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The secret of Minecraft (2014)

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Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#161

Post by Bluecobra »

bakugo wrote: post #36
cedws wrote: post #2

Call me a hater but I think Microsoft ruined Minecraft. The "secret knowledge" that the author describes is no longer a thing. The game shows you all the recipes. There are way too many blocks now so there's not as much need for creativity in building. Simplicity made Minecraft a true sandbox. There was no real objective, just blocks and ways to arrange them. Now there's always an objective to get the next magic/powe…

Agreed. I could write a 10 page essay about all the subtle ways minecraft has lost a lot of its original appeal since I first played it 14 years ago, but a few people have already done it for me in video format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KqeLT-EOe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbFUK3r8GGU

I first played it when SMP was released and server side inventory was not a thing yet. It was pure anarchy and so much fun.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#162

Post by sdwr »

npunt wrote: post #112
ilaksh wrote: post #106

He makes a good point about "secret" knowledge, but I don't think that's the real secret. I believe almost everyone, including the author here, misunderstands what made Minecraft take off. It was NOT just the fact that you have creative control (which is what most people mistakenly assume is the main point) or that you need to learn how to craft to advance, or the procedural generation. It was the _combination_ of al…

Totally agree. You can't reduce an experience like Minecraft to any one thing, it's the formula that makes it so enduring. re: harping on Minecrafts graphics, there's a lot of people that completely misunderstand the purpose of graphics in games and just think greater fidelity = better. Sure, in AAA games especially, graphics are there to sell the game, and that's certainly one part of the creative ensemble that the…

Minecraft is the best building game ever made. It's perfect like Bach - built so simply you can see how it was done, and fits into the constraints of the medium perfectly.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#163

Post by Dylan16807 »

lolinder wrote: post #90
ineptech wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not super knowledgeable about it so I should just let someone else answer; but to clarify what I was saying, I'm not talking about the account migration, I'm talking about the fact that the new version ("education" edition, the one most kids use because of the steep discounts to schools) client can't connect to the old ("java edition") servers. The old server is still easy to run and hack on, but none of your fri…

Your complaint is essentially that Microsoft released a new version of the game under the same name, which is not compatible with the old one because it's not actually quite the same game. That's a reasonable complaint, but doesn't constitute "losing" anything. I'm still following some of the same Java Edition YouTubers that I've been following for more than 10 years now (and they're still producing content weekly!).…

> Your complaint is essentially that Microsoft released a new version of the game under the same name, which is not compatible with the old one because it's not actually quite the same game. That's a reasonable complaint, but doesn't constitute "losing" anything.

If enough people are pushed onto a new system, then yes we do lose the ease of the old system.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#164

Post by jcotton42 »

fbdab103 wrote: post #32
vbezhenar wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood the appeal of having game knowledge on a separate websites. I can understand this situation happening because of lack of development resources. Like - yeah, it's easier to just let the community to write the documentation and concentrate on the game, if you're small company. But why would it appeal to the actual players? It's not really secret knowledge, there are wiki websites with all the recipes…

Especially when the goto gaming wiki site host is straight-up internet cancer.

https://minecraft.wiki/ replaced the fandom wiki some time ago.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#165

Post by Dylan16807 »

ACow_Adonis wrote: post #63
rootforce wrote: post #23

I’ve been playing Minecraft off and on since beta, and I’ve been able to introduce each of my kids as they’ve gotten old enough to play. It is pretty amazing, they all started in creative running around punching random things and now each one has their own way they like to play. One loves to build, another mini games, survival, parkour, mods etc. we are currently watching MCC live and it’s like the Super Bowl. They a…

I just introduced my kid to Minecraft and it's fascinating how quickly they take to it, but to my (internal silent) horror, they've added so much that changes the survival experience from the early days that it's not really the same any more. Now there's villages which provide pre-made shelter, you can just trade and build up villager slaves to make all the resources for you, you can get a bed (which you find in all…

> Now there's villages which provide pre-made shelter

You can make a shelter in less than a minute, so eh.

> you can just trade and build up villager slaves to make all the resources for you

Just?? They don't have that much variety and it's a lot of work, more work than collecting most resources on your own.

> you can get a bed

Beds, from beta 1.3? You're really pining for a specific couple months there.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#166

Post by codeulike »

preciousoo wrote: post #108
pphysch wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know that it's an "innovation" as much as a lucky break. I would say it's one of Minecraft's systemic flaws, actually. It greatly constrains how smooth exploration can be in what is otherwise an interesting world to explore.

