Suggestion #9616

This will likely get rejected, I know. But the server used to have so much more activity back when there were vouchers you could win to use in /store. Once vouchers were permanently removed from some servers like opsky and skyblock, the player count dropped dramatically. The reason for this is that there was no longer something worth grinding for, for a large number of players. The players who were the top islands would hire other players to work and trade the vouchers for services. This created lots of highly motivated players who would spend lots of hours working, grinding, and doing business on the server. Since the vouchers have been done away with, there is very few opportunities for players to rank up unless they can find a rare player who is willing to trade irl money or /store items for in game materials. Vouchers boosted the server, the in game economy, created huge motivation for playing, and kept many players here playing long after they achieved all ranks because they could enjoy their status, and would not easily leave behind all their hours of hard work just to play another server. Most of the players who play regularly and consistently here in EC are old, longtime players who did just this. Worked to rank up, and now play because they will not leave. It does not feel to me, that the server currently is doing a good job of retaining new players. Possibly because there is no way they can rank up without spending hundreds of irl euros. Which most people will not do being new to a server. Vouchers give them hope, motivation, and opportunity which helps player retention.
Despite the pay to win controversy that many complain about, there is nothing unfair about vouchers, and it is unarguable that it did great things for boosting the servers player base in the past, and can happen again.
I along with many of the dwindling old players would love to see EC flourish again.