I was thinking, if we plan to release the server to the masses, why don't we do something like this to differentiate ourselves.
Start a new map, and give us Shens a month or so, with spawn capabilities, to terraform areas, so there's places for people to come in and claim areas of land. Perhaps we could build a few large kingdoms (using the bukkit mod) with lone castles in the center, and open plots of land for people to build around them. Randomly build a few ruins with perhaps little rewards at the ends, make large forests, etc.
The tools won't be used to build structures other than perhaps a little spawn city with 2-3 building with a rules board, some basic roads (cobblestone/gravel), and intersection signs.
If we want to get a bit more involved, perhaps use the bukkit NPC mod and place npc's in the starter city, and throughout the world (a lone lumberjack with a little hut in a gigantic forest, etc.)
As for server rules, perhaps require all above ground buildings to be semi-realistic fantasy styled (aka no floating spaceships, but floating castles on islands are fine)
