920
Before I begin, let me just lay down the following to avoid any and all arguments:
Now that we got all that out of the way, let's move on to the entire point of this article which is going to be me ranting off my thoughts and feelings towards this game in the roughly ten years I've played (minus a couple because of League of Legends, but we will get into that later) which are still somewhat disapproving if not hostile in some areas. Over the years, I have seen a community grow, blow up, solidify, break, decline, and die back into the current Renaissance that we are seeing today as new players come in alongside those, like myself, who are making a comeback through either Casual play or Content Creation.
This is my gift to 10 years of a game that I still load up when I feel bored.
Long ago, in the mysterious year of 2010, when YouTube was still cat videos and a journey of clicks that took you from eating a banana into juggling monkeys while singing Yankee Doodle Dandee blindfolded. People learned to love online gaming during the roar of First-Person Shooters, the dominant forces being Battlefield, Medal of Honor, and Halo 2. Guides were few and far between, and content creation for these titles were hidden underneath giant blocks of GameFAQs text.
Enter my friend who mentions a block game he found through a person he enjoyed named Seananners who thought I'd be interested in it. Playing around on the old classic version that was available on the site, I didn't really think much about it back in June / July of that year. Then, something poked at the back of my mind about it that caught my attention. After messing with it more, I decided in November of that year to finally buy into it, getting half off for being Alpha.
That is where my story begins. I struggled through my first night, constantly looked at the wiki to learn the most basic of recipes, and eventually fell to love the game and it's simplistic charm. It was the most fun I had since I could remember with the last time being a Katamari game I bought, but it was "fun" for a bit until I got exhausted trying to collect every object.
As time went by, I saw the explosion of Minecraft on YouTube, starting with Seannaners, but also the rise and fall of Yogscast (SoI remaining my most favorite series to this day), the disappearance of BebopVox, and even CaptainSparklez who is one of the returning CCs. I even was there at the start of Pewdiepie's absolute rocket to being the star of YouTube. I wasn't a fan of Deadlox or SkytheKidRS, but knew of them and many more.
It was a wonderful time of sharing Maps, wondering about the next big creation, and designing new fun modes all throughout Beta. There were good updates and there were bad updates, eventually there would be one update that would create a crack that later I attribute the the Downfall of Minecraft. The Adventure Update, 1.7.9 / 1.8 which added the End, Endermen, and the Enderdragon. It would also break the terrain of the game that many still claim to be objectively the best
I myself do like the current terrain generation, but I much prefer Alpha which I'll get into later. For now, just note that I have been here a long, long time and seen many many things.
Anyway, because of the number of people joining the game, YouTube grew massively to the point where it almost broke and thus created the Gaming section that we see today. I do not believe that, had this this never happened, there probably wouldn't be the site we know today and games like Fortnite would never rise either. There are many things that Minecraft has made successful, a lot of good, but maybe twice as much bad such as the rise of Early Access titles, the stagnation of creativity, and the choking of innovation.
One would think that such harmony and prosperity and good nature that has no problems could last forever. Unfortunately, that was not the case, especially for the blocky game of digging a hole and making castles. After the change of how terrain worked, the game slowly declined to many reasons, mostly because many have been playing for several years. It didn't help many of the updates became extremely controversial, from horses and potions to enchanting and combat. There were a couple events that would be the sword that pierced the heart to nearly destroy what used to be the Best Game of Any Year.
The first of these is the sellout / buyout of Mojang at the request of Markus "Notch" Persson that felt like a complete alienation of the game he held so dear. I was on his side of the fight in that the people who used to play became toxic, arrogant, self-entitled babies who felt as though he owed them everything. This aggression and toxicity would later spread to other areas, but for now we remain here and find that you had to pick a side and in this war, everyone lost.
For the few months to a year or so following, Minecraft slowly went from being a game enjoyed by all to a Business that was exploited by many. YouTubers began to like the game less and played because of vested interest from the viewers. Many couldn't escape nor didn't want to as they found profit by selling very sketchy servers, copyrighted merchandise, and create Microtransactions that would put Electronic Arts to shame, the biggest offenders being Skyblock and Mineplex whose argument I still disregard as nothing more than "entitled fame." Nothing will change my stance on this.
Secondly was the 1.9 Combat Update which is universally regarded as the Worst Update. Adding cooldowns crippled the PvP community. Those who still stuck around up to that point quickly left for other games such as Overwatch which was fairly big at the time. I was somewhat around at this time, but I had quit the game around Release 1.2.5 or thereabouts, burnt like a deep fried chicken in a microwave in the Arizona sun. I later came to terms that it wasn't that bad and figured it added a bit, but that wasn't until in the last couple months. Another story for another time.
