Playing Minecraft again for the first time since I was a kid with a bunch of friends who no-lifed this game for years, was, to say the least, a unique experience. I have never, from a purly gameplay perspective, been this overwhelmed and bored simultaneously.
It is borderline depressing to hear my old friends joyfully speaking in a to me foreign language and about something I can't seem to get anything out of other than the digital social interaction with them. And I don't want to have to commit a bunch of my time to learn and understand it, that just isn't the kind of gamer I am. I'd rather meet those same friends IRL, play something we are on equal footing or play shorter games alone that actually move something inside of me intentionally.
Being a reinstated noob in the current Meta and getting handheld by some well meaning bros through the Nether End-boss fight, while they were continuously arguing with each other about stuff I don't know shit about was just exhausting to me and I have never felt less while watching the credits of game roll down the screen.
A part of me wants to give Minecraft credit anyway for it's depth, (or whatever you wanna call it when something gets perpetuatually updated for over a decade, because it's the most profitable game on the market) but another side in me knows that the rightwing shithead who made this stole the base idea from Zachtronics and made a gazillion dollars as a result of dumbing it down, while Zach didn't get an ounce of credit, artisticly or monetary, other than in the first ever forum post Notch made about the development, in which he literally admitted to Minecraft being an Infineminer clone.
The funny thing is Zach himself said in an Interview about it that he cannot take credit for the idea of Minecraft, because he would have never come up with the mind numbing mechanic to just hold down the left mouse button to farm something. The words "mind numbing" in there are mine and are not in his quote, but judging by Zachtronics game design philosophy they were kind of implied.
And yea, turning my brain off and just building shit is the most pleasing thing to do in this game, but I don't like to play games to turn my brain off and to me this isn't an argument to learn about all the inordinate crafting intricacies either.
As a huge Brian Eno stan, the ambient OST by C418 is undoubtedly the pre-eminent reason Minecraft is deserving of it's attention as mainstream art to me, but as someone who listened to the album a bunch of times over the years without ever touching the game, I couldn't believe how many day-and-night circles pass before you'll ever hear one of those beautiful soundscapes. Despite it's sparse use, I would still argue that this gorgeous background music is, at minimum, subconsciously responsible for it's rise and staying power. I would waste some time anywhere those tunes grace my ears tbh.
With the exception of the infallible music and it's functionality as a social hub, this just isn't for me. Also, fuck Notch
It is borderline depressing to hear my old friends joyfully speaking in a to me foreign language and about something I can't seem to get anything out of other than the digital social interaction with them. And I don't want to have to commit a bunch of my time to learn and understand it, that just isn't the kind of gamer I am. I'd rather meet those same friends IRL, play something we are on equal footing or play shorter games alone that actually move something inside of me intentionally.
Being a reinstated noob in the current Meta and getting handheld by some well meaning bros through the Nether End-boss fight, while they were continuously arguing with each other about stuff I don't know shit about was just exhausting to me and I have never felt less while watching the credits of game roll down the screen.
A part of me wants to give Minecraft credit anyway for it's depth, (or whatever you wanna call it when something gets perpetuatually updated for over a decade, because it's the most profitable game on the market) but another side in me knows that the rightwing shithead who made this stole the base idea from Zachtronics and made a gazillion dollars as a result of dumbing it down, while Zach didn't get an ounce of credit, artisticly or monetary, other than in the first ever forum post Notch made about the development, in which he literally admitted to Minecraft being an Infineminer clone.
The funny thing is Zach himself said in an Interview about it that he cannot take credit for the idea of Minecraft, because he would have never come up with the mind numbing mechanic to just hold down the left mouse button to farm something. The words "mind numbing" in there are mine and are not in his quote, but judging by Zachtronics game design philosophy they were kind of implied.
And yea, turning my brain off and just building shit is the most pleasing thing to do in this game, but I don't like to play games to turn my brain off and to me this isn't an argument to learn about all the inordinate crafting intricacies either.
As a huge Brian Eno stan, the ambient OST by C418 is undoubtedly the pre-eminent reason Minecraft is deserving of it's attention as mainstream art to me, but as someone who listened to the album a bunch of times over the years without ever touching the game, I couldn't believe how many day-and-night circles pass before you'll ever hear one of those beautiful soundscapes. Despite it's sparse use, I would still argue that this gorgeous background music is, at minimum, subconsciously responsible for it's rise and staying power. I would waste some time anywhere those tunes grace my ears tbh.
With the exception of the infallible music and it's functionality as a social hub, this just isn't for me. Also, fuck Notch