Let's talk about Minecraft

[linkthegamer]

So I was asked a very interesting question by hindos, you see, while I am a relatively new face here I have been with Minecraft since around Alpha 1.2.0_02.

I was known as the Minecraft guy in my English 102 class because most my papers studied different aspects of it (may offer for review in Avant Garde at some point). Anyways, the point of that is I see Minecraft as something that can be talked about on an academic level. That is the vision of this topic, to provide a civil discussion of Minecraft and the culture that surrounds it.

Please understand. however, that this topic in no way overrides any forum rules just because it is also relevant to the topic. Piracy is a prime example, I believe (Mod edit me if I am wrong) that discussing Notch's stance on it or how it effects the community are okay but discussing how to do it or where to get it is a violation of the rules. In the end it is the mods and admins who decide what can and cannot be discussed even in academic terms and their word, not mine, are final. For education purposes only is not a get out of jail free card.

The only additional thing I ask in this topic is that if you are going to argue make it intelligent and civil. If you think MC has been a POS since 1.7.3 tell us why? What makes you feel this way?

I will start the debate off by answering hindos question, feel free to provide your on answer to it, to pose other questions, to answer questions that have been posed, or to just speak you mind on something so long as it has to do with Minecraft and is civil. Now onto the question:

As a long-time vanilla player why do you think some people say Minecraft is taking a turn for the worst with all the new updates? What was it like before? What was supposed to be so much better about it?

As a long time addict player I can get where some people are coming from... While it was before my time, some of them grew up (minecraft wise) in a world of Seecret Fridays and that one Seecret Saturday (instead of the Snapshot Thursdays of today) when they would try to figure out what new wonders Notch had left for them. They Punched their first tree and were like "WOW!", then they built wood tools, then they built a shelter, then found a cave, improved their tools and built a proper house, learned redstone and mob farming (when it was added of course), then they built a castle, dominated the nether, and forged their own world where they where king/queen.

Then things got segmented, People like FlowerChild got mad that notch added wolves and not more technical stuff while others loved their new furry companion. Then the end was added and Minecraft had a goal and this segmented players further, some welcomed an overarching goal while other felt it killed the open-ended and infinite spirit of Minecraft. Heck, even the rise of mods segmented players, some feeling most mod BREAK the feel of game other felt they gave it new life.

Minecraft, truth be told, has an odd effect on people, it was not just "Notch's precious baby", it is that to all the players. It is our own personal Eden, we have ultimate rule there but only after we had earned it, we decided who could comes into our own personal world, we built it block by block, we mined it of it's resources, we grew it's crops and foliage, we protected it from the likes of the creeper and his undead pals, it is ours! All in all the old players simply suffer from a case of nostalgia, the older game just seemed better to them, not because it was actually better but because everything was new and interesting back then.

[KakerMix]

Talking about piracy is fine, its the idiots that caused it to be a blanket ban. Don't be afraid to talk about whatever in here, as long as it isn't sexist, racist, etc.

[hindos]

Thanks for answering my question in so mcuh detail linkthegamer you are = or > 8) . I wonder if there is a way to bring back the light to those long-time players, perhaps a mod that is so awesome and content-rich it'll put the entire gaming community in awe.

[linkthegamer]

Talking about piracy is fine, its the idiots that caused it to be a blanket ban. Don't be afraid to talk about whatever in here, as long as it isn't sexist, racist, etc.

Good to know.

Thanks for answering my question in so mcuh detail linkthegamer you are = or > 8) . I wonder if there is a way to bring back the light to those long-time players, perhaps a mod that is so awesome and content-rich it'll put the entire gaming community in awe.

