Spawn is, very simply, the area in which players appear when they first join the server, respawn from dying, or type "/spawn". The Badlands has had several different spawn designs.
Original Spawn[]
The Original Badlands Spawn was designed by AndyFox42 in June of 2011. It was a fairly simple design, and gave rise to the area known as "Downtown" which was developed by players that wanted to build nearby.
Spawn Building[]
In August of 2011, the Spawn area was changed to a four story building. Players spawned on the top floor of the building, in front of a rule board. The building was surrounded by water and there were numerous large windows so that people could jump down instead of having to walk down the stairs. The other floors of the building contained a detailed listing of commands available to players and VIP's. Every single surface inside this building was covered with paintings. The spawn building proved to be unpopular, and was only in place for a few days before being replaced by the Spawn Plaza listed below. Following this change, the building was remodeled into the Downtown Prison as pictured.
Spawn Plaza[]
The Spawn Plaza was built by AndyFox42 and Cordestian on September 17, 2011. This design included a small building surrounded by fountains, and a glass bottomed courtyard built over a lake. The courtyard was flanked by giant statues of the three admins of that era (AndyFox42, Docithe, and Cordestian.)
Spawn City[]
Spawn City was built when the Badlands upgraded to MC version 1.8, which required the introduction of a new map. This change marked the start of the Old Badlands era. The buildings used to create this urban center were copied from the City of Minehattan, which had been built by 37Stitches, SushiSashimi, and AndyFox42. A large central spawn building was featured at the center of Spawn City, which was surrounded by numerous skyscrapers and other "modern" structures.
Neo Badlands Spawn[]
The New Badlands' spawn, which is located in the Heartlands area.
Following the release of MC version 1.0.0 and the merger with Iaccidentally's Shark Tank server, a new map was once again created. Rather than save Spawn City, the players and staff of the Badlands decided to create another new spawn area. Initially this was going to be an indoor lobby with paths leading to each of the server's numerous worlds. After a short time, this idea was reconsidered and an open-air spawn (not unlike the Original Badlands Spawn that greeted the first Badlanders) was created. This spawn was created by Lorxase, feckyeslife, and porrohman in December of 2011.
New Badlands Spawn
Neo Badlands spawn area
With the move to the Neo Badlands, Spawn was again radically changed. The spawn cloud was in already use towards the end of the New Badlands era, having been created to celebrated the increased maximum building height added to the game during that time period. During the Neo Badlands, it was modified to include a unique spawn for every rank rather than having everybody start in the same spot. The rank specific spawns were all in the immediate vicinity of the main spawn cloud, and most included some means of reaching the main cloud such as jumping into a pool of water or following a path. This spawn was also surrounded by server Landmarks such as the Badlands History Museum, the entrance to the Highlands world, and St. Daniel's Cemetery.