I believe they solved (to a large degree) it in their C++ rendering engine that they use for Bedrock

If you're playing over a network you still get chunks loaded infront of your eyes sometimes because it depends on the network/speed of the host

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#167

Post by kevinsync »

nottorp wrote: post #145
kevinsync wrote: post #86

Microsoft didn't ruin Minecraft -- all they did was graciously allow the Java version (moddable) to continue to exist and improve while making Bedrock work consistently cross-platform (way more important than you may realize, so many kids are introduced via phones and tablets) and be the place where branded IP / predictable content goes. My 12 year old son has been playing since he was 6 I think, and is an unbelievab…

> making Bedrock work consistently cross-platform Pray tell, where are the Mac and Linux versions of Bedrock? Have they removed the limitations on world and redstone updates in Bedrock yet, or is it still only updating right around you in the name of rendering distance?

Both fair points / complaints.

I guess my original thought was really that Bedrock is a great Trojan horse for kids who would otherwise not discover the game because it runs on Windows, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch etc (and by extension, possibly get into computers, coding, game design, etc as a result)

Mac / Linux really ought to be supported too, but the vast majority of kids are elsewhere.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#168

Post by nottorp »

kevinsync wrote: post #167
nottorp wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> making Bedrock work consistently cross-platform Pray tell, where are the Mac and Linux versions of Bedrock? Have they removed the limitations on world and redstone updates in Bedrock yet, or is it still only updating right around you in the name of rendering distance?

Both fair points / complaints. I guess my original thought was really that Bedrock is a great Trojan horse for kids who would otherwise not discover the game because it runs on Windows, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch etc (and by extension, possibly get into computers, coding, game design, etc as a result) Mac / Linux really ought to be supported too, but the vast majority of kids are elsewhere.

> but the vast majority of kids are elsewhere.

Yes, one of the things that ticks me off :) See my other downmodded comment on this thread.

Don't restrict this only to kids, people...

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#169

Post by sbuttgereit »

ineptech wrote: post #107
lolinder wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your complaint is essentially that Microsoft released a new version of the game under the same name, which is not compatible with the old one because it's not actually quite the same game. That's a reasonable complaint, but doesn't constitute "losing" anything. I'm still following some of the same Java Edition YouTubers that I've been following for more than 10 years now (and they're still producing content weekly!).…

We've indisputably lost whatever Minecraft would be today if notch hadn't sold it. We can't know what that is, maybe it would've sucked. What we got instead feels like just another corporate studio game, a good one, yes, but we already have a lot of those.

At every branching point in history, we have indisputably lost the result of the branch not taken. But... what's your point caller? That fact by itself is pretty meaningless.

Contrary to the point of view that somehow Microsoft changed everything, what surprising is how much they didn't change or might not be different at all... Jens Bergensten is today's Chief Create Officer at Mojang... but he's not a Microsoft plant, he's been there since 2010 and, moreover... " After the full release of Minecraft (1.0.0), Persson transferred creative authority of the game's development to Jens Bergensten, afterwards continuing to help out with Minecraft while also working on new projects." (https://minecraft.wiki/w/Markus_Persson) That happened in 2011 a few years before the Microsoft acquisition. As far as I can tell, there is a significant representation of pre-Microsoft Mojang staff that still exists within the company; sure there are many more people that have only been there since the Microsoft acquisition, but that seems to be a function of growth and resource availability more than some imposed change of direction.

So actually, I'm not sure what we've lost here. Pocket Edition, later to become Bedrock and upon which Minecraft Education is based, was well underway prior to the Microsoft acquisition. That ship sailed while Notch still owned the company. Outside of the Microsoft account and chat reporting requirements, which clearly were Microsoft driven, it's difficult to really see how different things would be. Arguable Jens might have been reeled in more by Notch, but my bet is that Notch was paying more attention to his 0x10c by 2012 and Jens would have had pretty substantial creative discretion by that time.

Re: The secret of Minecraft (2014)

#170

Post by medstrom »

codeulike wrote: post #166
preciousoo wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe they solved (to a large degree) it in their C++ rendering engine that they use for Bedrock

If you're playing over a network you still get chunks loaded infront of your eyes sometimes because it depends on the network/speed of the host

Not even network speed. If you're just playing multiplayer on 1 console, that creates a client-server setup behind the scenes. On the Nintendo Switch, boat travel is hell because every 20 seconds you'll hit the invisble wall at the edge of the sea that makes you wait 20 more seconds before you can continue rowing.
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