Minecraft videos – why are they so addictive?
bbc.com
bbc.com
>"The underlying creativity is baked into the program - the combinations, tools and materials - so the players have only one task to complete: design ever more complex structures. Though this seems like the pinnacle of an imaginative play experience, the kids we studied said they felt edgy and irritable after Minecraft sessions."
>The game, said the researchers, becomes "less about open-ended play and more about working to complete the never-ending stacks of buildings."
A bit surprised they seem to have ignored red stone, command blocks and modding. These seemingly complex concepts are not out of the reach of children. I don't have direct sources on hand but I've read many a programmer and parent (even on here) use it as a gateway to introducing computer science topics at a young age.
>but spending hours mindlessly watching others playing it represents a whole new level of obsession.
There are a lot of quality content creators with long running series' that have a narrative focus to some degree. I would rather my kids watch the likes of Etho, BdoubleO and Zisteau for instance over Yu-Gi-Oh, or some Transformers clone. Mostly so I can watch too.
It's so weird to me that Minecraft has become a "children's game". Nobody thought of it that way in the beginning, when the alpha started getting really popular on Reddit and elsewhere. That perception must've started some time after the 1.0 release, in 2012.
Nothing about the game changed to make it more kid-friendly. That's just the culture that developed around it.
It's not hard to draw the analogy that Minecraft is essentially "advanced Legos", and the prevailing view certainly is that Legos are primarily for children.
Why that's the case is a separate question, but I don't think it's contentious to say that most people assume Legos primary audience is children.
1) Those building railways, roads, cities, redstone circuits, efficient automatic farms.
2) Those playing on "PvP" servers all day, attacking each other, fighting in arenas, clan wars, etc. (If you hear a constant "click click click" noise, that's probably them)
The ratio of type 2 to type 1 players is probably something like 7:3.
Type 2 relies on servers, while type 1 can be is usually done alone (on a server it typically ends in drama).
Guess I'll have to shut down my servers now…
None of us can commit the time we used to commit to games (a few of us have kids), but I reckon we each probably put in half hour to an hour every day or 2, and the occasional 2-3 hour session per week while doing work on another screen or on hold on the phone.
It's a shame that Minecraft on a server has ridiculous requirements, because there is a need for better servers.
Amongst the people I know who watch a lot of Minecraft videos, there seem to be a few key elements: staying "seeped" in an environment they love, picking up new approaches and ideas for their own play, and also getting a vicarious gameplay experience they can't get in real life (because they don't have enough MC playing friends or they're not "into" the game enough).
It makes sense for the third-highest selling game of all time where Tetris is #1 and Wii Sports is #2. Those were both bundle with hardware.
Spoken like someone who hasn't spent much time with kids playing Minecraft. I've run a MC server for my niece since January of 2014. There are around 15 of her friends who play regularly on the server. "Never-ending stacks of buildings," would bore them to tears.
In addition to stacking blocks, Minecraft has:
Redstone: A set of blocks and items that can be used to create (electrical-like) circuits.
Server Commands: A complex set of commands that can be used to manipulate the environment, spawn creatures, and move the player around.
Command Blocks: Special blocks that can have commands stored in them, and are triggered by Redstone.
The Minecraft server I run also supports something called mods, which extend the standard functionality of the game, and in the case of my server, allow the kids to create multiple worlds within which they can transport themselves and create different types of play environments.
There are two world types that go far beyond stacks of blocks. The simpler of the two are arenas. They've built an arena with a community-established set of gameplay rules. You can compete alone or as a team. The arena master controls the spawning of enemies and the difficulty of the game. It is fascinating to watch a new arena master learn how to balance difficulty. Make the arena too hard and no one wants you to be arena master (a job that is appointed in impromptu elections). Make it too easy, and everyone gets bored and moves on to other areas of the game. There are complex social dynamics at play. As the sole adult on the server, I've spent plenty of time counseling 7 to 12 year olds on the subtleties of not abusing your friends when the opportunity presents itself. They learn quickly.
The most advanced world type, and the one that really blows my mind, are the "adventure" worlds. They combine structures they build with command blocks to create interactive adventures. You press a button and you're transported to the inside of a cottage. From there, a stream of messages orient you, and you're tasked with some objective: solve a puzzle to escape the house, locate an item hidden near by, find tools to fight off an incoming wave of zombies, survive long enough to reach a far away destination. The possibilities are endless, and the kids exhaust them all.
Minecraft is so open-ended that the types of play are no more bounded by the game than outdoors play is bounded by the laws of physics.
That must be tough.
Notched!