It's 2014 and I was tired of the game and the people bickering about. The people I used to enjoy watching play were either becoming "cheap" in their content or began transitioning out such as the Yogscast or DanTDM. However, a breakup in a relationship was all it took for me to disappear, moving towards the game of League of Legends where I will spend the next 2 to 3 years fighting depression and obsession / addiction.
What started out as a simple game I used to enjoy began to wear on me, turn me into a toxic troll as I tried to prove my worth. I became extremely invested both monetarily (spent several hundred dollars) and time (Last I checked, I had ~3k hours over that time span, having played almost 8 games a day for several solid months). Early 2017 I finally began to break out through pure will of what I became, slowly easing my way out, sometimes returning, and only recently have managed to break its hold on me thanks in part to making it almost to Gold. It was a close enough goal, I proved that I was able, then quickly made my way out.
Shortly before that, however, I started the process of easing out with the hopes of getting rid of my demon to get back to health in both mind and body. Back in June of 2016, I decided to lay off the game less to get to my massive pile of titles that clogged my Steam, GOG, and Origin libraries as most were gifted to me and I felt bad they were sitting there gathering dust. Later, in early 2017 I had an interest in SkySaga which to me felt like a perfect mix of Minecraft and Runescape. A friend introduced me to the game and I only kept an eye on it as the Minecraft Burnout took a massive toll on me to the point where I didn't want to touch any game similar to it such as Terraria or Don't Starve or Starbound.
However, the game shortly closed after that and my initial plan of finding a new "Gaming Home" were put on standby once more. That was until a few months after I had a curious experience. There was a tweet by I believe Dinnerbone (can't remember nor find the screenshot) who teased some of the new content for 1.10 that caught my eye that would later be revealed to be Concrete and Concrete Powder. Here I began following hesitantly to avoid burning out once more and slowly regained my interest in the game to where I am now currently sitting...
Playing my Alpha world.
There's a reason to that, but TL;DR is "Play version I started because things then play newer cause creative." If you want to know more, I'll reply in a comment.
Here I am, once again! (No raegrats)
What do I think of the current game? It's fun, I love the past few updates and can't wait until I can actually make something that isn't a dirt block house. Finally with my story told, let's move on to my thoughts on the people and community, what I hope, what I believe, and what I'm expecting.
I'm going to be completely honest and say I don't like the community, at least what is left of it. My wish is that the new players coming in don't make the same mistakes we did by turning Entertainment into a Full-Time career. The success of Minecraft, as I have mentioned before, heavily influenced if not directly, tactics such as Early Access, piecemeal content that should have been released on the first day only to be sold for much more, and turning Video games into a Business. People used to share and play together now fight for dominance on the top charts of Twitch and YouTube. You only need to look at Fortnite to see the trend. Just replace that with Minecraft and you'll have a carbon copy of 2012 in Gaming.
As stated above, there will always be exceptions to these rules such as PopularMMOs who seem to enjoy playing the game. For the rest such as AntVenom, I believe that they are still in it not really for money, but because they are so invested in the game that they still see profit from it either in money or fame. I might be wrong for him yet the point still stands that those creeping back in or those continue to play are more than likely in it for the popularity rather than enjoyment.
If you really do love the game and making videos, showing off your creations, etc. more power to you and I wish you the best. Heed my warnings to not turn what should be Fun into a Job lest you find yourself friendless, angry, or frustrated. Keeping a channel alive among thousands is no small task and I urge those to stop the moment they feel tired. It is not worth pushing yourself over the edge like many of us, like myself who falls into that trap time and time again (better now, less burnouts, still bad because sister in law wants to do everything in a day...oi)
Minecraft, the Original King of Gaming, fallen from Grace to be replaced by the genre that dominated before, is slowly returning to the spotlight. I am glad to finally return to a game I adore though only to find a ghost of a town with husks of souls that lost their light so long ago. One day the game will be better, but I don't see it getting more than Second Place in any competition.
Those who do not learn from history, repeat it.
Let this be a Lesson. A tale from a longtime player.
Happy Crafting.
P. S. - Image above is from
- I do not hate the game at all whatsoever. There are things I personally do not like, but overall I still enjoy Minecraft
- While I prefer Alpha over the current versions, my reasons are my own and not indicative of any group. This means STOP TOSSING ME WITH ALPHAWUNNERS.
- There will always be an exception to what I say here.