Thanks. The other problem is the community all want different things so a mod to bring them all together would be one heck of a feat. Really once the "light" has died it is very hard to rekindle, some people might get it back after taking a break or trying a new mod. Other will always have that hunger for that feeling of pure wonder and awe as they took their first steps into Minecraft. Heck I still remember messaging my friend "I just made a full set of wooden tools!" I was filled with pure joy over making the 2nd weakest item set in the game. Later I let shared a NOW pack modified version of 1.6.6 with some extra mods for wolves with my sister and she was so happy to have made a marble house and two kennels for the animals she tamed (granted there was much TMI and Single Player Commands usage). She liked her place so much she got furious at me when she was killed in game messing around with spawning sharks. XD Even the friend I gave my play till February 14th humble bundle key to fell in love with the game. The only person who involvement in Minecraft I was connected to that I don't know how they acted when they first got it was they person my friend ended up given an alpha key he had bought for me (it was a last minute sale and i was AFK and he forgot I had been talking to him about it for around a week I think) since I already owned a key. I have met the person but don't know him enough to ask without it possibly sounding creepy, like he owes me for it or something... But I imagine it was the general "Oh wow, awesome." that everyone seems to go through, maybe someday I will get around to knowing him enough to ask about it just out of curiosity. Really Minecraft just had this feeling of joy when you first figured it out that people just want to get back, I managed to prolong mine by being lazy and not learning Redstone sooner so not I can be proud when I make a new machine using one of the many available logic gate configurations. Trying to mix that up with dabbling in map making as well. Really I think the light might depend on what your niche in the Minecraft world is, Engineers get rekindled by things like technic, explores but terrain generation upgrades, social RPers by server updates, graphics lovers by texture packs and shader mods, and fighters by new mobs.

[hindos]

Then I have a problem since I love technical stuff, exploration, good graphics, and fighting...

[rhibakuska]

Then I have a problem since I love technical stuff, exploration, good graphics, and fighting...

well, it can't be helped. me, it's the gameplay, and how you expand the game. it's what suites you :3

well, me, before i have played technic, before the Yogscast, i think it's the day after the beta1.7.3, i'm just searching the net for a good gaming article then i came across minecraft, i just read it and ignored it. but a week after that, my college professor on logic gates showed the game. and hell, teach us logic gates, timers, and all redstone. he even gave us exam. unsurprisingly, i suck at redstones.

so yeah, since then, i "looked" a way to play the game... i know that's wrong but i couldn't help my self. So, after a couple of months and a hard earned 1000 bucks, i bought the game. and the rest, as they say, is history.

[linkthegamer]

Then I have a problem since I love technical stuff, exploration, good graphics, and fighting...

Not really, some people can like most everything about the game it is just from what I have seen others get into a certain aspect of the game, like building and would rather Jeb add new blocks instead of new mobs. For my while I like all the aspects my main one was making a neat home base and finding a cave system to explore, looking for riches and danger.

well, it can't be helped. me, it's the gameplay, and how you expand the game. it's what suites you :3

well, me, before i have played technic, before the Yogscast, i think it's the day after the beta1.7.3, i'm just searching the net for a good gaming article then i came across minecraft, i just read it and ignored it. but a week after that, my college professor on logic gates showed the game. and hell, teach us logic gates, timers, and all redstone. he even gave us exam. unsurprisingly, i suck at redstones.

so yeah, since then, i "looked" a way to play the game... i know that's wrong but i couldn't help my self. So, after a couple of months and a hard earned 1000 bucks, i bought the game. and the rest, as they say, is history.

Reminds me of how I came to get it myself. In all honesty Starcraft 2 was the big thing back then and I really did think "Hmm, must be a mod for starcraft" when I saw my contact list filled with "AFK playin' Minecraft" Finally a close friend (and boss of a game dev team i work on) had that same status and I finally caved in "What the heck is Minecraft?" I asked and he told me some about it and said I would likely really like it, so I looked into it, Checked that I had enough savings, and bought it. I then proceed to contact my friend again "HELP! I don't get what I am even supposed to do." and he sent me some youtube video, which I then used to fine the recipes page on the wiki and finally I could play the game.

On a sidenote: I have actually seen a web only (well I mean it has no DOWNLOAD MINECRAFT HERE link on the site) cracked version site that asked you to please by the game if you like it and only think of their service as a "free trial" since the only demos of Minecraft are Classic and the PC exclusive "PC Gamer Demo" which is based off of Beta 1.3 which are both poor representations of the game today. It also warned the pirate that the change username function and multiplayer for cracked is cracked servers only. Even if that was just to avoid a lawsuit it is nice to see a site like that recommending you buy it legally if you like it. I think it might be legitimate on that as the site says please support the official in more then one page (most would just have one cover our butts one right under the game) and they do not offer a link to or instructions on how to download a webless one. Their disclaimer is a little tacky (general "if you go past this page you agree to not sue" stuff) but it is an interesting way of doing it instead of the general "Free for all" approach.

