLE. The rules we had created were discussed in an amusing way on the programme, which was entertaining for us creators to hear.
Bitti reflects the core idea of scout activities ingeniously. The idea originated with The Guides and Scouts of Finland and was then carried out and promoted by a group of young people. The project has inspired them to get involved and to develop Bitti further. We have received mainly positive feedback on the project. We strive to learn from critical feedback and work to improve everyone’s gaming experience continuously.
Further information about Bitti and the necessary links to the Minecraft server can be found on the website of The Guides and Scouts of Finland (Finnish only)!
