Minecraft

Day 1 (10/28/13): 

A Struggle: I am still unable to access the game because I did not use paypal when purchasing the game -- I used skrillz (the equivalent of paypal, but british one) because I used the visa card option, and was asked to provide the last 4 digits of SSS and birthday. It said "verified by visa" so I did not think much of it, but then my bank called my mom of suspicious activity and locked my mom's bank account. After a lot of phone calls and misunderstanding of minecraft being labeled as fraud, I was finally able to clear things up and buy it and download it, but the initial struggle was just obtaining the game. 

An Accomplishment:

I was finally able to buy the game via paypal (after many tries and phone calls!)

An observation:

This isn't so much related to minecraft the game itself, but it made me think of the legitimacy of games and the real possibility of fraud- since I purchased the game ONLINE, not a CD disk from Best Buy or anything. It was only because minecraft is a renowned game was the bank finally able to realize that the purchase wasn't fraud. I question if the decision would have been the same if the game hadn't been popular... Made me think of how much technology has evolved, because I know that when I was growing up, I bought the physical copy of the game from a store, not off the internet.

Day 2: 

A Struggle:

Feeling like I am playing catch up to others in the class skill level wise.

An Accomplishment:

I finally figured out how to make a roof!

An observation:

I find that I am much more ambitious in single player mode than in our multiplayer mode. In single player mode I don't feel like I will be judged for my slow skill level whereas in multiplayer I have to constantly play catch-up. I find this interesting in relation to the conversations we have had in class about audience and how we adapt ourselves to those audiences. In the online context we see and percieve only a fraction of what is going on. Someone's success may seem like inherent skill in the game when it could have taken hours and hours of trial and error.

It would be interesting if we all kept in mind the portrayals we give someone when we see their house or farm and compare it to facebook when looking at someones picture or status.

Struggle: I was unable to connect to the multiplayer network because, as a Haverford student, I can only connect to the Bryn Mawr guest network and that does not connect with the Minecraft network, apparently. This was a prime example of how issues with wireless or insufficient connections can REALLY affect the access that people can have to various online tools or systems.

Accomplishment: Luckily one of my classmates was kind enough to let me work with her in exploring Minecraft because she was able to get into the class's network. It was really helpful to go through it with someone else because we were able to share ideas and figure things out together. It was also fun to get to know one of my classmates that I haven't really interacted with very much before that! :-)

Observation: It was pretty clear that some people were "naturals" at Minecraft and were learning how to do various things very quickly, while others were struggling pretty badly. Especially in the beginning of the period, before I had joined with my classmate, I found myself to be in the second group. As it seemed like my classmates were getting farther and farther ahead, I began to feel worse and worse about my Minecraft abilities. I can definitely understand how people who do not have access to technology or do not use technology feel as though they are outsiders to the exclusive club of the tech-saavy.

Question: I still have so many questions, I don't even know where to begin!