[Diggy0703]

um this is not to much about minecraft is but can someone post a list of all the recipes for all the mods in tekkit and minecraft plz

ps:images like this plz http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Crafting plz plz plz ;D

[linkthegamer]

um this is not to much about minecraft is but can someone post a list of all the recipes for all the mods in tekkit and minecraft plz

ps:images like this plz http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Crafting plz plz plz ;D

You do know that NEI has a recipe function right? Just hover over the item/block in the NEI screen and press R, if you need to know how to make an object used for that item/block just hover over the object in question and press R again. That will work in Tekkit and Technic and will cover Minecraft's regular ones as well. As for just a list of Minecraft recipes, well you linked to it and there are a ton of computer and smartphone apps as well as websites to allow you quickly go through them.

Now with that out of the way maybe I will try and start this back up again.

Anyone have any questions or opinions about anything Minecraft they want to share?

[hindos]

I like asking questions :

1. Did anyone attempt to make a game similar too minecraft before minecraft was made?

2. Will this whole bukkit buisness be good or bad for minecraft, and will the original creator get any credit for starting that road?

3. What was the first mod ... ever made for minecraft?

4. Will the minecraft community ever run out of ideas for mods, will the game allways continue to be updated and perhaps one day become minecraft II? What's going to happen in the more distant future, i have a feeling some annoying coropation is going to buy minecraft from notch for loads of money then turn it all money-grubbing and change the ToS.

[linkthegamer]

I like asking questions :

1. Did anyone attempt to make a game similar too minecraft before minecraft was made?

2. Will this whole bukkit buisness be good or bad for minecraft, and will the original creator get any credit for starting that road?

3. What was the first mod ... ever made for minecraft?

4. Will the minecraft community ever run out of ideas for mods, will the game allways continue to be updated and perhaps one day become minecraft II? What's going to happen in the more distant future, i have a feeling some annoying coropation is going to buy minecraft from notch for loads of money then turn it all money-grubbing and change the ToS.

1. Hmm... not really sure, there was Infiniminer which inspired notch to make Minecraft (believe that was overall look of the world). Dungeon Keeper also inspired Notch (thinking that was the first person aspect of it) and so did Dwarf Fortress (a Rouge-like that randomly made it's own world for you to quest in). You can look up that stuff... I really can't remember what inspired what part. Asides from the inspiration there was an arena shooter called Cube and it's sequel Sauerbraten (Cube 2) that both featured and option to build a level from blocks (and models) in real time (though you needed to enter edit mode first). Then there are other sandbox style games that might be similar but don't do the block look. If I remember right people where working on porting minecraft saves to cube 2 and maybe making a version of minecraft in it after minecraft came out.

2. I really don't know, I liked bukkit when I used it but I learn through Kaker that they are kinda dickbags and their negative mentions of hMod seem to back up Kaker's story. If done right they might make a good thing. Would have been nice if they hired the spout and forge teams as well as forge seems to be a good API for client mods and Spout gave use the wonderful Technic launcher and allowed the server to install the needed client side mods onto the player's computer.

3. I really don't know, wasn't there when it started. I know likely the most widely used at first was modloader. Also pretty sure the first modpack was NOW that's what I call Minecraft (which I believe had permission trouble, I know they failed to get permission from the creator of millinare though at the time the page said something like "I DON'T given permission to redistribute my mod, I want all downloads to go through this post, if you see anyone else offering it report them to me at once.").

4. I again don't know, morrowind and HL2 I believe still have an active modding community. Minecraft's modding might start to slow down when the NEXT BIG THING^TM hits (that is not a product, just me being silly). But it is not likely that they will run out of ideas anytime soon as new games seem to inspire new ideas for Minecraft. I doubt Jeb_ or Notch would sell minecraft, it is not like other indies where it only made a couple thousand and company can say "give you $250,000 for it." I mean Notch just gave his employees his 3 million in DIVIDENDS to be split among them. So unless a company says "we will give you 250 million for it." or something I doubt he will sell. Notch does not seem like the person who would let that happen to his game. As for Minecraft 2, I don't think there will ever be a proper sequel but there might be a version 2.0, I just really don't see there being a way to make another minecraft that would be as popular. Likely minecraft will just expand till it dies. Minecraft is akin to the internet like that I suppose.

