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Mine Craft - day 1

meganholt's picture
Submitted by meganholt on Sun, 10/27/2013 - 8:15pm

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!

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SMarrie's picture

minecraft day 3, October 28th

Submitted by SMarrie on Mon, 10/28/2013 - 4:22pm.

a) The world that I've created (or at least the game did) is so vast and populated by forests that I simply never when where to begin with my construction. I tried to fly across the entire area to see which places seemed suitable for clearing, but navigating the entire area was impossible because it seemed never-ending. 

b) At first I did not know (or forgot) how to fly and how to land, so I feared that I'd be stuck playing as a ghost for the rest of the hour. However, thanks to a quick trip to the minecraft wiki, I learned the moves for creative mode navigation and was finally able to find a place to fly to and stop. 

c) The default world seemes to be nothing but forests and hills.

d) Why is the default world in creative mode consisting of nothing but forests and hills? Why not a blank city, or a simple town? Maybe this says something about the state of the world before building, before colonization and industrialization. As if this was what our original world looked like before humans arrived. 

meganholt's picture

Minecraft day 2

Submitted by meganholt on Sun, 10/27/2013 - 9:38pm.

Struggle: Since we were at Bryn Mawr again for the tutorial session today, I was not able to connect to the multiplayer network. So, I just played on my own singleplayer world and continued to try to figure out the basics of the game. However, when I opened the game I saw that it was night time and before I could even process what was going on or where I was, I began being killed by Zombies. Then I would spawn again...and be killed again...and spawn again...and be killed again... It was a pretty sick cycle and was no fun at all.

Accomplishment: Luckily, Thomas was able to remind me how to turn on the "peaceful" mode so that I could play without being killed every 5 seconds. Once we did that, it was much more enjoyable to be able to roam free and to explore the world and begin to figure out how to construct different things and what different supplies can create. I also used the Wikki to learn how to eat, which is a definite necessity!

Observation: I now understand how incredible the Minecraft Wikki is. I can't even imagine playing it without it and trying to figure everything out by experimentation!

Question: I still have many questions regarding the multiplayer world since I have not been able to access it yet. Hopefully, those will be answered soon!

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