- These are strictly my thoughts and observations which may or may not be factual so are open to any criticism. Because of this, do not feel afraid to correct me in a respectable manner. I do feel bad about some harsh comments, you still reserve the right to rip me a new one if you feel it necessary. Just don't attack, k?
- There is zero editing to this so expect many mistakes.
Now that we got all that out of the way, let's move on to the entire point of this article which is going to be me ranting off my thoughts and feelings towards this game in the roughly ten years I've played (minus a couple because of League of Legends, but we will get into that later) which are still somewhat disapproving if not hostile in some areas. Over the years, I have seen a community grow, blow up, solidify, break, decline, and die back into the current Renaissance that we are seeing today as new players come in alongside those, like myself, who are making a comeback through either Casual play or Content Creation.
This is my gift to 10 years of a game that I still load up when I feel bored.
My First Steps
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Long ago, in the mysterious year of 2010, when YouTube was still cat videos and a journey of clicks that took you from eating a banana into juggling monkeys while singing Yankee Doodle Dandee blindfolded. People learned to love online gaming during the roar of First-Person Shooters, the dominant forces being Battlefield, Medal of Honor, and Halo 2. Guides were few and far between, and content creation for these titles were hidden underneath giant blocks of GameFAQs text.
Enter my friend who mentions a block game he found through a person he enjoyed named Seananners who thought I'd be interested in it. Playing around on the old classic version that was available on the site, I didn't really think much about it back in June / July of that year. Then, something poked at the back of my mind about it that caught my attention. After messing with it more, I decided in November of that year to finally buy into it, getting half off for being Alpha.
That is where my story begins. I struggled through my first night, constantly looked at the wiki to learn the most basic of recipes, and eventually fell to love the game and it's simplistic charm. It was the most fun I had since I could remember with the last time being a Katamari game I bought, but it was "fun" for a bit until I got exhausted trying to collect every object.
A Community Grown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As time went by, I saw the explosion of Minecraft on YouTube, starting with Seannaners, but also the rise and fall of Yogscast (SoI remaining my most favorite series to this day), the disappearance of BebopVox, and even CaptainSparklez who is one of the returning CCs. I even was there at the start of Pewdiepie's absolute rocket to being the star of YouTube. I wasn't a fan of Deadlox or SkytheKidRS, but knew of them and many more.
It was a wonderful time of sharing Maps, wondering about the next big creation, and designing new fun modes all throughout Beta. There were good updates and there were bad updates, eventually there would be one update that would create a crack that later I attribute the the Downfall of Minecraft. The Adventure Update, 1.7.9 / 1.8 which added the End, Endermen, and the Enderdragon. It would also break the terrain of the game that many still claim to be objectively the best
I myself do like the current terrain generation, but I much prefer Alpha which I'll get into later. For now, just note that I have been here a long, long time and seen many many things.
Anyway, because of the number of people joining the game, YouTube grew massively to the point where it almost broke and thus created the Gaming section that we see today. I do not believe that, had this this never happened, there probably wouldn't be the site we know today and games like Fortnite would never rise either. There are many things that Minecraft has made successful, a lot of good, but maybe twice as much bad such as the rise of Early Access titles, the stagnation of creativity, and the choking of innovation.
The Crack and Breaking
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One would think that such harmony and prosperity and good nature that has no problems could last forever. Unfortunately, that was not the case, especially for the blocky game of digging a hole and making castles. After the change of how terrain worked, the game slowly declined to many reasons, mostly because many have been playing for several years. It didn't help many of the updates became extremely controversial, from horses and potions to enchanting and combat. There were a couple events that would be the sword that pierced the heart to nearly destroy what used to be the Best Game of Any Year.
The first of these is the sellout / buyout of Mojang at the request of Markus "Notch" Persson that felt like a complete alienation of the game he held so dear. I was on his side of the fight in that the people who used to play became toxic, arrogant, self-entitled babies who felt as though he owed them everything. This aggression and toxicity would later spread to other areas, but for now we remain here and find that you had to pick a side and in this war, everyone lost.
For the few months to a year or so following, Minecraft slowly went from being a game enjoyed by all to a Business that was exploited by many. YouTubers began to like the game less and played because of vested interest from the viewers. Many couldn't escape nor didn't want to as they found profit by selling very sketchy servers, copyrighted merchandise, and create Microtransactions that would put Electronic Arts to shame, the biggest offenders being Skyblock and Mineplex whose argument I still disregard as nothing more than "entitled fame." Nothing will change my stance on this.