Feel free to keep asking or share your own opinions.

[hindos]

1. Hmm... not really sure, there was Infiniminer which inspired notch to make Minecraft (believe that was overall look of the world). Dungeon Keeper also inspired Notch (thinking that was the first person aspect of it) and so did Dwarf Fortress (a Rouge-like that randomly made it's own world for you to quest in). You can look up that stuff... I really can't remember what inspired what part. Asides from the inspiration there was an arena shooter called Cube and it's sequel Sauerbraten (Cube 2) that both featured and option to build a level from blocks (and models) in real time (though you needed to enter edit mode first). Then there are other sandbox style games that might be similar but don't do the block look. If I remember right people where working on porting minecraft saves to cube 2 and maybe making a version of minecraft in it after minecraft came out.

2. I really don't know, I liked bukkit when I used it but I learn through Kaker that they are kinda dickbags and their negative mentions of hMod seem to back up Kaker's story. If done right they might make a good thing. Would have been nice if they hired the spout and forge teams as well as forge seems to be a good API for client mods and Spout gave use the wonderful Technic launcher and allowed the server to install the needed client side mods onto the player's computer.

3. I really don't know, wasn't there when it started. I know likely the most widely used at first was modloader. Also pretty sure the first modpack was NOW that's what I call Minecraft (which I believe had permission trouble, I know they failed to get permission from the creator of millinare though at the time the page said something like "I DON'T given permission to redistribute my mod, I want all downloads to go through this post, if you see anyone else offering it report them to me at once.").

4. I again don't know, morrowind and HL2 I believe still have an active modding community. Minecraft's modding might start to slow down when the NEXT BIG THING^TM hits (that is not a product, just me being silly). But it is not likely that they will run out of ideas anytime soon as new games seem to inspire new ideas for Minecraft. I doubt Jeb_ or Notch would sell minecraft, it is not like other indies where it only made a couple thousand and company can say "give you $250,000 for it." I mean Notch just gave his employees his 3 million in DIVIDENDS to be split among them. So unless a company says "we will give you 250 million for it." or something I doubt he will sell. Notch does not seem like the person who would let that happen to his game. As for Minecraft 2, I don't think there will ever be a proper sequel but there might be a version 2.0, I just really don't see there being a way to make another minecraft that would be as popular. Likely minecraft will just expand till it dies. Minecraft is akin to the internet like that I suppose.

Feel free to keep asking or share your own opinions.

Wow once again you astound me with your all you well thought out answers .

1, Amazingly enough i have played dwarf fortress, and cube 2 so I can definetly see insipiration coming form them. Unfortunately cube 2 seems to be dying(barely and players, lots of trolls) . Minecraft is truly the most ingenious sandbox game in existence, the only next tier up is when technology develops to the point of virtual realities...

2. I'm not sure what message mojang is sending by having bukkit join them but i'm guessing it'll piss off the other api develops(why U no choose meh!?) , but having forge join them as well will make the minecraft team huge...

3. Is that why NOW that's what I called minecraft died? *shudders* will the same thing happen to technic *shudders*?

4. That NEXT BIG THING sounds really cool, I'm googling it now . Your very right about new games inspiring new mods, e.g. skyrimcrafy, fablecraft... I think some loony will start making modds based on TV shows next... Also wow if mojang is so rich, why doesn't it appear to be investing into other indie developers or their own new large projects, let alone why don't they get a larger team to speed up development of COBALT and Scrolls...

[linkthegamer]

Wow once again you astound me with your all you well thought out answers .

1, Amazingly enough i have played dwarf fortress, and cube 2 so I can definetly see insipiration coming form them. Unfortunately cube 2 seems to be dying(barely and players, lots of trolls) . Minecraft is truly the most ingenious sandbox game in existence, the only next tier up is when technology develops to the point of virtual realities...

