It’s perfect for me: got a little downtime, sure, I’ll go dig a tunnel for 20 minutes, or build a fort, or whatever, and playing on a public server is even better, because if I don’t have the time or skill to assault an end fortress, someone else does and I can trade for the useful loot. Fun and casual and creative are exactly what I want in a game.
I am mentioning this because Mojang is releasing their special, long-in-the-coming 1.9 update on Monday, and the server I play on, Sitosis, is going to spawn a brand new, empty, untouched world shortly thereafter, and they’re asking all their former users to check back in (new users are also welcome). There’ll be a rush to stake out new territories in exotic biomes next week!
One hint: you probably don’t want to settle anywhere near me. Apparently, I have a reputation for defending my territory by breeding so many cows and chickens and pigs — for my genetics experiments, don’t you know — that only the best computers can cope with their owners approaching the milling mobs in my base. I also tend to be a bit lax about lighting things up to thwart evil spawn, so my place might be crawling with undead and creepers and giant spiders. The way I like it.
Haven’t played in ages. I may have to get my client updated and try out the new patch.
Aw, that’s really nice. I thought about playing Minecraft, too, but it’s got an online requirement, right?
I recently got into playing Terraria, though, a sort of 2D-version of Minecraft with Lovecraftian boss monsters haunting the world and infectious biomes spreading through formerly green hillsides. Kind of awesome, too.
Of course, I decided to build a floating granite island as the seat for my new empire, a dark town high up in the sky and connected to the world below by a glass shaft. I even have an expressway all the way down to hell, as any atheist should! :-)
No, you can play without the internet. There’s even a solo creative mode that turns off the monsters and lets you fly.
Terraria sounds interesting. May have to look into it.
@Saganite, #2:
You can play offline in single player, on a LAN, or on a server over the internet. I think you need to be online to log in for the first time, but after that you can play single player offline. For me though, the real feature of Minecraft is mods. There’s a massive community of modders creating new content.
Love that game!
Although lately I’ve been playing Ark Survival Evolved, which is kind of similar in that you start out alone and naked on an island and have to mine resources and craft tools, building supplies. It has dinos instead of creepers and zombies. It’s a lille more limited in what you can create however.
Dang it PZ, I was being productive at last. Now you’re going to drag me back down the Minecraft rabbithole. Must resist…
And I just got Ark too. It seems pretty cool, but I haven’t really found any welcoming online groups to play with.
PZ, are you paying your grazing fees? Branding your cattle?
So THAT’S where your evil lair is
Hidden within the multidimensional fabric of data itself
I should have expected nothing less from an unrepentant sciencemaster
A little Minecraft, now and then,
Is valued by the wisest men…
Oh I love minecraft. And I play it a lot with my kids who have become total experts on it. The past week my 10-year son and I have been trying a great mod called Galacticraft, which I can recommend. But it is a lot of hard work in survival mode, because you have to mine a ton of resources to build your gimmicks and eventually a rocket to fly to the moon and beyond!
Minecraft brings out the OCD in me, which is really weird, because I’m quite a messy person in real life [picks up two piles of miscellaneous bills, junk mail and envelopes to find the mouse], and have always been that way.
It’s kind of a problem because it makes Minecraft even more of a time sink when you’re forever squaring off the walls, floors and ceilings of the caves you find. Mods, like Buildcraft, just make things worse, because they merely enable my Minecraft OCD in other ways — like designing the ultimate item sorting machine using only Buildcraft pipes.
I get the attraction, for children and adults alike, but I’m also painfully aware just how addictive it can be. Everything in moderation.
I had to quit Sitosis after I pretty much wasted an entire weekend there. Turns out I have zero self control when it comes to Minecraft. I guess I need to login again while the old map is still on, just for a few minutes to see how Innsmouth turned out. Juuuust a quick session, I can totally control this…
I’ve been thinking about trying to join a for-grownups* Minecraft server with my wife, and Sitosis seems like what I’m looking for… but every time I’ve checked the site (admittedly not that often) it’s indicated that applications currently aren’t being accepted. Is it worth sending in an application anyway?
(* here, “grownup” = “capable of behaving like a human being endowed with empathy and reason”)
biogeo @ 13
I’ve been on that sever for about a year now (sadly not so much lately, but that’s achangin) and can attest that it is a really good group. I’ll leave a message with the admin and see if they’re open to accepting new players. I’ll post back here with what I find out.
Also, Yes, PZ’s camp is a death trap. Stay away. :)
Nice, PZ! I’m glad 1.9 is finally coming out.
YOB @ 14
Thanks, that’s nice of you!
Woah. 1.9? Looks like I’m getting back into Minecraft.
That said, speaking of Terraria, that is a good game, but by no means Minecraft. Minecraft is more open-ended, Terraria is a bit more limited. Minecraft can generally be played peacefully if one likes, Terraria is more action/combat oriented, with RPG elements.
Terraria doesn’t *QUITE* have the depth Minecraft has, but at the same time you can punch Cthulhu’s Bestest Buddy in the face with a sword that shoots nyancats*. So it all evens out, I think.
*Only if you’ve already beaten the Moon Lord once and he has dropped the Meowmere.
Dammit.
I’m tempted. I would create underwater temple 2.0. It really did distract me from too much though and I’m making a better effort on a bunch of projects right now. Maybe I can integrate some of those new ADHD fixes. Maybe.
I had previously been on Sitosis the last time you had mentioned they were accepting new players, but now it seems like everyone needs to be whitelisted through the forums. I replied to the whitelisting thread, but nothing so far.
biogeo @13
I return with bad news. :(
It appears that applications will remained closed, for the time being. I suppose, in retrospect, I should have asked there first before saying anything here but I didn’t. For that, I apologize.
No need to apologize! I do appreciate you checking.
That server sounds nice. I will have to apply to join.