Secondly was the 1.9 Combat Update which is universally regarded as the Worst Update. Adding cooldowns crippled the PvP community. Those who still stuck around up to that point quickly left for other games such as Overwatch which was fairly big at the time. I was somewhat around at this time, but I had quit the game around Release 1.2.5 or thereabouts, burnt like a deep fried chicken in a microwave in the Arizona sun. I later came to terms that it wasn't that bad and figured it added a bit, but that wasn't until in the last couple months. Another story for another time.
Where I Went and How I Returned
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's 2014 and I was tired of the game and the people bickering about. The people I used to enjoy watching play were either becoming "cheap" in their content or began transitioning out such as the Yogscast or DanTDM. However, a breakup in a relationship was all it took for me to disappear, moving towards the game of League of Legends where I will spend the next 2 to 3 years fighting depression and obsession / addiction.
What started out as a simple game I used to enjoy began to wear on me, turn me into a toxic troll as I tried to prove my worth. I became extremely invested both monetarily (spent several hundred dollars) and time (Last I checked, I had ~3k hours over that time span, having played almost 8 games a day for several solid months). Early 2017 I finally began to break out through pure will of what I became, slowly easing my way out, sometimes returning, and only recently have managed to break its hold on me thanks in part to making it almost to Gold. It was a close enough goal, I proved that I was able, then quickly made my way out.
Shortly before that, however, I started the process of easing out with the hopes of getting rid of my demon to get back to health in both mind and body. Back in June of 2016, I decided to lay off the game less to get to my massive pile of titles that clogged my Steam, GOG, and Origin libraries as most were gifted to me and I felt bad they were sitting there gathering dust. Later, in early 2017 I had an interest in SkySaga which to me felt like a perfect mix of Minecraft and Runescape. A friend introduced me to the game and I only kept an eye on it as the Minecraft Burnout took a massive toll on me to the point where I didn't want to touch any game similar to it such as Terraria or Don't Starve or Starbound.
However, the game shortly closed after that and my initial plan of finding a new "Gaming Home" were put on standby once more. That was until a few months after I had a curious experience. There was a tweet by I believe Dinnerbone (can't remember nor find the screenshot) who teased some of the new content for 1.10 that caught my eye that would later be revealed to be Concrete and Concrete Powder. Here I began following hesitantly to avoid burning out once more and slowly regained my interest in the game to where I am now currently sitting...
Playing my Alpha world.
There's a reason to that, but TL;DR is "Play version I started because things then play newer cause creative." If you want to know more, I'll reply in a comment.
Here I am, once again! (No raegrats)
What do I think of the current game? It's fun, I love the past few updates and can't wait until I can actually make something that isn't a dirt block house. Finally with my story told, let's move on to my thoughts on the people and community, what I hope, what I believe, and what I'm expecting.
Rotating the Seats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm going to be completely honest and say I don't like the community, at least what is left of it. My wish is that the new players coming in don't make the same mistakes we did by turning Entertainment into a Full-Time career. The success of Minecraft, as I have mentioned before, heavily influenced if not directly, tactics such as Early Access, piecemeal content that should have been released on the first day only to be sold for much more, and turning Video games into a Business. People used to share and play together now fight for dominance on the top charts of Twitch and YouTube. You only need to look at Fortnite to see the trend. Just replace that with Minecraft and you'll have a carbon copy of 2012 in Gaming.
As stated above, there will always be exceptions to these rules such as PopularMMOs who seem to enjoy playing the game. For the rest such as AntVenom, I believe that they are still in it not really for money, but because they are so invested in the game that they still see profit from it either in money or fame. I might be wrong for him yet the point still stands that those creeping back in or those continue to play are more than likely in it for the popularity rather than enjoyment.
If you really do love the game and making videos, showing off your creations, etc. more power to you and I wish you the best. Heed my warnings to not turn what should be Fun into a Job lest you find yourself friendless, angry, or frustrated. Keeping a channel alive among thousands is no small task and I urge those to stop the moment they feel tired. It is not worth pushing yourself over the edge like many of us, like myself who falls into that trap time and time again (better now, less burnouts, still bad because sister in law wants to do everything in a day...oi)
Final Words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minecraft, the Original King of Gaming, fallen from Grace to be replaced by the genre that dominated before, is slowly returning to the spotlight. I am glad to finally return to a game I adore though only to find a ghost of a town with husks of souls that lost their light so long ago. One day the game will be better, but I don't see it getting more than Second Place in any competition.
Those who do not learn from history, repeat it.
Let this be a Lesson. A tale from a longtime player.
Happy Crafting.
P. S. - Image above is from
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