2. I'm not sure what message mojang is sending by having bukkit join them but i'm guessing it'll piss off the other api develops(why U no choose meh!?) , but having forge join them as well will make the minecraft team huge...

3. Is that why NOW that's what I called minecraft died? *shudders* will the same thing happen to technic *shudders*?

4. That NEXT BIG THING sounds really cool, I'm googling it now . Your very right about new games inspiring new mods, e.g. skyrimcrafy, fablecraft... I think some loony will start making modds based on TV shows next... Also wow if mojang is so rich, why doesn't it appear to be investing into other indie developers or their own new large projects, let alone why don't they get a larger team to speed up development of COBALT and Scrolls...

1. Cube 2 is not qouted as an insperation actually but it is sorta similar... I occasionally play it. Been trying to get into DF.

2. That is true since Forge and Spout are a bit more open source then bukkit I believe (i think you have to get picked to be on the bukkit devteam while just help Forge or spout to get on their teams, i may be wrong though,)

3. Think it might have been... ask PuddingHuxtable, he would know better. Also NOW is not dead, it is the Yogsbox. Technic will likely not die out like that because the admins don't seem to give a damn and it's not as easy to make enough drama to kill the project off.

4. Cobalt is just a venture into publishing and is developed by Oxeye Game Studios, so Oxeye would be left to hire more people. Scrolls is what most of Mojang who aren't helping oxeye are working on now I believe. Notch likely wants to keep that small indie feel of just you and a bunch of geeky pals making the games you want instead of feeling like a corporate machine cranking out games. I really dunno... but currently it looks awesome there, they have bacon slapping fights! (look it up on youtube, it is from the MOJAM)

[hindos]

1. Cube 2 is not qouted as an insperation actually but it is sorta similar... I occasionally play it. Been trying to get into DF.

2. That is true since Forge and Spout are a bit more open source then bukkit I believe (i think you have to get picked to be on the bukkit devteam while just help Forge or spout to get on their teams, i may be wrong though,)

3. Think it might have been... ask PuddingHuxtable, he would know better. Also NOW is not dead, it is the Yogsbox. Technic will likely not die out like that because the admins don't seem to give a damn and it's not as easy to make enough drama to kill the project off.

4. Cobalt is just a venture into publishing and is developed by Oxeye Game Studios, so Oxeye would be left to hire more people. Scrolls is what most of Mojang who aren't helping oxeye are working on now I believe. Notch likely wants to keep that small indie feel of just you and a bunch of geeky pals making the games you want instead of feeling like a corporate machine cranking out games. I really dunno... but currently it looks awesome there, they have bacon slapping fights! (look it up on youtube, it is from the MOJAM)

i really hope mojang wil stay indie, as soon as company becomes large scale it turns into a EA nightmare... I truly wonder what other amazing games they will make.. Also I advice checking out the 2011 indie games of the year, there are some pretty cool games like a 3d space-exploration one that generates worlds dynamicly and another amazing sandbox game that isn't blocks but has much more smoothness and even more levels of creativity.

[linkthegamer]

i really hope mojang wil stay indie, as soon as company becomes large scale it turns into a EA nightmare... I truly wonder what other amazing games they will make.. Also I advice checking out the 2011 indie games of the year, there are some pretty cool games like a 3d space-exploration one that generates worlds dynamicly and another amazing sandbox game that isn't blocks but has much more smoothness and even more levels of creativity.

Got a link to those?

I doubt Mojang has another Minecraft in them, it is kind of a one time thing. They will go on to make fun games but I doubt they will make another game that makes everyone go "DUDE, check out this game." Kinda of like any popular game, only one of them was usually a breakout success, the other did very well but that one game is still the one everyone remembers them for.

Mojang seems to still be indie at heart so as long as they feel indie they will likely remain like they are and not become an evil corporation for a while yet.

So I might as well ask a question that other people can answer: What do you think of Mojang as a company? Would you want to work for them or do you think they have too much fun and that is why progress on minecraft is so slow sometimes and if they just toned down the playing around minecraft would already have things like the mod API and such? (i will answer after someone else does.)