The last few weeks, cyberdrifter and I have been privately testing the upgrade process to 1.8 for Pearl. I had hoped to get the update done last week, but there was some delays. I do believe though, once a particular issue with Grief Prevention is worked out, we should be able to step up to 1.8. Possibly within a day if things go well.

In addition to the server update, please take note that Mojang has finally set a date for allowing self-serve name changes. The intended date is February 4th. While I believe most of our plugins will be ready, I cannot guarantee that there will be no bugs. If you're considering changing you name, I suggest waiting at least a few days so there is a chance for bugs to be discovered, reported, and potentially fixed.

Here's the full blog post from Mojang on name changes...
mojang.com/2015/01/announcing-minecraft-name-changes/

 

Dragoness forgot to put the blame for the delay where it belongs, a creeper plot of course.

 

what Evilawngnome_ said

 

Any changes . . . at this time we don't foresee any issues with current claims, there has been some derpyness our testing of accrued claim blocks on some (not all) accounts.

I anticipate that staff will need to be on the alert when we update and that there will be PEs made just telling Modern thanks for all her great work (and telling cyber to get back to work).

 

It looks like the most noteworthy issues have been sorted now. The update on the live server is planned for Friday morning. I expect it will take at least 8 hours to complete, potentially longer as there's some plugins still needing data conversion.

 

Great work!