It's quite challenging to express how I feel about something as specific and unusual as GT: New Horizons; it feels strange to me that it's even on this platform.
Like many others, my relationship with Minecraft mods has always been one of mere curiosity. I would occasionally try out mods that seemed interesting or fun, only to later forget about these additions or return to Minecraft vanilla. I never really got caught up in any of the mods, whether playing alone or with others—they were just momentary distractions.
So, imagine my surprise when I found myself completely addicted after installing this modpack following a YouTube video. I spent hours in front of the computer, searching the wiki and lurking on Discord. I was completely hooked, even though I knew rationally it wasn't revolutionary.
In fact, Gregtech New Horizons seems mechanically deficient to me, with an artificially high difficulty that adds nothing to the game. Its crafting system obfuscates everything simply for the sake of obfuscation, as if the experience of notoriously difficult games like Syobon Action (Cat Mario) or I Wanna Be the Guy from the 2010s YouTube era was transplanted into Minecraft.
And yet, I kept playing, progressing from Stone Age to Steam, Low Voltage, Medium Voltage, and beyond. It was as if the rational part of my brain, responsible for critical thinking, had completely shut down.
The catch is this: this period of irrational consumption, grinding, and absorption occurred during a very turbulent time in my life. I was in the midst of a deep depression, paralyzed by extreme anhedonia. Nothing seemed to satisfy or motivate me—a black hole that essentially nullified me as a person.
Here's a revised version for clarity and improved flow:
Was playing this the best way to cope? No! Was it even logical? Not at all, but it helped me a lot. Giving myself a small intellectual challenge every day, trying to improve and refine the production lines, gave me a reason to at least do something during the day—to keep waking myself up.
In the art of criticism, as in media consumption, we like to see ourselves as completely objective and rational beings, able to discern the sacred from the profane and to distance ourselves from any relationship, toxic or not, with any product. I try to do this myself when writing about something, but I think we are all fooling ourselves, denying a part of our nature that is simply undeniable.
Can one look 'objectively' at the sun while ignoring the heat on one's skin? It is a chimera, or at least I am not intellectually capable of doing so.
Like many others, my relationship with Minecraft mods has always been one of mere curiosity. I would occasionally try out mods that seemed interesting or fun, only to later forget about these additions or return to Minecraft vanilla. I never really got caught up in any of the mods, whether playing alone or with others—they were just momentary distractions.
So, imagine my surprise when I found myself completely addicted after installing this modpack following a YouTube video. I spent hours in front of the computer, searching the wiki and lurking on Discord. I was completely hooked, even though I knew rationally it wasn't revolutionary.
In fact, Gregtech New Horizons seems mechanically deficient to me, with an artificially high difficulty that adds nothing to the game. Its crafting system obfuscates everything simply for the sake of obfuscation, as if the experience of notoriously difficult games like Syobon Action (Cat Mario) or I Wanna Be the Guy from the 2010s YouTube era was transplanted into Minecraft.
And yet, I kept playing, progressing from Stone Age to Steam, Low Voltage, Medium Voltage, and beyond. It was as if the rational part of my brain, responsible for critical thinking, had completely shut down.
The catch is this: this period of irrational consumption, grinding, and absorption occurred during a very turbulent time in my life. I was in the midst of a deep depression, paralyzed by extreme anhedonia. Nothing seemed to satisfy or motivate me—a black hole that essentially nullified me as a person.
Here's a revised version for clarity and improved flow:
Was playing this the best way to cope? No! Was it even logical? Not at all, but it helped me a lot. Giving myself a small intellectual challenge every day, trying to improve and refine the production lines, gave me a reason to at least do something during the day—to keep waking myself up.
In the art of criticism, as in media consumption, we like to see ourselves as completely objective and rational beings, able to discern the sacred from the profane and to distance ourselves from any relationship, toxic or not, with any product. I try to do this myself when writing about something, but I think we are all fooling ourselves, denying a part of our nature that is simply undeniable.
Can one look 'objectively' at the sun while ignoring the heat on one's skin? It is a chimera, or at least I am not intellectually capable of doing so.